Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-08-26
ABLE STATE PAPER
Issued by Blaine's Successor
in the Cabinet of Presi-
dent Harrison.
TAIL-TWISTING BY PROXY.
Mr.. Fosters Reply to Mr.. Herbert
Full of Facts and Sarcasm.
NEARLY As BITTER As BLAINE'S
On Such Matters as the Chilean and Bering
Sea lmbroglios
z>, -orx,n mn Dnnp nm cnonny ~
TAIL-TWISTING BY PROXY.
NEARLY As BITTER As BLAINE'S
On Such Matters as the Chilean and Bering
Sea lmbroglios
CANADA BOUND TO RETRACT SHORTLY
,rRox A STAFF CORRESPONDENT,

tFRoM sTATF coRREsPoNpENT.l
WASHINGTON, Aug. 25.-The few who a
this writing know the nature of the CORES
pondence, which will be published through
out the length and breadth of the country
tomorrow, between Secretary of State
Foster and M. Herbert, acting British
Minister, are in great glee over the manner
in which NJ. Foster, in a roundabout way,
twists the tail of the British lion in this, his
first important state paper. The rejoinder
of Mr. Foster is certainly as caustio as ii
could be, with proper respect for the dip
lomatic amenities, and vividly recalls the
sarcastic, and almost abusive letter of Mr..
Blaine to Senior Pedro Montt, the Chilean
minister, last winter.
The papers of the State Department in
the Chilean affair, in the Bering sea matter,
and now in regard to the Canadian tolls,
mark an era, it might be said, in the recent
diplomatic history of the country, during
which we have stripped off the twaddling
clothes of early youth, and stepped out,
booted and spurred, challenging the knights
of the rest of the world to, at the very least,
knock a chip of from our federated
shoulder.
Not the Work of the President.
1t is claimed that the President wrote
this spicy letter to Acting Minister Her
bert This is not the fact. Mr.. Herbert's
very weak communication was received on
the 20th of Aug ust, and was forwarded at
once to the Pres esident, who by telegraph at
once requested the Secretary of State to
make such q rejoinder as would give to the
public the facts in regard to the bad faith of
Canada, and the paltryness of the argument
in favor of further delay. The language,
the citations, the close and pungent
reasoning are all the creation of
Mr.. Foster, and officials and others who
have had access to the correspondence this
evening agree that it is one of the most
fetching" state papers of recent years,
albeit some think that its severity might
have been couched in phrases that would
have been equally effective and yet not 50
blunt and so lacking in those euphemisms
which are the conventional stock in trade
of time-honored diplomacy.
There is no doubt, however, that the
paper will attract widespread attention to
Mr. Foster, and give him an eclat as Secre-
tary of State which might not have been
gained in long time if this admirable op-
portunity for telling hit had not luckily
offered.
Canada Bound TO Retreat.
No doubt is entertained that Canada will
be forced to retreat from its position on the
question of tolls. Mr.. Foster was sure of
that before he wrote .his rejoinder, and the
President was sure of it before he advised
Mr.. Foster, just as the President and Mr..
Blaine were convinced that Chile would
have to back down and apologize before
they literally stepped on the neck of the
little Southern republic. Therefore the
credit of having twisted the tail of the
British lion by proxy, the rough one of her
cubs, may be thought to be a trife chesply
bought, but no one can deny that the grav-
ity and the right of the question give war
rant for the trenchant language employed.