Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-05
ASTATE SECRET OUT,
Accidentally Slipped Into
Documents Sent to the
Public Printer.
JUST STOPPED IN. TIME
To Prevent Its Being Printed for Gen.
eral Circulation.
A PUZZLE TO THE UNINITIATED.
The Webster Case and the Presidents
Message Thereon.
RITERMEN TALKING FOR FREE DAMS
1 PUZZLE TO THE UNINITIATED.
RIvERMEN TALKING FOR FREE DAMS
ESPECIAL TELEGRAPHIC LETTER.
BUREAU OF The DISPATCH,
WASHINGTON. ID. C., Feb.

NASHlNGTON, u. u roU ~
A State secret accidentally slipped in
among the pub docs" of Congress, and
the fact was not discovered until the 'con-
fidential" communication had been put in
print for public distribution. Fortunately
for the guardians of governmental secrets,
however, the order to suppress this contra
band "pub. doc" reached the Public
Printer in time to enable him to prevent its
distribution. Accordingly, the printed
copies were Immediately cancelled and the
matter was reprinted in the form of a con-
iidential document for the use of the Senate.
The representatives of the people in the
other branch of Congress and the public at
large were thereby deprived of the enjoy
ment they might have experienced if this
Estate secret had happened to reach the
document rooms and been distributed before
the accidental error was detected.
Why the Document Was Private.
Just whv the document should be- kept
secret would be puzzle to the minds of un-
initiated common people. But the expla-
nation is in the fact that the document con-
sisted of report from the Secretary of
State to the President of the United States,
and a special message by the President
transmitting the correspondence to the SEN
ate. Secretary Blaine's report was in the
nature OF a response to resolution adopted
in a secret session of the Committee on For
eign Relations, transmitting the case of
William Webster to the President, with the
statement that ''the committee respectfully
recommend the matter to his attention as Il
claim that is worthy of consideration, and
with the request that it be made the subject
of further negotiation with the Government
of Great Britain.
The fact that the Foreign Relations COM
mittee deemed the Webster case important
enough to be thus urgently commended to
the Presidents especial attention, with the
accompanying request for further negotia-
tion with Great Britain, and that the Presi-
dent was now reporting to the leading COM
mittee of the Senate the result of the fur
ther diplomatic negotiation, brought the
Presidents special message and its accom-
panimentS within the category of ''conti-
Dental" communication to the Senate.
Uncfe Sans Terse Reply.
William Webster's claim grows out of
his having been wrongfuily deprived of
lands belonging TO him in New Zealand.
His claim against Great Britain Tor CON-
pensation was presented through our De-
partment of State. Her Majesty's Govern
ment bad arrived at an untavorable decision
upon the case, finding that, by his own acts,
Mr. Webster had debarred himself from the
right &c claim anything, and, under the cir
cumstanceS, Her Maiesty's Government re-
piled to the United States that it regretted
that It was unable to reopen the case or to
entertain Mr. Webster's claim.
The United States Department of State
found that the untavorable determination
arrived at by Great Britain was the result
4-l,,
lister Lincoln was instructed to state to Her
Majesty Government that if the facts had
been correctly understood by that
Government there was reason to sup
pose that the. result of their
deliberations would have been different:
and that the British Governments reply to
this Governments epresentations-due, as
it appears to be, 10 an entire Inisconception
of the facts-cannot be regarded as salts
factory and conclusive"
Lincoln to Lord Salisbury.
Minister Lincoln communicated to Lord
Salisbury the exceptions taken bv our State
Department to the erroneous and unfayora-
bic view taken of the claim in question by
Her Maiesty's Government, and expressed
the hope that Her Majesty's Government
would readily reconsider its views upon the
subject.
The correspondence recently sent to the
Senate by the President (and which, as be-
tore stated, was rescued from among the
pub. docs. y shows that the British for
eign Office carefully considered the repre-
sentations of the American minister respect
ing the land claim of Mr.. Webster in New
Zealand"
In its reply to Minister Lincoln's note,
the British foreign Office admitted, official
", that 4 mistake was inadvertently
made, but, added Her Majesty's diploma
tic representative, ''while expressing to
you my regret that this mistake should have
occurred, I have the honor to state that it
does not appear to Her Maiestv's govern
ment to materially affect the question at
issue, nor 10 involve any alteration of the
decision at which they have already ar
rived"
The foregoing is the substance of the
estate secret" which came near getting lost
in the shuttle of the mass of matter sent to
Congress by the executive branch of the
Government
After Free Moncngahela Dams.
A delegation from the Pittsburg Coal Ex-
change had a hearing before the Committee
on Harbors to-day, in advocacy of the pur-
chase of the Monongahela dams. Attorney
Potter made a plea in accordance with
propositions that had been made before
other Congresses. The other members of
the delegation were Messrs. John A Wood,
Henry Brown, W. Is. Rodgers, C. L. Snow
den, w. J. Wood, I. j. Wood and J. A.
Henderson.
The committee listened with much inter-
est to the presentation of the matter but the
anxiety in the direction of economy in this
Congress may stand in the way of an appro-
prlatlon. LIGHTNER.