The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-07-08

InE RUSSIAN EXrEADITJON
TkEATY.

1nE RUSSIAN EXrEADIrION
TkEATY.
The Posr-IsrEIfssEscEa II 10 receipt OF
letters from persons who continue 70 pro-
test against the Russian extraditicn
treaty. There does not seem. 10 ~ to DO
any logic in the protest Of these critics.
The whole argument 10 summed M when
We say that II IL 10 proper TO negotiate m
extsadition treaty 1t all with Russia. the
present treaty II m entirely equitable in
strumsnt. since il gives Russia neither
more nor less than We give other nations.
II IL true that Russia 10 opea 10 crit
icssm, and 20, for that matter. 10 tho
United States. Our own civilization in
spots In little better than bsrbarism- As
Ne write . Kentucky community Is pre-
pairing. in defiance Of Law. to burn TO death
Q negro accused of murder. Negroes have
been burned to death In Texas. Arkansas
and louisiana Recently . negro was
lynched for rape in South Carolina.
spite of the fact that tho as
saulted woman testified that the
arrested man did not resemble her assaii-
ant. Up to January 1. 1868. negro slavery
had legal existence in the United States
at time whom Russia had already iiber.
ated her serfs by imperial decree. To
Russia, doubtless. human slavery Was .
serious blot on our civilization, but she
did not therefore decline to execute dipio-
matte treaties with US any more than she
would with China, whore. under the legal
code, criminals are sometimes sliced to
Ne make treaties with many civilizations
whose political ethics ws do not approve.
The Same provision ~ that in the treaty
with Russia In found in our treaty with
Isaiy. with Salvador, with Belgium. with
Turkey. and with LuIemburg; and the
some priaci5 pc Is recognized in our treaties
with Nicaragua. Ecuador. Spain and the
Netherlands. How could any sane secre-
taSy Of stats exclude from m extradition
treaty the forging or counterfeiting Of
public. sovereign or governmental doca-
mentsf Toexclude such provision would
be to deny the right Of government TO
exist by rsying that its acts may be forged
or counterfeited with impnnity. 1t is
pretended that . political offender who
FORCES . passport ~ . means Of escape
may be demanded and delivered
up for the forgery 20 committed. and that
In this way the extradision Of political
offenders may be obtained indirectly. The
Law Is precisely the reverse: when an Of
tense 10 incidental to or connected with a
political oflcnse il psr;akes of the charac-
ter OF the principal act and does not afford
. basis for extradition. Precisely this
poln: was decided by the governor of New
York. in 1857. ia the case of the Canad an
rebel. William Lyon Mckenzie: by Turkey.
In lst9. IN the cas-. Of kossuth. and BY the
eour; Of the queen bench in England, in
$50. in the case Of the Ssiss insurgent
Castloni. The charges against Mckenzie,
Who ha: been in rebellion agains, the
COVE -nmen,. were murder. arson and rob
berry. The alleged murder was the shoot
Ing BIZ sensrics of q man who Vas crossing
the military lines the alleged arson vas
the burning of a dwelling in the coutse of
hosiiii,ses; the alleged robbery was the
taking of some mail bags from the driver
Of mail coach. The governor of New
York refused 10 entradIie him. kossu,h
WAS charged with tn. larceny" of the
CROWN Jewels of Hungary, while In rebel
lion against the government of Austria
Turkey refused TO give hi,n up. In both
these cases IL Mas held that the alleged
crimes. being incidents Of the political
-. l. a A
ground Tor exirsdst.on.
We have an extrsdltion treaty with
Turkey. aud Great Britain has genera.
treaty stipulation with Cains for the ex-
tradition OF Chinese criminals seeking
ssyluai ia the British colony Of Hongkong.
We have an estradstton treaty with Japan.
hut neither ia Turkey nor Japan DO we
submit our citizens to the local law. We
have extEaditioa treaties With Hayti and
Dan Domingo. and IN some respects tn.
most liberal Of al extradltioa treaties IS
sha, With Mcxico. where there is no trial
hy Jury. 'It - not within the competence
Of one independent roseF," said William,
I. Marcy. secretary Of state 70 Presiaen,
Pierce. ito reform the jarlspraaence Of
smother"
Anybody who desires TO read discus.
zion of the Russian exsraaii.on treaty.
that il writt.n by an intelligent ia~ye,
who Knows what he is taking about,
should read a Reply 10 Protests" in the
current number Of the Forssa. ev John
Rasseit Moore. Secretary 81 State Gresham
mas rigAs when he said that most If the
indisn alton launched on the Russian
treaty had been directed AZ purely
imaginary evils The persons who have
protested against the Russian treaty
have beea composed chiefly IF fox
Who generally have very little pre-
else knowledge concerning subjects o,
legislation. \ eslsh; Woman, an e.oasen.
clergyman, pr0.ess,ona, literary worker
in poetry and hci@on are useful tn ring the
changes concerning gathering seuerslitie,
in morals and the huuaauisies. hat they
are not competent ss rule 10 iaaiciaslv
frame . treaty OF IL es1nitah.s cons,sar a
treaty after il has heen framed.
Ex-senator Ecmuads. sa acute and
lssrnea lawyer. Is probably 81 good q
Judge Of the practical effect 81 the Russian
treaty ss Mrs Josephine Sns~ Lowell,
julia Ward Howe. Edwin Il. Mead. Lille