Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1893-03-29


years has secured more public attention
than that which was recently concluded
between the government Of the Car and
the United States. 1t has been severely
criticised, and it is said by its opponents
to be the first stroke against the liberty
of those who flee to America to escape
political persecution.
In the past two or three executive
sessions of the Senate there has been
quite debate over the proposition to
release the injunction OF secrecy and
permit the people to know exactly what
it contains. A resolution was intro
duced yesterday to remove this injunc-
lion of secrecy, but it was referred TO
the Committee on Foreign Relations
and that committee has not yet report
ed.
The majority of the Senators want
the matter made public for the reason
that the text of the treaty has been
wrongly stated by the public prints and
the Senate has been, as they claim, un-
Justly criticised by reason OF this mis-
information. The State Department
is also willing that the text Of the treaty
should go out, but there is not such an
unanimity of sentiment concerning the
proDriety Of publishing the accompany
ing correspondence.
The Committee on Foreign Relations
is in communication with the officials
of the State Department and as soon as
an agreement is reached the resolution
to remove the Injunction OF secrecy
will be favorably reported to the Sem
ate.
The criticism OF this treaty is princi-
pally directed against the article which
Is said to make the commission Of po-
litical offenses extraditabe. The lam
guage of this clause Is Identical with
that found in the treaty with
Belgium. In that treaty it is
provided that 1.-The provisions
of this convention shall not
be applicable to persons guilty of
any political offense or crime, or of one
connected with such crime or offense."
1t also provides that "an attempt
against the life OF the head Of the for
eign government, or against that OF any
member of his family, when such at
tempt comprises the act either of muir
der or assassination or OF poisoning,
shall not be considered political Of
Tense or an act connected with such an
offense."
In the public prints there has ap-
peared at the end OF such clause the
words, land shall not be extraditable."
No such affirmative statement appears
in the treaty. 1t is not the clause OF
this convention relative to attempts to
assassinate the Car or any member OF
his family that has aroused the opposi-
ton to the treaty so much as another
matter that has been found hidden away
in the text, and of seemingly innocent
purport, so far as anything political is
concerned.
The treaty makes the forgery Of any
government paper or document an Of
fense for which the guilty person may
be extradited, 1t Is well-known that no
political suspect can escape from Russia
without the aid Of passport, and
that he cannot secure that COW
eted document. Necessarily, he
is compelled to resort TO the expedient
OF forgery, and the instrument that
passes him through the frontier, is for
gery-forgery Of government paper.
The treaty contains no explanatory
foot notes, bnt makes extraditable the
offenSe that has been in every such case
committed.
By this means it is argued that the
Russian government has by virtue OF
the treaty ratified by the United States
a veritable drag net with which it can
pull back TO its boundary
every man who makes his
escape and punish him-not for
the political offense, but the act OF forg-
cry. The result, it is claimed, will be
the same, for it removes the individual
from every right OF asylum which he
has gained by fight to this country.
1t is certain that this phase OF the case
was never brought before the Senate,
for one Senator who made bitter fight
against the ratification of the treaty,
said that no one ever dreamed that such
a clause lay hidden in the text, and that
had 1t been discovered a very material
modification Of the text would have
been made. Senators now say that
there is no intention in the treaty that
such a construction shall be placed
upon 1t.
A prominent Senator on the RepuoIl-
can side of the chamber has said that
this treaty is one Of the crudest things
of its character he has ever seen, and
boldly declares that it is due TO the
fact that such matters are conducted
under the veil of secrecy.
The committee will probably report
back the resolution TO remove the in
junction Of secrecy at the next execu-
tive session. What amount OF corre-
spondence will be released with it de-
pends upon the wishes of the State De-
partment.
TOO MANY RULES