The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-05-19

| nary trcas1e6 Win dre2t Britain, ana Slnc0
| that date treaties with that nation have
followed each other so rapidly that the to-
! tai amounts to IS. 1t is amusing to notice
/ the steady and continuous decline in
style. All that parchment and vellum,
wax seal and silver box business has passed
| away, and the United States now puts its
great seal upon a common red and scalloped
circle no finer or more pretentious than a
notary puts upon deed for real estate,
and most Of the later treaties are written
on plain white paper and inclosed in a
! substantial tin box.
The Jay Treaty.
! We have, as before said, 45 treaties with
Great Britain; also 90 with France, %
with Mexico, IL with Belgium, with
Italy, with Japan, Is with Spain and
one may say with China Another curl
Gus fact is that SO many of these treaties
have excited such storr Of popular fury
in the United States, and that after the
next election these storms were so soon
and SO completely forgotten that in read
ing the treaties today one finds it difficult
to understand what the row was all about.
Of all our treaties, however, none proba-
bly, excited such whirlwind of fury as
the SO called Jay treaty. This was nego-
tiated by John Jay and Lord Grenville
and was signed by them at London Nov.
10, 1894. 1t was general settlement of
all unsettled matters left over from the
Revolution, and all historians agree that
congress was only induced to ratify it be-
cause of the anxiety of the western settlers
to have the British military posts removed
SO that the government could deal directly
with the Indians. John Jay was burned
in efigy and threatened with personal vio-
lence and legal prosecution. He was bur-
lesqued and ridiculed in every kind of ii
bald prose and doggerel poetry, and Presi-
dent Washington was by no means spared.
Some may think Mr. Cleveland caught it
pretty heavily on account of the Hawaiian
business, but his experience was no worse
than that of Washington. Among the
thousands of jokes drawn forth by the
hated treaty one was considered SO good
that it was repIbIished repeatedly in every
Republican-which then meant Democrat
ic-paper of the time and finally got into
the aImanacs, and so became historical. 1t
was something like this: a Democrat, be-
ing told that oAe of the new sailing ships
had arrived from Liverpool in three weeks,
replied: That's nothing to wonder at.
The Jay treaty has brought us much near
er to England" Our forefathers certainly
could not have been as witty as their de-
scendants, for this was thought to be one
of the finest jokes ever conceived.
Pending Chinese Treaty.
The recent Chinese treaty, like all the
other Chinese treaties, deals chiefly with
trade and mutual immigration. Our first
treaty with China was signed July 3, 1874,
u II. -
problem which now excites SO many west
ern Americans was then not even thought
of, for the treaty plainly implies that travel
between the two countries was to be en-
couraged. That treaty gave the United
States the rights Of trade and residence of
citizens and their families at the five ports
of Kwang-chow, Annoy, Fuchau, Ningpo
and Shanghai. Fourteen years passed
away before we had another treaty with
China, and its terms show that the rela-
tons Of the two countries had greatly
changed. The first article of the treaty of
1858 provides that the United States shall
exert its good offices to prevent any other
nation from acting unjustly or oppressive
ly toward China. The fifth article pro-
vides that the American minister in China
shall have the right to visit the imperial
capital once year and confer with Off
Gals of the highest rank, but he shall not
visit it on trivial grounds or delay in the
transaction of business while there.
Other articles greatly enlarge the priv
ileges of American citizens in trading and
passing from port to port in China, and
finally the twenty-ninth article recognizes
the Christian religion as lone which
teaches men to do good and provides that
neitaer Americans nor Chinese converts
shall be molested on account of their reli- |
gion. This was followed by convention
for trade and agreement upon long tariff |
schedule on American goods admitted in |
to China.
Trade With the Monxolians.
Ten years later-to wit, in 1S6S-began !!
the series OF treaties on immigration, and /
every reading American knows the rest
how each successive treaty has been more !
radical, how hatred of the Chinese grew
until it became a sort of insanity, how |
riots and cruelty led to reaction, and how |
finally the sweeping measures were adopt |
ed Tor excluding all Nongolians from this |
country. And what have we gained by all |
our negotiations with Gilman Well, the |
very latest paper filed in the state depart
ment, and bringing the summary DOWN to /
a few weeks ago, shows that there are i'm /
all the Celestial Empire 543 foreign firms /
established and doing general mercantile |
business, and that nationally they are
divided as follows: English, S63; German.
IS; American, 81; French, 20 Russian,
10; Portuguese, Z, and all other nations, |
90 Nor does it appear that the export
trade of this country TO China is of a bulk
to be seriously missed if we should lose it
all
On the other hand, it appears that not
only do the English far exceed all other
nations in the number of their establish
ments there, but each is singly so much
larger that the trade of all the rest OF the
world with China is quite small compared
with that of England alone. 1t further ap-
pears that negotiations are in progress
which, if successful, viii displace the
coarse and handmade cotton goods of
china by the finer ones of English make:
that English machinery is likely to be ad-
mitted free Of hindrance. and, in short.
that there is scarcely any assignable limit
20 the enormous trade which England may
develop with the Mongolians 1t is well to
bear IN mind, however, that we always re-
,eIve many statements of that kind when
Jhlnese treaties are pending, and possibly.
I we could read in the same connection
he British reports on the condition of
rade, we should find that they are. in
heir own opinion, doing very badly in
Iced. JR PaREE
he Had Access to the Hareu