The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1895-12-10

to be most directly affected, so gener-
ally consider the treaty as calculated.
on the whole, to procure important ad-
vantages to our country.
This statement WILL trust, be ex-
tended in proportion as the provisions
of the treaty become well understood.
with due respect, l am, sir, your
obedient servant,
GEO. WASHINGTON"
Alexander Hamilton, whom the Pres
! ident is said to have intended first for
the difficult mission Jay accomplished,
defended the document in series of
convincing articles under the sigma
ture of "Camillus," which appeared in
the daily papers from August, 1875, to
the end of the year, and which, by MIR.
Jays enemies, were at first attributed
to him. Fisher Ames eloquently urged
! Congress to pass the laws, carrying
the treaty into effect, and so important
to the endurance of the Republic did
he consider them that he closed his
address with an appeal that had in it
much Of foreboding. IF, however"
he said, the vote should pass to reject
and spirit should rise, as it will, with
the public disorders to make confu-
sion worse COMPOUNDED, even l, slender
and almost broken as my hold upon
life Is may outlive the Government,
GU tiiS NOiiStllutlOIl Oh my country.
Under the influence of the respected
leaders who Endorsed the treaty, guided
by the conservative advice of the bust
ness men in the different States. the
nation as whole acquieSced when, in
December, 1875, the President an
nounced to the Senate that he had as
scented to the terms of the proposed
treaty, with the exception of one of its
provisions, which was left in allegiance
The
to regret his action. Within two years
they experienced such a revival of bust
ness as demonstrated the value to
them OF friendly relations with the
most formidable mercantile power in
the world. And the commercial his
tory of this ration for a century has
gone on testifying to the worth of the
Jay treaty, on the lines of which sub
sequent treaties were framed
ITS NEGATIVE EFFECTS IMPOR-
TANT.
Properly to appreciate the services
OF Mr.. Jay at this most crucial time in
the nations infancy, the treaty must
be viewed not more in its positive than
IN its negative effects, not more as to
what II secured than as to what it pre-
vented. His contemporaries could not
do this; they lacked the perspective of
time. The patriotic men of to-day, to
Whom the blessings of national liberty
and OF commercial prosperity have
come as heritage, can, looking down
the vista of time view events in their
right proportion. They see in Mr. Jays
work the first step in our commercial
progress, taken alone and Independent
Oh Great Britain with her formal acqui-
escence and recognition. They see in
the making possible of this step a tri-
/ umph OF patriotic zeal and diplomatic
skill. They understand why Washing
ton choose John Jay for this critical
work, and why, through all the abuse
and contumely which the unthinking
heaped upon the measure and it's max
efs, Washington calmly but firmly
supported and indorsed the treaty No
body knew better than Washington the
condition of the country at the time.
and nobody desired more than he that
the nation of freedom founded on this
continent should survive to behold it's
national destiny of grandeur He
sought and supported Mr.. Jay because
the Chief Justice shared his far-sighted
knowledge and his broad minded pa
triotism.
Consider the result if John Jay had
failed in his mission to England. and a
premature war had involved France
and America in common cause. One
of two things would have followed.
I H.
| recovered from the awful losses of the
Revolutionary War, without money and
without credit, it is conceivable that
America might have been conquered by
the numerous and well-equipped armies
OF Great Britain. In that case modern
progress, as we know it, would have
been impossible. Broken and dispirited
the conquered people. no longer States
united in common cause, but isolated
colonies once more, might have waited
| like South Africa for the benefits of civ
ilization. Every advantage would nat
urally be given by the mother country
to the loyal provinces of Canada Or
| If the spirit of American freedom is in
vincible and immortal, the United
States would have been condemned to
| fight all over again, at some future
| time, the War of the Revolution, and
the history of the attempts of this
weak and impoverished people against
| a strong and rich one might have re-
sembled that of the Cuban revolution
fists in recent years.
Second-If the result of the war had
been to establish the supremacy of re-
publican arms over those of the Eng
lish monarchy, the result might have
been still more disastrous. America
would have been linked to France with
letters of friendship and sympathy
stronger than the bonds that formerly
held this country to Great Britain.
French influences would have pre-
dominated among the people, and
American liberty would have been
synonymous with French liberty
Jacobin sympathizers might have been
permitted to glory in the guillotine, and
the awful excuses of the Paris mobS
might have been excused and even APP
plauded in this country Nor is it in
conceivable that, intoxicated like the
French by the cup of unrestrained
liberty, a chaos might have resulted in
the United States almost as frightful
as that from which the strong arm of
military despotism in the person of Ma
roleon rescued France.
JAYS DIGNIFIED ATTITUDE.
Neither of these two alternative stu
atoms, which were possible If Mr.. Jay
had failed. is overdrawn He did not
fail, but in his success he found so
much of misunderstanding, misrepre-
sentation and malediction from the
people he had served, that he deemed
his public usefulness ended. The calm
ness and the dignity with which John
Jay bore the malignant misrepreF
atior of a century ago, must have been
due in great part to his oft-expressed
belief that time would explain his work.
Great as his confidence and prescience
might be- however, he could not for
see the full extent of the national de-
velopment and progress. the beginning
of which his treaty marked. Philoso-
pher as he was, he yet was unconscious
of the great forces which science was to
bring to the service Of commerce and
industry
The close of this our first century of
commercial prosperity, as begun by the
jay treaty in 1875, is an appropriate
time for some formal recognition of the
valuable services John Jay rendered to
! American commerce one hundred years
ago. This occasion is fortunately not
to pass unnoticed, for on the evening
of December 10Th some 300 representa-