Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1895-10-09
81 A YEAR In ADVANCE
Britain Means Business.

1t is reported that the Salisbury Min.
lstry has dispatched an ultmatum 10
fekin which declares that unless tha
Vlceroy of the province IN which sew.
eral British missionaries were murdered
oy Chinese mob is degraded from his
position within fortnight the British
Meet IN the Yang-tse Kiang River will
exact reparation for the outrages hv
force, This news shows that the trodi.
uonal English policy of demanding
apologies for affronts at the cannon,s
muzzle has overcome the pleas of the
LONDON merchants who deprecated de.
cislve action by the British Govern.
ment, on the ground that il would in.
Jure their commercial interests inCbin
FOR a time Lord Salisbury seemed dis.
posed to rely on strongly worded diplo.
matic remonstrances for redress for
the slaughter of British subjects. This
plan proved Intellectual, as it alwavs
does In dealing with the corrupt and
treacherous mandarins at Pekin. and
now England is speaking in her old
imperial voice with the menace of
thunder in its tones.
Condemn as we may the insolencs
ana rapacity which have marked Brit.
ish foreign policy since the days when
Give looted the Indian empire as auda.
cious burglars rob a safe, the fact re-
mains that in one respect England's
course toward other powers compels
admiration. A citizen of Great Britain.
ike citizen of ancient Rome, is shell
tered by the shadow of his Government
wherever he goes. If he is assaulted,
imprisoned, robbed or murdered. ex-
emplary reparation must be made with
out delay; and behind the British ulti-
matum there are always the British
ironclads and the red coated soldiers of
an army which counts Marlborough
and a Wellington among its leaders
and whose backs few enemies have ever
seen.
The United States will never initiate
the British policy of wholesale annexa.
tlon and Unsuitable aggression. We do
not want to build faraway colonies nor
set our flag fluttering over forts in dis.
tant seas. But in the essential matter
OF protecting its citizens in their rights
this country has much to learn from
England. The attitude of the Cleve.
land Administration in regard to the
outrages perpetrated by Chinese ruff.
ans upon Americans at Ku-C Cheng has
been one of supine indifference. We
have nearly as many ships, guns and
men IN Chinese waters as Great Britain,
with plenty more on the home station
that can be dispatched if they are need
ed. A naval demonstration such as
that which England is today making
In the Yang tse- Kiang would do more
to coniirm American rights in China
than two years of correspondence thro'
lethargic Minister DENLY. Twenty
words cabled from Washington to Ad-
miral Carpenter would suffice to inspire
the Chinese with new respect for the
American flag and would make the
lives and property of Americans in
China immeasurably more secure.
Mr.. Cleveland's Administration has
been prolific in opportunities. Willie
seize this, after having permitted so
many others to go by? One of the first
duties of an American President is to
make the life of an American citizen
as safe as the life of an Englshman in
every quarter of the globe. New York
Advertiser.