St. Paul daily globe., 1895-12-18
assent of congress. Englishmen must

assent of congress. EngliShmen must
therefore take it seriously, and refrain
from speculations that would other
wise be attractive as to the utility, in
view Of the presidential election, of
twisting the lions tail The position
President Cleveland assumes is pre-
poSterouS. No American citizen would
for moment dream of admitting it's
SoundneSS in amy analogous Case in
which the honor and interests of
but one answer. We decline to humil-
late ourselves, and we refuse to- accept
the decision of Cleveland in matters
altogether outside his jurisdicti&."
The remainder of the Standards S ar
ticle is an echo of Lord Salisbury's ar
gument. 1t concludes by saying:
Great Britain will reject the demand
as Indignantly as congress would II
America, were asked to submit her title
to Alaska. to the judgment of impartial
umpireS."
GOING INTO HISTORY.
A second Times editorial contains a
lengthy discussion of the history of the
boundary dispute, and says that the
American government now argues that
England never had any consistent
theory of it's rights, but has been grad
ually enlarging its claims; 'but it can
not be too clearly understood" says
the Times, that we have never receded
from the contention that our full claim
is what we inherited from the Dutch"
The Times says further:
Much may be pardoned in view of
the approaching presidential election,
which to a, large extent explains the
union of the Republicans with the
Democrats in raising the jirgo cry. 1t
is to be remembered, moreover, that a
deal of time must elapSe before the
commission can be appointed, and still
longer time before it can report. 1t
until the executive has passed into
other hanGs. Meanwhile the sober,
common sense of the. American people,
we should hope, will condemn the at
tempt to pick a quarrel with friendly
power. In any case our course IS
clear. We must stand firmly and calm
ly on our rights as an Independent state,
and If necessary take practical meas
ures to assert them. 1t may even be
expedient to settle the frontier ques-
ton by drawing a line of our own (of
course, there can be no thought of any
thing less than the Schomburg line),
and allowing the United States and
Venezuela to settle the matter as they
may.
Daily News, Liberal: .It is a re-
quenceS are not likely to be serious.
Neither Secretary Olney nor President
Cleveland seems to realize that the
Monroe doctrine cannot be quoted as
authoritative in negotiations with
foreign power. The definition of Mon
roeism is a matter for Americans
themselves 1t binds nobody else. It
follows from President Cleveland's
message that neither British Guiana
nor Canada has any right to an inde-
pendent existence on American soil.
England is threatened with war unless
she permits President Cleveland to ad-
just the boundaries of Venezuela Hap
PLY there is still some sense of humor
in the American people. Regarded as
a party move, the message is not I'M
SkilIful. 1t puts the Republicans in d
hole If they assent to the commits
sion they enable Mr.. Cleveland to pose
as an accomplished twister of the lions
tail. If they refuse the commission,
they enable the Democrats to denounce
them as the servile friends of the Brit
isher. But the great body of Ameri
cans will not be led by any such mo-
tive or considerations. Lord Salisbury's
firm and moderate statement of the
case will appeal to the justice and COM
mon sense of the American people"
CAN HE BE SERIOUS?
The Chronicle Liberal: Can these
be serious words addressed to us by
the descendants OF the little shipload
of English folks who sailed in the
Mayf1ower? We will not take things
too seriously, but will suppose that