The San Francisco call., 1896-01-03
THE VENEZUELAN COMMISSION.

The Venezuelan Commission appointed
by President Cleveland is somewhat dis
appointing. The members are able in
their respective ways, but they do not
constitute as strong a body as the people
were led to look for. A scholarly knowl-
edge of international law and a thorough
honesty of purpose each of them undoubt-
edly possesses, but it is by no means certain
that any of them has the craftsmanship to
grasp the broader issues of the subject and
comprehend the question as one of far
repching American policy and not mere
controversy over a region of swamp lands
to be settled by the technicalities of text
books.
OF the five members OF the commission
only Andrew D. White has had any ex-
perience in diplomacy or statecraft, and
even he has distinguished himself more as
a college president than as a foreign Min
lister. Brewer and Alvey have become
eminent as Judges, aud have merited the
honors they have received, but they have
never been tested by the standards OF
craftsmanship. Coudert, an able lawyer
in New York, and President Gilman OF
Johns Hopkins University are as eminent
as their colleagues, but are equally untried
IN the management of great affairs of
state. Thus there is nothing in the record
of any of the Commissioners that affords
assurance of a statesmanlike sagacity in
dealing with an issue whose proper solu-
ton depends far more upon wise statecraft
than upon the precedents of international
law.
An unfortunate weakness in the COM
mission is found in the relation of all the
members of it to the great political parties
of the country. None of them are recog-
niZed representatives of either the Repub-
ican or the Democratic party. In the
language of the day, they are not "stal
warts" Brewer and Alvey, being on the
bench, have, of course, had little to do
with party politics, but Coudert has made
a reputation as a Democratic bolter,
White has never been a strict Republican,
and Gilman has been so little of a Repub-
lican he can hardly be called party man
at all, and is only reported to be known as
having Republican proclivities.''
Cleveland has, in fact, appointed what
Is practically mugwump commission,
and it will not have the confidence of the
country as thoroughly as a commission
composed of such stalwart party men as
L ul4tIy hiLSO4ll anu AclpS Wtulu have
had. Mugwumps are eminently respect
able citizens who have the peculiar
mental characteristic of seeing more
faults in their own party than in that of
their opponents. The danger of intrusting
foreign affairs to their decision is that this
same popularity may lead them to see
more faults in the American claim than in
the foreign claim. In their mugwump
desire not to lean toward the jingoes they
may lean too far the other way, and ont of
their lack of sympathy with popular senti-
ment they may be unable to feel the real
greatness and Importance of the principle
which we wish through their management
to esta blish.
Fortunately whatever the commission
does will have to be referred to the Senate,
and If the work does not show an Ameri-
canism sufficiently stalwart it can be re-
jected. There will certainly be no tendency
anywhere to condemn it before it commits
an error. the public recognizes the ability
of the men who compose it, and in the
a'lence of any proof to the contrary will
expect them TO be equal to the task before
them. We would have preferred men of
more experience in statecraft and truer
representatives of our great political par
ties, but perhaps when it comes to a ques-
ZION between America and any foreign
power even the mugMumps themselves
may prove to be stalwarts.