The record-union., 1896-03-23
ARBITRATION.
Salisbury Favors Such Course in Dis
putes With This Country.
The Question Receiving the Consider
alton of the British Gov
ernments

| LONDON, March 22.-Lord Salisbury
| has written a letter to Sir James Stans-
| field, who was Chairman of the recent
demonstration in Queens Hall in favor
| Of the principle of arbitration in all
disputes arising between Great Britain
and the United States, acknowledging
| the receipt of the memorial adopted at
| the meeting. In his letter Lord Sails
| bury says:
II am glad to be able to inform you
that this question is receiving the con-
| sideration of her majesty's Government
and that proposals in the direction in
dicated by the memorial are now before
the Government of the United States.
| (Signed), L SALISBURY"
The memorial referred to contained
| the following:
| Without expressing any opinion
upon pending controversies. we would
| earnestly press the advisability of
| promptly concluding some treaty ar
rangement by which all disputes be-
tween Great Britain and the United
States could be referred for adjudica-
| ton to some permanent tribunal rep
| reSenting both nations and uniting
them in the common interest of justice
and peace
In moving the adoption of the memo
rial, Mr. Shaw-Lefevre, formerly Pres
ident of the Local Government Board,
submitted the following resolution,
which was adopted:
THAT the Chairman be instructed to
forward the memorial, when signed, to
the President of the United States, to
the Prime Minister and to the leader of
the House of Commons, with an earnest
desire of this meeting that no time be
lost in taking action thereupon.'
He said that almost twenty-eight
years ago he enlisted the almost solid
vote of the House of Commons in favor
of arbitration on the Alabama claims.
AT the time the first cable had just been
laid, and CyrHs Field telegraphed the
whole of his speech across the Atlantic.
The speech was apparently 50 heavy
| that it broke the cable. Since that time
about forty arbitrationS had taken
place, in ten of which the United States
was concerned and in eight Great Brit
ain was a party. In 1884 Great Britain
negotiated a treaty of commerce with
Venezuela, in which for the first time
there was an arbitration clause, but
the treaty was not ratified, as Glad
stones Government went out and the
Foreign Office permanent officials, he
believed thwarted his well-meant eff
forts.
In its issue tomorrow the Daily
News" under the caption of "A Break
in the Clouds will deal with Lord
Salisburys reply to Sir James Stans-
field, which it describes as the most
hopeful word that has been had for a
long time from the Prime Minister. The
paper says it hopes that no efforts will
be spared to press the consideration by
the Government Of the memorial into
action.
The DAILY News" elsewhere traces
the arbitration movement from the res
olutions adopted by the American Con-
gress in 1890 and the House of Com
mons in 1898, and from President Cleve-
lands message in the latter year 1t
proceeds:
when Lord Rosebery became Prime
Minister he took the matter up with
the unanimous approval Of the Cabinet
He intimated to Sir Julian Pauncefote,
the British ambassador to the United
States, that should President Cleve-
land act upon the resolution of Con-
gress, which required him to invite ne
gotiations with this Government with
q view to establish system of arbitra-
ton, the British Government would
welcome such an invitation. Since then
nothing has been done. We hope Lord
Salisbury's letter means that substan-
tial proposals have been made