New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-07-16
ENGLAND NOT UNFRIENDLY
40 1II-rFFEcr PRODUCED BY sEcRE-
TARy snERMAN's DISPATCH
COMMENTS OF ENGLISH JOURNALS on FEW
PHRASES IN IT NOT TO RE TAKEN TOO sERi-
orrsr,y-GREAr BRITAIN LIKELY TO BE
krpaEsENrrD IF CONFERENCE
rs HELD WORK OF TIE
MONETARY COMMISSION


IS HELD WORK OF TIE
MONETARY COMMISSION
fpY cARIH TO THE rRiprSr.l
Lcnaor. July 15.-The Tribunes publication OF
Secretary Sherman's dispatch on the Behrng
Sea question rel.shts momentarily In the Eng
;;sh press the smoudering embers OF resentfu
criticism OF American diplomatic methods The
tsxt Of that dispatch is not pleasant reading
here as The Pail Mall Gazette" and other
journals frankly admit. II its fortiter in re had
been combined with suaviter In modo there
would have been no cause for complaint. II one
hundred words had been taken out Of the text
the dispatch would have been accepted as an un-
Objectionable statement of the American case
As the matter stands the implication that
England has not acted with good faith is con-
.,dered blow below the belt. The petulant
comments Of the London press to-day ought
not. however to be taken too seriously. The ac-
ton Of the Foreign Office has disclosed willing
ness on the part Of the Government to discuss
the question without irritability.
This dispatch was one of the earliest State
papers presented by Ambassador Hay to the
Foreign ONCE after his arrival in London. and
while the reply OF Lord Salisbury was refusal
70 set aside the expert testimony of the British
agent employed in the case. there was no indi-
cation that unfriendly feeling had been excited,
s,ther before or after Mr.. Fosters return to
London from st. Petersburg. The negotiations
have remained In progress. with an increasing
probability that the British Government will
ultimately consent to send a representative to
conference at Washington when Russia and
japan have been drawn into 1t.
The situation remains unchanged. and is not
affected by the comments Of the English journals
upon few phrases In Secretary Shermans dis
match which are considered here unnecessarily
brusque and aggressive, although mild and in
nocuous in comparison with President Cleve-
lands Venezuelan message. The negotiations
are controlled by Ambassador Hay. and his tact
and fexibilty have tended to minimize the effect
OF two or three passages in the original dispatch
which critics in the London press consider OBJ
jectlorabe in form and lacking in courtesy.
The protection Of the seal herd is really
question not Of International law. but Of inter-
national comfy and natural history. and there
Is no reason for undue excitement over 1t on
either side OF the Atlantic.
Both Colonel Hay and Mr. Foster decline to
discuss the question: or TO say anything except
that the negotiations are making satisfactory
progress.
The three silver ENJOYS held an important
conference WITH LOru AItHuI d. Oar
four. Sir Michael Hicks Beach and Lord George
Hamilton early in the week: and this afternoon
they are meeting the same members of the Gov
ernment a second time. On each occasion Baron
de Courcel has been present. under instructions
from the French Government. with Ambassador
Hay These interviews of the three envoys. sup
ported by the two embassies. with Ministers
identified with the Treasury and India Admin
istration are practical evidence that negotla-
tions for monetary conference are in progress.
and that the Joint appeal Of the United States
and France for settlement of the silver ques-
tion by international agreement is receiving full
and careful attention here. The envo-s are not
noisily conducting their campaign in the news
papers but they are doing their work with skill
and discretion. j. n. F.