The Saint Paul globe., 1897-05-20
DOES NOT KNOW WHAT IT IS TALK
ING ABOUT.

The Dakota Herald, after quoting
from an article in the G b that de-
nounces the barbarous policy of the
European powers in their attitude to-
ward Greece says:
And yet, strange as it may seem, the
Globe bitterly denounced those members
of the senate who voted against an arbitra-
ton treaty with the meanest and most un-
scrupulous of these powerS-a treaty by
which this country would certainly have been
placed in heads 1 win, tails you lose" po-
Eition.
Our esteemed contemporary does not
appear to be as we'll Informed as it
ought to be, before assuming the criti-
cal role, upon the subject of which it
speaks This entire extract is full of
mistakes, and is based upon a logic that
will not hold water Great Britain is
bad enough, but she is not "the mean
est and most unscrupulous" member
of the European alliance. The asser-
ton that the arbitration treaty would
have placed this country at a disad-
vantage as regards England. or any
other country, is without particle Of
foundation. If the editor Of the Her
aid will obtain a copy Of that treaty
as it was originally submitted to the
senate and read it's provisions with a
fair and open mind, he will see that it
was utterly impossible for the United
States to suffer by any proceeding had
under it. Every right was protected,
the tribunals established were so con-
stituted that we could not get. the
worst of it unless by the consent of
our own representatives, and there al
ways remained the resource in any
particular case, if we found the treaty
to be unfair in it's working, of aban-
doning it and arbitration together,
since the whole arrangement was to be
considered only as an experiment.
We denounced an opposition to this
treaty which was not honest or based
upon sound reason. When we say that
it was not honest, we do not mean
that there were NOT men who believed
the treaty to be unsound and unsafe,
but we do mean that the leaders of
the opposition fell into two classes;
first, the personal enemies of Mr. Cleve-
land and the last administration, who
wished to defeat any thing that it
favored; and, second, the advocates of
free silver, who desired to prevent any
such arrangement between the United
States and the nation that is the lead
ing supporter of the gold standard.
These motives we declared to be un-
worthy and dishonest. Let the free
silverite enjoy his opinions, and let
men like Mr.. Morgan think, if thew
please, that Mr.. Cleveland was the
worst president in the history of the
United States. Be these beliefs right
or wrong, they should not have been
allowed to affect the attitude of any
man toward an arbitration treaty
which had nothing in common with
them.
Were England all that our contem-
porary believes her to be, we find in
that no reason for refusing to arbi-
tratc : it'll her. The editor Of the Herald
doubtless knows some very mean and
unscrupulous individual, with whom he
would not, nevertheless, refuse to have
business dealings, and especially would
not refrain from carrying on a trans
action that showed itself to be very
much to his own advantage. The ar
bitration treaty, as drawn up by Mr..
Olney, was an advantageous arrange
ment, perfectly careful of American
rights, impossible of enforcement
against us to our detriment, and prom
I ised much good to humanity and civili-
cation. We still think that to oppose
this measure on personal grounds, or
because of some objection to the eco
nomic policy Of Great Britain, was
childish. illogical, unpatriotic and un-
worthy Of either member Of the Unit