New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-03-15
ARBITRATION AND COMPETITION.

Tho last word for or against international ar
btration may not yet have been spoken Dnt
the strongest of arguments for the ra'ihca'ioh
of tho nepdjnp treaty with Great Britain has
been made. 1t was made at the Cooper UNION
meeting on Thursday night. II was made not
hy any of the eloquent gentlemen who spoke III
favor of such ratification, but by the prepos'er'
Gus person called Lynn who. In gross apusc
Of the courtesies and decencies OF civilized So
ciety, uttered n demagogical harangue against
It, His revelation of the real animus Oh the
opposition was the most convincing appear i'll
favor of the treaty that could possibly nave
been made.
For what was the burden of his diatribe
against arbitration? Not that IL would DE III
furious or embarrassing to this country, nor
that 1t would not serve the interests OF thIS
country and advance the general cause or h'l-
name civilization. but merely that 1t would also
serve the interests of England, and he hates
England and does not want her interests to be
served. That was the Alpha and Omega of 1t.
But international relations are not In TINS DAY
and land to be governed by inscnsate hatreds'
The object OF arbitration is to assuaSe ha'reds
and to replace them with goodwill.
Moreover. the hatred of England. cherished
by Lynn and his compeers, is wholly without
foundation on reasonable ground. They curse
her for conquering and ruling India, but nave
never n word to say against the French con
quest of Anam and Madagascar or the Rus-
sian conquest of Central Asia. They dilatc
with holy horror upon the infamy of blowing
Sepoy murderers to pieces at the lannon's
mouth. vet regard with complacence the pitch
T,,r pripS
tops of minarets on the points Of Russian bayo-
nets. They rage against England for dethroll-
ing Cetewayo and Lobcngula and Prempch and
Theebaw for their unspeakable inlqultles, yet
last week when France sent the Christian
Queen Ranavalona into exile they said never
a word. They grow rabid over England OPP
preston of Ireland, yet beam approvingly upon
Russas conduct toward Poland. They howl
about Englands blood Outlines in Armenia.
vet in so doing pervert the most obvious facts
of history, which show England TO be of all
the Powers least responsible for the present
ill-deeds of the Turk
An American citizen has no business TO be
either an Anglophobe or an Anglomaniac. If
there Is anything worse than for him TO be
either it Is to be both Mt once. These redhot
patriots who sit up O. nights in paptating solicit
tude lest England steal the Mississippi River
and pull up the Rocky Mountains by the roots,
and who point with alarm" so tragicaly TO the
awful circle Of fortresses and naval stations
England is building around the United States,
are generally the very foremost to go to the
DOLLS and vote to deliver American Industries
and American markets and American working
mems wages over TO the tender mercies OF Eng
lish competition. Practically they say: Eng
"land is preparing to invade and annex this
Country wherefore let us lay ourselves pros
"trate at her feet"
The notion that England will ever seek TO
conquer this country in war is the maddest of
Dollhouse madness. The rivalry between the
two countries Is commercial and Industrial not
naval and military. To twist the British lions
tail" with enc hand and vote for Free Trade
with the other, is to battle against the shadow
and surrender to the substance: 1t would be
thousand times better TO protect American in
dustries from English competition than TO go
into spasms about the fOrtrcsess Of Halifax and
Vancouver 1t would be more 10 the purpose TO
encourage American shipping to compete with
British than TO raise all these wild mutations
over the menace of Bermuda and Santa Lucia.
If the Anglophobes of America think the British
army and navy more dangerous 10 our peace
than the British mercantile marine and British
factories are to or prosperity, their proper
place is in an asylum for the hopelessly insane.
II the opponents of arbitration have no better
argument to offer than that King George taxed
American tea and Cecil Rhodes has designs
against the Transvaal, arbitration ought to be
adopted without q dissenting vote.