The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-03-27
FLING OUT THE FLAG.

The men who have kept the jingo
posture at Washington have now an
excellent opportunity, which We do not
observe they are anxious to accept, to.
throw defiance in the face Of the EFF
fete monarchies" in a thoroughly just
and admirable cause. While we have
no part in the settlement of the Ar
menian question or in the imbroglio in
Crete, the American people have very
decided opinions on this subject, and
their sympathy is unanimously with
Greece and against Turkey. They have
now an opportunity to declare it
through their official representatives,
without impertinence or improperly OBJ
truding their opinions upon the rest of
the world. The six powers of Europe
which have taken in hand the perpetu-
alton of the bloody work of the sultan
have served notice upon the world OF
what they call a pacific blockade" Of
the island of Crete This notice is to
u.s. as to all others, and it ought to be
met with a prompt denial by our state
department of the right of any nation
or combination Of nations to offer such
dictation to the United States.
1t is only owing to the fact that we
have no maritime trade with Crete
| that this does not present itself as a
question Of immediate practical impor-
lance. The powers whose warships are
lying about the island assert their right
to forbid access to it by the ships Of
any other nation, and their further
right TO stop such vessels and search
them for contraband of war If, there
fore, any vessel flying the American
flag were to visit the harbor of Canea.
1T would be subject, under this declara-
ton, to detention, visitation and the
possible confiscation of stores on board
Not for one moment could our govern
ment, with decency, tolerate any such
action, and it has no business to toll
crate the assertion of the right of
Europe to SO act.
Six powers are now engaged in a.
criminal conspiracy against human lib
erty. If our traditional policy Of avoid
ing entangling alliances and keeping
ourselves free from the complications
Of European politics forbids us to 60
Where honor calls, we can, at least, and
must avail ourselves of the first oppor-
tunity to declare our unutterable nor
ror of the nations that have constituted
themselves the allies of the Turk. 1t
Is for us to repudiate point blank the
assumption by those powers Of the
right TO declare pacific blockade
mat is diplomatic fiction, unrecog-
nlzed by, if not totally unknown to in
ternational law. No obligation resting
upon us as one of the family of ma
tlons obliges us to give respect or at
tentlon to this decree of the powers.
An actual blockade must be respected
under the rules that govern interna-
tlonal relations of hostility and of neu-
trality. The pacific blockade is 2. moro
paper affair, and has no rights that
any one is bound to respect.
1t is for us now to declare where
we stand, in sympathy, oy repudiating
instantly and contemptuousIy this
declaration of Europe that it has the
right to interfere with commerce and
search the ships of other nations at IFS
own pleasure in time of peace. If the
SIX rulers can agree to do this with ref
erence to Crete, why not with refer
ence to Madagascar or Formosa or the
hawaiian islands, or any other spot
on earth not subject to the domination
OF one OF them. If the administration
has one spark of that patriotic feeling
about which we have heard so much
IL VIII seize the first opportunity to de-
clare where we stand, not only on the
question of Turkish misrule. but on
that of American right and indenand
ence Fling out the flag and tell the
world that American commerce is as
free and independent of European SOW
ere1gnty today and as Indifferent IA
her pacific blockade" as if was in
1872, when the right OF search asserted
ny Great Britain compelled us to teach
her that final lesson which she has NOT
yet forgotten.