The San Francisco call., 1897-02-22
THE ARBITRATION TREATY.

The refusal of the Senate to consider the
arbitration treaty with sufficient favor to
fix day for taking the vote at this ses-
sion, despite the urgency of Senator Sher-
man, issan evidence that the majority ol
the Senate are opposed to the measure in
its present shape and intend to either rad
ically amend it or reject it altogether.
There is reason to believe that many o1
the Senators wish to make the treaty SUBJ
ject to the Nicaragua canal bill and will
not enter upon any agreement of arbitra-
tion with Great Britain until such ar
rangements have been made concerning
the canal as will insure its control by the
United States.
The action of the advocates of the canal
in opposing the adoption of the arbltra-
tion treaty is not the result of any purely
jingo motive, nor is the outcome Of condi-
tions peculiar TO this time. Those who
think that the opposition to the treaty is
due mainly TO the antagonism OF Sena-
tors to President Cleveland take a very
inadequate view of the subject. 1t is to
be noted that the opposition has been
made to Senator Sherman as well as to
Secretary Olney, and 1t is known that Mr..
Sherman is TO be Secretary OF Stat during
the next administration. 1t is very clear,
therefore. that antagonism TO the bill is
not due to any dislike of a particular ad-
ministration, but is founded upon the con-
ditions of the treaty itself.
More than fifteen years ago James G..
Blaine. then Secretary OF State, sent a
dispatch to James Russell Lowell, at that
time our Minister to England, instructin g
him TO inform the British Government
that the United States could not consent
to any kind of treaty which would give
to that or any other nation an equal con-
troll with the United States over the Mic
.aragua canal. In the course of this dis
patch Mr.. Blaine said:
II a hostile movement should at any time
be made against the Pacific Coast, threaten
ing danger to its people and destruction to
its property, the Government of the United
States would feel that it had been unfaithfuI
TO its duty and neglectful toward its own citi-
zens if it had permitted itself to be bound by
a treaty which gave the same right through a
canal TO a warship bent on an errand of de-
struction, that is reserved for its own navy,
sailing for the defence of our coast and the
protection of the lives OF our people. And as
England insists by the might of her power
that her enemies in war shall strike her Indian
possessions only by doubling the Cape of Good
Hope, so the Government of the United States
will equally insist that the interior, more
speedy and safer route of the canal shall be
reserved for ourselves, while our enemies if
we shall ever be so unfortunate as to have any,
shall be remanded to the voyage around Cape
Horn.
1t will be seen from the statements OF
this dispatch that the Nicaragua canal
scheme and the relation to it of any and
all treaties which may be made between
this country and other nations has long
been a subject of consideration by the
statesmen of the Senate. The issue is
not new one to them, as it is to Secre-
tary Oluey. Administrations come and
administrations go, but the Senate re-
mains forever.
1t is one Of the strong points OF our
form of government that our foreign re-
lations are largely entrusted to this per-
manent and enduring body of statesmen.
1t is only by reason OF the fact that the
Senate is charged with this power that we
have had in the past, or could have in the
future, any such thing as an established
foreign policy. Those, therefore, who are
most in favor of the arbitration treaty
should pause before they condemn the
Senate for declining to accept it in its
present form, or possibly in any form at
the present time. Let us first make sure
of our supremacy over the waterway
across the isthmus before we enter upon
treaties which might bind US in honor to
submit our domination of that canal to
the arbitration of foreign power.