The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-11-17

may be to that Mugwump coterie. will ever
find dangerous support in this country.
The Nicaragua Canal and the Clayton
Bulwer Treaty.
It Is generally believed that among the
measures recommended by President NC
KINLEY in his forthcoming message to Con-
gress will be the construction Of a canal
across the Nicaragua isthmus. The vital
necessity of such an interoceanic waterway
was brought home with tremendous force
to the minds of the American people when,
at a critical coniuncture, the battleship
Oregon had to be brought to the
point of danger by the circuitous route
around Cape Horn; and the lesson
has been reinforced by the spectacle Of
the Oregon and the Iowa compelled to
double the South American continent in
order to reach the Philippines, Whatever
may nave been the case at the last session
of Congress, it is certain that all sensible
and patriotic Americans are now convinced
of the need Of the canal, and they have also
arrived at the conclusion that it should be
constructed and controlled by our Federal
Government. 1t may be said that, in view
OF the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, no such con-
troll is possible. Let us look somewhat
closely at this matter.
THE SUN has often pointed out that.
although the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, which
gives to England and the United States a
joint power of control over any canal cut
| ting the isthmus, is by its terms perpetu-
ally binding, 1t was a compact made for a
valuable consideration, in default Of which
the agreement would become terminable at
the option Of the injured party.
At the time when. the negotiations took
place between Secretary CLAYTON and Sir
HENRY BULwER, then the British Minister
at Washington, the British Government
had taken possession Of several important
points on the northern coast of Central
America and had apparently begun a policy
of aggression which threatened the eventual
absorption of the whole isthmian region
from the boundaries of Mexico to the boun-
| diaries Of Colombia. 1t seemed to Secretary
CLAYTON q matter Of great moment that
Great Britain, already planted to the
north and east OF us in Canada and
tho Maritime Provinces, should not
also acquire a permanent lodgtnent in the
central part of the continent. For the pur-
pose of averting the evolution of a second
British America on the mainland south OF
the Caribbean, he was willing to offer a val
liable concession, and he accordingly
agreed that Great Britain should share
with the United States the control Of any
canal that should be cepstructed across the
American isthmus, provided Great Britain
would on her side pledge herself never to
.-.o~ oor oorE - Top4,ol Aroor;oo
After the treaty embodying the agree
ment had been signed, Sir HENRY BULwER
notified our Secretary of State that he did
not understand it to apply to the wood-cut-
ting rights which had been long enjoyed by
British subjects in the region known as the
Belize. Mr.. CLAYTON replied that such was
also his understanding of the subject. As
a matter OF international law. this en- post
fdctO interchange of opinions could by no
possibility bind the parties to the treaty,
the definition Of whose rights must be
sought in the text of the document
itself. The British Government, how
ever, did not content itself with the wood
cutting rights, entirely divorced from any
assumption Of sovereignty, which its sub
jects had been suffered to enjoy In the
Belize by the Spanish rulers Of Contra
America and which they had continued to
exercise under the republican governments
which succeeded to the sovereign powers
previously possessed by Spain. On the
contrary, when the United States became
involved in a %stupendous civil war, Great
Britain proceeded to transform the settle
ment Of woodcutters in the Belize into a
crown colony, invested with all the rights
OF sovereignty, which by successive en-,
croachments upont the soil of Guatemala has
been extended until it now covers some
IA, 900 square miles, or about twice the area
OF Massachusetts,.
The consideration for the Clayton-B ulwer
treaty thus having been withdrawn. Secre-
tary FRELISGHUYsEN held that the treaty
had become voidable at our option, and in
the course of correspondence with the Brit
ish Foreign Office he gave formal notice
that the United States would henceforth
treat 1t as void. From the ground thus
taken by Mr.. FRELINGHUYsEN, President
CLEVELAND receded, having twice per
mitted his Secretary Of State, in CORE,
spondence with the British Foreign Office,
TO refer to the Clayton-Bulwer treaty ae
still binding.
AS to what view of the subject Is taken by
President MCKINLEY and Secretary HAY
we are not yet informed, but in view OF
the friendly attitude maintained toward us
by England during the recent war, we may
take for granted that they will be at pains
TO discuss this, and any other questions that
may arise between the two countries, in an
anlcable way. II the two countries are to
remain friends, British interests will suffer
no detrlment through the assump-
ton of exclusive control over the
canal 10y the United States. On the
other hand, it is unreasonable to sup
pose hat the United States would fur
nish all the money needed for the con
struction of the canal, II we are not TO have
exclusive control OF the waterway wher
finished. This is the position taken by al