The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-02-03
To the Senate OF
The United States
From the New York Sun.

From the New York Sun.
A treaty of peace with Spain lies upol
your table on Monday, Feb. ., at
o'clock in the afternoon, you will vote
upon it. The war which this treaty brings
to an end was one of unbroken victory,
and the treaty acCords with the war. ON
this statement alone it would seem that
the ratification of such treaty could be
nothing more than a form, and that not
IL single vote could possibly be given
against 1t by any senator Such, how
ever marvellous as 1t may appear, is not
the case There IS opposition to this
treaty, an opposition violent, passionate,
extremely vocal, and sad TO say, with
votes behind the voices. Treaties Of
peace in the past have often called out op-
position, discomfort and criticism on the
winning side, but always upon the ground
that they have not been commensurate
with the deserts Of the victor This
treaty has the unique distinction of meet
ing with opposition among the represen-
tatives Of the victor nation because it is
too triumphant and has taken too much
from the vanquished. No objection is
made, or can be made, to the instrument
itself The treaty is drawn with the ut
most skill; II grants every American de-
mand and commits the United States 70
nothing. 1t Is as creditable to American
diplomacy as the battles by sea and land
were to the sailors and soldiers of the
United States. 1t is assailed solely on
the ground that 1t is too successful and
matches too completely the work Of the
American army and navy.
o.
The position of the opponents OF the
treaty and the diatribes with which they
sustain il are difficult TO comprehend. In
genuity has been strained to show that
the constitution limits the ordinary pow
crs which pertain to every sovereign
and independent nation, and to invent
every kind of possible and impossible sit
uation as a barrier to constitutional ac-
tion. The declaration of independence
has been pressed into the service and
made TO do duty as a statement of Or
ganic law TO be construed like a statute,
I'm manner which would make the au-
thor and signers Of that greatest Of rev.
olutionary manifestoes stare with amaze
ment and surprise, And all this heated
invocation of the declaration and the
| constitution is beside the mark and with
! out any relation TO the question in hand.
At the best II Is academic, and at the
worst it is insulting to the American peo-
| pie, for 1t implies that they are not to be
! trusted to live up to the principles they
| have themselves enunciated and TO in
| terpret Alright the constitution which
| they reverence and for which in past
| time they have given their lives and spent
| their treasure Once off the ground of the
! constitution and the declaration of in
| dependence, the opponents of the treaty
depart entirely from the practical ques-
| ton and plunge into future which they
cannot read and fill that future with Chin
/ oras dire and with the vain things OF
overheated imaginations, All they say
can be summed up'in one short sentence
! that the American people are not to be
trusted with the fate of the Philippines
and are too feeble, too dishonest, toe
brutal to undertake the task.
%
The senate debate has not brought out
| a single argument or one valid objection
| to the ratification OF the treaty. In fact
| It is difficult to take seriously anything
said by its opponents, and II is impossible
! to answer them, for there is nothing e
| which n reasonable mind can make re-
ply. But If the arguments are fuul,
and without bearing on the case, the sit
uation created by the opposition and th'
| votes they profess TO have are seriou;
in the extreme. They have already pro