The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-04-14

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The service of the menu was excel
lent, but some confusion was caused by
some Of the diners stripping the table
of flowers and ribbons and throwing
them to the women in the boxes. Mr..
Croker held a levee just before the reg
ular speech-making began. He shook
hands cordially, with everybody, and
smiled as man after man congratulated
him upon the success of the dinner
The confusion was very great. AS the
time drew near for the making of
speeches the orators were almost dis
couraged at the prospect of making
themselves leard.
PeSry Belmont began to speak at 10
o'clock The uproar was 50 great that
he could not be heard a hundred feet
away. By degrees more quiet was OBJ
tanned. Mr.. Belmont said:
WHAT MIR. BELMONT SAID.
Mr.. Belmont briefly sketched the
character and public services of Thorn
as Jefferson. Continuing, he said:
This is not the place. or time, to re-
late in detail the history of the negotia-
tons by Jefferson with Napoleon. be-
ginning in that month of 1902 when a.
Spanish officer at New Orleans revoked
the license granted by the treaty with
Spain of 1895 to deposit American prod
ucts at that port and freely ship them
thence to the West Indies and Europe.
and ending on that last day in April in
the next year when the treaty was
signed.
Attempts to impair the title of JEFF
ferson to the honor of the American
part of that successful diplomacy have
been failures. The plan was Jeffer
sons; the execution of the plan was
his. While he baffied the Federalsts,
endeavoring to push him into war
with France. he conciiated the north
western states, eXasperated because de-
priVed of an outlet to the gulf. His
official instructions to Livingston and
Monroe, his private letters to each,
published not long ago, disclose one
controlling head on the American side.
Recent revelations also show that JEFF
ferson exploited in most effective way
the hopes and fears which controlled
the conduct of the great first consul.
ut is not easy for history to separate
the president of the United States from
the credit or discredit of the chief acts
of an administration. SO it is with
jefferson and the Louisiana purchase,
with Madison and the war of 1912, with
Polk and the war of 1913, with Lincoln
and the war of secession, with Grant
and the Alabama treaty. So it will be
with Mckinley and the war with Spain.
Praise or blame for what was demand
ed at Paris will be his. If the president
has the benefit of success, he should
bear the burden of failure.
THE recent treaty with Spain has
been ratified. 1t is now a fixed Ytct in
our law and our politics. 1t declares
that the civil rights and political status
of the native inhabitants therein ceded
to the United States shall be deter
al Nv 10
ton and decision are Legislative and
not executive. The presidents war
power, growing out of the war with
Spain. is at an end. If he does not
assemble congress to do what the treaty
ordained, and the public welfare shall
thereby suffer, the responsibility will
be his
Mr.. Belmont continued: I'VE all
agree that the Democratic party should
have for its cornerstone the doctrines
indicated by Jefferson. One was the
supremacy of the civil over the mill
tary authority but that does not re-
qufre a national Democratic convention
to prescribe to congress the size of a
standing army. Another was honest
friendship with all nations, entangling
alliances with none, but that would not
justify national Democratic conven-
ton indicating to a Democratic presi-
dent the details of. his diplomacy to pre-
serve such friendship and avoid such
alliances. A third was honest payment
of our debts, sacred preservation of the
public faith, announcement of agr1-
culture and commerce. but that does
not compel a Democratic national con-
vention to endeavor to prevent Demo-
Gratis in any congressional district from
expressing their preference regarding