The times., 1899-07-24
PInying to the Gallery.

There is no cause for alarm in the bel
ligerent talk of Sir Charles. Tupper in the
Canadian House of Counsans on the Alas
kan boundary question: sfr Charles wild
harangue may be regarded as having
two purposes each of which is wide of
the mark of war between the United
States and Great Britain His main pur-
pose. doubtless, is to wrest tsfrom Laurier
the Canadian premiership by playing to
the gallery. With this purely local affair
We can be concerned only so far as his
success in Dominion politics might aggra-
vate cur relations with Great Britain by
delaying a settlement of the boundary dis
pute. 1t is certain that the London For
eiSn Office would not be led astray by him
even if, in the event of his elevation TO the
premiership on the wave of popularity his
present course is inciting. he should make
his demands so harsh and specific that
compliance with them by the Salisbury
Government would strain international re-
lations to the breaking point. There is
not enough involved in the purely Cana
dian contentious to induce Lord Salisbury
TO give them serious consideration. 1t is
evident that all the Canadians care for per
Sc is a monopoly OF the gold fields in the
Yukon region. British interests are more
concerned with the advantageous harbor
facilities offered by the Lynn Canal than
with the placer fields. A proper presenta-
tion of our case will show the Salisbury
Government the utter lack of British title
to the Lynn Canal, and when that is done
the Foreign Office at London will not be
distracted by the Canadian clamor for
monopolistic privileges in the Yukon.
Sir Charles other purpose is much mar
rover and more unstatesmanlike than the
one outlined. 1t is not far removed from
the belief on his part that the assumption
of belligerent mood by the Canadian
Parliament pending settlement of the ques-
tion involved and the adoption OF a modus
yivendi viii check the rush of American
gold seekers to the disputed territory if
it should not drive out the hordes already
there. This is a cheap variety of peanut
politics with which all sensible Americans
have been made acquainted by Canadian
buster for half a century or more. But
whatever effect such wild threats might
have on timid souls, such as the Atkin-
sons and Hoars, 1t is certain that they
cannot frighten the hardy pioneers who
are now in the Yukon, or who are headed
that way Even if the repressive measures
demanded by Sir Charles should be adopted
at Ottawa and Immediately enforced the
Americans now in the disputed territory
would not be driven out. Canadian efforts
in this direction would be met with stern
resistance. 1t is not al all improbable that
the pressure OF public opinion would force
the Government at Washington TO des-
patch a military expedition to Pyramid
Harbor and vicinity for the protection of
American citizens and interests in that
region. Strong demands to this effect
have been pressing upon the Administra-
ton for some time, and it is not believed
that it would require an actual overt act
by the Canadian Government to cause
President Mckinley and his advisers to
garrison the disputed territory with force
of troops sufficiently strong to check
provincial greed and rapacity.
But we decline to take Sir Charles TIP
per seriously. We prefer to view him as
we do the Hoars and Atkinsons and other
hysterical prophets of evil at home. We
believe he is making ''grandstand play"