The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-12-19
FORAKER HAD THE FLOOR
TREATY As SECRETARY HAY
SIGNED 1T
MORGAN WANTS IT RATIFIED
Leader of the Canal Forces Wants
It's Neutrality Assured and
the Treaty Rati-
fled.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1.-THE friends
of the -Pauncefote treaty occupied
nearly all of the time of the senate in
executive session today, Senator Foraker
and Morgan being the speakers.
Previous to the taking up of that treaty
the senate for the purpose of clearing its
calendar disposed of several ether
treaties of comparatively little i'm
pOrtance. Five conventions III all were
ratified Among the documents the house
disposed of was an agreement supple
mentary - the Hay Pauncefote treaty
itself, and extending the time within
which it may he ratified. Under the
terms Of the original treaty the time for
ratification expired five months ago. The
agreement favorably passed upon today
extends the time until the 4th of March,
during which the treaty may be com
pleted. Senator Lodge. who had the mat
ter in charge, manifested some anxiety
over this treaty and evidently was some
what relieved when it went through with
out dissenting voice.
The other ties which were ratified
were as follows:
Extending for one year the time within
which the commercial treaty With Ar
gentine may be ratified.
Extending for year the time within
which the treaty with Great Britain for
reciprocity with Jamaica may be ratified.
The new eXtradition treaties with Eo-
livia and China
When the Hay-Pauncefote treaty was
taken up attention was given to the reso-
luton offered in open session eaIlier in
the day by Senator Tillman calling for
the correspondence between this govern
ment and the government of Colombia,
relative to the right of the United States
to construct a canal across Colombia ter
ritOry. The resolution was agreed to
after it was amended at the Instance Of
Senator Morgan so as also to call for all
the correspondence with the Panama
canal company, including all offers ON
the part of that company and all nego-
tiation with it concerning the Panama
canal
Senator Bard of California, gave notire
of an amendment he will offer 20 the
treaty, providing that the United States
shall have the right to discriminate in
favor of American goods shipped through
the canal in American vessels engaged in
coastwise trade
FORAKER'S DEFENSE.
Senator Foraker's speech from first to
last, was a defense of the Hay-Pauuce-
fote treaty, and he took occasion to
praise in high terms Secretary Hay. who
he said is not only an accomplished gen.
tleman and scholarly man, but a ratriot
and statesman of high order. He had
differed from the secretary in some re-
spects, he said, as to he policy 10 be
pursued, but any fair-minded man must
recognize that in negotiating the
treaty the secretary of state had ac-
cepted conditions as he found them, and
that in falling into the policy Of neutral
ity he had only followed historic prece-
dents. AS for himself he had ALWAYS Ia
vored an American policy in dealing With
the question of the construction Of the
canal, but no one would give the least
attention to the subject could fail co see
that the neutral policy had been the poll
cy of the country in the past. Every adj
ministration since 1850 had given some
recognition to the Clayton Buiwer treaty,
and that document was to be found in the
governments latest treaty compilation
10 further show the attitude of this ma
tion Mr.. Foraker quoted the fifteenth
article of the treaty made between the
United States and Nicaragua in regard
to the canal, in 1867, as follows: ''You
hereby agree to extend protection to all
such routes of commerce as Aforesaid.
and TO guarantee the neutrality and inno-
cent use of the same. They also agree to
employ their influence with other nations
to induce them to guarantee such neu-
trality and protection"
What more definite and positive decIa-
ration, asked Mr.. Foraker, could be
made for neutrality In dealing with the
M
mad merely acted in accordance with the
established policy of the government in
providing for neutral rights in the pro-
posed waterway
Mr.. Foraker also contended that there
is an implied reservation in the. treaty az
II came 10 the senate to protect the canal
from enemies. The treaty guarantees its
neutrality in time of peace. he said but
we reserve the right to do with it as we
see mt in time of war EXCEPT that we
cannot fortify it. But, he went on. there
is no prohibition against our closing il
IN war Tune He found great significance
in the difference between the LANGUAGE
used in the Constantinople treaty relating
TO Suez canal and the language employed
IN relation to the Nicaraguan canal and
ne dWeit upon the fact that the Suez
treaty contains a provision that in time
oil hosulit1es that canal shall be open TO
me silps OF belligerents, although the
ottoman empire. through whose domtn-
ION the canal was to be constructed
should be one of the beliigereats That
provision had been omitted from the
Hay-famcefote treaty, MIR Fora ker
SAID, and he argued that the. omission
couIu De interpreted in no way except
as concession of difference in intent
senator Morgan tTaVerSed much of the
ground he had covered in his previous
arguments In support of the Hay-Pannce-
fote treaty. He referred to the protocols
agreed to between Nicaragua and Costa
Iica regarding the canal and said thar
the ratification Of the Hay treaty is a
debt we owe to them. Those countries If
they should see fit might rise ND and re,
fuse to allow us to DO anything; hence
we could not afford to do anything that
would offend them. For this reason he
would have the neutrality of the canal
assured and the pending treaty ratified
RIVERS AND HARBORS.
The house committee on rivers and har.
bors expect to have their bill completed
before the holiday recess AS the bin
nears completion, with the continuing
contracts provided for, the total IS
r2ounting up far beyond the original an
ucipations and at the last moment if
may be found necessary to scale all
around. It is understood that the hill
with continuing contracts as now provIs-
lonally agreed upon exceeds s75.OC0 .ooD
The committee has Professionally agreed
to an appropriation of $225 900 for sur
vey of the 14-foot canal project to con.
meet the Great Lakes with the Missis-
sippi by way of the Chicago drainage
canal and the Des PLANES river There
was big fight in the committee over
this matter, but the canal people won. 1t
also is understood that the committee