The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-02-06
AMENDED AND SIGNED
CLAUSE OF CLAY
TON-BULWER TREATY CUT OUT.
And the Signatures of Secretary Hay
and Ambassadors Pauncefote At
tached-ERect of Change.

Pauncefote treaty. amendatory or the
Clayton Bulwer treaty relative TO the con-
struction of the Nicaragua canal. was
signed at the State Department to-day by
Secretary Hay and Lord Pauncefote. of
Great Britain. There was very little
formality about the ceremony. and a con-
tract that is expected to be. for the United
States at least, of the most far-reaching
purposes and value came into being with
out any theatrical surroundings. There
were present beside Secretary Hay and
Lord Pauncefote only Mr.. Bromley.
honorary attache of the British embassy
and prospective son-in-law OF Lord
Pauncefote, Sydney Smith, chief of the
diplomatic bureau. and William Gwynn,
the faithful and discreet messenger TO the
Department of State, who placed the seals
on this convention, as he has upon nearly
every treaty of Importance to which the
United States has been a party for the
past thirty years.
The first thing in order was to compare
the two drafts of the treaty carefully to
insure their identity, which work was per-
formed by Messrs. Smith and Bromley.
Then the signing took place, Secretary
copy of the treaty which is to be retained
by the United States government after the
final exchange of Publications. The seals
were attached and then there were con-
gratulations and the ceremony was over
Messrs Smith and Bromley retired and
Secretary Hay and Lord Pauncefote had
a long private chat.
Mr. Smith carried the freshly signed
treaty to the White House. where the let
ter of transmittal was signed by the Pres
ident so that the treaty could be dis
patched at once to the United States Sem
ate for ratification. The letter of trans
initial was purely formal, simply COM
mending the treaty to the Senate without
entering on any argument to demonstrate
its great value.
Secretary Hay declined to make public
the text of the treaty even to make any
statement as to its details, holding that
courtesy to the Senate obliged him to re-
main silent until the Senate itself removes
the seal of confidence from the conven-
ton, so that all that is now known of this
convention is that it amends the Clayton
Bulwer treaty of 1850 in such manner thae
Great Britain yields to the United States
the right to construct the Nicaraguan
canal or a canal at any other point on the
isthmus without British participation.
Most of the other features In the Clayton
Bulwer treaty are retained. This Is not
ably true of article No. 8, which guaran-
tees the absolute neutrality OF any canal
and the security Of the capital invested.
1t is understood the United States takes
on itself the obligation to maintain the
neutrality of the canal, which shall be for
ever open and free. 1t is also believed
the treaty looks to an international UNDER
taking this point.
Because the requirements of interna-
tional courtesy would not otherwise be OBJ
served it is expected the Senate VIII not
make the convention known before To-
morrow at the earliest, and on this point
there has been some understanding be-
tween Secretary Hay and the BRUSH gov
eminent
rotary Hay and Lord Pauncefote, who are
the principals and who manifested that
fact by signing the treaty. Possibly the
fact that the first news OF the success Cd
the attempt to reach an agreement on TINS
important subject came from London was
the ground for the belief In some quar-
tiers that the negotiations were all con-
Quoted there.
AS soon as the treaty is ratified and the
ratffications have been exchanged, the
United States will be at liberty to proceed
at once with the reconstruction OF an 18TH
milan canal unfettered by any obligations
toward Great Britain, save that OF allow
ing to British citizens, as to the citizens OF
other nations, the use Of the canal on the
same terms with American citizens. Pos
sibly this might have been done without
to-day's treaty, for the question as to
whether or not the Clayton-Bulwer treaty
Is vet alive has been the subject OF con-
troversy for many years. and many able
minds have taken either side. But the
present administration, convinced that the
Clayton Bulwer treaty was still in force,
felt itself bound by the most sacred OBJ
legations to live up to the treaty as long
as 1t stood unchanged. In seeking to
amend IT, the administration resorted to
the only honorable means, i'm its judgment
to realize its desires; hence the treaty
signed to-day.
There is absolutely no quid pro quo
offered to Great Britain in this treaty in re-
turn for the valuable concession to the
United States. Whatever return the United
States may choose to make for this con-
cession is thing Of the future.
The new treaty was received by the Sem
ate to-day and read in executive session
Senator Davis, chairman Of the committee
on foreign relations, moved to make the
treaty public, ii was subject In which
all were greatly interested, but after some
discussion II was decided to refer the mat
ter to the committee on foreign relations
before taking that step. The comments OF
senators upon the treaty after hearing II
read were favorable. 1t was said to allow
the United States all the authority that
was needed and the neutrality Of the canal
was guaranteed, was the neutrality OF
the Suez canal.