The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-06-05
Circulation Statement.
The Crnyton.Bulwcr Question.

The CInyton.Bulwcr Question.
Today Senator Morgan will call up thu
joint resolution introduced by him yester
day declaring that the so-called Clayton
Bulwer Treaty. in the opinion of til:
Senate, is null and void. AS We under
rtand the matter, the resolution will nc
distinctly declare that the treaty never
was constitutionally ratified in the form II
is held by England to exist, but that il
has ceased to have the vitality claimed fol
it. and is to be formally abrogated by the
proposed action.
All that the country wants and demands
in the connection probably will be accom-
plished in adopting Mr.. Morgan's resolu-
tion, but We cannot refrain from once
more asserting our fixed and unalterable
conviction that the Clayton Bulwer Treaty,
conceived in corruption, II not treason,
never became binding in any way upon the
United States. because the actual agree
ment negotiated between Secretary Clay
ton and Sir Henry Bulwer was never SUBJ
mitted to the Senate for ratification.
What purported to be treaty was SUBJ
mitted. 1t distinctly provided that Eng
land should never acquire any territory in
Central America. On the strength of tina,
undertaking the Senate ratified. Long after
ward. it transpired that the British Foreign
Office and the perfidious. If not venal. Clay
ton had secret agreement by which ii
was understood that the Bay Islands and
Belize-what is now British Honduras
e. were to be exempted from the operation of
the prohibition. But the Senate was not
a consenting party to and was ignorant OF
this understanding. Clayton had no au-
thority TO bind the country to it. From
the first to last he deceived the treaty rat
flying branch of the Government. While
he already had made his deal with Eng
land to except Honduras from the terms
OF the instrument. as Senator William H.
Seward of New York declared in the Sem
ate on the 9Th Of January, 1853. he solemn
ly assured Senators who talked with him
on the subject that IT was definitely I'M
derstood between the negotiators. and ac-
5cepted as part of theproposed treaty by the
British Government. that Honduras was to
Central America" and that England
would be eternally barred from gaining
any foothold in the region named, or in
any part of Central America, giving the
widest current meaning to that designa-
ton. -
Referring to the declaration in which
Clayton and the British Ministry OF the
day sought to enact treaty totally differ.
ent to that which the Senate had ratified,
Mr.. Seward said that the State Department
had been duly warned that such an agree
ment would not get single vote in tho
Senate, and he and other Senators had as
sumed that the matter was at an end. The
constitutional fact was and is that the
Clayton-Bulwer Treaty as ratified for
babe England to make any permanent set
tlement in Central America. Clayton wa.
absolutely powerless to authorize any devil
alton from the rule thus established. The
Senate did not and would not have changed
1t. Consequently, when England. taking
customary advantage OF our preoccupation
at the time, established the Crown Colony
Of British Honduras. that act abrogated
the Clayton-B ulwer Treaty ipso facto. and
was complete notice to us and TO the world
OF the fact.
Were this not So we should not now be
bothered with the proposed Hay -Pauncefote
Treaty, which seeks to cure the vice and
crime Of the Clayton Bulwer infamy as
sought to be perpetrated by its American
negotiators. President Mckinley. Mr.. Hay.
Lord Salisbury. and Lord Pauncefote are
fully conscious that the so-called Clayton
Bulyser Treaty is legally non-existent, and
that 1t requires some new, hypocritical and
treacherous subterfuge like the Hay
Pauncefote Treaty to make 1t effective.
As we have remarked above, the Morgan
resolution, if passed in the Senate. will re-
move whatever obstruction to the build
ing of an exclusively American Canal. the
old and fraudulent pseudo-contract may
be considered to Offer 1t will be violently
and desperately opposed by the Admins |
tration as a matter OF course, but il the
Senator from Alabama is honestly and
courageously supported by his twenty five |
Democratic colleagues, he will at least be |
able to force the Administration to show
its hand. And this will happen If the
Panama and transcontinental railway rem
resentatives on the floor resort to the by |
play of dilatory or flibustering motions.
equally as II they come to the front and |
vote on the main proposition. The Hanna |
element in the Senate knows that 1t can |
be compelled to Say whether or not 1t will |
consent TO the abrogation of the Clayton
Bulwer Treaty, and to the American Canal /
proposition. including preservation of the /
Monroe Doctrine. 1t knows that 1t is L
within the ability of the twenty-six Dem
ocrats to put it squarely on record, or keep
Congress in continuous session all sum
mer.