Daily inter mountain., 1900-12-14

Washington, Dec 14.-The senate COM
mittee on foreign relations today held a
special meeting and decided to recon-
mend further amendments of the Hay
Pauncefote treaty. The committee
adopted an amendment suggested by
Senator Foraker, which declares that
the Hay-Pauncefote treaty supercedes
the Clayton -Bulwer treaty and also
strikes out the Hay-Pauncefote agree
ment article 3, which permits the sub
mission of the HayPauncefote treaty to
other powers and invites their accept
ance of it.
The action on the foreign relations
committee after a long conference of
senators especially interested in the
ay-Pauncefote treaty. The conference
was not called together until 40 o'clock
10 minutes before the time for the con-
VeninS of the senate. There was, there
fore. no time for a discussion of the
amendment and others suggested. The
republican members announced that they
We're prepared to amend the treaty on
the lines of the Foraker suggestion:
that they considered this amendment
comprehensive enough to meet all de-
mands and that they would do no more
The Foraker amendment was according
ly agreed to and the committee adjourn
in the senate chamber when the senate
was called to order.
The meeting of senatorial friends of
the treaty occurred in Senator Aldrich's
committee room, many of those present
being members of the republican COM
mMttee on order of business. Their meet
ing today was continuance of the con-
ference which was begun yesterday i'm
mediately after the adjournment of the
senate. The Importance Of the treaty
relative to pending legislation was con-
sidered and decision was arrived at
to press the agreement to vote if pos
sible. 1t was also decided that it would
be difficult to get it through without still
further amendment and the Foraker
amendment was suggested as meeting
all objections.
The president and Secretary Hay were
also consulted with reference to the ad-
visibility of further amending the
treaty by Senators Lodge and Foraker,
who called up on them before coming to
the capital today.
Unless amended beyond any degree
proposed in the senate by the respective
leaders, and resolved into such form as
to make it an absolute discourteous mat
ter to be communicated, the pending
HayPauncefOte treaty will be sub
mitted to the British government by the
president. The communication will be
entirely pro forma, for the administra-
ton has not the slightest idea that the
convention will be accepted by the
British government If this belief is
we'll founded then the document will go
into the limbo of treaties failed of rati-
tieation, it's position comparing i'm some
degree with the Olney- Pauncefote arbi-
tlation treaty.
The president. might, if he regards the
amendments made by the senate to the
treaty as objectionable, take upon him
self the responsibility of administering
the final stroke by simply Withholding
it from the British government There
is Arecedent for such action in the dis
posal made of certain treaties by Pres-
dent Cleveland. But in that ease the OBJ
lection was an on our side, while in the
present it is assumed that Great Britain
may be the party to whom the amend
ments are most obnoxious and so might
properly be accorded the privilege of
passing upon them finally. That is the
administration view of the situation.
Any expectation that the action of the
senate yesterday upon the Davis amend
ment to the -Pauncefote treaty would
result in the immediate retirement Of
Secretary Hay from the cabinet is mega