The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-03-14
"FIFrr-F0UR FORTY OR FI0HE."
Great Britain's American PoIicy-some Pre-
YiOns TIIumpha Of Diplomacy.

the minds OF the American people n deep dis
trust OF the desires and purposes Of Great
Britain toward this country, as exhibited In
her diplomacy and the stress she eyerts In our
direction. Is patent to all men. No other nation.
through a long series OF years, has arrayed
against us a 1.-THE Of the consistent and per-
3 stsnt pressure that has issued from the Brit
ish Foreign Office. The apparent object oithat
pressure has been the limiting Of our political
growth. or. as during the Civil War, the rcduc.
ton OF the great republic to the status Of tho
South American political organizations
The marvellous territorial development Of the
United States. by which II reached the Pacific
Ocean with an unbroken sea front from the
former northern boundary Of Mexico to the
southerly extension Of Russian America. WAS
ono OF the grandest augurics Of the future
greatness OF the republic. The clash between
Russia and Great Britain as to the ownership
OF tho southern Alaskan coast was. at a later
period. settled by the exclusion OF the latter
from a boundary on the Pacific Ocean and at
the point on that ocean where the southern
boundary OF Russian America ceased there
began the northern boundary OF the territory
OF the Louisiana purchase. acquired by US from
France.
But the s~o-called diplomacy OF Great Brit
ain came into play. driving a wedge between
the southern boundary OF Alaska and the north.
ern boundary Of the Louisiana purchase on tho
Pacific. and claiming all Of the territory now
embraced in the present States Of Oregon and
Washington and o. British Columbia, There
are those yet living who remember the wave Of
popular indignation that swept over the land
at this high.handed attack on American cx.
M n sin, . IN attupl rnoia oplv nftnr tbn f,tln 70
the territory had passed to the United States.
a supposedly weak nation. safer to bully than
Russia or France. The cry Of "Fifty-four forty
or fight" has become historic. That parallel
was the southern boundary Of Ru ssian America.
now Alaska, and the northern Of the territory
OF the United States.
But in those days. as now, we had some small
Americans who desired to score 'triumrhs Of
American diplomacy and soto tho disgust
Of the nation-we gave TO Great Britain that
vast empire north Of the 10Th parallel, ill then
u portion Of the Louisiana purchase, including
British Columbia and a large %rortion Of the
Northwest territory; thus opening the Pacific
Ocean TO the British empire. giving to It all Of
Vancouver's Island and a boundary in the
Strait OF San Juan de Fuca. And IN that
strait she has erected the giant fortress OF
Esqulmalt. commanding the scaway to tho
three American cities Of Tacoma. Seattle and
pia and. In time Of war thereby. dominat.
ing q vast American territory aud thousands Of
miles Of her interior coast line.
Does any sane man think that the foregoing
triumph OF American diplomacy" settled ANY,
thing except the loss. OF tho keystone to our
Pacific Coast arrh2 Yes, II did nlso settle u
stout bludgeon in the hand Of Great Britain
with which TO cOerce our people when the hour
Of real stress comes. In that settl ement lie
may yet shake the continent. Already
we may recognize its rumhlinR vanguard In
the movement Of the Ottawa branch OF the
British Empire to break through the thirty
land OF the Northwest territory and the Pacific
Ocean. The turbulence with which that absurd
demand Is urged by the imitation John Bulls
ct Ottawa Ia but an echo of the insolence with
which tho native Tory Engltshman backs up
preposterous claims for territorial aggrandize-
II has become evident that the first principle
OF British diplomacy Is that Of claiming every
thing in sight, and its last principle that OF al
lowing the victim a small fraction OF what is
flour d~iplomatists would but cast their eyes
beyond the narrow vision Of the present hour
and study the probabilities of the future In the
" 1ir hst 81 5s' io 5nG!' d Of u 2Gt G they H WSSIa saSe ' dar
descendants a world OF trouble and many a
e~rievous problem. Because the lust instinct
oft 81 the g, A IF .Fo pso Iasty that at w ssh voice. To IN the the
" W. ~ hehN Vu' .upb
Needed. and because OF the compromise then
made TO avoid a possible light, this generation
is charged with, an issue In which there is the
possibility OF a fight a hundred-folr more dis
tressina than would have followed the deter
mination OF Great Britain to persist In the Ore
But not alone at our North Pacific boundary
are We face to face with the pretensions OF
Great Britain. She confronts Us In Central
America, and she has a rod IN pickle for us in
a n%1l'i her n sisantic naval val base es at &. 81 LS Ss%A area
eloquent warnings Of h-r designs on this con
tinent. The EXPANSION OF her claimstthrough
her doctrine that the possession Of the mouth
Of a river or an estuary carries with II the right
to appropriate all the territory draining. into
the %ehiuent are full OF the significance Of her
slightest foothold anywhere on this planet.
To the mind OF the thinking observer IL
seems clear that there Ia no entanglir ALI.
ance so fraught with danger to the peo..e Of
Great Britain. The traditional instinct OF the
American people has been to keep Great
Britain Mt arms length, and It would be suici-
denee that. the British, lion has abated his
desire to draw the talons OF the American
Although nearly a century and a quarter have
passed since the patriots OF America pledged
their lives. their fortunes and their sacred
honors' to the cause Of emancipatine this land
from the tyranny Of British overlordship. the
pleted. II remains with us, their descendants
FOUR generations later. to complete that work.
That work Is one for exalted American states
manship: a work no less than that Of
extinguishing the last vestige OF Brit.
ish dominion on this hemisphere. That
that work be done Is manifest destiny.
It cannot be shirked. II may be ac-
complished by a wise and Arm diplomacy. or
by such blunders asthe Hay Pauncefote treaty
our relations may be made 80 intolerable that
sheathe the sword to accomplish at any cost
what a latuous diplomacy may fail to realize.
Before Great Britain can have any claim to
our confidence, CT any ground for a sympa-
thetlc backing, she must withdraw the
threats. pointed at us cplv, in her militant and
naval possessions at Halifax. the Bermudas,
Nassau. 81. Lucla and EsIuimalt.
America was the yasr and productive hinter-
land Of England. 1t Ia her base OF supplies for
her people and her armies In the field. She
lost that magnificent hinterland through the
stupid expressions OF har Tory Bourbons. We
have no reason to believe that the English
Bourbon OF to-day is much wiser than his pred
ecessor OF the eighteenth century. And as
ish Government are shaped by that truculent
class whose voices We hear az short intervals
the American people will be shy OF creating O
British Sovereignty over this continent.
GEORGE W. DITHRrDGE,
New YORK. March IL,
To THE EDITOR oP THE SuN-Sir: The Davis
amendment provides against a startling con-
tingency.
in the Hay Paunceiote treaty Ia the follow
ing "A vessel OF war Of one belligersnt shall