The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-03-21

States should think ft TO attempt the
reduction of the British power remain
ing in the northern parts OF America,
or of the Bermuda islands, those coun-
tries or islands, In case of success, shall
be confederate with or dependent upon
the said United states" Mr. Lodge
points out that the treaty clause just
quoted was drawn by Benjamin Frank
| lin, who had been on the committee
which drafted the Declaration of Indc.
pcndencc. and to whom that document
had been submitted for amendment
and correction. Franklin must have
| known what the Declaration meant. yet
| he saw no inconsistency in penning
| treaty clause which provided for the
acquisition of inhabited territory by
conquest, and asserted the right of the
| United States to govern the territory
| thus acquired as a dependency.
I 1t was scarcely a year later. or In
| the winter of 177S-79, that the second
| practica, Interpretation of the Declar-
alton of 1ndependens came with our
| first extension of territory through the
conquest Of the Illinois country by
George Rogers Clark. Mr.. Lodge re-
minds us that we did not ask the con-
sent of the French inhabitants of that
region to our government. when, by
! the right OF conquest. they were cedcd
/ to us under the Treaty of Paris.
JEFFERsON's PRACTICE.
The next of ou: expansions was the
! great Louisiana purchase. In the
treaty embodying that purchase there
is not a word about the consent OF
| z.t To
about such consent in the resolutions
of congress which gave Jefferson the
power to rule over that vast region
or in the act organizing the territorial
government AS a matter of fact. new
ertheless, there were some thirty thou-
sand white men settled near the mouth
of the Mississippi and on the banks
of that river vino had no good will 20
this government. and whose wishes
were never consulted by the nations
which decided their fate. 1t has been
said that the case of the inhabitants
of Louisiana differs from the case OF
| the Filipinos, because the former were
| few, while their territory was vast.
MI Lodge would inquire at what point
in the census a doctrine reputedly sa.
cred begins to take effect. He SUBJ
mits that, if the consent of the gov
erned is rigorous and immutable
principle, no casuistry can make it
once absolute and yet subject to mOdi-
fication by land areas or census sta
tistics. The application of the princl-
pie is either governed by the laws of
common sense or it is Interchangeable.
jefferson, for his part. did not attempt
to rest his government of Louisiana
| without the consent of the governed
on any such grounds as the numbers
of the population or the size of the ter
ritory. Mr. Lodge quotes from a let
ter to Dewitt Clinton to show tina t
jefferson defended it on the round of
common sense, for he wrote: Our
new fellow citizens are, as yet, as in
capable of self-government as are chill
| dren."
THE CASE OF FLORIDA.
Senator Lodge goes on to show that
sixteen years after the purchase of
Louisiana we bought Florida from
Spain without the consent of the gov
erned. This infringement of a princi
pie alleged to be proclaimed in the Dec
laration of independence was perpe-
trated by James Monroe and John
Quincy Adams. Congress was a party
to the act, for it placed in the hands
Of President Monroe the power to gov
ern the new territory absolutely. in
the very terms employed in the case
of Louisiana.
AS to Texas it is admitted that we
had, technically, the consent Of the
governed. but it so happened that at
the annexation those who ruled Texas
were Americans. They had gone into
the country, conquered it, and then
annexed it to the United States. Meth
er Senator Lodge, however. nor any
body else has ever been able TO dis
cover any proof that the Mexicans who
lived in Texas had their consent asked
on the contrary. it is notorious that
the rule Of the American invaders was
forced upon such 'MeXicans as inhab-
tied Texas before their arrival with
out regard to the latter's wishes.
We come now to the Treaty of Quad.
aloupe Hidalgo. in lS4s, by which We
received a great tract Of territory, in
cluding all the California coast; we
We're generous enough to give Mexico
solEe eighteen million dollars as in.
dcmnity: but no one will deny that the
acquisition was made by conquest
There were many MeXicans living
within the ceded territory. but W.
never asked their consent. Will it bt
pretended that they We're too few ir
proportion to the extent of their coun
try to be entitled to signify consent
Only by thus drawing the census line
can their case be distinguished from
that of the Filipnos. The same thine
may be said of the Gadsden Purchas
made in 1852. for. under the treaty pro
visions We bought territory with ths
people on it. and nobody was consulted
except the govern ,aents of Mexico anc
the United States.
ALASKA
Mr. Lodges list of expansions CLOSET
with Alaska. The treaty provided tha
the Inhabitants Of the ceded lerritor.
might return to Russia within thre;
years; but, should they prefer to re
main, they, with the exception of th'
uncivilized native tribes, should be ad
mtted to the enjoyment Of all th'
rights. advantages and immunities o
citizens of the United States. Thi
treaty explicitly makes the uncivilizeC
tribes of Alaska. our subjects. for the,
: are to be governed without their con
sent, and they are not even to be al
lowed to become citizens. Neverthe
ISIS, it was sanctioned by the senat
without serious opposition, and th'