The Irish standard., 1902-01-04
Charles Francis Adams Tells in Lecture
How Near the Dominion Was
to Being Seized.
Perfidlous Albion Glad to Submit Claims
to Arbitration to Escape
Good Drubbing.

Second. The greatest trouble, if
not peril, being constant source of
anxiety and disturbance, is from Fe-
Hianism, which is excited by the Brit
sh flag in Canada. Therefore, the
withdrawal of the British cannot be
abandoned as condition or prelim-
nary of such settlement as is now
proposed. To make the settlement
omplete the withdrawal should be
rom this hemisphere, including PROV
nces and islands,"
10 this astounding manifesto Mr..
,'ierce in his 'Life of Sumner" makes
'ut a passing reference. The whole
communication was included in 22O
words. For it Mr.. Pierce found no
pace in his four massive volumes.
To those of the present generation,
especially with what is going on in
South Africa before our eyes, it would
seem as if the first perusal Of this
memorandum must have suggested to
Mr.. Fish grave doubts as to MI. Sum-
ner's sanity. 1t reads almost like an
attempt at clumsy ridicule. Mean
while, strange as it may seem, when
received it-esuld have occasianed Mr.
Fish hardly any feeling of excessive
astonishment. 1t suggested to him
nothing new, nothing unreasonable,
nothing altogether beyond the pale of
discussion; and this statement, sur
prising now, shows the revolution in
sentiment as respects dependencies
which has taken place during the last
thirty years. From 1910 to 1870 Great
Britain looked upon her colonies as a
burden, a source of weakness and not
source of strength. This is apparent
from the discussions of the time. One
prominent English minister, for in
stance, referred to them as "our
wretched colonies" In the mind of
Mr.. Sumner the not remote withdraw
III of all European flags, including, of
course, the British, from the western
hemisphere, was the logical develop
ment of the Monroe doctrine. In April,
1869, when he delivered his "National
Inquiries and "Indirect Claims"
speech, this result seemed to him not
remote. Five months later, in a
speech before the Massachusetts state
1,o
that result certain; nor shall we wait
| long for it's mighty fuliillment In the
procession of events it is now at hand,
and he is blind who does not discern
it, Read with this clue in mind
Mr.. Summers utterances between 1860
and 1871 became Ineligible and are
conservative The claims against
Britain, amounting into the thousands
of millions, were advanced by him as
no vulgar score to be itemiZed and
added up in the form of bill. and as
such presented for payment On the
contrary. they were merely one item
in a statement of massive grievance"
The settlement was to be commensu-
rate. Comprehensive, grandiose even,
| it was to include hemispherical flag
withdrawal, as we'll as the revision of
the rules of international law. All
this was very chara cteristic of Mr..
Sumner. AS he now wrote to +. G..
Howe, 81 look to annexation at the
north. wish to have that whole zone
from Newfoundland to Vancouver"
At the same time lie wrote to Mr.. Mot
ley that Mr.. Fish had that day sound
ed the British minister on the subject
Of Canada. the American claims OH
Great Britain being too large to admit
of a money settlement. Sir Edward
Thornton, he added, had replied that
England had no wish to keep Canada,
but could not part with it without the
consent of the population. Finally, on
June ). he wrote to Mr.. Motley, say.
ing: ".All think your position is as
historic as any described by your pen
England must listen, and at last yield
do not despair of seeing the debate
end-O in the withdrawal of England
from this hemisphere; (2) in remodel
ing maritime international law. Such
public at the head Of the civilized