The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-01-25

make the HrSl cannon Wnlcn SnaH De
fired in Europe the signal for tearing
up any settlement she may have made.
and for holding the two continents of
America in seuuestration for the COM
mon purposes of the United British
and American nations"
BY October 10, i'm letter to Mr..
Livingston, Mr.. Jefferson distinctly be-
comes an ardent friend of peace with
France: I'VE see all the disadvan-
tages consequences of taking a side,
and shall be forced into it only by a
more disagreeable alternatives; in which
event. we must countervail the dis
advantages by measures which will
give us splendor and power, but not as
much happiness as our present system.
We wish, therefore, to remain well with
France. But we see that no con-
| sequences, however ruinous to them,
can secure us with certainty against
the extravaganza of her present rulers.
/ think, therefore, that while we do
nothing which the first nation on earth
would deem crouching, we had better
give to all our communications with
them very mild. complaisant. and
even friendly complexion but always
independent"
! Ny tNoNttIDti Tie pltSluenl > lllODu
changes somewhat, as shown in let
ter to Thomas Cooper: ut delights me
to find that there are persons who still
think that all is not lost in France.
| That their restoration from limited
to an unlimited despotism is but to
| give themselves a new impulse. But
see not how or when. The press, the
only tocsin of nation, is completely
| Gil f11Dp oil s,f
general effort taken away" This
rough drive at Napoleon Bonaparte is
! the farewell stroke of policy for the
year before the great treaty.
In January, 1902. the alert Living
ston learns positively OF the secret
treaty between France and Spain and
forwards a copy of the Madrid treaty
to his government. On February 26. he
writes from Paris: "On the subject of
Louisiana, / have nothing new. The
establishment is disapproved by every
statesman here as one that will &C.
casion a great waste of men and money
excite enmities with us. and produce
no possible advantage to the nation.
But it is scheme to which the first
consul is extremely ATTACHED, and
must of course be supported. You will
pressed an explanation on the subject
but 1 have received no answer / have
it however, through friend, from the
first consul. that it is by no means
their intention to obstruct the naviga-
tion of the Mississippi or violate our
treaty with SPAIN"
The secretary of state. in a letter TO
Livingston of MayS1, 1902 begins to
liZn tho 1nr nf T
THE conduct of the French govern
ment, in paying so little attention to
it's obligations under the treaty, in
neglecting it's debts to our citizens, in
giving no answers to your complaints
and eXpostulations.w which you say is the
case with those of other foreign minis
ters also. and particularly in it's re-
serve as to Louisiana, which tacitly
contradicts the language first held to
you by the minister of foreign rela-
tions, gives tokens as little suspicious
to the true interests of France her
self. as to the rights and just objects
of the United States. " The ces-
sion of Louisiana to France becomes
daily more and more a source of pain
full apprehensions. You will
also pursue, by prudent means, the in
particularly whether it includes the |
Floridas as well as New Orleans. and |
endeavor to ascertain the price at .
which these, if included in the cesson,
would be yielded to the United States"
1t must be observed here that |
Madison turns his mind to the compar-
atively unimportant east side of the
river, not the unbound west side. In
4. I IN I'M DlyYo.
he shows clearly Jeffersons attitude:
SHOULD the cession actually fail from
this, or any other cause, and Spain re-
tain New Orleans and the Floridas, I
repeat to you the wish of the president,
that every effort and address be en-
ployed to obtain the arrangement by
which the territory on the east side
of the Mississippi, including New Or
leans, may be ceded to the United
States, and the Mississippi made
common boundary, with a common use
of it's navigation for them and Spain.
The inducements to be held out to
Spain were intimated in your original
instructions on this point am
charged by the president now to add.
that you may not only receive and
transmit proposition of guaranty of
her territory beyond the Mississippi, as
a condition of her ceding to the United
States the territory, including New
Orleans, on this side, but, in case 1t he
necessary, may make the proposition
in the forms required by our
This very significant despatch is
found on page 517 of American State
Papers, vol. III of Foreign Relations:
also in the archives of the department
OF state. 1t is an official document
which the writer's of our, school his
tories apear never to have seen. II
proves that Mr., Jefferson, instead OF
bringing about the Louisiana acquisi-
ton single-handed, was the one man
who was ready and willing to prevent
forver this acquisition by q consti.u-
tional guaranty" or prohibition! We
refer of course to the vast territory on
the west side of the Mississippi which
Is the only domain worthy of extended
discussion.
Minister Pinckney tried i'm vain 70
carry out these ominous instructions
out fortunately could not, because ,
Spain was in doubt whether she had
any Floridas TO sell or convey. In
France Livingston was told that the :
Floridas did not belong to the lands
With all his virtuous
patience exhausted Livingston wrote
nome in September; There never was ,
government in which less could be |
lone by negotiation than here. There
$ no people, no legislature. no counsel q
ors. One man is everything. He never 6
lsks advice, and never hears ii un- s