Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-09

treaty Of Client he used a simple seal bears
ing the initials, III c..
The bodies of all treaties drawn At WASH.
ington are written in the same copper.
plate hand in which credentials are exec
cuted and upon the same quality of paper.
The ribbon cemented to the seals is used IN
binding the pages of these instruments.
The Senate's Consent.
A treaty having thus been signed need
not then be accepted by the President un-
less 1t satisfy him In every particular.
Having passed his inspection, 1t must go
now to the Senate, which must consider 1t
in executive session--behind closed doors.
Although the President is the initiatory
treaty-making power, the Senate must first
consent to ratification by a two-thirds vote
Of the members present before such a high
contract can become valid. The constitu-
tons Of some countries require no further
ratification of a treaty than that OF its
plenipotentiaries who sign 1t. In absolute
monarches the sovereign often has the
power to ratify without the advice or con-
sent of any one else. But the King OF Eng
land cannot ratify a treaty without the
recommendation of the most honorable
privy council, a body of about seventy
dignitaries appointed by the prime minis
ter with the approval OF the sovereign and
including the Prince of Wales and all or
the male members of the royal family. The
opposition party is represented In this body
by large but powerless delegation. Hence
the British sovereign can have his own
way to a large extent in treaty making
The Senate. having ratified a treaty, re-
turns it to the President with a printed
sheet, bearing the following form-printed
in-appended to 1t: "In Executive Session.
Senate of the United States. Resolved two
thirds of the senator's present concurring
therein). That the Senate advise and con-
sent to the ratification of a treaty between
hfa init tod
follows the attest of The secretary and
chief clerk of the Senate The next step is
dent
Presidents Ratification.
The President uses regular form of rati-
fcation inscribed in the copper-plate pen
manship aforementioned. He again opens
with the clause. ITO all whom these pres
ents shall come. Greeting know ye" etc.
He describes the treaty in detail in the first
part of the verbose form asserts his ratifi-
cation in the second part and sandwiches
the treaty in between the two parts. the
formal approval of the Senate being bound
together with the entire conglomoration OF
words. all under the same cover, fastened
with the free ends of the ribbons under the
seals of the plenipotentiaries. But before
ti.is final binding together Of the various
documents can be consummated, the Presi-
dent must issue a formal warrant. filed in
with the same copper-plate hand many
tlIfleS dlOTefiltilt1ODeu ana sighed Dy Ms OWL
hand. This is a permit. prescribed by stat
ute, for the impression of the great seal of
the United States upon the document of
ratification. This seal, which upon super
fetal glance, looks like a large letter press.
is kept locked in a cabinet In the State De-
partment. The precious impression (the
possession of which by any person not au-
thorized by warrant is serious offense
against the government Is made upon a
white wafer about the size of a soda biscuit.
This is pasted upon the Presidents docu-
ment of ratification
Exchanging Notifications.
The making Of the Original treaty Is
now completed, and the President has
drawn a proclamation announcing the fact
to the people of the United States. But be-
fore this may be published still more red
tape must be unwound, and still more cop
per plate pennfanship must be executed.
The whole treaty must be copied. word for
word and this exchange copy, bear ne
the Presidents ratification must be formally
delivered to the representative of the other
high contracting party. The same cere-
mony is gone through with at the foreign
emu of the line and protocol of exchange
must be signed by the respective represen-
tatives of the two countries. when the de-
livery of these exchange copies takes place.
Elaborate bindings are often placed upon
these exchange treaties by foreign coun-
tries, while the texts of the instruments
themselves are frequently executed with
the highest-degree of photographic skill.
The exchanges copy of the Louisiana pur-
chase treaty is one Of the most elaborate
of these. The covers or bfdck velvet -are
I4x10 inches in dimension, embroidered in
silver and gold. Attached are long cords
and tasses of the same texture attaching
a gold circular box about four inches in
diameter containing the great seal OF Ma
poIeOn Engraved upon this receptacle Is
the seated figure of Liberty and the in
scription 'Bonaparte, 1st Consul de la Re-
publiaue."
Freak Treaties
The most remarkable treaty ever pre-
sented to the United States is a huge
whales tooth sent as such by the King of
Fiji before that cannibal group became a
British possession. 1t is about ten inches
long and is attached to a long whlpcord
woven OF brown fiber.
Our oriental treaties are the most pic
turesque of all such documents filed away
in the State Department. The Cushing
treaty with China, 1914, bears the immense
stamp or seal of "Tsiyeng, Vice Guardian
of the Heir Apparent, Governor General or
the two Kwangs and Superintendent Cen
eral of the Trade and Foreign intercourse
of the Five Ports.
Even more curious is the treaty Win
Algiers of 1875. In that year our govern
ment, because we had no navy, was com
PEELED to agree, by this instrument. TO
pay to the Dey of Algiers an annual tribute
for the relief of seamen captured by the
Algerian pirates. The opening of this docu-
ment reads thus: "a Treaty of Peace and
Amity concluded this present day, lima
year of the Hegira 1910, corresponding with
Saturday the 9Th of September, 1898, be-
tween Hassan Bashan, Dey of Algiers, his
divan and subjects. and George Washing
ton a" The Algerian signature to this In
strument is a strange feat of scrollwork
intangled in a seal stamped on the paper.
JOHN ELFRETH WATKINS, JR.