The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-02-20
A POOR TRIUMPH.

Illinois has just succeeded in his fill
buster against the Senate bill providing
for the payment of French spoliation
claims. But it is not a victory of
which either he or any fair minded
American can honestly boast
Historically, the matter is very sim
pie and easy, with origin going back
more than one hundred years. The
treaty of alliance between the Ameri.
can Republic and France, negotiated by
Franklin in I77S, provided, among
other things, that the American Re
public should guarantee TO France her
West India colonies But we never
made any attempt to fulfill that guar
autee; and Great Britain captured the
most of those colonies, creating griev-
ance against the United States on the
part of France, for which our represcn-
tatives mt one time agreed TO pay
$4,000, 900 to quiet But in the diff
culties which we had with Franco dur
ing the French Revolution, more than
1000 American merchantmen were
seized by French privateers and the
cargoes confIscated, American ocean
commerce being practically obhterated
The estate of hostilities, " so called,
continued for some ten years, although
no regular war was declared. And so,
this gave the American shipowners and
traders who had suffered losses an op.
portunity TO press claims for damages
against France. The United States
backed these claims, and in the diplo-
matte settlement which followed. this
country sized up the claims of its citi.
zens by reason of the destruction of
American vessels as equivalent to the
damage TO France caused by our neg.
lect of our treaty obligation to guar.
antec the West Indies. And so, the
score was wiped out on both sides: and
both France and the United States
called the account even.
1T was not provided in the treaty, of
course, nor was il proper so to provide.
that the United States would settle
with It's own citizens on n basis of their
proved claims for damages on account
Of the French depredations. But that
was the necessary implication For
since those claims were real and had
heretofore been pressed against
France, and the United States relieving
France of the obligation by canceling
thus the claim of France. it necessarily
followed that this obligation was
shifted to the shoulders of this nation
But when the matter came TO the point
of adjudication, al! sorts Of difficulties
arose. The claimants were vehement
but proofs in many eases were lack
ing. and settlement dragged decade
after decade. During the Presidency
of General Grant, Senator Sumner of
Massachusetts, as head of the foreign
affairs committee of the Senate. was
deposed in favor of Senator Cameron
of Pennsylvania. A few days after the
change was made, Senator Sumner
demanded to know what Senator Cam.
eron proposed to do about the French
spoliation claims. The willy Pennsyl.
vanian answered that since the claims
had been under consideration for some
oiN', Nthi9. anu 5iUCc INe MaSSdcnu-
setts Senator had been considering
them for great many years, he hoped
that few days at least would be given
TO himself TO consider those claims be-
fore pressure was brought to bear for
report upon them. Nothing moro
was heard Of those claims for good
while.
Tho bill upon which Representative
Mann won his filibuster was passed i'm
the Senate by a large majority There
have been fifty.nine Congressional
committees that reported these claims
to be just obligation OH the Govern
ment whenever proof could he offered
in specific case. In 1885 Congress
passed an act for the examination of
these claims by the United States Court
of Claims, which, in the meantime, has
sifted out aud cast aside the improved
claims, leaving only those whose cases
were sound and of whicli the proof was
sufficient. The court made report ac-
Icordingly to Congress. There have