New-York tribune., 1911-01-31

| the preservation OF the Western Items
phere from European aggression, this poi
! Icy having been only accentuated ana con
hrmed by the ratification Of the clayton
Rulwer treaty some thirty years later.
That this fundamental Anglo American
/ policy should have been momentarily as
| turbed by the French invasion of Mexico
in our Civil War was but an eddy In the
world current of the time due to the iac'
that England had somewhat lost her bear
ings I'm the International shoals ana cross
currents OF that critical and CONFUSING
period With the consolidation, however
Of the American Republic after our Clvii
War and It's rise, not only to unauestloned
supremacy in the Western Hemisphere but
also TO n position Of commanding influence
I'm the affairs Of the world at large, there
came a sudden change In the relations ol
the two powers. When President CleVe-
land, in December. 1865. startled the Worid
with his apparently war provoking, but, III
reality, beneficent Venezuela message
there was a moment OF intense suspense
With tho dieniied. calm. peaceful and uiu-
mltely acquiescent attitude OF England on
that historic occasion the two countries
were revealed to each other in way ina,
nothing else save threatened aggression
on either by foreign power. could nave
accomplished Then. within less than three
short years, came this very condition IN
the form Of our war with Spain. and CON
fronted as we were by the hostility OF
practically the whole of Continental
Europe England proved our only frieno'
Then, forthwith. like the shifting OF the
tra
peared among the great mass OF our ciu-
zens all the old enmties bred OF Revoiu-
tionary memories and the War OF 1SlZ ana
the attitude of Engiand's governing classes
I'm our Civil War, ultimately unsatisfactory
alike to both Sorth and South. united now
after our war with Spain. as never before
But with the Venezuela message and the
Spanish war disappeared I'm reality also
the Clayton Bulwer treaty and all that IL
implied, though even so astute statesman
and keen a diplomat as Secretary Hay han
failed TO grasp the full meaning OF those
great events. Nor, on the other hand, was
their significance at first comprehenaed oy
the English statesmen with whom he ne
gotiated the first draft of the so-caheo
Hay Pauncefote treaty. Well do | remem-
ber in those February days Of 1850 the re-
ception given by the administration press
OF the country to this tentative diplomatic
attempt TO meet the new conditions that
had. In appearance suddenly, but, In re-
ality gradually, developed in the relations
of our two countries. Relying on the just
authority accorded TO this instrument by
the honored names It bore, there was at
first a chorus of applause at the neutralism
To- Of ,ha n tlfa
has happened before in other fields OF po-
ltical activity tho keen instinct OF the
people AT large at once detected the weak
spot in IT'S fatally altruistic terms, as ap-
piled TO the other nations OF the world, In
It's adherence" clause, and through the
columns Of the newspapers throughout the
land Secretary Hay was asked to call
halt in the negotiations until a further ex-
animation could be made.
And then with the advice and consent Of
the American people acting through its
Senate. after nearly two years Of careful
consideration, the naturalization clause
was stricken out, and the essential feat
ure embodied in the final and accepted
form of the treaty was simply this, that
Great Britain delegated TO the United
States. as nation grown to naval man
hood. the full right and duty TO assume the
protection OF the Western Hemisphere
against aggression from whatever quarter
IL might threaten, fully recognizing that
her own military and naval strength might
at any time he taxed TO the utmost in de-
Tending not only her own island. but also
her Oriental empire scattered throughout
the Eastern Hemisphere.
SAMUEL T.. PARRISH.
Augusta Ga Jan 9S 1911