The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-06-14
ENGLAND And THE UNITED STATES

the United States, and the Treasury
Department were also given to the
flames and a total in value of over
$2,OOO,O00 of non-military property was
ruthlessly destroyed. In the dreary
annals of modern warfare there is
recorded no such act of vandalism and
coWardice.
Treaty of Client Settled Nothing.
"The joint character of the proposed
celebration is not only unwise, but it
| is Illogical because the Treaty of
Client is about the only important
treaty of the world concluding a war,
which settles no principle in contro-
versy between the contending parties,
and which ignores the disputed ques-
lions which caused the war. The war
of 1872 was brought on by the intol-
cradle position of Great Britain on
two subjects, the right of impress
ment' and the right of search She
claimed that British citizenship could
never be lost except by her consent.
Once Briton always Briton. She
rejected the position of the United
States that a British subject could
renounce his allegiance to the British
sovereign and by complying with our
laws become an American citizen,
with the same rights and entitled to
the same protection as if born on
American soil. The right of search
grew out of this claim and Great
Britain contended that she was legal
ly justified in stopping vessels of the
United States on the high seas and
searching them for the purpose of
forcibly capturing and impressing into
the British service any sailor who
might by British officer be declared
to be a Briton The right of search
also included in the British mind the
right of overhauling and searching all
neutral vessels for the property and
persons of her enemies. The Ameri-
can opposition to these claims was
expressed in the motto Free trade
and sailors rights free trade mean
ing that neutral property on neutral
ships should be unmolested by a bel
ligerent, and sailors rights stand
ing for the doctrine that the person
of an American sailor on an Ameri-
can ship on the high seas was sacred
from British insolence. The impudent
and oppressive enforcement of these
doctrines by Great Britain caused the
war, but theoretically both questions
were left unsettled by the Treaty of
Client, and are open questions today.
The treaty does not, therefore, mark
any advance in the doctrines of inter-
national law and does not contain a
single covenant which makes for the
preservation of peace among nations
or any softening of the barbaric rules
of war.
No HUNDRED Years of Peace"
."And after all the expression "a
hundred years of peace between the
two great English-speaking nations
does not ring true to history or to
fact. The glorious victory of New
Orleans when the flower of the Brit
ish army was annihilated by Andrew
Jackson and his rihemen from Ten
nessee was fought after December "a,
1914, the date of the treaty, and the
probability is that at the celebration
only very slight reference will be
made to that great event. There are
many in this audience today who will
distinctly remember that when they
were fighting the battles of their
country for the preservation of this
Union, the government of Great Brit
ain was in truth and fact and to the
utmost of it's power, as hostile to the
Union cause as if British armies &C
tually fought on southern fields under
the flag of the Rebellion. The South
ern Confederacy had no stronger or
more active ally than Great Britain
and the blood of American citizens
cries out against the silly sentimental
ism that would permit that govern
ment to appropriate to itself any part
of the splendor and glory which be-
long alone to this Republic. l shall
not attempt to detail the conduct of
which Great Britain was convicted
before the Bar of History and for
which by the Geneva Arbitration Tri-
bunal she was compelled to pay an
indemnity of $15,500,000, the English
member of the court alone dissenting.
To anyone who believes that there
has been "a hundred years of peace
recommend a reading of the ele-
mentary facts of history.
The Facts Of the Case.
eff any Englishman denies the ac-
cusation l refer him to the following
expression of John Bright, a great
English statesman and friend of the
Union cause, in a speech at Rochdale,
England, on February 8, 1863:
81 regret, more than l have words
to express, that of all the countries
in Europe, this country is the only
one which has men in it who are will
ing to take active steps in favor of
this intended Slave Government. We
supply the ships; we supply the arms,
the ammunitions of war; we give aid
and comfort to this fouIest Of all
crime. EngIishmen only do it,
eff any American denies the accusa-
ton refer him to the following state
ment made by Charles Sumner in the
Senate of the United States on April
Is, 1869:
ct further illustration and in sup
port of Mr.. Bright's allegation (given