New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-12-13

were Indifferent toward the fisheries. Then
the question arose whether the British Amer
lean treaty of 1888 was still valid.or had been
automatically voided by the war Clay thought
it had been voided and that thus the British
title to navigation of the Mississippi had lapsed
Adams took the contrary view that that treaty
was of so exceptional character that 1t had
survived the incidence OF war and was still IN
force. and that therefore the American rights
in the fisheries and the British rights in the
Mississippi were intact. In this Adams was
doubtless right, but Clay could not be con-
WINGED. and there was actually danger OF the
failure of the negotiations through the inability
OF the Americans to agree among themselves.
THE DRAFT OF A TREATY SUBMITTED
ON NOVEMBER 10.
Gallatin, however, with his unfailing patience
and good humor, saved the day by persuadlng
both Adams and Clay to assent to the making
of treaty in which neither the fisheries nor
the Mississippi should be mentioned. The draft
of such treaty was submitted to the British
commissioners on November 10, at about the
time General Jackson was Selling Pensacola
in return for the British OF that Spanish
city as their base of operations against South
ern Georgia The reply of the British COM
rnissioners fortnight later, was to throw a
frebrand among the Americans. This was an
amended draft which contained specific
recognition of the British right to navigate the
Mississippi, but which contained no allusion TO
the fisheries. That set Adams and Clay at
each other again, hammer and tongs, and again
Gallatin's diplomacy was taxed to restore peace
among his own colleagues. A proposal to grant
the Mississippi rights in return for the fishery
rights was rejected by the British. Then the
Americans offered to proceed with negotiations
under a tacit reservation of all rights, to be
determined by future processes.
THE SIGNING OF A TREATY IN WHICH
NOTHING is CONCLUDED.
In the end, substantially, this course was
adopted. The amazing anomaly was presented
on Christmas Eve, December "a, of the making
and signing of treaty of peace which did not
settle nor so much as refer in any way to even
single one OF the issues over which the war
had been declared and fought. Search of
vessels, mpressment, blockade, maritime rights
of neutrals, indemnities and the other matters
which had doomed so large at the beginning OF
the war and for years before were as COM
pletely ignored as though they never had exist
ed. The treaty realized the title of the last
chapter of "Rasselas": THE Conclusion, in
Which Nothing Is Concluded" 1t simply pro-
vided for peace for the restoration of all con-
quests to the ante bellum status, for the ap-
pontment of commissioners to define disputed
boundaries, for the ending OF Indian wars and
for the abolition of the slave trade-the last
named provision unfortunately not becoming
effective for many years thereafter, chiefly be-
cause its enforcement would have involved the
exercise of that right of search which both
parties were now DESTROYS of dropping into
"innocuous desuetude," or at least of exercising
as little as possible