The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1918-12-07
Great Men Helped
Write Treaty Nth
English Delegates

lnClan tfiDeS, TO Wnlcn the UHlteu
States as a belligerent was party !
reduces strictly to the following: |
The Peace of Paris after the Reyo- !
ldtion; the Peace of Client with |
Great Britain after the War OF
1872; the Peace of Guadalupe Hi |
dalgo with Mexico, 1S4S, and the
Peace OF Paris after the war with
Spain.
OF some pertinence, however,
are the peace treaties forced on
us by the Barbary pirates, 1887,
and by us On them twenty years
later; and the Peace convention
with France made in 1900. Tech
nically in the latter case we had
not been at war, even though our
trigate Constellation had captured
the French frigate Insurgente and
had destroyed another, La Venge-
ance.
And il seems worth while to re-
view the circumstances of the Ge-
neva Arbitration with Great Bril-
tain.
Our independence Recognized.
Our peace with Great Britain
after the Revolution was conclud-
ed by commissioners of congress
under the articles Of confederation.
and of course before an American
president or constitution existed.
Washington was simply commander
in chief. The provisional treaty
was signed at Paris November 80,
1882, the definitive treaty Septem-
Der 3, 1888. General Washington
having declared cessation of hos
tilities in January, 1888
The American commissioners in
the first conference were John
Adams, Franklin, Jay and Henry
Laurens; in the second the same
without Laurens Richard Osgood
negotiated for the king in the first
- conference, David Hartley. M. P.
in the second The four main
questions in both were the bounda-
ries of the United States, fishing
rights OF Newfoundland, the pay
ment of private debts of American
citizens to British loyalists TOR
ies) whose property had been con-
fiscated by the colonists during the
war
The two former questions had to
be further adjusted later on, al
tho. gh presumably conclusive
agreements were then arrived at,
the United States getting the terri
tory between the Alleghanies and
the Mississippi, and getting the
right to fish off the Newfoundland
coast. but not to dry the catches
on thcre shores. There was to be
70 Lawful. impeachment to the recov-
cry of debts either way, and Amer
lean legislation was to be recon-
mended making the loyalists i'm
mune from confiscations or prose-
cutions.
On the day of the signing of the
definite treaty, the Treaty Of Yer
sailles was also concluded. The
ability of this American peace COM
mission was recognized by all.
Franklin, our representative at
Paris, had won for the struggling
colonies the invaluable friendship
and aid of the French government.
John Adams was to be president,
Jay to be chief justice Of the Unit
ed States supreme court, Laurens
was former president of the coun-
Gil of safety of S&th Carolina, and
OF the continental congress. and he
had been sent to Holland to nego-
tiate commercial treaty during
the war, but falling into the hands
of the British had been imprisoned
in the Tower of London for fifteen
months.
The peace of Client was conclud-
ed December "a, 1914. The United
States Commission appointed by
President Madison, who was JEFF
fersonian Democratic-R Republican,
included John Quincy Adams, then
our minister to Russia, James A.
Bayard, former United States Sen
ator: Henry Clay, speaker of the
house; Albert Gallatin, who had
been secretary of the treasury
from 1901 to 1913. and Jonathan
Russell our minister to Norway
and Sweden.
John Quincy Adams was a form.
er federalist and from Massachu-