Evening star., 1926-04-18
BY REX COLLIER.

s Uncle Sam. after. 10. these ma ny
years, going to recede from his
ambiguous position of being at
Il once a careful creditor and neg
lectful debtor?
While defending his course in seek
ing early settlement of the foreign
debts to the United States. does he in.
tend 10 pay a few of his own honest
debts" TO few of his own kith and
ktn-debts which have been ont sta nd
ing for some 125 wears?
II had seemed for while that he
was making decided gesture In that
direction. Al least. with the revival
In the present Congress of agitation
for final payment of what are known
as the French spoliation claims
IN and Out for Many Years.
Vet. the failure last week Of the
Senate committee on claims 10 report
ont new edition Of the moss-covered
hill providing for settlement of the
CtSlms again raises grave doubt As to
the answer to the foregoing queries.
The claims, arising from depreda
tions committed on American shipping
by French priVateers in the early days
of our republic, have been in and out
of Congress for many years. Four
earlier Congresses recognized their
deliheration. reduced the debt by So
9lo.S60 leaving slightly less than that
amount on the debit side of the Gov
ernment's ledger.
Since 1908. when the las partial
appropriation was ma lie. tine wheels OF
.eg; stature have refused TO run further
In r1a connection. Presidents have
''r2"J aHi pleaded w.ih 60 IgreSs To
Sipe the old slate clean. b,.t always
reached. to relegate the matter To the
graveyard of forgotten hills-"the
table" or the committee pigeon
hole"
\ Thread Of Romance.
This leciSlatio harks back to the
DAYS when the Nancy Lee and her
doughty skipper sailed fearlessIy forth
on nirate-infested seas with cargoeS
Of rum or turpentine. defiant of man
and elements alike.
Running through the drah phrase
ology of the bill now before the Senate
Is 4 thread of roma nee. drawn from
such picturesque names the
schooner Betsie." the brig Fanny"
nd the vessels Hannah" Hope.
Jenny" Prudence" and sally.
With these gentle reminders Of
home ties engraved on the bow. hun
dreds of pioneers of the America
merchant marine ventured to sea in
the 1905 and the early sos, only to
fall the victims of unwarranted
abuses and captures by French priva-
teersmen. who were patroling the sea
lanes in search of British shipping.
In those days IL was admittedly diff
cult. sometimes. for French sea cap
tain 10 distinguish between the YES
sells of England and those Of her
recent offshoot-America. Whether
or not they were excuSahl mistakes
We're made, and the Nancy Lee and
her sister craft became unwilling
prizes of the French
M state of War Existed.
Had the United States and France
heen at war. such predatory eXCur-
sions against our shipping would have
heen natural recourse. But. while II
4. true our relations were severely
strained. no such state of war existed
and the tactics pursued by the French
privateers were absolutely unjustif
able. Even France later admitted
that.
Put while our merchantmen and
orr Government thus found them
selves with sizeable grievance
against France on their hands, they
were unable properly to have this
complaint heard because II SO hap
pened that France had bit of a
grievance, herself.
Your ships have committed das-
tardly deeds TO our schooners and
briggs this country complaind to
France.
Maybe we have, but how about
your promise to protect our interests
In the West Indies. You haven't kept
shat. have you?" France would come
hack
True enough. we hadn't. We had
lust ended a bloody revolution with
Great Britain some years before. and
We we're not hankering right then for
renewal of enmities with the,
wounds of war scarcely healed. So
we let orr moral obligations 10 France
slide for the time being. out Of All
the pickering came n mutual agree
ment to call il quits. We. by a
treaty of 1901. agreed TO surrender to
France orr claims for all spoliafion
committed by French men-ofwar and
nrivateers to our shipping. and
France in turn, cancelled it's grievance
against us for our apparent breach
NJ faith in the West Indies.
Interna tional good will had heen pre-