Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 5.djvu/391

Rh foreign policy. At the same time it must be admitted that the means he employed did accomplish his purpose. As soon as a danger of war appeared on the horizon, public sentiment in England pronounced itself so generally and so emphatically for the preservation of peace with the United States that Lord Salisbury could yield important points in the Venezuela boundary dispute and thus clear the way for a satisfactory arrangement without weakening his position before the British people. In this country, too, the bellicose flurry was speedily subdued by telling demonstrations of our love of peace and goodwill among nations, which warmly responded to the feeling manifested by English public opinion. And then came, borne along on the wave of international fraternalism, that great achievement which alone would suffice to make an Administration memorable for all time—the general arbitration treaty between the United States and Great Britain—not only a guaranty of peace between the two nations but an example for all mankind to follow, an epoch in the advance of civilization. The active negotiations for this treaty belong wholly to Mr. Cleveland's Administration. They were begun under Secretary Gresham, and carried to a successful issue with extraordinary ability by Secretary Olney. The efforts made in the Senate to prevent the confirmation of the treaty while Mr. Cleveland was President—efforts attributed by the opinion of the country to a combination of partisan jealousy and personal rancor—succeeded in postponing the final consummation, but ignominiously failed in taking from Mr. Cleveland's Administration the glory of the achievement. That treaty will forever stand as a monumental milestone in history, bearing in large characters the names of Cleveland, Gresham and Olney. Nor will any amendments intended to emasculate the treaty defeat its purpose. The very fact that the executive heads of the