The Dominion. TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 1912. AMERICA AND ARBITRATION.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1386, 12 March 1912, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 1912. AMERICA AND ARBITRATION.

The refusal of the United States Senate to ratify the Anglo-American and Franco-American Arbitration Treaties will come as a painful shock to the friends of international peace. A year ago everything appeared to favour the- conclusion of a very firm treaty between Britain and America. Mn./Taft and Sir Edward Grey v/eve enthusiasts for the project, which beyond all question appealed very deeply at that time to the vast majority of the people in both countries, and which most people imagined was a fait accompli saving for the formality of the Senate's approval. Now we find that the Senate has approved the treaty subject to the exclusion from the list of arbitrable questions practically all _ the troublesome matters out of which war might be likely to arise. In other words it has rejected the instrument quite decisively, more than fulfilling the general anticipation that the draft agreement would at the very least be modified by the Senate. The Senate's decision will be regarded as something like a triumph for Mr. Roosevelt, and a corresponding set-back for Mr. Taft, and this may turn out a large factor in the coming Presidential campaign. Mr. Rooseyelt's sharp opposition to the Treaty, in his .articles in the Outlook and in public speeches, was, as we have explained in earlier articles, neither unpatriotic nor unreasonable. Briefly, he contended, first, that you cannot bind in parchment the passions of a great people, and second, that in any event America should not embarrass ther foreign policy by concluding with one Power a treatyshe could not conclude with another Power. It is difficult to avoid feeling that the enthusiasm for Anglo-American Arbitration did not after all really represent the final opinion of the American' people, and that Mr. Roosevelt and the Senate, in their different ways, do represent a strong phase of fundamental American opinion at the present time. War between Britain and America is not "unthinkable," but it is an improbability merging into impossibility. So far as Britain is concerned, war with America is a crime that will not be committed, no matter how venomously the anti-British elements ill the States may exercise themselves. But the American point of view has to be considered. It is not difficult to tolerate the Senate's refusal to allow the arbitral settlement of disputes involving American territorial integrity or the integrity of the "MoxnoE Doctrine"; bul tlier'e is something ominous in tlic inclusion of alien iiiiinitrraliun amongst the list of inavbitviible questions. It sounds like a An immigration issue could arise between America and Britain only in respect of American immigration from India or immigration from Britain's ally Japan. Since, wr may at nncc ruin out of t,h? pnpfijbilitic's ftny rlnsire by Britain to forco a wa£ for j

Hindu emigration to America, and since Japan and America can easily deal with the matter of Japanese immigration—the question is actually subject to .in existing treaty—we can only suppose that- the Senate's action in this particular is aimed at Britain, not as Britain, but as the ally of Japan. It is this offensive anti-British note that damages very seriously the case for (he Senate's amendment!;. The vetoing of the. Treaty is, however, not final. Britain will almost certainly seek to reopen negotiations after the American election this year.