[International Bulletin for April, 1882.]
ADHESION OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE CONVENTION OF GENEVA.
Referring to the article inserted in our preceding bulletin, p. 42, we are happy to be able to announce that the act of adhesion which we presented was signed at Washington the sixteenth of March, in pursuance of a vote by which the members of the Senate gave their approval with unanimity. Our readers will doubtless be surprised, as we are, that after the long and systematic resistance of the Government of the United States against rallying to the Convention of Geneva, there cannot be found in the American legislature a single representative of the opposition. So complete a reversal of opinion cannot be explained, unless we admit that the chief officers of the nation had cherished, up to the present time, prejudices in regard to the Convention of Geneva—prejudices which vanished as soon as they fully comprehended what was expected of them, and recognized that there was nothing compromising in it to the political condition of their country.
With the zeal of new converts, they have even gone beyond the mark, inasmuch as they have voted their adhesion not only to the convention of the twenty-second of August, 1864, but also to the plan of Additional Articles of the twentieth of October, 1868, which was not the matter in question, since they had never had the force of law; we give this news only under every reserve, because we have received contradictory information on the subject. If this defect in form is found in the official document which will be sent to the Swiss Federal Council one could fear it might retard the so much desired conclusion of this important affair, but it need not be too much regretted, since it will enable us to understand the opinion of the great Transatlantic Republic upon maritime questions as they relate to the Red Cross.
The action of the United States, mentioned in this article, was perhaps somewhat characteristic. It seemed to give itself to the movement of the Red Cross with a gracious earnestness seldom seen in the cautious forms of diplomatic action, and it certainty was in very decided contrast with its former hesitancy.
No doubt could now rest in any mind that the adhesion of the United States was, at last, hearty and sincere, and calculated to allay any distrust which its former isolation and declination of the treaty might have anywhere engendered.
This action of the Government of the United States also rendered the position of the National Association exceptionally satisfactory, and introduced it to the International Committee at Geneva and all the affiliated societies under circumstances calculated to promote in the greatest degree its usefulness and harmony, and to add to the gratification of all who personally have any part in the operations of the American Association.
For all this it is indebted to the judicious and thoughtful care and exalted statesmanship of the President of the United States, his cabinet and advisers, and the members of the Forty-seventh Congress, who, without one breath of criticism, or one moment of delay, after they came to fully understand the subject and comprehend its purposes and object, granted all that was then asked of them, in the adhesion to the treaties, in the recognition of the National Association, and the provisions for printing and disseminating a knowledge of its principles and practical work.
Perhaps no act of this age or country has reflected more credit abroad upon those specially active in it, than this simple and beneficent measure. It must, in its great and humane principles, its far-reaching philanthropy, its innovations upon the long established and accepted customs and rules of barbaric cruelty, its wise practical charity, stand forever next to the immortal proclamation of freedom to the slaves that crowns the name of Abraham Lincoln.
Special thanks are peculiarly due to those who have been its active, wise and unwavering friends, who have planned its course so truly, and set forth its purposes so clearly, that it will hereafter be misunderstood only by those who are unwilling to learn, or who are actively hostile to its beneficent aims.
Perhaps at the risk of seeming invidious—for we would by no means ignore, and have no less gratitude for the legion of generous helpers we cannot name—we might state that among those who have been foremost to aid and encourage us have been the Hon. Omar D. Conger, of Michigan, who, first in the House, and afterward in the Senate, has been conspicuous for persistent and courageous work; also, Hon. William Windom, of Minnesota, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, who was first to investigate and take the matter up as a member of President Garfield’s cabinet; Senator E.P. Lapham, of New York, who has spared neither time nor thought, patience nor labor, in his legal investigations of the whole matter; and probably no person has done more than he to throw light upon obscure parts and point out the true and proper course to be pursued in the accomplishment of the work, and the acceptance of the treaty. Senators Morgan, of Alabama; Edmunds, of Vermont; Hawley, of Connecticut; Anthony, of Rhode Island; Hoar, of Massachusetts, all accorded to it their willing interest and aid. Indeed, all sections and parties have seemed eager to help the Red Cross; a result that might, perhaps, have been anticipated, since it asks only an opportunity to faithfully work according to methods approved by thoughtful experience, and toward ends that all humane persons must approve.