The great' lawyers in the Union are opposed to the
Presi- dent's contention, which they think an unreasonable extension of the Monroe doctrine, and they observe, moreover, that the President has given his case away by admitting, as he does in terms, that Venezuela has a right to regulate her boundaries as she considers best for her own advantage ; but the first impression of the majority has been favourable to the Pre- sident. The House of Representatives has voted 820,000 for the Commission without a division, and the majority of the journals outside New York praise the Message. It will, it is believed, make Mr. Cleveland the inevitable candidate of the Democratic party for the November election. It is suggested in many quarters that this was its real object, that the Commission will not report till after the election, and that Mr. Cleveland will obtain the whole of the anti-English vote. It is possible, however, to push sus- piciousness upon this point too far, as many Englishmen did when Mr. Gladstone proposed Home-rule. We do not believe that sensible Americans of either party desire a war with England, which would be fatal to the best hopes of the world, but no one on this side really knows the opinion of the masses in the Western States. They form much the larger half of the nation, they live far from the sea, and they have little idea of foreigners, except that " Britishers are always trying to grab something."
