NEWS OF THE WEEK • V ERY little progress has been
made this week with the Washing- ton Treaty. The Foreign Committee of the American Senate has reported in its favour by a vote of five to two, but the Senate only began its secret debate on Thursday. The discussion is ex- pected to be a long one, and the vote is still uncertain, but the balance of probability now is that the requisite two-thirds' majority will be secured. The pressure of the commercial interests in favour of the Treaty is very great, and the Liberal Republicans begin to fear that decided resistance will diminish their popularity, -the mass of the people perceiving more clearly every day that the indirect Claims cannot be sustained. The Tribune, for instance, begins to give way. The final vote of the Senate and the precise words of the Supplemental Clause, which have been modified by the Foreign Committee, ought to be telegraphed to England about Tuesday. It must not be forgotten that the Senate, while accept- ing the principle, may insist on inadmissible modifications in the wording of the clause.
