Although acquitted, the country refused to believe him innocent, but regarded him as a traitor. A terrible fall for a man who had once stood, both with the leaders and with the masses of his party, second only to Jefferson himself, and between whom it had required thirty ballotings to settle the struggle for the Presidency; of which struggle, Bayard had written to Hamilton (March 8, 1801), that Burr might have been elected President "by deceiving one man (a great blockhead) and tempting two (not incorruptible).” Burr always claimed that his projects were lawful, and would have been beneficial to the country. He frequently referred to the fact that he had to rely for aid upon associates, who, it was known, would countenance no treason, and on his death-bed he said he would as soon have thought of seizing the moon and parceling it out among his followers, as of separating the Western States from the Union. Stout old Admiral Truxton testified in his favor, and General Andrew Jackson said he had seen nothing wrong in the project, and had agreed to favor it. It is said that while Jackson was waiting in Richmond to testify, he was always ready to mount his hotel steps and denounce General Wilkinson and Mr. Jefferson to the crowds that assembled to hear him. However, the general verdict of the country has always been against Burr. The first tidings Mr. Wirt received of the apprehension of Burr, and of his being sent to Richmond, was in a letter from his wife. He wrote her: "I should not be much surprised if he is discharged on a petition to the judge, or let to bail, and make his escape again. If the man is really innocent, these persecutions will put the devil in his head, unless he is more than a man in magnanimity." Mr. Wirt afterward became convinced of Burr's guilt. Jefferson certainly believed that Burr was guilty. * * "Burr's enterprise," he wrote to a friend, "is the most extraordinary since the days of Don Quixote. It is so extravagant that those who know his understanding would not believe it, if the proofs admitted doubt. He has meant to place himself on the throne of Montezuma, and extend his empire to the Alleghanies, seizing on New Orleans as the instrument of compulsion for our Western States." Judge Marshall's opinion gave great offense to Mr. Jefferson and his friends, and it was at the time severely criticised. At length, however, it became acknowledged as right, and is now universally approved; and, as has been well said, "it has had the effect of preventing in this country the disgraceful prosecutions for treason which so blot the pages of English history." (Applause.) Tracy C. Becker, of Buffalo: Mr. President, I take great pleasure in moving the thanks of this Association be tendered to Mr. Cabell, who is a very distinguished descendant of illustrious ancestors, at least three of whom participated in this trial; Joseph Cabell, whom he mentioned, ex-Governor of Virginia, I believe, was his grandfather; William Wirt was also a connection of his, and also Mr. Carrington. I also move that this very interesting production be printed in the proceedings of the Association. The President: (Carried.) It gives me great pleasure now to introduce to you Mr. Felix Brannigan, of the Department of Justice of the United States, who will speak to you on the subject of the "Legal Aspects of the Philippine Question." Mr. Felix Brannigan : Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the New York State Bar Association: I need hardly say I do not represent the administration of the United States in this matter. This is a paper prepared and will be read at the request of the gentlemen of the bar. The subject of the paper is presented in the form of a question: What is the status of the native inhabitants of the Philippines and the other islands recently acquired by our government from Spain, ancl of citizens of the United States there residing, trading or sojourning? Mr. Brannigan, a member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States, then read his paper: A LEGAL ASPECT OF THE PHILIPPINE QUESTION. WHAT I. The treaty of peace between the United States and Spain not fix the civil status of the native people of the did islands ceded thereby to the United States, nor did it attempt to fix the status of the American citizens residing in those islands, or carrying on business there probably, because the Constitution of the United States is their allsufficient palladium. By this treaty Spain ceded to the United States "the archipelago known as the Philippine Islands." and the United States has paid therefor to Spain twenty millions of dollars and assumed full sovereignty over those islands. In respect to Cuba, Spain merely relinquished her claim of sovereignty over and title to that island, and the United States occupies it for an indefinite period, assuming in the meantime full sovereignty there, and "the obligations that may under international law result from the fact of its occupation, for the protection of life and property.” Spain also ceded to the United States the Island of Puerto Rico and (except Cuba) the other islands which, at the time of the negotiations, were under Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies, and she ceded to the United States the Island of Guam, in the Marianas or Ladrones; and the United States has also assumed full sovereignty over those islands. The treaty secures to "Spanish subjects, natives of the Peninsula," residing in the territory over which Spain relinquished or ceded her sovereignty, the right to remove therefrom with their property or its proceeds, or else to remain therein, secure in property rights, as subjects of the crown of Spain, by making before a court of record, within twelve months from the date of the exchange of ratifications of the treaty (April 11, 1899), a declaration of their decision to that effect, in default of which declaration, to quote the language of the treaty," they shall be held to have renounced their allegiance to the Crown of Spain and to have adopted the nationality of the territory in which they may reside." As to the native inhabitants, the high contracting parties left their "civil rights and political status" to be determined by the Congress of the United States. Spain, however, stipulated that judicial proceedings existing at the time of the exchange of ratifications should be determined as follows: First. Judgments then rendered in civil suits between private parties, or in criminal matters, with respect to which there is no recourse or right of review under Spanish law, shall be deemed final, and be executed in due form by competent authority in the territory within which the judgments should be carried out. Second. Pending civil suits may be prosecuted before the court in which they are pending, or in a court that may be substituted therefor. Third. Criminal actions against citizens of such territory pending before the Supreme Court of Spain shall remain under its jurisdiction until final judgment; and the execution of such judgments shall be committed to the competent authority in the place in which the case arose. Spain relinquished in Cuba, and ceded in the other islands, all the buildings, wharves, barracks, forts, structures, public highways, and other immovable property belonging to the public domain of the Crown of Spain including all documents in the archives of the Peninsula which relate exclusively to the sovereignty relinquished, and all the rights which the Crown of Spain and its authorities possessed in respect of the official archives and records, executive as well as judicial, in the islands above referred to, which relate to said islands or the rights and property of their inhabitants. These and other stipulations clearly indicate that it was the intention of the high contracting parties that upon the relinquishment of Spanish sovereignty over the abovenamed islands, the United States would immediately assume permanent sovereignty over them all, except Cuba; and that with respect to Cuba the United States would assume a temporary sovereignty over it to be terminated at the will of the President or the Congress of the United States. Therefore, until the termination of such sovereignty, there is, perhaps, no very material distinction between the status of Cuba and that of the other islands |