Show CELEBRATE THE TREATY Sons of the Revolution Remember Remem-ber La Belle France I BANQUET IN NEW YORK COY I LETTER FROM CONSUL GENERAL GEN-ERAL MORRIS READ He Advocates a Big Exhibit at the Exposition in 1900 and Proposes a General Treaty of Arbitration Depew Was Slightly Indisposed and Remained at Home Details of the Patriotic EventMany Distinguished Dis-tinguished Foreigners Present New York Feb 6The 119th anniversary anni-versary of the signing of the treaty of alliance between France and the American I Amer-ican colonies was celebrated tonight by the Empire State Society of the Sons of the American Revolution with a banquet at Delmonicos Fully 250 members and their guests were present The decorations consisted con-sisted entirely of the French and American colors intertwined Owing to i the absence of Hon Chauncey 1 De pew the president of the society who was kept at home with a slight indisposition indis-position Mr Walter S Logan presided pre-sided After grace had been said and before the guests had taken their seats Mr Logan announced that on motion of Mr Depew the following cablegram I would be sent to President Faure of the French republic General Horace S Porter seconded the motion and Mr Logan read His Excellency Felix Faure President Presi-dent Paris France The Society of the Sons of the American Amer-ican Revolution on the 119th anniversary anni-versary of the treaty of alliance with France gratefully remembering the priceless services to the founders of our nation greets her illustrious president presi-dent and generous people and expresses its sincere wish for the perpetuation of the friendly relations of the two great republics Then the diners sat dOwn to satisfy the inner and between man courses cablegrams continued to arrive from prominent personages in France the French among them Emil Loubet of senate M Brisson Dr Roux J Pate notre the French ambassador and a number of others Samuel E Morss United States consul to Paris also read sent the following letter which was Paris Jan 22 1S97 Colonel John C Calhoun Representative Representa-tive of the Empire State Sons of the American Revolution Dear SlrI very much appreciate I and wish to thank you for the invitation invita-tion you have extended me in behalf j of the Empire State Society Sons of the American Revolution to attend r I theKbanquet oue given in New York I Feb 6next I would give me great I pleasure to be present on that occasion occa-sion and I regret sincerely that it will I I be impossible The transcendent importance i im-portance of the event which it is proposed 1 j pro-posed to commemorate in such fitting I j manner becomes more apparent as I the years roll by and its beneficent I I consequences to Europe as well a to I America manifest themselves more I clearly The great wisdom the patriotism I I pa-triotism and the love of liberty which J I sat at the council table when the j I memorable treaty of Feb 6 177S was I made will be celebrated at your banquet i i ban-quet by eloquent tongues and abler I pens than mine I can only say that a residence of nearly four years among I the French people has only intensified I my respect and admiratiojf for them I They illustrate in their characters in I their achievements many of the highest high-est qualities of the human race The i love of liberty in behalf of which they I have shed such oceans of blood is In I herent in them and I believe that the attachment of the great masses of I them to free government is as sincere and as fixed a that of the American I I There are manyvery manypoints I of resemblance and sympathy between ourselves and the French nation and I am sure that with proper effort the ties which now bind the two great republics re-publics of the world together could be strengthened and multiplied to the immense advantage of both and with distinct gain to the cause of civilization civiliza-tion progress and good government the world over The French parliament parlia-ment ha already with unanimity signified its desire that a general treaty of arbitration between France i and the United States should be made I Surely the American people are ready ito i-to respond with like unanimity to I this cordial overture to peace and goodwill I good-will I Let such a treaty be made let it be supplied by a convention which shall assure to the United States the benefit of the most favored nation so far as the admission of our products to French markets is concerned let the United States be represented at the I great international exposition in 1900 in a manner worthy of her greatness I and the warm relations between these two nations which have never been interrupted in-terrupted for a single moment since i i the constitution of the original treaty in 1778 will be so strengthened and fortified a to insure to each of them a future rich in the blessings of moral advancement and material prosperity I have been very happy to cooperate cooper-ate with you in bringing this enterprise of interest and patriotism to the attention atten-tion of the leading representatives of the French government and to the descendants de-scendants of La Fayette Rochambeau and De Grasse as well a to the leading lead-ing exponents of literature science and art I has been indeed to me a labor of love and I congratulate you and the society upon the very grateful and handsome manner in which these distinguished gentlemen and ladies have responded I am sir yours very sincerely SAMUEL E MORSS At the guests table with Mr Logan were General Eruewart Consul Cahr pentier Rev Samuel A Elliott Justice I Jus-tice W W Goodrich Edward I Hagamann Hall Edwin Manners Man-ners Russian Consul A E Olas opll 1 General Horace Porter Commodore Commo-dore Sickard General Russell Mayor Strong John A Taylor and Lieuten antGovernor Woodruff Voodruf Mr Logan who acted as toastmaster I I in Mr Depews absence said ll is I I your misfortune and mine gentlemen that Mr Depew is detained by illness from being with us tonight as we had I all until the last moment expected him I am glad to say however that I his illness while serious enough to prevent his being here is not serious enough to give alarm to his friends Dr John S White on responding to the toast Our Debt to France said that by ceding to us the nominal sum of fifteen millions of dollars about seven hundred million acres of land our country had been able to almost double It territory Only a portion of this sum he said had been paid and 1 the remainder had never been asked I for Without France said the speaker we should never have achieved our independence I in-dependence ConsulGeneral Bruewart made the response his remarks for the most part I being in French LieutenantGovernor Woodruff spoke tol the toast Influences Excited by Our First Treaty with France and John A Taylor responded to LaFayette La-Fayette and Washington The other toasts were Decisive Influence of the French Navy on the Revolution responded re-sponded to by Captain Alfred T Ma han U S N Treaty of Friendship and Commerce responded to by Justice Jus-tice W W Goodrich and The Broader er Patriotism responded to by Rev Samuel A Elliott |