The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1885-12-12


ever, imply the admission u u belligerent status
On the part OF the insurgents The Colombian
Government has expressed its Willingness u
negOtia q u convention fog the adjustment, by
arbitration. Of the claims OF foreign citizens
arising ont of the dostruct Of the city OF AS.
ptnwall by the ,nsurrectionsry forces
THE IsrHMUs CANAL.
Tho Interest OF the United states in prac-
tcablo transit for ships across the strip of land
separating the Atlantic from the Pacific has
boon repeatedly manifested during the last halt
century. Nv Immediate predecessors caused u
be negotiated with Nicaragua treaty for tho
construction, by and 81 the sole cost Of tho
United States, II % canal through Nlaaraguan
territory und laid before tho senate. Pending
the action II tuat holy thereon, I Withdrew the
treaty for ro-oNnminG;i'n Attentive oonsidern-
ton Of its provision, leads me to withhold 1t
from rpsubnisa0A 10 the Senate.
Maintaining as | do the policy OF tho Presi-
dents from WDsliugton's day, which prescribe
enlarging entungng alliances with foreign
states do not favor n policy of acquisition OF
new and distant territory on tho incorporation
OF remote interests with our own. Tho laws Of
progress arc yitn aud organic, and We must be
conscious of that irresistible tide Of commercial
expansion which, as the conconitant Of our
active civilization, day by day. is being urged on
ward by those increasing facilities Of production,
Importation and communication to which
steam and electricity have given birth.
But our duty in tho present instruets us to
address ourselves mainly TO the development
of the vast resources Of the great area com
omitted to our charge, and to the cultivation Of
the arts OF peace within our borders, though
jealousy alert In preventing the American
Hemisphere from being involved in tho pOltti-
cal problems and complications OF distant gov
eruments. Therefore / unable to recon-
mend propositions involving paramount privi-
1eges OF ownership or rights outside OF our own
territory when coupled with absolute ana uil-
limited engagements to defend territorial in.
tegrty of the state where such interests lie.
snip RAILWAY
While the general project Of connecting the
two oceans by means OF Il canal Is to be encour-
aged, am Of opinion that any scheme to that
30 i,..a l1,ull hA
from the features alluded to. The Tehuantepec
route is declared by engineers of the highest re-
pute and by competent scientists to afford an
entirely practical transit for vessels and car.
goes by means of ship railway from the
Atlantic to the Pacific The obvious advantages
of such route, il feasible, over others more
remote from the nSial lines of traffic between
Europe and the Pacific, and particularly be.
tween the valley of the Mississippi and the
western coast OF North and South
America, deserving Of consideration.
Whatever highway may be constructed across
the barrier dividing the two greatest maritime
of the world, must be for the worlds ben.
etit-a trust for mankind, to be removed from
the chance Of domination by any single power,
nor become point Of invitation OF hostilities or
prize for wGrlike ambition. An engagement
combining the construction, ownership, and oper-
alton of such work by this Government, with an
offensive and defensive alliance for its protection
with che foreign states whose responsibilities
and rights we would share is, in my judgment,
inconsistent with such dedication to universal
and neutral use, and would, moreover, entail
measures for its realization beyond this
scope OF our national policy or present means.
/ The lapse OF years has abundantly confirmed
| the wisdom aud foresight of those earlier ad-
ministraviOns, which, long before the conditions
of mari time intercourse were changed and en-
larged by the progress OF the age. proclaimed
the vital need Of inter-oceanic traffic across the
commercial sthnus and consecrated 1t in ad-
vance to the common use OF mankind by their
positive declaration and through the formal
obligation of trade. Toward such realization
tho efforts of my administration will be applied,
must rest, and which were declared in
certain tones by Mr. Cass, who, while Secretary
of State in 1853, announced that what the
United States want in Central America, next to
the happiness Of the people, is the security and
neutrality of tho inter-Jceanic routes which
may be laid through it,
TRANsCoNTtSENTAL RAILWAYS
The construction of three transcontinental lines
of railway all in successful operation, wholly
within our territory, and uniting the Atlantc
and the Pacific Oceans, has been accompanied
by results of most interesting and impressive
nature and has created new conditions not in
the routes OF commerce only, but in political
geography, which powerfully infect our relations
toward, and necessarily increase our interests
in, any transishthmiGn route which may be
opened and employed for the ends OF peace and
traffic, or IN Other contingencies, for uses inim-
ical to both.
Transportation is factor in the cost of com.
modities scarcely second TO that Of their produc-
ton, and weighs as heavily upon the consumer.
,Our existence already has proven the great i'm
portance of having tho competition between
land carriage and water carriage fully devel-
oped, each acting ~ protection to the public
against the tendencies Of monopoly, which is in
lherept in the consolidation of wealth and power
bin the hands of vast coIporatious. These sug-
lgestions may serve to emphasize what have
Alreadv said On -no score of the necessity of
DECENTRALIZATION OF nv nter-occanic transit, and
this can only b ceomtshI N, by making the
bect to the ambitions and varlike necessities of
hone.
The drawings and report OF n recent survey Of
tlaN fnp ptft1t nal +n I1oa1p ny
sineer MonocHl, VIII be communicated for your
Information.
CHILL, PERU AND BOLIVIA.
The claims of citizens Of the United States for
losses by reason Of tho lutte military operations
ri Chill in Peru aud Bolivia are the subject Of
Negotiation for Il Claims Convention with Chill,
providing for their submission to arbitration.
CHINA AND THE CHINESE QUESTION.
The harmony Of oar relations with China is
ully SUSTAINED in the application Of the accs
atelv passed to execute the treaty of 1890, re-
trictive of the immigration Of Chinese lHborers
INTO the United states. Individual cases Of hard
hip have occurred beyond the power of the FIX
cutve 10 remedy, ard calling for judicial de-
ermination.
The condition Of the Chinese question in the
Western States and Territories is despite this
estritt We logisat on, far from being satsfac
pry. The rec MT outbreak in Wyoming Terri
Dry, where numb RS of unottendlng Cinnamon,
lndisputablS within the protection of the trca-
les and the law, w'r' murdered by r mob, and
he st II NOR recent throntened outbreak of the
ame character in Washington Territory, are
bill fresh in tho minds of 3l, and there is ap-
rehension st the bitterness of feeling against
he Mongul IN rec on tho PHcifc l1De may
nd vent tO sm lar nwlrSs demonstration.
III the power Of this Government should be eS-
ited to maintain the auplast good faith toward
nina in the treatment Of these uCn and the in
eXible sternness Of the lew in bringing the
Ironc-doers to Justice Should ha insisted upon.
very effort has been made bv this Government
prevent the Sc violent outbreaks and to aid the
representatives of China in their investigation of
hese outrages and it is hut Just to say that they
he tracoable to the lawleSsness Of men not clti-
kns of the United States engaged III cOmpeti-
bn with Chinese laborcrs.
Race prejudice is the chief factOr in original
Il these disturbances and it exists in n large
art of our domain. jeopardizng our peace and
10 good relationship we try to maintain with
nina. The admitted rights of a Government
prevent the influx of elements hostile to its
ternal peace and security may not be ques-
Dned, even where there IL no treatv stipula~
bn on the subject. That the exclusion Of
hinese labor is demanded in other countries
here like conditions prevail is strongly
idenced in the Dominion of Canada, where
ainese immigration il now regulated by
ws more exclusive than our own.
existing laws are inadequate to compass the
d in view, shall be prepared to give earnest
nsideratiOn to any further remedial measures
thin the treaty limits which the wisdom Of
ngress may devise.
THE CONGO STATE.
The independen mt state Of the Congo hes been
l.,Va4, NNf.a