New-York tribune., 1901-12-30
THE PANAMA CANAL.
ATTITUDE OF CERTAIN SENATOR'S SAID
TO HAVE UNDERGONE RADICAL
CHANGE - MAY BE NO AC-
TION THIS SESSION.
TION THIS SESSION.
IpY rrLEanApH TO THE TRIBUNE ]

[BY TELEGRAPH TO THE rRIBUNEl
Washington Dec. 29-Washington knows
nothing official as yet about the report from
Paris of the French Panama Canal Companys
proposition to sell it's rights and property to the
United States for $40000000 1t is note
worthy circumstance however. that the lively
and somewhat sensational agitation of the canal
question in Paris is being watched with eager
interest by many persons in Washington who
heretofore have been either wholly unconcerned,
apparently or enthusiastic supporters SEEM
ingly. of the Nicaragua over the Panama route.
Indeed. it may be said that significant inter-
est is now being displayed here in the discussion
at Paris of the sale to this country of the PAN
route All sorts of stories are being bruited
about concerning the private utterances of men,
bers of the Senate since the ratification of the
Hay -Pauncefote Canal Treaty. some of them
going so far as to assert that there has been a
complete and radical change of attitude on the
part of number of Senators.
NO RULE TO PREDICT SENATE ACTION.
How far these Senators will go in giving sup
port to the French proposition cannot now be
even guessed at. 1t is interesting circum-
stance. however that in the best informed cir
cles In Washington the remark is frequently
heard that neither this generation nor the next
will see the beginning of work ship water
1t is not doubted that the Hepburn bill will
pass the House. In fact, it is hinted that the
opposition to the enterprise is more than willing
that the House should rush the Hepburn bill
through without unnecessary delay or debate,
as then popular suspicion will be alIayed" and
the canal issue will not appear in the Congress
campaign next year But the Senate IS tradi-
tionally slow and deliberate in action, and the
canal bill can be so manipulated in that body as
at this session Then. too. there are certain
diplomatic negotiations with Nicaragua and
Costa Rica which must be completed before
final legislation on the canal question can be
enacted. and as the Senate is a part of the
treaty making power il is argued that a salts
factory excuse for delaying action at this ses-
sion would he found should the negotiations
with the Central American republics being
conducted by Secretary Hay not be consum-
mated in time to give the Senate ample op2or
tunity for the assertion Of it's prerogatve closely
to scrutinize and analyze whatever conventions
on the canal question the State Department may
enter into
HOUSE WILL TAKE UP HEPBURN BILL.
Under the special rule adopted by unanimous
consent just before recess for Christmas was
taken the House will take up the Hepburn
Canal bill January I. and continue its con-
sary appropriation bills. until the measure is
disposed of. How long this will take is prob
ematcaI. though 1t is not believed great deal
of time will be consumed. The fact that no
member dared offer objection to Mr.. Hepburn's
request for unanimous consent to take the bill
up on January indicates the fear with which
the House a whole views the canal ques-
tion. To the majority of members it is a ques-
ton fraught with too much danger to their
political future to warrant effort on their part
even at elaborate debate or explanation IL
belongs to that large and constantly growing
catalogue OF legislative subjects which the
House prefers to pass up TO the Senate for final
action rather than to the risk of arousing
criticism among House constituencies.
II may therefore happen that in the end the
Senate will decide every important phase OF
canal legislation and for this reason the rumors
of change Of attitude on the part of number
of Senators are Of immediate concern TO the
friends Of the canal proposition. one or these
rumors puts Senator Depew in a position OF par
ticular importance. II is TO the effect that
few days before he left Washington to go TO
France for his bride he attended a conference
OF leading public men, who requested him 10 look
carefully into the French proposal. and if con-
vinCed that the Frenchmen had anything Of
value to offer to this country for sale, TO en-
courage them to push their proposition with all
possible expedition and resourcefulness. Whether
there Is substantial foundation for this ruInor
cannot be satisfactorily determined, though the
fact that II is being related by close friend OF
the Ncw-Gork Senator gives II an interest that
makes il worthy of publication. IL IL is true IL
shows that the Senate is not yet convinced that
the Panama route is impraCtCable OF that IT Is
inferior TO the Nicaragua route.
THE DEPOSITION OF NJ HUTIN.
The action Of the French shareholders in de-
posing NJ. Hutin from the presidency and man
agement Of their company is believed to have
bearing of Importance upon the whole question
NJ Hutin has maintained lobby in Washing
ton for several years and has striven ener-
SatiCary though 'neffeCtively. through this
means impress the superior value of the
French canal scheme upon the minds of Repre-
sentatives. Senator's and the members of the
Isthmian Canal Commission 1t is generally
believed here that his deposition signifies a
change Of management at Washington in the
promotion of the Panama scheme and IL Is
considered s not improbable that this change
will lead to results more encoura gins to the
French shareholders than they longer could
have hoped for der the old management.
1t cannot be denied. therefore. that the out
look for canal legislation this session is less
definite than II few weeks ago when IL
became known that the Administration, through
Secretary Hay. had achieved signal diplo-
matte victory in securing Great Britains sig
old Clayton -Bulwer Treaty that for so many
years had been ostensibly the chief obstacle in
the way of the Nicaragua Canal What the
Administration can do to prevent complications
in Congress over the French offer cannot be
told present though it is known that the
President and all his advisers closely