The Minneapolis journal., 1901-04-23
SENATORS AND THE CANAL

The Journals Washington corre-
spondent yesterday telegraphed summary
of senatorial views on the subject of ne
gotiating new treaty with Great Britain
| looking to the abrogation or modification
of the Clayton Bulwer treaty of 1850. The
sentiment of the radical senators does not
seem to have changed, as they want to de-
clare the old treaty null and void, with
out reference to the wishes of the other
party to the treaty, some of them being
magnanimous enough to suggest giving
Great Britain six months notice. Others
want Mr.. Blaine's plan of constructing a
canal and proclaimlng that its north shore
is included in the coast line of the United
States, proceeding tantamount to declar-
ing that all Spanish American territory
north of the canal is claimed by the United
States, which would be resented by Mex
leo and the Central American states.
AS matter of fact, the Clayton Bulwer
treaty contains no clause allowing one
party to get out of the obligation by giving
notice. 1t cannot be honorably abrogated
save by mutual consent. Secretary Hay is
desirous to draft a treaty which will be
approved by the senate and Great Britain,
but unless the latter very materially re-
nounces her treaty rights the construction
of a please-all treaty looks like an i'm
possibility at present.
1t is really useless to talk about adopt
ing Mr.. Blaine's coast line" idea, for the
reason that both Nicaragua and Costa
Rica, through whose territory the pro-
posed canal passes, will not consent to the
scheme These republics, at the present
time, are opposed to the unlawful abroga-
tion Of the Clayton Bulwer treaty by the
United States and are known to favor the
naturalization of the canal This position
of the two republics must be considered
For half a century, or, from the declara-
tion Of the naturalization Of the canal by
the Clayton Bulwer treaty, there has been
no deviation from that principle except
when Mr.. Blaine was secretary of state,
and his proposals were rejected. 1t was
originally an American proposition for the
and maintaining American interests and
Secretary Hay incorporated it in the text
of the Hay Pauncefote treaty as an Amer
lean principle which would guarantee an
unobstructed water route from the At
lantic to the Pacific in Central America
Just now fresh attention is directed to
the Panama canal by reports of the plan
under which American capitalists propose
to complete the Panama canal as a private
enterprise after acquiring the rights of
the French company. This would be a
simple solution of the whole problem Of in
teroceanic canal construction. 1t would
save the expenditure Of large amount of
money by our government and relieve the
government of responsibility. 1t would
seem to settle also another question which
has received little attention, but which may
be deserving of more-that is, the question
as to whether, under the eighth article of
the Clayton Bulwer treaty, the United
States is any more at liberty to go ahead
and construct the Panama canal regard
less Of Great Britain, than it is to build
by the Nicaragua route regardless of
Great Britain.
SAoAeA a |ASlO VI lAe treaty WOulu
seem to commit the two countries to Joint
action and mutual agreement with respect
to any canal joining the Atlantic and Pa
c1tic oceans across the isthmus connecting
North and South America Not much at
tention has been given to this question and
our government may recognize no such
obligation in the case of the Panama route.
The terms of the eighth article, however,
seem to suggest a possibility of such OBJ
legation. And if the Panama route comes
to be seriously considered by our govern
ment as the best route for governmental
undertaking, this question of the relation
of Great Britain to that proposition may
become important.