The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-22
Dealing with Colon bia.

As the Spooner act stands, it requires
the Administration of President RoosE-
WELT to proceed to negotiate for and
acquire rights Of way by the Nicaragua
route in case the title Of the French COM
pany proves defective, or there is fail
ure to obtain within reasonable time
perpetual control OF the Colombian terri
tory needed for the canal.
The title which the New Panama Com
pany proposes to convey has proved.
after searching investigation by the
Attorney General of the United States
and the legal experts by him employed.
to be in no particular defective, but,
on the contrary, solid and satisfactory.
The conduct and representations of the
French company have been as straight
as a stretched bowstring ever since it
approached our Government in good
faith with a reasonable offer ten months
ago. Tho French owners have earned
the right to expect from the United
States the most scrupulous and friendly
consideration Of their interests in the
final determination of American policy.
Nothing now stands in the way of the
construction Of q trans-isthmian water
way by the best possible route except
the present attitude of Colombia itself,
the party which perhaps has the most
direct and immediate and permanent
interest in having the canal located
according to the present plan. The
latest semi-official reports from Wash
ington seem to justify the suspicion
which we have expressed from time to
time for months past, namely, that as
the project shaped itself more and more
definitely in the direct ion of Panama and
Colombia the more the representatives
OF that somewhat shifty sovereignty
would be likely to use their supposed
advantage for all it was worth to them
selves.
Not a nation or an individual on the
round earth is in position honestly to
question tho lberality which our Gov
eminent is accustomed TO manifest in
its treatment Of the other party in all
such transactions Of magnitude. The
attempts to meet Colombia's demands
have strained the equitable and the
liberia 70 the point of actual munificence
The State Department cannot be blamed
if it turns in disgust to other methods as
soon as it is persuaded that greed in
some quarter or other, supported by
overconfidcnce in the certainty of get
ting the canal on its own terms, however
excessive and preposterous, has made a
mere vulgar striker Of the Colombian
Government. the holdey-up Of an enter
prise Of immense importance TO the world
for selfish purposes Of eytortion.
In a similar case Of obstruction within
the reach of our domestic laws the rem
edy would be found in prompt applica-
ton of the principle Of condemnation for
public purposes and compensation at
a fairly appraised valuation. As the
Spooner act stands, the only remedy
here is the abandonment Of further ef-
forts to negotiate with the Colombian
strikers and an adoption Of the alterna-
tive route by way of Nicaragua and
Costa Rica. That, however, would be
an irreparabe misfortune We should
then have been forced from the vastly
bupci!Oi W tic luiiiltdNli AMY lIltTlOT
route by the obstinate greed Of the pres
ent unstable Government which techni-
cally has the right to speak for Colom-
bian interests.
The canal is for all time The existing
Government in Colombia is not for all
time, but apparently for very short
time only. Congress will be in session
again before the provisions of the
Spooner canal act are likely to be carried
out by the President
Meanwhile, it may be well for those in
executive authority at Washington to
inquire how far tho unsettled condition
Of affairs in Colombia. the real and per-
manent interests of the people of that
internally distracted republic, in connec-
ton with our own peculiar RESPONSE
bilities and powers "a the guarantor by
treaty OF transit across the Isthmus of
Panama, would warrant another method
Of dealing with these sordid and short
sighted obstructionists
We are inclined to the opinion that
under the exceptional circumstances
virtual condemnation proceedings, with
payment on fair basis to the republic
misrepresented by the strikers and OBJ
structionists, might be for the best in
terests OF all concerned.