The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-11-21
COLOMBIA
 MUST BE GOOD Otherwise It May Lose
 the Canal. HAY IS BECOMING WEARY
He May Begin Negotiations
 With Nicaragua.
Emphasis Given to the Fact that Spooner Law Does Not Make Selection of Panama Route
 Absolutely Final.

Washington, Nov. O.-The check In the negotiations with Colombia relative to the Panama Canal has given great encouragement to the friends of the Nic- aragua project and the first evidence of renewed activity on their part was the appearance at the State Department today of Senor Correa, NtcaraGuan Min ister to Washington.
 Secretary Hay never has taken the ground that the negotiations with Nica- ragua and Costa Rica were terminated by the passage of the Spooner amend ment On the contrary he has felt called on to direct the attention of the Colom- bian Government at moments when the negotiations have Jagged or unseemly de- lay intervened, to the fact that under Section of the Spooner aot if he Is unable to obtain satisfactory title from the Panama Company and the control of the necessary territory in Colombia by treaty, then he Is required to obtain such territory from Costa Rica and Mic aragua.
 Other Treaties Pr bable.
 The present hitch in the Colombian ne- gotiations has, therefore. encouraged the Nicaraguan contingent and 1t is now said to be probable that to emphasize the repeated declaration that the act of Congress in the passage of the Spooner amendment did not finally commit the United States to the acceptance of the Panama route. Secretary Hay may pro- ceed to draw up a treaty with Nicara- qua and Costa Rica on the lines of the protocols laid before the last Senate and submit it to the Senate at its next ses- sion along with such a treaty with Co., lombia as he may be able to conclude.
 In this way the Senate itself might decide whether or not the Colombian treaty is satisfactory and if 1t should de- eide fin the negative then it will have at hand the Nicaraguan-Costa Rican treaties, so that there will be no excuse for delay in the canal project.
 As for the Colombian negotiations, 1t can be stated that the United States has now come to the practical end of the concessions it is willing to make. It has received from Colombia a memorandum noting a number of objections to its pro- posed treaty. Some of these have been admitted to be well taken but the great majority have been regarded as either in contradiction of the terms of the Spoon CT act or inadmissible for other reasons.
 Colombia Notified.
 The Colombian minister here has been notified of the decision reached and is expected to make further reply either &C., ceptlng or rejecting our last proposition. The State Department does not regard the objections lodged by Colombia as material. the Colombians on their part think they are vital. Such, for instance. is the difference over the tenure of the United States In the canal strip This has been alluded to before as one easy of adjustment, but it now appears that the Colombians do not see their way to accepting any of the compromising pro- positions on this point offered by the Uni ted States.
 Prominent Senators, who have been consulted by the State Department. have indicated their strong opposition to the acceptance of an hundred years lease with a provision of renewal. Nothing less than perpetual control" as set down in the act, will satisfy them. The Colom- bians say that would be a violation of their constitution. But a careful reading of the Colombian constitution by the of- ficials here does not satisfy them that there is any such prohibition against alienation of territory as Is represented.