The sun., 1902-07-01
Of Great Interest To the united
state. Of Colombia.


Mr.. ROOSEVELT signed the Cav bill
on Saturday night IL IL now law.
There will b. an interoCclnic canal, con-
stricted. owned. absolutely controlled.
and II need b., fortified and defended by
the United States Government soius.
BY the provisions Of thus net the Presi-
dent Is not authorized 20 complete the
proposed transaction with the French
company by paying over Ia them the
forty millions ot dollars and thus COM
hitting our Government irrevocably -
the Panama route. until two things have
happened;
First, the President must b. satisfied
that the French company can convey a
good title to all of it, property,
Secondly. tho President must have
obtained by treaty with the Republic Of
Colombia control Of the necessary terri
tory on the Isthmus Of Panama. under
certain distinctly specified conditions.
Not until these two things have hap
pened will the choice of "a canal route be
definitely fixed on Panama. II one or
the other or both Of the prescribed con-
ditions fail TO be fulfilled the canal will
20 20 Nicaragua in spite Of volcanoes
and every other particular in which that
route Ia inherently or incidentally the
inferior Of the two. This is the section
Of the act which will operate in that
event 90 deprive Colombia forever Of
the imrneasurable benefits now promising z
TO brighten and dignity her future:
should the Presidsn, he unable 10 obtain for
the Uui,-d s,ases satisfactory uue TO the properly
OF the New Panama canal Conf pany and the control
Of the asoes.sry territory Of III. Republic Of Coon
hia and the nights msnuoord 10 sections / and %
this sct within q reasonable time and UPON reason
able terms then the President having nrst obtained
for the United sts,es perpetual control by treaty
OF the necessary territory frum Costa Rcs and
Nicarssus. upon terms which he may consider
reasonable. for the construction. perpetual main
tenance. operation and protection OF . canal con
necsint the Csnbbesn Sec with the Pacine Ocean
By what Is commonly known as the Nicaragua
route. shah through the said fsthmlan Canal Com
mlssiou cause 10 he eioavsted and constructed .
ship canal and waterway from . poin, On the shor.
OF the Canbbean S., near Grrytown. ny way of
Lake Nicaragua 20 po,n, near Brito on the Paeinc
Ocean
There IL IL In black and white. the still
living and possible alternative -Colom-
bia's irreparable loss and Nicarsgua's
immense gain through all the centuries
to come
We call the attention Of the statesmen
and philosophers at Bogota and Of their
alert representative in Washington. to
the circumstance that they still have
sonnet hing to do in order 10 secure the
canal They must be we'll aware already
route profess ~ be in no degree discour-
aged by the defeat Of the Hepburn bill
and the enactment Of the Spooner substi-
tute. The partisans Of Nicaragua, in
the Senate. in tho House. and in the news-
paper press of the country. declare their
strong confidence that through the fail
ure of the President 10 obtain a title good
IN Law from the New Panama Company,
or through his failure to con cludo n salts
factory treaty with Colombia. the scene
OF canal operations will ultimately and
Inevitably be transferred 20 tho Grey
route
A 70 the soundneas ~ tho title which
the Fenchmen can give, We are not SO
much worried about that "a Senator
MORGAN appears To he
As 20 the other possible obstacle. the
solution Of that difficulty Ii entirely in the
hands of Colombia. The treaty which
she proposes To mako with us was sent
20 the Senate and House bv Secretary
HAY on NAV 10 A comparison ~ its
conditions with tho requirements 81 the
Spooner act shows that Colombia must
modify her terms somewhat II she
expects tn get the canal
For example. tho law requires tho
Presidtns 20 obtain from Colombia sper-
petual control of a strip Of land, not le-s
than sir miles IN width, ertending from
the Caribbean IN the Pacifio' Thetreaty
proposed by Colombia, on tho other
hand. grants a zone fve kilometres
wide for a period Of one hundred years.
with the privilege ~ renewal The
strip II only half wide enough 10 sat
isfy tho statutory requirement. and the
period of the lease ia not long enough.
There are other important details which
will have to be adjusted by negotiation
In order TO meet the terms under which
the President IL authorized 70 proceed
to the construction ~ canal by way Of
the Isthmus Of Panama.
To suppose that Colombia will be un-
willing To make these necessary changes
In the proposed treaty. and will conse-
quently assign the incalculable benefits Of
the canal to her ncighbor-. Nicaragua and
Costa Rica, Is to assume that Colombia
n the most foolish and short sighted
republic that exists or ever existed on
this or any other planet.