Rock Island Argus., 1902-02-10
IDEA HELD IDEAL
Insurgent Herrara's That the Pan.
amana Railway Line Should
Be Neutral Ground.
AT PANAMA MAKE REPLY
Can Only BE Made Reality by Agree
ment of the BeIligerents-
Canal Talk.

Panama, Feb. 1O.-Fhe foreign con-
suits here have agreed to send TO the
! insurgent general. HERRERA. the follow
| ing answer to his note. addressed TO
the United States. French, British and
! German cOnsuls:
His eXcellency. Acting Govrnor Ar
! istides Arizona, kindly delivered to GER
tain persons of the consular body let
| ters from YOU. We understand they
were intended for all the consular
corps, and therefore. through the gov
! ernor, we beg to reply that the pro-
| poSal declaring Panama. Colon and the
/ railroad line neutral zone is ideal.
and something that we. representing
foreign Interests. would gladly hail as
an accomplished fact. However. as
we see il at present. and in view of
existing laws, we recognize the diff
| Guilty, if not the impoSSibility, of its
accomplishment.
Could Be,Done.Onlyst by. Ereement.
1t could he done only by agreement
between the cOntending parties to this
unpleasant and unfortunate trouble.
We are extremely anxious to do all in
our power to lessen the mortality and
useless waste of property; yet it must
he ever and positively understood that
we have been and viii continue to re-
main neutral. As regards the advising
of their respective governments, each
consul VIII exercise his individual
Judgment. In case the contendinS
| forces submit to us, or TO any member
Of our body any matter. and ask adj
vice for its determination, we shall be
ready and willing 10 act. If the same
is within the scope of our duties; bU
any and all initial measures must he
taken by the two cOntending parties
and first agreed upon by them.
Not DESTROYS of Modelling.
"Any other course would subject us
TO the charge of meddling in local af-
fairs. which is not our province. pur-
pose or. desire. Foreigners and for
eign property have a right to fun and
ample protection. and this we shall
under all circumstances insist upon.
The gOvrnmentS having special treaty
rights viii, we presume, see that they
are not violated
In the hope that thre viii be an
early termination of the civil strife
which has existed for over two years.
1 beg to sulNcribe myself, in behalf Of
the consular corps"
WALKER EXPLAINS THE CHANGE
Admiral Tells Senators Why the Commits
sion Recommended Panama.
Washington, Feb. 1O.-Admiral
Walker Saturday concluded his testi-
mOny before the senate committee on
inter-Oceanic canals. The examina-
tiOn was with reference to the reasons
why the canal commission changed its
recommendations from the Nicaragua
to the Panama route. The reasons
given by the witness for this change.
summed up. are that the Panama
route * much shorter and has fewer
curves and that those curves which
do exist are not 50 sharp rs the curves
in the Nicaragua route. He also said
he believed that with proper quaran-
tine regulations the health conditions
of the region along the Panama line
could be much improved. He did not
consider the present condition from Il
health point of view as bad.
points were asked largely by Hanna.
who also made Inquiries concerning
the water supply for the Panama canal
and the difficulties i'm the way of con-
tructiug dam at Bohio. With refer
ence to the dam. Admiral Walker said |
he had no doubt that the engineering
difficulties could be overcome, and he
also expressed the opinion that the Wal
ter supply would he ample. He stated |
in reply to questions by other Sena- |
tors that one of the curves in the
Panama waterway would be quite |
quite sharp. but he was of opinion
that steam vessels would be able to
round it. He also said that the har-
Dor ut Panama could be maintained at
n nominal cost
Morgan questioned the witness at
length with reference to the commits |
SiOn'S inVeStigat ton of the power of |
the new Panama Canal company to
4
tie In reply to all the questions on |
this line Admiral Walker said he had |
been satisfied in general way that |
the new Panama Canal company
would be capable OF passing the prop
erty to the United States with an ac- |
ceptable title. but that he was not Il |
lawyer. and he felt satisfied that in
case the recommendation of the COM |
mission to accept the Panama route |
should be favOrably acted upon by |
congress the president would he as |
sured by competent legal advice of the |
genuineneSS of the title before accept |
Ing the transfer. I'VE only recon- |
mend the Panama route as practicable |
and feasible" he said. ''by which we |
mean that we consider the enginter- |
ing proposition as practicable and the |
diplomatic negotiation as feasible"
UIose OF Long Walk.
Rochester. y. Y. Feb. 1O-The six
day heel and toe walking match closed |
at midnight Saturday, with w. \. |
Hoagland. of Auburn, y. Y. the 100 |
mile champion. winner over Messies. |
the Minneapolis boy, by one mile and |
twelve laps, with Il total record of 242 1
miles.
Another in the Dragnet.
st. Louis. Mo. Feb. 1O--George J. |
KobuSch president of the st Iouis /