The Savannah morning news., 1903-12-08
ROOSEVELT SENDS HIS
MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.
From the Ninth Page.

dence of Vice President, he says, and
II 1t became necessary will go to the
isthmus or send representative there to
adjust matters along above lines to the
satisfaction of the people there
This dispatch is noteworthy from two
standpoints. It's offer of Immediately
guaranteeing the treaty to us is in
sparp contrast with the positive and
contemptuous refusal of the Congress
which has just closed its sessions to
consider favorably such a treaty; it
shows that the government which made
the treaty really had absolute control
over the situation, but did not choose
to exercise this control. The dispatch
further calls on us to restore order and
secure Colombian supremacy in the
isthmus from which the Colombian gov
eminent has just by its action decided
to bar us by preventing the construc-
ton of the canal.
The control, in the interest of the
commerce and traffic of the whole civil
lied world, of the means of undisturbed
transit across the Isthmus of Panama
has become of transcendent Importance
to the United States. We have re-
peatedly exercised this control by in
terVening in the course of domestic
dissension, and by protecting the ter
ritory from foreign invasion. In 1858
Mr.. Everett assured the Peruvian min
lister that we should not hesitate to
maintain the neutrality of the 18TH
mus in the case of war between Peru
and Colombia. In 1864 Colombia, which
bus always been vigilant to avail it.
self of its privileges conferred by the
treaty, expressed it's expectation that
In the event of war between Peru and
Spain the United States would carry
into effect the guaranty of neutrality.
There have been few administrations
of the State Department in which this
treaty has not, either by the one side
or the other, been used as a basis of
more or less important demands. 1t
was said by Mr.. Fish in 1871 that the
Department Of State had reason to be-
heve that an attack upon Colombian
sovereignty on the isthmus had, on
several occasions, been averted by
warning from this government. In 1886,
when Colombia was under the menace
of hostilities from Italy in the Cerrutf
case. Mr.. Bayard expressed the Sc
rious concern that the United States
could but feel, that a European Power
should resort to force against a sister
republic of this hemisphere, as to the
sovereign and uninterrupted use of a
part of whose territory we are guaran-
tors under the solemn faith Of treaty
The above recital of facts establishes
beyond question: First, that the Unit
ed States has for over half a century
patiently ana IN good faith carried
out its obligations under the treaty of
1916; second, that when for the first
time 1t became possible for Colombia
to do anything in requital of the serv-
ices thus repeatedly rendered to it for
flfty-seven years by the United States,
the Colombian government peremptori-
ly and extensively refused thus to do its
part, even though to do so would have
been to its advantage and immeasur-
ably to the advantage of the state of
Panama, at that time under it's juris-
diction; third, that throughout this
period revolutions, riots and factional
disturbances of every kind have oc-
Cured one after the other in almost
uninterrupted succession, some of them
last for months and even for years,
while the central government was I'M
able to put them down or to make
peace with the rebels; fourth, that
these disturbances instead of showing
any sign of abating have tended to
grow more numerous and more serious
in the immediate past; fifth, that the
control of Colombia over the Isthmus
of Panama could not be maintained
without the armed intervention and as
sistance of the United States. In other
words the government of Colombia,
though wholly unable to maintain order
on the isthmus, has nevertheless de-
clined to ratify a treaty the conclusion
of which opened the only chance to
secure its own stability and to guaran-
| tee permanent peace on, and the con-
struction of a canal across, the 18TH
| mus.