The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-12-08
latest PROPO.
SIT1ON OF
COLOMBIA.
AMERICAN INTERVENTION.

Thin dispatch is noteworthy from two stand
Points tseatE Us t., Si,sr OF in s t
positive and contemptuous refusal of the Con-
sder favorabv sueh elOs teay y it Shows that
the Government which made the treaty really
had absolute control over the situation put "a
not choose to exercise this control The dis
patch further calls on US TO restore order and
em which ihs Golsmsan oveTnnent has nss
by its action decided to bar US by preventing
The control. in the interest of the commerce
and traffic OF the whole civilized world. OF the
means of undisturbed transit across the lsthmus
portancc To the United States. We have re-
pea;edly exercised this control by intervenins
CONTROL OF nestle dissension and
TRANSIT ACROSS by protecting the ter
ISTHMUS. ritory from foreign
invasion. In 1853 Mr..
Everett assured the Peruvian Minister that we
should not hesitate TO maintain the neutrality
Of the isthmus in the case of war between
has always hna BEEN uEan, i to avail set OF its
privileges conferred by the treaty. expressed
tween Peru and spain the United States would
Tstry into eec. the guaranty Of nsutg ~ te
5tst s % nssn inv in 9hich this tsa,y has
not. either by the one side the other. been
mands as /, Mas said mG gy Mr. Fish in isi @
The ID partment of Ssate had rsas n 10 o, LEY,
en- the is:hIaus had. on several occasions been
ayerted by warning from this Cover nment IN
hosiilities from Italy in the Cerruti case. MIR.
Bayard exp-e ssed the serious concern that the
rop.aH fowsf should resort to force against n
sister Republic of this hemisphere; as to the
whose territory we are gua,anioss under the
solemn faith OF treaty.
question: FIRST. that the United states has
for over hal, century pa,eniag and d IN god I'D
treaty Of 1876. second. that when for the first
/ me IL became POSSIBLE fer Colombia to do
,-gtc,ily rendered TO a for fifty-sEVen years by
the United States the Colombian Cove, nment
rcrerT,p;orily ard extensively refused thus to do
been I" It's advantage and immeasurably to the
iimc under its jurisd elton: third. that through;
out this PERIOD revolut ons: riots and factional
after ~" other in almost uninterrupted success
sSn ssme Of Them lasting for months and even wen
the rebels: fourth. that thess distur ances in
tended TO gov mere numerous and more seri-
OTIS in the Immediate past: fifth. that the con-
could Ifdc be maintained without the armed in
Prevention ard assistance of the United States.
though wholly unable to maintain order on the
,s.h:nus; has nevertheless declined to raiify
treaty the conclusion of which opened the
only chance TO secure its own stability and to
struc:'on OF n canal across. the isthmus.
Under such circumstances the Gov.
eminent of the United States would
have been guilty of folly and weak
ness, amounting in their sum to
crime against the nation, had it act
ed otherwise than 1t did when the
revolution of November 3 last took
place i'm Panama. This great enterprise of
building the intsroceanic canal cannot be held
up To crafty whims. or out Of respect TO the
Eoyernmental impotence or to the even more
pie who. though they dwell afar of. yet
against the wish Of the actual jewellers on the
isthmus, assert unreal supremacy over the
territory. The possession of a territory fraught
with such peculiar capacities as the istiirr,rs
in question carries with It obligations to man
kind. The course of events has shown that this
,sa;:sl cannot be built by private enterprise or
IL must be built by the Unitcd States.
Every effort has been made by the Govern
rnrnt OF the United States TO persuade Coiorn-
bin to follow n course which was essentially
not only TO our interests and to the interests
Of the world. but to the interests of Colombia
Itself. These efforts have failed: and Colombia
by Ter persistence in repulsing the advances
that have been made, has forced u.s. for the
sale Of our own honor and of the interest and
weil-5cinS. not merely of our people but
of the people OF the 1sthmus of Panama and the
pct:1is = the civilized countries OF the world
&c tailc decisive steps bring to an end n con-
Gi:ioa OF affairs which had become intolerahIe