Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1903-12-11


rorcement. A very gratifying spirit OF
friendly cooperation exists in all ths
departments Of the government in the
| enforcement and uniform observance
OF both the letter and spirit Of the civil
service act
The Army and Navy.
The effect of the laws providing q
general staff for the army and for the
more effective use Of the national guard
has been excellent. Great improve.
ment has been made in the efficiency
or our army in recent years. Such
schools as those erected at Fort Leav.
enworth and Fort Riley and the insd.
tuition of fall maneuver work accom-.
pllsh satisfactory results. The good eI
feet of these maneuvera upon the ma.
tional guard is marked, and ample ap.
preparation should be made to enable
the guardsmen Of the several states to
share in the benefit. The government
should as soon as possible secure suit
able permanent camp sites for military
maneuvers in the various sections OF
the country.
l heartily congratulate the congress
upon the steady progress in building
up the American navy. We canno
afford let-up in this great work Il,
stand still means to go back. Their
should be no cessation in adding to tn,
effective units of the fighting strength
of the fleet. Meanwhile the navy de
partnent and the officers of the navl
are doing well their part by providins
constant service at sea under condi
tions akin to those of actual warfare
Our officers and enlisted men are learn
ing to handle the battieships. cruiser
4 and torpedo boats with high efficienc,
in fleet and squadron formations, ant
the standard of craftsmanship is being
steadily raised The best work ashor,
Is Indispensable but the highest duty
of naval officer is to exercise com
mand at sea. 1t is eminently desirable
that a naval general staff should bs
established
So Isthmian Canal. Mmr
i BY the act of June oS, 1902, the CON
gress authorized the president to entei
into treaty with Colombia for the
building of the canal across the 18th
mus Of Panama, 1t being provided thai
In the event of failure to secure sucl
treaty after the lapse of a reasonabl,
time recourse should be had to build
ing canal through Nicaragua. 1t has
not been necessary to consider this nj
tentative, as l am enabled to lay be
fore the senate a treaty providing foi
the building of the canal across the
isthmus of Panama. This was the
route which commended itself to the
deliberate judgment of the congress
and we can now acquire by treaty the
right to construct the canal over this
route. The question now, therefore, is
not by which route the isthmian canal
shall be built, for that question has
been definitely and irrevocably decid
ed. The question is simply whether OF
not we shall have an isthmian canal.
When the congress directed that we
should take the Panama route under
treaty with Colombia the essence of
the condition, of course, referred moi
to the government which controlled
that route, but to the route itself; to the
|
territory across which the route lay,
not to the name which for the moment
ihe territory bore on the map. The
purpose of the law was to authorize
The president to make treaty with tho
power in actual control of the isthmus
fulfilled.
For 400 years, ever since shortly after
the discovery Of this hemisphere, the
canal across the isthmus has been
planned. For twoscore years it has
been worked at. When made 1t is to
geography of continent and the trade
routes of the world. Ws. have shown
by every treaty we have negotiated or
attempted to negotiate with the peo-
pies in control of the isthmus and with
foreign nations in referekce thereto our
consistent good faith in observing our
obligations, on the one hand to the peo-
Piles Of the isthmus and on the other
hand to the civilized World, whose COM
mercial rights we are safeguarding and
guaranteeing by our Action. We have
done our duty to others in letter and in
spirit, and we have shown the utmost
forbearance In exacting our own rights
Repudfation of Treaty by Colon bfn.
Last spring treaty concluded De-
tween the representatives of The re-
public of Colombia and of our govern
ment was ratified by the senate. This
treaty was entered into at the urgent
solicitation of the people of Colombia
and after body Of experts appointed
by our government especially to 60 into
the matter Of the routes across the
isthmus had pronounced unanimously
In favor of the Panama route. In draw
ing up this treaty every concession was
made to the people and to the govern
ment of Colombia. We were more
than just in dealing with them. Our
generosity was such as to make It a
serious question whether we had not
gone too far in their interest at the ex-
pense of our own, for in our scrupuIous
desire to pay all possible heed not
merely to the real but even to the
| fancied rights of our weaker neighbor,
who already owed so much to our pro-
lection and forEearance, we yielded In
all possible ways to her desires in
drawing up the treaty. Nevertheless
the government Of Colombia not mere
" repudiated the treaty, but repudi-
ated 1t In such manner as to make. 1t
| evident by the time the Colombian con-
gress adjourned that not the scantiest
hope remained Of ever getting satis-
factory treaty from them.
Revolution In Panama.
The people OF Panama had long been
discontented with the republic of Co
lombia, and they had been kept quiet
only by the prospect Of the conclusion
Of the canal treaty, which was to them
matter Of vital concern When ii be-