Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1903-12-10

purpose Of the law was to authorize
the president to make d treaty with the /
power IN actual control OF the isthmus
Of Panama This purpose has been
fulfiIled
For 400 years, eser since shortly after
the discovery of this hemisphere, the
canal across the istllmus has been
planned For twoseore airs it has
been worked at When hi de It is 10
last for the ages I is alter the
geography of continent AMI the trade
routes of the world We haye shown
by every treaty we have negotiated or
attempted to negotiate With the peo-
pies in control of the istInus and with /
foreign nations in reference 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.
Repudintion of Treaty by Colombia.
Last spring treaty concluded be-
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 go 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
serious question whether we had not
gone too far in their interest at the ex-
pense of our own, for in our scrupulous
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 forbearance, 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 it in such manner as to make it
evident by the time the Colombian con-
gress adjourned that not the scantiest
hope remained Of ever getting salts
factory treaty from them
Revolution In Panama.
The people of Panama had long been
discontinued 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
a matter of vital concern When it be-
came evident that the treaty was hope
lessly lost the people of Panama rose
literally as one man. Not a shot was
fired by a single man on the isthmus
in the interest Of the Colombian gov
eminent Not a life was lost in the
accomplishment of the revolution The
Colombian troops stationed on the 18TH
mus, who had long been unpaid, made
common cause with the people of PAN
anna, and with astonishing unanimity
the new republic was started The
duty of the United States in the prem
ises was clear. In strict accordance
with the principles laid down by Sec
retaries Cass and Seward, the United
States gave notice that it would per-
NIT the landing of no expeditionary
force, the arrival of which would mean
chaos and destruction along the line of
the railroad and of the proposed canal
and an interruption of transit as an
inevitable consequence. The de facto
government of Panama was recog-
nized
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 acted other
wise than it did when the revolution of
Nov. 3 last took place in Panama This
great enterprise of building the inter
oceanic canal cannot be held up toll
crafty the whims or out of respect to
the governmental impotence or to the
even more sinister and evil political
peculiarities of people who, though
they dwell affair off, yet, against the
wish of the actual dwellers on the 18th
mus, assert an unreal supremacy over
the territory The possession of d ter
ritory fraught with such peculiar cas1
pacities as the isthmus in question car
ries with it obligations to mankind
The course of events has shown that
this canal cannot be built by private
enterprise or by any other nation than
our own; therefore it must be built by
the United States.
New Treaty with Panama
Every effort has been made by the
government of the United States to per-
suade Colombia to follow course
which was essentially not only to our
interests and to the interests of the
world, but to the interests of CoIon-
bia itself. These efforts have failed.
and Colombia. by hes' sstpnce III re-
pulsing the advances that have been