The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1903-12-10

Workmanship Is being steadily raised.
but the highest duty Of naval oficer Is
to exercise command at sea.
1t IS eminently desirable, however, that
staff on lines similar to those Of the General
staff lately created for the army. Within
the navy department itself the needs OF
under which the duties Of general staff
are partially performed; for the bureau OF
navigation has under its direction the war
college, the office of naval intelligence and
the board OF. inspection. and has been in
close tough with the general board of the
navy. But though under the excellent on
GERS at their head these boards and bureaus
do good work, they have not the authority
of general STAFF and have not sufficient
scope to insure a proper readiness for
emergencies. We need the establishment
by law of a body Of trained officers, who
shall exercise systematic control Of the
military affairs Of the navy, and be author
i The Isthmian Canal.
BY the act of June % 1902. the congress
/ authorized the president to enter into
| treaty with Colombia for the building of
the canal across the, Isthmus OF Panama;
| failure to secure such treaty after the
| Lapse OF a reasonable time, recourse
should be had to building canal through
| Nicaragua 1t has not been necessary to
| consider this alternative, as am enabled
| to lay before the senate treaty provid-
| ing for. the building of the canal across
| route which commended itself to the de-
| liberate 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 definite
ly and irrevocably decided. The question
is simply whether or not we shall have
an isthmian canal. F- -.
When the congress directed that we
traafv CO1nn1hiQ "a of fha
condition, of course, referred not 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 the territory.
bore on the map. The purpose of the law
was to authorize the president to make
troll Of the Isthmus of Panama. This
purpose has been fulfilled. @
Iathmian Treaty. Obligations.
In the year 1916 this government en-
teredN into a treaty with New Granada,
the predecessor upon the Isthmus of the
Republic of Colombia and of the present
Republic of Panama, by which treaty 1t
was provided that the government and
citizens of the United States should al
or transit across the Isthmus of Panama
by any modes of communication that
might be constructed, while in return our
government guaranteed the perfect neu-
trality of the above-named isthmus with
the view that the free transit from the
one to the other sea might not be inter-
rupted or embarrassed. The treaty vest
ed in the United States a substantial
property right carved out of the rights of
sovereignty and property which New
Granada then had and possessed over the
said territory. The name of New Gran
ada has passed away and its territory
has been divided. It's successor, the gov
eminent of Colombia, has ceased to own
any property in the isthmus. A new
republic, that Of Panama, which. was at
one time sovereign state, and at an
other time mere department of the sue
cessive CONGREGATIONS known as New
Granada and Colombia has now succeed
ed to the rights which first one and then
the other formerly exercised over the
isthmus. But as long as the isthmuS en-
dures, the mere geographical fact of its
existence, and the peculiar interest there
In which is required by our position,
binds the holders of the territory to re-
sDect our right to freedom of transit
across 1t. and binds us in return to safe
guard for the isthmus and the world the
exercise of that inestimable privilege.
upon which the United States entered in
this treaty of 1876 has been given repeat
eddy in the utterances of presidents and
For 400 years, ever since shortly after the
discovery of this hemisphere, the canal
across the isthmus has been planned. For
twoscore years 1t has been worked at.
When made 1t Is to last for the ages. 1t Is
to alter the geography of continent and
the trade routes OF the world. We have
Or attempted to negotiate with the peoples
in control of the isthmus and with foreign
nations IN reference thereto our consistent oIn
the one hand to the peoples of the isthmus,
and on the other hand to the civilized world
whose, commercial rights we are safe
guarding and guaranteeing by our action.
We have done our duty'to others in letter
and spirit, and we have shown the utmost
forbearance in exacting our own rights.
Last spring, under the act above re-
ferred to, a treaty concluded between the
representatives OF the Republic of Colom-
bia and of our government was ratified
by the senate. This treaty was entered
into at the urgent solicitation of the peo-
pie of Colombia and after a body of ex-
perts appointed by our government es-
pecially to go into the matter of the
nounced unanimously in favor of
Panama route. In drawing up this treaty
every concession was made to the people
were more than just in dealing with
them. Our generosity was such as to
make 1t a serious question whether we
had not gone too far in their in
terest at the expense 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 neigh
Dor, who already owed so much to our
protection and forbearance, we yielded
in all possible ways to her desires in
government of Colombia not merely
repudiated the treaty, but repudiated 1t
in such manner as to make it evident by
the time the Colombian congress adj
journed that not the scantiest hope re-
manned of ever getting a satisfactory
treaty from them. The government of
Colombia made the treaty, and yet when
the Colombian congress was called to
ratify 1t the vote against ratification was
unanimous. 1t does not appear that the
government made any real effort to Sc
cure ratification. -.
Revolution in Panama.
Immediately after the adjournment of
the congress a revolution broke out in
Panama. The people of Panama had
long been discontinued with the Republic
of Colombia, and they had been kept
quiet only by the prospect Of the con-
clusion of the treaty, which was to them
a matter of vital concern. When II 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 govern
| ment. Not a life was lost in the accom-
| plishment of the revolution. The Colom-
bian troops stationed on the isthmus,
| who had long been unpaid. made COM
| mon cause with the people of Panama,
| and with astonishing unanimity the new
| republic was started. The duty of the
| United States in the premises was clear.
| In strict accordance with the principles