Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1903-11-15
edged as nation by any government


in the world
It is to That principle, SO strenu-
eusly maintained. tnat We can attriD-
ute in great degree our success in
bringing the seeded states back int
the union, and from which success
i5a3 flowed the great national power
and prosperity which We boast OF to-
day. 7 furnishes so striking his
torical precedent. it seems strange
that neither the president, secretary
ef state nor anybody else in the cabi
net had thought Of it before commit
ting the government t. the remark
able position OF acknowledging the
few Panama revolutionists inside Of
forty-eight hours from the time their
treason to Colombia took the shape
of overt acts.
1t is dcubly strange that Mr.. Hay
neither cited nor considered that
greatest of historical precedents,
made by the great founders Of his
party, Lincoln, Seward, Chase and
the other members Of Mr. I.incoln's
cabinet and those in either house OF
congress.
Eas Not Established Sovereignty.
Under the test laid down by Mr..
Seward Panama has neither "abso
lutely and beyond question effected
it's sovereignty And the facts
show that it cannot do so against the
power OF the national government at
Bogota.
The relative areas and populations
of Colombia and the department of
Panama are as follews:
Colombia. square miles
(not including Panama -. 500.S5S
Panama. square miles. ..... 32.3SS
Colombia, population
(not including Panama) 1888 .00G
Panama. population ........ 2S5.0o0
How can 2S5.oo0 people resist the
power of over 3, 100000 in a territory
one-ninth smaller than the state OF
Indiana!
The published dispatches from the
isthmus says that our government has
given orders to prevent the Colomb
ian government from landing its
troops to repossess itself of its ter
ritory and public property and assert
by force its rightful sovereignty over
the idsthmus which is as lawfully
and morally its territory as Illinois
is part of the territory of the United
States
Colombian Negotiations Still Fresh.
The ink is hardly dry on the docu-
ments passing between our govern
ment and that of Colombia for the
purchase by us of the right-Of-Way
for canal thrcngh that very 18TH
mus from Colombia as the sole own
er and proprietor of that territory.
The act of congress authorizing that
purchase from Colombia is hardly a
year old.
Let us see where we land if these
orders are carried out. Colombia
sends her soldiers on her vessel from
0ne Of her ports at the mouth of the
Ma@1alena river to Colon or some
otl or point Oh the isthmus. to be
tlscro landed fcr the purpose of re-
possessing herself Of her forts and
ether public property and asserting
her rightlul Sovereignty over the
country The commander of one of
our ships of war orders the Colomb-
ian vessel to lay to. Her officer in
command refuses and proceeds to
land the Colombian troops. What
will cur naval commander do? Fire
into the Colombian vessel, killing the
mon and sinking the ship?
BY warrant of what principle of in
ternational law? Every man killed
Will be the victim of an international
murder.
Administration Claim Refuted.
The administration says that it is
authorized by treaty with Colo aha s
predecessor New Grenada, to keep
the isthmus open for traffic and tran.
sit Suppose that is true. How