The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-03-08
MILLIONS TO GO OUT.
Devising Plan for Paying Panama
 Canal Bonus.

Canal Bonus.
 Washington Special to Chicago Record
 Herald.
 The Secretary of the Treasury and his advisers have already begun to consider the method by which the $50, GOO, 900 bonus will be paid to the French Canal Com pany and the government of Colombia as soon as the treaty is ratified. It Is q very important transaction for many req sons, particularly because 1t will deplete the currency in circulation in this coun- try to such an enormous amount. There fore it is fortunate that the transaction Is likely to take place at a season of the year when there Is the least demand for money. Secretary Shaw will be governed by the condition of the money market in deciding how the transfer shall be made. The ordinary method would be for him to deposit the amount to the credit of the Panama Canal Company in some bank in New York or London presumably that of Seligman Brothers, who are the financial agents of the government of the United States. In selecting the bank of deposit, however, the Panama Company would
 have to be considered. Being such large
 amount, it might be deemed prudent to
 divide 1t between several banks, and there
 will doubtless be numerous offers and
 considerable competition for the privilege
 of handling the money. That, however,
 Is a matter of very little public concern Sooner or later S40,000,000 of exchange
 must be purchased and an equal amount of gold must be renitted to London to meet the draft. It cannot remain in this country for investment, but will be dis tributed among the stockholders of the
 Panama Canal Company, who are scat
 tered throughout France. and the most
 of them hold very few shares.
 The stockholders will realize about b per cent of their original investment
 which has paid no interest. It is quite remarkable that so little disturbance has
 been made by them, for the majority of
 the Panama stock is owned by poor people who can i'll afford the loss. At the time when De Lesseps was wasting his millions shaEe or two of the stock
 found it's way into nearly every peasant cottage in the entire republic. The en- thusiasm and confidence of the poor peo- pie in the enterprise was so great that
 they continued to buy shares after the collapse of the company and the expos ure of the corruption and Wastefulness
 of its officials. It was expected that
 reaction would take place and a revolu-
 tion was predicted when the property
 was transferred to the United States, but
 so far the peasants have accepted the
 situation without demonstration and
 have submitted to their sacrifice without
 protest.
 The 0,0O0 which goes to Colombia will not be paid without every precau- ton. The treaty must first be ratified by the Congress of that country, and the Secretary of State will be very sure that 1t has been legally elected and organized. The elections take place this month. but 1t Is not expected that the Congress can meet before May. The Congress of Co., 1 lombia has not met for four years, and no election has taken place during that | time The people are now at peace, after l continuous civil war since 1898, and, al- | though the government Is not entirely 1 satisfactory to the people and by no means constitutional, there is no longer
 any organized resistance to it's authority. | and whatever 1t does will undoubtedly be i promptly ratified by the Congress.
 The COlombianS are the most tricky and unreliable of all the Spanish-Ameri- cans, but their character Is well under- l stood by the President and Secretary l Hay, who have had the benefit of some remarkable experience during the nego- | tiations for the canal rights. They will | not pay a dollar to anyone until they are l firmly convinced that it will go to the right place. Senator Morgan, eX-Senator | Warner Miller and other gentlemen who are deeply attached to the Nicaragua route have been circulating scare stories about the way in which the Colombian government intends to humbug the Unit ed States, and Mr Morgan actually be- lieves and predicts that after We have paid the 900 somebody will pop up somewhere with a demand for more and prohibit us from occupying the isthnus or digging the ditch until we have sub
 mittad to blackmail. Those who know
 the character of Theodore ROos avelt would smile to see the Colombian authOri-
 ties or any other government try to hold
 him up for blackmall. His first act would be to send down a fleet and an army, and take possession of the isthmus,
 which some time may have to be done.