The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-02-27
Seth Low met the pope yesterday
and made a speech at him. After all
the papacy has It's drawbacks.
HOW CAN WE WALTZ

With unfeigned establishment the
most of its information, the Hon. Leslie
M. Shaw, that the acquisition of the
Panama canal route and rights and
property may be indefinitely postponed.
Mr.. Shaw Is the custodian of public
events, and although we would not call
him exactly the watchdog of the
treasury, we might stretch point so
far as to name him the Scotch terrier
Of the national till He is cautious
enough at least to know that the pay
ment of $5O,0O0,OoO on account of our
Panama performance must not be
made without due examination and
safeguards, SO he says that the title of
the company must be thoroughly inves-
tigated; that the department of Justice
will have to look after this, probably
sending some one to Paris to go into
the titles; that until these things shall
have been done no money will be paid
out and no rights pass oyer to us, and
that the beautiful cartoons in our Re-
publican contemporaries, representing
Uncle Sam as already shoveling out
dirt by the CARLOAD on the isthmus,
are misleading and premature.
It is singular that no hint of these
misgivings appeared before the rati-
f1cation of the treaty by the United
States senate. Nobody has denied the
disgraceful and indecent haste exhib-
tied by the administration in wrestling
Panama from Colombia, and in rec
ognizing a government consisting of
representatives of the French Panama
canal company and supporting it with
the full force of our national promise.
and arms. Even the apologists of the
president have not a word to saw on
this point. His only defense is that
1t was necessary to act immediately.
and that in this way the undoubted de-
sire of the country to obtain an 18TH
milan canal could be speedily accom-
plished. We were told also that the
department Of justice had, during ne
gotiations with Colombia, infinitely ex-
amined abroad all the documents and
details relating to the title Of the canal
company, as it certainly should have
done, and that we were free to go
ahead. Now there is a promise of in
definite delay.
We have never yet heard from any
responsible source an explanation Of
the presidents decision to ignore that
portion of the Spooner act which re-
quired him to open negotiations with
Nicaragua and Costa RIGA in case
those with the United States of Colorn-
bfa fell through. On that point the
apologists of the Panama. inin,,itv
maintain discreet silence. Now #
seems that all this haste has been only
to complete the purchase Of a pig in a
poke. We do not know what we have
agreed to buy. We do not know nv
what title we are to hold it. We do
not know whether it's alleged owners
have any title to pass. Having extin-
guished that Of Colombia practically
by force Of arms, by the sheer might of
the stronger, we have still to consider
whether the French government has
something to say; and, after all this
broil and the national disturbance over
It, we do not know whether or not we
can complete the purchase for which
we have smirched our national name.
Of a truth we have a very impulsive
president at Washington, and he is
proving expensive to us in a good MANY
ways. We think that the latest phase
of the canal business will prove in
tensely disgusting to those who have
readily swallowed the improperly and
disgrace Of all that preceded it.
And let it be understood by the
Russians now that we did not inten-