Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-01-04

Granada. Colombia. or Panama mat
tered not one whit. AS events turned
out. the question of reasonable time"
did not enter into the matter at all.
| Although. as the months went by. it
! became increasingly improbable that
the Colombian congress would ratify
the treaty or take steps which would
/ be equivalent thereto, yet all chance
for such action on their part did not
| vanish until the congress closed at the
! end Of October, and within three days
thereafter the revolution in Panama
had broken out. Panama became an
independent state. and the control of
the territory necessary for building the
canal then became obtainable The
condition under which alone we could
have gone 10 Nicaragua thereby be-
came impossib of fultiiIlment. If the
pending treaty with Panama should
not be ratified by the senate this
would not alter the fact that we could
not 20 TO Nicaragua. The congress
has decided the route. and there is no
alternative under existing legislation.
} When II August il began to appear
probable that the Colombian legisIa-
iure would not ratify the treaty il be-
came incumbent upon me to consider
well what the situation was and to he
ready 70 advise the congress as to
what were the various alternatives of
action open to us. There We're several
possibilities One was that Colombia
would at the last moment see the IN
wisdom of her position. That there
might he nothing omitted, Secretary
Hay through the minister at Bogota.
repeatedly warned Colombia that
grave consequences might follow from
her rejection of the treaty. Although
il was a constantly diminishing chance,
yct the possibility of ratification did
not wholly pass away until the close
OF the session of the Colombian con-
gresS. -...-
Most Likely Situation.
: second alternative was that by
the close of the session on the last
day of October. without the ratification
of the treaty by Colombia and without
any steps taken Ivy Panama the Amer
lean congress on assembling early in
November would he confronted with a
situation iIT which there had been
failure to come to terms as to build
ing the canal along the Panama route,
and yet there had not been Il lapse of
Il reasonable time-usIng the word rea-
sOnabl" in any proper sense-such as
would Justify the administration going
to the Nicaragua route. This situa-
ton seemed on the whole the most like
~. and as matter of fact l had made
the original draft Of my message to the
congress with n view to its existence.
1t was the opinion of eminent inter-
national jurists that in view of the
fact that the great design of our guar
antee under the treaty of 1916 was TO
dedicate the iSthmus to the purposes
of intcrOcCanic transit and above all to
secure the construction of an inter
oceanic canal. Colombia could not I'M
der existing conditions refuse to enter
into a proper arrangement with the
United States to that end, without ViO-
lating the spirit and substantially re-
pudiatin@ the obligations of Il treaty
the full benefits of which she had en-
jOycd for over fifty years. My inten-
ton was 70 consult the congress as TO
whether under such circumstances it
would not be proper to announce that
the canal was to he dug forthwith; that
we would give the terms that we had
offered and no others: and that if such
terms were not agreed to we would
enter into an arrangement with Pana-
ma direct. or take what other steps
were needful in order TO begin the en-
tprpriSc.
\ third possibility was that the peo-
pie of the isthmus. who had formerly
constituted an independent state, and
who until recently were united to Col
ombia only by loose tie of federal re-
lot lti nivh ta Ln m
their own vital interests into their own
hands. Teassert their former rights. de-
clare their independence upon just
grounds. and establish n government
competent and willing TO do it's share
in this great work for civilization.
This third possibility is what actually
occurred. Everyone knew that is was
possibility. but il was not until to-
wards the end of October that ii APP
peared TO be an imminent probability.
Although the administration. of course.
had special means of knowledge. no
such means were necessary in order to
appreciate the possibility. and ,oward
the end the likelihood. of such Il rev
dictionary outbreak and of its success |
1t was a matter of common notoriety. |
CHere the president submitted quo
tations from newspapers showing the /
state Of affairs on the isthmuS)
Revolution Reported Brewing.
on oct. II Commander Hubbard /
of the navy. notified the navy depart |
ment that. though things We're quiet on |
the isthmus. Il revolution had broken /
ont in the state of Cauca. On Oct. }
l6. at the request of Lieutenant Gen !
eral Young. l saw Captain {. Il. Hum !
phrey and Lieutenant Grayson Mallet- /
Provost Murphy. who had just re- /
turned from a four months tour 4
through the northern portions Of Ven /
czuela and Colombia. They stopped IN /
Panama on their return in the latter /
part OF September. At the time they 1
were sent down there had been no /
.kn,,..I,. nf % N |