Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-04

step in the ultimate abandoning of Colon
by these troops and their return to Carta-
gena the following day. Lieutenant Com
mander Witzel is entitled to much praise
for his admirable work in command on the
spot.
I feel that cannot sufficiently strongly
| represent to the Department the grossness
of this outrage and the insult to our dig
nifty. even apart from the savagery of the
threat
Very respectfully,
JOHN HUBBARD.
Commander. U. s. Navy, Commanding.
The Secretary of the Navy, Navy Depart
ment. Washington, D. c.
In his letter of November Commander
Hubbard sets forth the facts more in de-
tail.
U. 8. s. NASHVILLE, THIRD RATE,
Porto BeIlO, u. s. Colombia,
November 8. 1903.
Sir: l. have the honor to make the fol-
lowing report of the occurrences which took
place at Colon and Panama in the interval
between the arrival of the Nashville at
Colon on the evening of November 2, 1903,
and the evening of November s. 1903, when
py the arrival of the u. s. s. Dixie at Co
Ion was relieved as senior officer by Com
mander F. H. Delano u S. NAVY
=. AT the time of the arrival of the Nash
vile at Colon at $50 pm. on November
everything on the isthmus was quiet There
was talk Of proclaiming the independence
or Panama, but no definite action had been
taken and there had been no disturbance
OF peace and order. At daylight on the
morning of November it was found that
a vessel which had come in during the
night was the Colombian gunboat Carta-
gena carrying between 400 and SOD troops.
l had her boarded and learned that these
troops We're for the garrison at Panama.
1nasmuch as the Independent party had not
acted and the Government of Colombia was
at the time in undisputed control of the
PROVINCE OF Panama, l did not feel in the
absence or any instructions, that l was
justified in preventing the landing of these
troops. and at $50 o. cleck they were disem-
parked The commanding officers, Generals
Amaya and Tobal, with four others, i'm
medlately went over to Panama to make
arrangements for receiving and quartering
their troops, leaving the command in
charge of officer whom / later learned
to be Colonel Torres. The Departments
message addressed to the care of the United
States consul, received at 1880 am; it
was delivered to one of the ships boats
whiie~I was at the consufs and not to the
consul as addressed The message was said
to have been received at the cable office
at 9:30 am. Immediately on dec.pheriny
the message went Oh shore to see what ar
rdngements the railroad company had
made for the transportation of these troops
to Panama. and learn ed that the company
would not transport them except on request
of the governor of Panama, and that the
pTeIecl OF colon ana the O1Tcer lett IN
command of the troops had been so notified
by the general superintendent of the Pana-
ma Railroad Company. ] remained at the
company's Office until it was sure that no
action on my part would be needed to pre-
vent the transportation of the troops that
afternoon, when l returned on board and
cabled the Department the situation of af-
fairs. AT about $50 pm. again went on
shore. and received notice from the general
superintendent of the railroad that he had
received the request for the transportation
of the troops and that they would leave on
the am. train on the following day. l
Immediately went to see the general super
intendent. and learned that 1t had just been
announced that provisional government
had been established at Panama--that
Generals Amaya and Tobal, the governor
of Panama, and four officers, who had gone
to Panama in the morning, had been seized
and were held as prisoners; that they had
an organized force of 1900 troops and
wished the government troops in Colon to
be sent over. This 1 declined to permit,
and verbally prohibited the general superin-
tendent from giving transportation to the
troops of either party.
1t being then late in the evening, / sent
early in the morning of November writ
ten notification to the general superintend-
ent of the Panama railroad, to the project
of Colon, and to the officer left in com
mand of the Colombian troops, later ascer-
tanned to be Colonel Torres, that had pro-
hibited the transportation of troops in
either direction, in order to preserve the
free and uninterrupted transit OF the 18TH
mus. Copies of these letters are hereto ap-
pended; also copy of my notification TO the
consul. Except to few people, nothing was
known in Colon of the proceed ngs in Pan
anna until the arrival of the train at 10 40
on the morning of the 4th. Some PROPOSE
lions were, l was later told made to Colo
mel Torres by the reDreSen at;veS or the
new Government at Colon with a view to
inducing him to re-emDark in the Carta-
gena and return to the port of Cartagena,
nd W. i'm
that Colonel Torres M de the threat and
took the action reported in my letter No
sc. of Move. Der 3, 1903. The Carriage IA
left the port uSt after the threat was IN de
and | did 81, deem it exped ent to attempt
to detain ..sr, such action would GER
tainiy, in the then state of affairs, have
precipitated conflict on shore which w 8
not prepared to meet. 1t is my under
standing that she returned to Cartagena.
After the withdrawal OF the Colombian
troops on the evening of November 4, an 4
the return of the Nashville force on
board, as reported in my letter No So. there
was no disturbance on shore, and the GIT
passed quietly. On the morning of the 9TH
] discovered that the commander of the
| Colombian troops had not Withdrawn SO
| far from the town as he had agreed, but
| was occupying buildings near the outskirts
| of the town. / Immediately incurred MO
| the mat tier and learned that he had sone
| trivial excuse for not carry ng out his
| agreement, and also that 1t was his inten.
| ton to occupy Colon ag lin on ,he a. val OF
| the alcalde due at 1}:45 q. M. unless Cen
! eral Tobal sent word by the alcalde that he,
| Colonel Torres, should withdraw. That
! General Tobal had declined to give any in
| structions l was cognizant of, and the ST.
| uation at once bec4me quite serious as
| on the day previous. l imm ed ately landed
| an armed force, reoccupied the same build
! ing; also landed two 1-pou lders and mount
! ed them on platform cars behind protection
! of cotton bales, and then IN company with
the United States consul h d an interview
I with Colonel Torres, in the course of VIII ch
| l Informed him that / had rel n1ed my men
| because he had not kept his agreement;
| that i had no interest in the affairs of
| either party; that my attitude was strictly
! neutral; that the troops of neither side
! should be transported; that my sole purpose
| in landing was to protect the lives and
property of Americs II citizens If tire .tened
/ as they had been threatened, and to main
| tain the free and uninterrup ed transit OF
! the isthmus, and that Iu pose / should
| maintain by force If necessary. l also
| strongly advised that in the interests OF
peace, and to prevent the possibility of a
| conflict that gould not but be regrettable
| he should carry out his agreement of the
| previous evening and withdraw to Monkey
/ - H.
| Col. Torres only reply was that it was
| hoo thu lt