New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-12-24
NETWORK DAILY TRIBUNE SATURDAY DECEMBER a 1901


Huertas and the disarmament and abolition of
the army excepting handful of officers and
men just sufficient to meet the statutory re-
| quirements of standing army The army con-
| sisted OF only go men, anyway: Just enough to
! cause trouble but not enough TO do any real
sooc' IL was 1elt that the police force and the
! American marines at Empire would be sufr-
cleht Tor the maintenance of order and the pro-
| lection OF the republic. So the next day No
Vehlber H. President Amador called for General
| f1uertass resignation warning him that If he
! refused TO give it resisted the civil authority
the American marines would support the gov
eminent. That afternoon General Huertas called
! upon the President, protested against the de-
nand for his resignation and the impending
olSpano1neht of the army. my poor soldiers"
put promised to obey the mandate. A further
mint from Mr.. Barrett to General Huertas
through the medium of a mutual friend, that
| the American government hoped no indiscre-
uon would be committed. but that the Constitu-
ton of Panama would be respected doubtless
went far toward assuring the fulfment of this
promise That night some of his friends tried
10 persuade General Huertas not to resign but
| 10 hght the matter out, but the generals own
better Judgment prevailed. The next day he
resigned in long letter addressed to President
Amador 1t accepted by a government
ueolee' ana the general was put upon the re-
! tred list, with a salary, or pension Of $500 a
month He soon afterward retired to a rural
nome at Aqua Duice. in a remote part of the
republic
FINALLY. there was the army to be disposed o.
General Huertas wrote to the President that the
soldiers were unwilling to serve after his retire.
ment. and Or. Amador naturally welcomed the
statement as suggesting a good opportunity for
getting rid OF the army. He therefore an
nounced that the army would be disbanded the
soldiers receiving sixty Gays pay as bonus
This would be paid to then-I think on Mr.
6arretts very tudcious suggestion-one-half
down upon disbandment and the remainder at
the end of a week. This was to insure their
good behavior, and with the same end In view. it
was ordered that all barrooms be closed for the
three days after their disbandment To fulfil
this plan the army was ordered to assemble at
Ile government House at o'clock Saturday
afternoon, November 49, to be mustered out and
paid off. Now, l o'clock is the hour of the
Siesta, when even revolutionists must rest! So
at that time not a soldier appeared. Two O'Clock
came. and not arrived. President Amador
was uneasy, fearing the army had decided to
resist his order, but after conference with Mr.
Barrett he determined to walt little longer
| Qmagire a "hustling" Yankee advising a Pan
aman TO waltz At 2:30 o'clock fifty soldiers
came to the scratch, followed by a great mass of
the populace. They had left their weapons at
the barracks, but they sent in word to the Presi-
dent that they wanted their whole sixty DAYS
pay in a lump, at once. President Amador con-
ferring with the American Minister refused
their demand. 1t is probable that mindful Of
the slipshod methods of the old Colombian gov
eminent. they doubted whether they would ever
get the deferred half of the bonus If they agreed
to the postponement, and held with the Texas
philosopher that "a bird in the hand is the
noblest work of Cod" The deadlock ended,
however. when Mr. Barrett accompanied by
Secretary Guardia as his interpreter, went down
to the sidewalk addressed the soldiers assured
them that they would be fully paid, and warned
them that if they We're insubordinate they would
be dealt with sternly. and, If necessary. by the
American marines. Upon this assurance the
soldiers promptly agreed to the government de-
mand Within two hours the entire army pre-
sented itself at the Government House, received
thirty days pay and was dlsbanded, all except
ing three men and twenty officers, who en-
tirely loyal to the civil government, and who
were retained as nominal force to meet the
technical requirements of the Constitution. That
night there some Slight popular demonstra-
tons of sympathy with the soldiers but these
amounted to little. a week later the second
thirty days pay given to the soldiers in
full. as promised and thus the episode was
ended Since that time profound peace has pre-
vailed. and the supremacy of the civil :he
There were various other details of the affair
which 1t would be interesting to rehearse were
the space at my command. They relate how
ever, to the picturesque rather than to the polit-
ically significant side of it. What is really i'm
portant. and what 1 have tried to emphasize,
is IN brief this: That it was a struggle to de-
termine whether changes of administration
should be effected only by peaceful and con-
stitutional by military force that
it decided I'm favor of the former very
largely through and because Of the benevolent
offices Of the United States, exercised or at
least offered in strict accordance with the Pan
aman Constitution and the Panaman-A American
treaty; and that it thus decided not only
for the time being but there is ground for
belief, for long time, If for all time TO
come. There may be efforts to change the politi-
cal complexion of the isthmian government
and they may be successful. but they will be
directed through the ballot box and not through
an insubordinate revolutionary army It
may be that some features of the case will cause
amusement-the small size of the Panaman
army II was, and the practical absence Of any
army at all at the present time. 1t will not be
well. however, to scott our sister republic
on such grounds. There sovereign states
In Europe which are smaller than Panama and
as destitute OF military force yet their indie
pendence is respected. and any attempt 10 over
ride ii might provoke a Continental war. Mel
Their is the attitude OF the United States as a |
practical protector of Panama to be unfavor- |
ably criticised. There is more than one guar
anteed' state in Europe. Moreover. such guar
antees in Europe are largely for selfish purposes
and for the maintenance of a balance of pow
err while ours over Panama is made with the |
disinterested design of maintaining peace and |
nd Of facf