The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-01-05

ne repupnc sransng sne uS w ..ttt- jered not one whit As events turnea Sns;; bhe question of reasonable time. didl not Iknter into the matter at all. Although, ingiy improbable that the Colombian .Eon- g.ess would ratify the treaty or take steps which would be equivalent thsfeto. yet all chance for such action Ca cna ar tne,r closed at the end of October; anw within three days thereafter the revolution In Panama had broken out. Panama became the territory necessary for building the canal then became obtainable. The con- dition under which alone we could have gone to Nicaragua thereay became impossible of fulhllment. If the pending treaty with Panama should not be rati- fled by the Senate this would not alter the fact we could not go to Nicaragua. The is % no alternative under existing iesisia- When in August it besin to appear probable that the ColombiSn Legisla,ur cumbent upon me to consider well what the situation was and to be ready to ad- wise the Congress as to, what were the various alternatives of action open 10 rs. that Colombia would at the last moment see the unwisdom of her position. That there might be nothing omitted, Secretary peatedIy @ .r %srnsd sas coiompia that grave grave con. sequences might follow from her rejection of the treaty. Although it was con- stantly diminishing chance. yet the pos sibility of ratification did not wholly pass away until the close of the session of the l Colombian Congress.
 | A second alternative was that by the October. without the ratification of the treaty by Colombia and without any steps taken by Panama, the American Con- gress on assembling early in November which there had been a failure to come to terms as to building the canal along the Panama route and yet there had not been lapse of 70 sms sense-such as would justify the Admin istratiou going to the Nicaragua route. This situation seemed on the whole the made the original draft of my Message to the Congress with view to its exist ence.
 It was the opinion of eminent interna. tional jurists that in view of the fact that the great design of our guarantee under the treaty of 1S46 was to dedicate the Isthmus to the purposes of interoce- construction of an interoceanic canal, Co lombia could not under existing condi- tions refuse to enter into q proper ar. rangement with the United States to that stantiaily repudiatIng the obligations Of a treaty the full benefits of which she had enjoyed for over fifey years. My inten- tion was to consult the Congress as tc would not be proper to announce that the canal was to be dug forthwith; that We would give the terms that we had of- terms were not agreed to we would enter Into an arrangement with Panama direct. or take what other sters were nee~.ul in order to begin the enterprise.
 A third possibility WAS that the people or the lsthmus who had formerly con stituted an independent state, and who until recently were unite to Colombia only by loose tie of federal relation ship, might take the protection of their own vital interests into their own hands, reassert their former rights, declare their Independence upon just grounds, and es- tablish government competent and will ing to do its share in this great work for civilization. This third possibility is what actually occurred. Everyone knew that it
 was a possibility, but 1t was not until towards the end of October that it ,ap. peared to be an imminent probability. Although the Administration, of course.
 had special means of knowledge, no such means were necessary in order to appre. ctate the possibility. and toward the end the likelihood, of such a revolutionary outbreak and of its success. It was a from the daily papers could be definitely multiplied to show this state Of affairs: a very few will suffice. From Costa Rica on August 3l a special was sent to The | W San JQse, Costa Rfca. August 31. Travellers from Panama report the Is- thmus alice with fires of a new revolution. | It is inspired it Is believed, by men who in Panama and Colon, have systematically engendered the pro-American feeling to secure the building of the Isthmian canal by the United States.
 "The Indians have risen, and the late followers of Gen. Benjamin Herrera are mastering in the mountain villages pre- pararory to joining in an original revolt, caused by the rejection of the canal treaty.
 Hundreds of stacks of arms, confiscat- ed by the Colombian Government at the close of the late revolution. have reap thousands of rifles that look suspiciously like the Mausers the United States cap tured in Cuba are issuing to the gather ing forces from central points of distriDu- fresh from factories, showing the move- ment Is not spasmodic, but is carefully planned.
 "The government forces in Panama and Colon, numbering less than 1,500 men. are reported to be a little more than friendly to the revolutionary spirit. They have been Ill paid since the revolution closed and their only hope of prompt payment Is another war.
 General Huertes, commander of the forces. who is ostensibly loyal to the Bo- gota Government, is said to be secretly friendly to the proposed revolution. At least. all his personal friends are open in denunciation of the Bogota Government and the failure of the Colombian Congress to ratify the canal treaty.
 '"The consensus of opinion gathered from late arrivals from the Isthmus Is that the revolution is coming, and that 1t will succeed"
 A special dispatch to the Washington Post, under date Of New York, ptember l. runs as follows:
 B. G. Duque, editor and proprietor of the Panama Star and Herald. a resident of the Isthmus during the past twenty seven years. who arrived today in New York declared that if the canal treaty fell through revolution would be likely to follow.
 There is a very strong feeling in Pam ama," said MT. DuQue that Colombia, i in negotiating the sale of a canal con cession in Panama, Is looking for profits that might just as we'll go to Panama herself.
 "The Colombian Government. only the other day, suppressed a newspaper that dared to speak of independence for Pan anna. while ago there was sec ct plan afoot to cut loose from Colombia and seek the protection of the United States"
 In the New York Herald of September 10 the following statement appeared: Representatives of strong interests on the Isthmus Of Panama, who make their headquarters in this city are considering plan of action to be undertaken In CO., operation with men of similar views in Panama and Colon to bring about a revo- lution and form an independent govern ment in Panama opposed to that in Bo- gotta.
 There Is much indignation on the Isth- mus on account of the failure of the canal treaty, which is ascribed to the authori- ties at Bogota. This opinion Is believed to be shared by a majority of the Isthmians n al 2badaa of TNOifffoal hell f0f md Rkaxf