Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1904-01-28
NO PERSONAL LIBERTY.

NO PERSONAL LIBERTY.
The People Of Panama Have Fsv
Rights OF Their Own and
Bad Government.
A man who has seen much OF Pana-
ma sat in his Office recently and talked
for time about that spot upon which
SO many interests are at present liked.
He knew the isthmus well. He was
quite as much at home upon the plaza
of old Panama City or upon the quay at
Colon as he is on Broadway, in Manhat-
tan. He has known the residents OF the
volatile little Land of Great Promises as
well, and assuredly understands their
freaks and foibles. 1t was upon the
characteristics of the folk of that land
that he laid the greatest emphasis, re-
ports the Brooklyn Eagle.
"They are not a bad people" said he;
"only they are like lot of cattle, tmpul'
sive, rattle-headed and following blind
ly the leaders that are given them. They
have been the objects of very great mis-
understanding. You see, In the first IN.
stance they have not what New Workers
demand-personal liberty. The laws
that guarantee them personal liberty are
apt to be repealed at any moment, and
they are powerless to protest. AS mat
ter of fact, Colombia, as we'll as almost
all of the South and Central American
republics, is more of a despotism than
Russia herself Nominally they are
republics, and they are recognized by
the United States as such, but in reality
they are something different. The great
mass of the population is ignorant, as
rule, and is controlled, body and soul,
by padrone system. These leaders or
padrones absolutely control the country.
Upon the isthmus they are absolutely
and to a unit in favor Of the present revo-
luton. The Colombian government has
been growing leecherous and absolutely
insufferable, and the rejection Of the:
Hay-Herran treaty was the final straw
that broke the camel's back. To under
stand the crushing disappointment that
that step at Bogota brought, you must
fully understand that the only hope Of
the isthmus has been the digging of the
canal. Everything else is dead, and
Panama lives in its past glories and the
,opes of the future. These hopes had
oeen vastly strengthened by the action
of the United States and the rejection
Of the treaty filled Panama with anger
and disappointment. Back Of these was
an expressed determination that Pana-
ma should hereafter administer her own
government.
"This determination has been realized
after the recent remarkable revolution,
as decisive as it was bloodless. The sug-
gestion that the United States was In any
way, shape or manner responsible for
the overthrow of the government upon
the isthmus is worse than senseless. The
revolution was engineered absolutely by
the padrones, who saw their only hope
in the digging Of the canal and the only
possibility Of the canal ever being dug
rested with the United States. AS you
very we'll know, all the Colombian
troops, both in Panama and in Colon,
and from general to vivandiere, went
over to the service of the new republic
Us soon as the movement to establish 1t
was announced. AS result of this
sweepingly unanimous sentiment the
republic of Panama Is stable and on
firm foundation.
"Just think of the way that the 18TH
mus has been governed, even before the
treaty was rejected. 1t took from two to
three weeks, under the most favorable
conditions, to reach the capital at Bogota
from Panama The journey is unusually
hazardous and dangerous. The postal
and telegraph service are similarly in
efficient and sometimes, for reasons best
known at the Bogota end Of the route,
are absolutely suspended.
ITO further realize the isolation Of
Bogota from Panama you must UNDER
stand that all posts Of any Importance
on the isthmus have been filled by men
sent down from the capital-men who
have been out of touch and out of SYM
patty with the people they were sent to
govern. It was hardly to be expected
that they could or would give other than
inefficient and slovenly administra-
tiOns"