The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-07-17

WRITTEN FOR H SUNDAY REPUBLIC.
Few small Republics have ever given
voluntarily so tangible an evidence OF
gratitude to an eminent citizen as has
the Republic of Panama TO General Este
ban Hurtas. Commander in Chief Of its
army.
The fate of the isthmus lay in General
Huertas's hand left hand, at that, and
as soft as a w~oman's-and he transformed
the political outcast among the depart
ments of Colombia into an independent
Republic.
Among Generals in chief, Huertas &C.
cupies a position like that of Panama
among ENTHUSIASTICALLY the youngest
In the world.
Comparing Huertas to the average man
in stature would be like comparing Pan
anna to the average n~ation-almost out OF
the question on account of the ~tininess
of the General and of his country.
Since Panama unfurled her flag to the
trade winds last November the question
has been raised time and time again:
What shall be done for General Huertas?
Leaders in the affairs of the Republic
were convinced that common decency de-
manded a substantial recognition OF his
services.
A lot of money was to come quickly
from Uncle Sam, and not a few of the
legislators were active in devising WAYS
and means to set aside substantial sums
for their personal benefit, but they agreed
thai the little General must not be over
looked
Some provision for him became even
more imperative when the army under his
command was reduced in numbers so as
to reduce expenses.
HUERTAS's HIGHEST AMBITION.
After Iono dahafac and nrohobir affair
seeking TO discover Huertas's highest am
bition, the Republic has set aside a hand
some sum to permit him to travel abroad
and to study the military organizations of
the great Powers.
The National A~ssembly-the lawmaking
body of Panama-has set aside So, 0OJ as
an appropriation for his expenses in Wis
fttng the United States, France and Ger
many.
of the original domain of his native Co
lombia in which General Huertas will set
foot, and his friends there will lionize him,
as much as a little fellow with singular
~ bashful reserve may be lionized. That
he will be personally popular. no one who
knows him can doubt. The mere fact that
Y ne does not speak a word but Spanish
as he will find more Spanish-speaking
people in that city than live in any city
in the Republic OF Colombia.
The army and navy men who have met
him will be pleased to welcome him on
their own shores, whether they under
stand his language or not, and to return
him.
General Huertas is an everlasting sur
prise to new arrivals in the isthmus on
account of his boyishness. Strangers stare
at him in the street and wonder If their
informants are serious in saying that he
is the Commander in Chief of the army.
His size does not respect. his
lost arm Is an evidence of physical weak
ness, but those who know him best are
convinced that he is absolutely fearless in
action and that few military leaders IN
spire such confidence In their men.
DENOUNCED AS A TRAITOR.
He has been denounced as a traitor by
the Colombian press since the revolution
of November 3, while Panamanians have
hailed him as liberator and placed him on
o pedestal such as Simon Bolivar occupies
In Colombia. Venezuela, Ecuador and Bo-
livia.
Here's to the George Washington of
Panama." was the toast of Captain Hiram
]. Bearss Of the United States Marine
Corps, the orator of the evening at a BAN
Quet held in Panama City when Colombia
was menacing the new Republic and was
concentrating troops at the Atrato River
near the frontier.
Carpenter and Robert Wynne, Jr.; Lieu
tenants Fred Evans. Provence decor
mick, Jr.; Frederick Ramsay and william
y. Low and a score OF other strenuous
AacAh "S
hearty cheer and drained their glasses
ITO the George Washington of Panama. .
All these big fellows liked the quiet bit OF
q man, who sat silent and smiling. but
who was actually being held in restraint
b. his Government, because he wished 10
Take a handful of men over the mountain
trails and to drive back the Colombians.
That there would have been any queS-
ton about the issue never occurred to him,
and SO great was the confidence of his
fel,ow-citizens that they were certain that
he would be victorious; but they were
warned that unpleasant international
questions would result. and he was pre-
vented from carrying out his plan.
THE LITTLE FATHER"
while little Huertas may be POLITICALLY
1.-THE father Of his country" his career has
been radically different from that of the
! man first in the hearts of Americans in
the temperate zone. To begin with, Huer-
tas is an aristocrat neither by birth, edu-
cation nor inclination. His features are Of
the swarthy Indian type, and he is proud
OF the fact that he has hewed his own way
from the lowliest ranks in 4 section where
the 'self-made" man is less common than
in the North.
Born in a hamlet in the Department Of
the Cauca, he became a soldier when he
was 8 or 9 years old. This was twenty
years ago, he says. but no one who sees
1 thirtieth year His brothers were also
graduated almost from the cradle to the
battlefield, and he believes that they lost
their lives long before the average urcnin
in the United States is trusted far away
from his mothers apron strings.
| with Courage, n the revolutions that
tracked his country gave him opportunities
Nor rising, He became an officer, ana
Fought almost continually on the s'ae OF