Ottumwa tri-weekly courier., 1904-10-29
THE SHAW LETTER.

MuCu mas Doen SAID Dy democrats
during the present campaign about a
letter President Roosevelt wrote to
DIR. Albert Shaw in October last year
regarding the condition of affairs in
Panama. Senator Curbertson espe.
ctally has sought to use this letter to
prove that his accusation that the
president seized eagerly upon every
opportunity to foment revolt in Pan.
anna and thus make it unnecessary to
secure a treaty for the canal strip
This letter. which was in the posses.
sion OF the democratic senators at the
time the treaty with Panama was rati,
hed last winter, shows too clearly for
argument that President Roosevelt,
rather than seek to stir up trouble
there. was doing everything in his
power to prevent it. The letter itself
in full. is as follows:
(Personal.)
white House, Washington, D. c.,
October 10, 1908.
my Dear DR.. Shaw:
Il enclose you, purely for your own
information, a copy of letter of Sep
tember 5, from our minister to Colon
bia. think 1t might interest you to
see that there was absolutely not the
slightest chance OF securing by treaty
any more than we endeavored to Sc
cure. The alternatives were to go to
Nicaragua, against the advice of the
great majority OF competent engineers
some Of the most competent saying
that we had better have no canal at
this time than go there-or else to
take the territory by force without any
attempt at getting treaty. cast
aside the proposition made at this
time to foment the secession of Pan
anna. Whatever other governments
can do, the United States cannot go
into the securing by such underhand
means of the cession. Privately,I freely
say to you that should be delighted
II Panama were an Independent state,
or If 1t made itself so at this moment;
amount to an instigation of revolt,
and therefore cannot say it. With
great regards. Sincerely yours,
Theodore Roosevelt"
The republicans do not attempt to
hide this expression of the Presidents S
private views from scrutiny. Like all
his other acts. official and private, it
Is open and above board and speaks
for itself. It shows that he turned
away from the opportunity he had to
foment a revolution against Colombia,
and that all his acts were honorable
and in behalf of peace and a better
understanding among all concerned in
the affair. OF this letter, which has
been issued by the republican national
committees as campaign document
Senator Lodge says:
+"Two months or more after
the revolution. and while the debate
upon the Panama treaty was going on
in the senate, an officer of the senate
told me that the democratic senators
were searching for letter which they
understood had been written to DR..
Shaw. which had appeared somewhere
and which, they understood, convicted
the President of completely in foment-
ing the revolution I replied that I
knew the letter they meant, that 1t
had been published. that it was the
exact reverse of what they thought,
but that If they wanted it l would
gladly get them copy of it. l went
70 CHe Wulte ROUSE, got copy OF Cn1S
letter to DR.. Shaw and with full per-
mission took it to the senate and gave
1t to Senator German A day or two
after, Senator German asked me if I
had any objection to his giving it to
Senator Culberson 1 said not the
least; that the letter had been pub
lished and they could do what they
liked with 1t. The Panama treaty
went to vote with that letter to DR..
Shaw. in the possession of democratic
senator's"