New-York tribune., 1904-10-22
SISS! BOON! AH-H-Ry

Senator Culberson produced on Thursday
night what we are assured upon high authority
was evidently intended TO be the sensation of
the campaign" Upon similar authority we are
also Informed that Senator Culberson made
aspersons upon the honor and veracity of the
President and Secretary Of State which can
not be dismissed campaign SANDER" and
mat the ugly implications" need to be imme-
diately cleared away, if it is possible so To do
To US it looks as though the great Sensation"
had gone up like a rocket and come down like
the stick, leaving nothing but a few splinters
and some burnt paper, upon which disiecta
menbra we are, however, not averse 10 holding
inquest
First, then as TO that deadly parallel" Of a
garbled extract from the Presidents message
of January last and letter of Secretary ETay's
Of nearly year before. The one saws there
had not been lapse Of reasonable time" while
the other, at an earlier date SAYS 'the reason
able time has come to a close" AIonstrousi
Why IN the words of Dogberry, This is fat
perjury Still, let US see The dates shouId
show TO any intelligent ana honest mind that
there IS not the least discrepancy or conflict
between the two statements. for the reason that
they refer to entirely separate and distinct
matters. The text Of ne Presidents MESSAGE
would have shown il. had Senator Culberson
not garbled il. Secretary Hays note obviously
refers TO the reasonable time in which Co
lombia might negotiate a canal treaty. II WAS
dated January 21 1908 and the treaty was
signed the next day. The Presidents message
as obviously refers to the reasonable time" in
which that treaty might be ratified and made
effective. AS events turned out" wrote the
President, and quotes Senator CuIberson. "the
question Of reasonable time did not enter into
the matter at all" Why not? Because as
the President also wrote. but as Senator CuI-
person very carefully does not quote, although
'as the months went by, it became Increasing
''ly improbable that the Colombian Congress-
would ratify the treaty or take stems which
would be equivalent thereto, yet all chance
Tor such action on their part did not vanish
until the Congress closed at the end of Octo-
'ber and within three days thereafter the revo-
luton in Panama had broken out" Secretary
Hays reasonable time" was the time from
June 2s, 1902. when the canal act was nassad
TO January 81 1903, when Colombia was st'Ii
dallying over the making of the treaty. The
PRESIDENTS denial that a reasonable time had
elapsed referred TO the period between the end
OF October and the Sd Of November 1903. The
one was more than six months the other three
days. The attempt TO confuse them, and TO
make it appear that the President and Secre-
tary contradict each other can scarcely be re-
garded as other than stupidity disingenuous.
Next as TO the Presidents letter to DR.. Shaw.
It was written more than & gear ago. was
given to the press long ago, and a COPY of it
is said TO have been given TO Senator Culber-
son by Secretary Hay! It contains nothing
new. The reference 10 the alternative Of taking
Panama territory by force was made much
more fully in the Presidents message Of Ien-
uary last To say. by the way, as THE New
York Evening Post does, that it is "a stark
admission OF purpose 70 take the territory
by force if necessary,'fis is simply "stark''
perversion Of fact. There is 10 admission. and
there is no implication Of such purpose
Presidents mention Of proposition to Soment
the secession Of Panama" and we are asked
what advance knowledge the President had or
could have had OF the revolution. WHY. lfhe
newspapers were teeming with representations
Of revolt apd secession for weeks beforehand
See "The Washington Post" Of August Al and
September 1 and October %. 1903: "The New
York Herald" Of September 10 October 26 and
October 80. 1903, and THE New-York Times"
Of September l3 1903. It was perfectlv noto-
rious that a revolution was impendinp If Co
lombia failed to ratify the treaty, and that
some Of the revoluuonists were looking for the
protection and aid Of the United States. The
President, being an Intelligent man and a
reader Of the newspapers. to say nothing Of
the special information which il was the proper
business OF his administration 10 have of course
knew what was going on. He perceived. TOO,
that FOR Panama TO become independent would
greatly simplify matters and facilitate the con-
struction Of the canal, and he could not avoid
personal feeling that such a solution OF the
problem would De happy one. But what was
his conduct in the matterP Tgora IA hts oyvn