Gilpin observer., 1904-01-07

mander Hubbard reported in his letter
of Nov. 5, this officer and his troops
practically began war against the
United States. and only the forbear-
ance and coolness of our officers and
men prevented bloodshed. 0Here the
president gives Commander Hubbard's
letters confirming the foregoing state
ments, the first of which closes as fol
lows: II feel that / can not sufficient
ly strongly represent to the department
the grossness of the outrage and the
insult to our:Gignity, even apart from
the savagery of the threat.') Referring
to these letters the president proceeds:
We Were Not Too Energetic.
This plain official account of the oc-
curences of Nov. 4, shows that, in
stead of thsre having been tco much
provision by the American government
for the maintenance of order and the
protection of life and property on the
isthmus, the orders for the movement
of the American warships had been
too long delayed; so long, in fact, that
there were but forty-two marines and
sailors available to land and protect
| the lives of American men and worcen.
1t was only the coolness and gallantry
with which this little band of men
wearing the American uniform faced
ten times their number of armed foes,
bent on carrying out the atrocious
threat of the Colombian commander.
that prevented n murderous castastro-
phe. At Panama, when the revolution
broke out, there We're TO American
troops or sailors. At Colon. Com
Yi | mn u,rh wifi,
impartialty towards both sides. pre-
venting any.movement. whether by the
Colombians or the Panmans. which
would tend to produce bloodshed. On
Nov. o he prevented a body of the
revolutionists from landing at Colon.
Throughout he behaved in the most
creditable manner. (The president
next quotes a special correspondent in
the New York Evening Post setting
forth in detail the unbearable oppres-
sion of the Colombian government in
Panama.
Panama People willing to Fight.
1 call special attention to the con-
Guiding portion of this interview
which states the willingness of the
Panama people 20 fight the Colombian
troops and the refusal of Commander
Hubbard TO permit them to use the
railroad and therefore to get into
position where the fight could take
place. 1t thus clearly appears that the
fact that there was no bloodshed on
the isthmus was directly due-and on
ly due to the prompt and firm en-
forcement by the United States of its
traditional policy. During the past
forty years revolutions and attempts
at revolution have succeeded oneanotb-
er with monotonous regularity on the
! isthmus. and again and again United
States sailors and marines have been
landed as they were landed in this in
stance and under similar instruction to
protect the transit. One of these r@vo-
lutions resulted in three years of war
fare: and the aggregate of bloodshed
and misery caused by them has been
incalculable. The fact that in this
last revolution not life was lost
save that of the man killed by the
shells of the Colombian gunbOat. and
no property destroyed. was due to the
action which l have described. We,
in effect. policed the isthmus in the
interest of its inhabitants and of our
own national needs, and for the good
of the entire civilized world.
Refers tn Injurious Insinuations.
l hesitate to refer to the injurious
;nsinua tions which have been made of
completely by this government in the
revolutionary movement in Panama.
They are rs destitute of foundation as
of propriety. Tile only excuse for my
mentioning them is the fear lest un-
thinking persons might mistake for ac-
quiescence the silence of mere self
respect. | think proper to say. there
fore. that no one connected with this
government had any part in prepar-
ing. melting. or encouraging the late
revolution on the Isthmus of Panama.
and that save from the reports of our
military and naval officers. given above.
no one connected with this government
had any previous knowledge of the
revolution except sCch as WAS acces-
sible to any person of ordinary intelli-
gence who read the newspapers and
kept up current acquaintance with
public affairs.
BY the unanimous action of lis peo-
pie. without the firing of shot-with
Il unanimity hardly before recorded in
any similar case-the people of Pan
anna declared themselves an independ-
ent republic. Their recognition by this
government WAS based upon state of
facts in no way dependent for its JUS
tltication upon our action in ordinary
cases. have not denied. nor do
wish to deny. either the validity or the
propriety OF the general rule that
new state should not be recognized as
Independent till 1t has shown its abll-
ity 10 maintain Its independence. This
rule is derived from the principle OF
nonintcrvention. ana H. a corollary of
that principle has generally been OBJ