Mower County transcript., 1904-01-13
newly landed Colombian troops had In


ated serious appreh tension. As Com
mander. Hubbard reported IN his letter
or Nov. 5, this officer and his troops
practically began war against the 4
United States, and only the forbear.
ance and coolness Of our officers and
men prevented bloodshed. Here 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
~ strongly represent to the department
the grossness of the outrage and the
insult to our dignity, even apart from
the savagery of the threat.') Referring
to these letters the president proceeds:
We We're Not Too Energetic.
This plain official account of the oc-
curences Of Nov. 4, shows that, in
stead of there having been too 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 women.
1t was only the GOODNESS 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 a murderous castastro-
phe. At Panama, when the revolution
broke out, there were no American
troops OF sailors. At Colon, Com
mander Hubbard acted with entire
1mpartialty towards both sides, pre-
venting any movement, whether by the
Colombians or the Panmans. which
would tend to produce bloodshed On
Nov. 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.
I call special attention to the con-
cluding portion of this interview
which states the willingness of the
Panama people to fight the Colombian
troops and the refusal of Commander
Hubbard to permit them to use the
railroad and therefore to get into a
position where the fight could take
place. It thus clearly appears that the
fact that there was no bloodshed on
the isthmus was directly due-and on
~ due to the prompt and firm en-
forcement by the United States of it's
traditional policy. During the past
forty years revolutions and attempts
at revolution have succeeded oneanoth-
er with monotonous regularity on the
1sthmus, 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 revo-
IutiOns 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 a 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 it's inhabitants and of our
own national needs, and for the good
Of the entire civilized world. +
Refers to Injurious Insinuations.
I hesitate to refer to the injurious
insinuations which have been made of
completely by this government in the
revolutionary movement in Panama.
They are as destitute of foundation as
of propriety. The only excuse for my
mentioning them is the fear lest un-
thinking persons might mistake for ac-
quiescence the silence of mere self
respect. I 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 such as was Access
sible to any person of ordinary intelli-
gence who read the newspapers and
kept up a current acquaintance with
public affairs.
By the unanimous action of it's peo-
pie, without the firing of shot-with
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 it's JUS
tification upon our action ia ordinary
cases. I have not denied, nor do 1
wish to deny, either the validity or the.
propriety of the general rule that
new state should not be recognized as
Independent till it has shown it's abil-
1ty to maintain it's independence. This
rule is derived from the principle of
nonintervention, and as corollary of
that principle has generally been OBJ
served by the United States But. like