The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-01-04
To the Senate and House of Repre-
SentatiYes

To the Senate and House of Repre- !
sentatives:
l lay before the congress for its in
formation q statement of my action
up to this time in executing the act
entitled AN act to provide for the
construction of a canal connecting the.
waters of the Atlantic and Pacific
oceans" approved June %, 1902.
BY the said act the president was
authorized, to secure for the United
States the property Of the Panama
Canal company and the perpetual
control of a strip six miles wide across
the isthmus of Panama. 1t was fur
Their provided that, Should the pres
1dent be unable to obtain for the
United States a satisfactory title to
the property of the New Panama Ca
nal company and the control Of the
of Colombia s'' = Within wit >GpG rea-
sonable time and upon reasonable
terms, then the president should en-
deavor to provide for a canal by the
quoted defines with exactness and
precision what was to be done, and
what, as a matter OF fact, has been
done. The president was authorized
to go to the Nicaragua route only II
within a reasonable time he could not
obtain control of the necessary ter
ritory Of the Republic of Colombia
This control has now been obtained;
the provision Of the act has been
complied with: it is no longer posi-
BILE under existing legislation to go to
the Nicaragua route as an alterna-
tive. -.-1.~a r.
This act marked the climax of an
effort on the part Of the United States
to secure, so far as legislation was
concerned, an interoceanic canal
across the isthmus. The effort to Sc
cure a treaty for this purpose with
Of H.
lies did not stand on the same foot
ing with the effort to secure a treaty
under any ordinary conditions. The
proper position for the United States
to assume in reference to this canal,
and, therefore, to the governments of
he isthmus, had been clearly set forth
by Secretary Cass In 1858. In my
annual message / have already quoted
what Secretary Cass said; but I re-
peat the quotation here, because the
principle it states Is fundamental:
What Cass Said in 1853.
While the rights of sovereignty of the
states occupying this region Central
America) should always be respected, We
shall expect that these rights be exercised
In a spirit BETTING the occasion and the
wants and circumstances that have arisen.
Sovereignty mas it's duties as well as its
rights, and none of these local govern
ments, even If administered with more re-
gard to the just demands of other nations
& than they have been, would be permitted,
/ I'm a. spirit of eastern isolation, to close
/ the gates of intercourse on the great high
! ways of the world, and justify the act by
the pretension that these avenues of trade
Z and travel belong to them and that they
choose to shut them, or. what Is almost
equivalent, to cucumber them with such
& unjust relations as would prevent their
general use -.... d.. F., ...-.. e..
The principle thus enunciated by
Secretary Cass was sound then and 1t
| is sound now. The United States has
! taken the position that no other gov
| eminent Is to build the canal. In
| 1889, when France proposed to come
J TO the aid of the French Panama ca
nal company, by guaranteeing their
bonds, the senate of the United States
In executive session, with only some
three votes dissenting, passed a reso-
luton as follows:
That the government OF the United
States will look with serious concern ant
4 disapproval upon any connection OF any
x European government with the construc'
< ton or control of any ship canal across
a the Isthmus of Darien or across Contra
Z America and must regard any such con
Z nection or control as injurious to the JUS
rights and interests of the United States
and as menace to their welfare.
Under the Hay-Pauncefote treaty i
I was explicitly provided that the Unlte(
Il
( tect the canal which was to be bullt
Z keeping it open for the vessels of al
81 Z nations on equal terms. me lUnlte(
q States thus assumed the position O
+ guarantor Of the canal and or II
Oeaceful use by all the world. Thu
guaranty included as matter o
course the building Of the canal. The en-
terprise was recognized as responding
to an international need; and 1t Woul'
be the veriest travesty on right am
justice to treat the governments II
possession of the isthmus as havin
the right, in the language of Mr.. Cass
'to close the gates of intercourse OF
the great highways of the world, an
Justify the act by the pretension tina
these avenues of trade and travel be
long to them and that they choose t
=" shut Them
Three Things Were Settled.
When this government submitted
Colombia the Hay-Herran treaty thre
things were, therefore, already settled
One was that the canal should b
built The time for delay, the tim
for permitting the attempt to be mad
by private enterprise, the time Tor pei
hitting any government of anti-soc1s
spirit and of imperfect development
bar the work, was past. The Unite
States had assumed in connection wit
the canal certain responsibilities ne
only to it's own people, but to the civ
ilized, world, which imperatively dc
manded that there should no longe
be delay in beginning the work.
Second. While it was settled the
the canal should be built without ur
necessary or improper delay, it was n
less clearly shown to be our purpos
but In spirit of generosity with tn
people thru whose land we nigh