The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1904-01-07
Tells
PANAMA history
Special Message to Congress
Defends Course Of the
Administration.
DID NOT FORCE MATTERS
Mo Aid Was Given to the Revolution,
and on the Other Hand This
Country Only Followed Its
Traditional Policy.

has sent a special message to con
gress, setting forth the full details Oh
the history Of the United States rela-
lions to the Panama revolution. IN
substance the messags says:
To the Senate and House Of Representa-
tives: I lay before the congress for It's
information a statement of my action up
to this time in executing the act entitiea
"An act to provide for the CONSTRUCTION q
a canal connecting the waters OF the AT
lantic and Pacific oceans approved June
rs rh hse2 president was authorized to secure
the property of the Panama Canal com
pany and perpetual control of q strip SIX
miles wide across the isth1nus. 1t was pro-
vided that should the president pc IN
able to obtain a satisfactory title to the
and the territory Of the Republic, of Co
lombia q = within a reasonable time
and upon reasonable terms, then the presl-
dent" should endeavor tc rcST;Se TOT a
canal by the Nicaragua route. The presi-
dent was authorized to &C, to the Mica
ragua route If he could not obtain territory
Of Colombia. This hiss been obtained; the
act has been complied with; 1t Is no longer
possible to go to Nicaragua.
This act marked the climax OF the eff
fort to secure an interoceanic canal. lie
had been clearly set forth by. Secretary
Cass inr1S5S. Secretary Cass said:
while the rights OF sovereignty OF the
states occupying this region Central
IalilG lSdJE bolld pl"oSo# bC ACSpGSiSAY W.
shall expect that, these rights be exercised
in a spirit betting the occasion and the
wants and circumstances that have arisen.
Sovereignty has its duties as we'll as It's
rights, and none Of these local govern
ments, even il administered with more
regard to the just demands of other ma
lions than they ave been, would be per-
mitted, in a spirit of eastern isolation. to
close the gates of intercourse on the great
highways of the world, and justify The
act by the pretension that these avenues
nf 20 80 t,I4 t~r Hrol -I r.r- ~ han avid
that they choose to shut them, or, WI Is
almost equivalent, to cucumber them with
such unjust relations as would prevent
their general use"
TIL principle was sound then and is now.
The United States has taken the position
that no other government is to build the
canal. In 1889. when France proposed to
aid the French company by guaranteeing
bonds, the senate passed g. resolution as
follows:
h the United States will look with
serious concern and disapproval upon any
connection OF any European government
with the construction or control of any
snip canal across the 1sthmus of Darien
or across Central America, and must re-
gard any such connection or control as
injurious to the just rights and interests
OF the United States and as a menace to
their welfare"
Under the H~ay-Pauncefote treaty 1t was
explicitly provided that the United States
should control, police and protect the
canal. Keeping It open for all nations on
SAddi lGItilS. w Ileu lulS government SUD
mitted to Colombia the Hay-Herran treaty
three things were, therefore,, already set
tied. One was that the canal should be
built. Second, our purpose to deal in
justice and generosity with the people
through whose Ian we might build it.
The Hay-Herran treaty, If 1t erred, erred
in the direction of over-generosity towards
lombia objected to stipulations, that they
involved a REIMBURSEMENT of her Gsov-
ersignty;;" but in the light Of what has
afterthought. In reality, the treaty, ac-
knowledged, confirmed and preserved her
sovereignty. The exercise by the United
States, subject to the local sovereign, of a
substantial control over the canal and the
Immediately adjacent territory, has been
a fundamental part of any arrangement
Colombia never minated that the re-
quirement by the United States OF control
over the canal strip would render unat-
tainable the construction of a canal, nor
We're We advised, when legislation of 1902
was pending. that the terms would render
negotiations with Colombia ilnpracticable.
No nation could construct and guarantee
the neutrality of the canal with less con-
troll tina was stipulated for in tie Hay
Herran treaty. A refusal to grant such
degree of control was necessarily a refu-
sal to "a any practicable treaty at all.
Such refusal therefore squarely raised the
question whether Colombia was entitled
to bar the transit of the worlds traffic
acrossrthe Sthmus
That the was eagerly demand
III. ny Tue people OIL the Ocality through
which it was to pass, is shown by the
inlityi in the Paaanarepublic. Furthermore.
Colombia, after having rejected the treaty.
When 1t Tas In her power to accept it, has
cept the Same. One of the men standing
highest in Colombia, on November 6. d
dressed the American minister, saying
that If the United States would preserve
Colombian sovereignty Colombia would
declare martial law; and. by virtue of
vested constitutional authority, when pub
llc order is disturbed, (would) approve by
decree the ratification of the canal treaty.
as signed; or, If the government OF. the
United States prefers, fwould) call extra
session Of the congress-with new and
the treaty" l pass by the question as to
what assurance we have that they would
now keep their pledge.
Third. Finally congress settled the canal
was to be$across the Isthmus of Panama:
and II. after reasonable time, it proved
Impossible TO secure such treaty we should
60 to Nicaragua: The treaty has been
made; for the intent of congress was to
insure a n across Panama, and wheth-
er the republic granting the title was
called New Granada. Colombia or Panama
probable that Colombia would ratifv The
treaty. yet all chance for. such action did
not vanish until the congress closed at the
end of October; and within three DAYS
thereafter the revolution in Panama had
broken out. banana became an independ-
ent state, and the territory necessary be-
Gdlle oDNdiIlaDle. Inc condition under
which alone we could nave gone to Mic
G thereby became impossible tof full
flment. II the pending treaty with PAN
anna should not be ratified by the senate
this would not alter the fact that We could
not go to Nicaragua. Congress has de-
cided the route, and there is no alternative
When in August it began to apnear
probable that the Colombian legislatures
would not&ratify the treaty, there were
several possibilities. One was that en-
iornhia wouldgat the last moment see the
unWisdom OF her position. Secretary Hay
repeatedly warned Colombia that grave
se~onssauences might follow REFLECTION Of
the treaty HE
second alternative was a situation IN!
which there had been a failure to come I'd
terms as to building the canal along the,
Panama route. and vet there had not been
saSstapse OF unreasonable tiInes-using the
sRora reasonable In any proper serselsieh
Justify going to Nicaragua. Tf.isi
ssttda sion seemed most likely. and Il bads
made the draft of my message with a view
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