The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-10-29
y RESIDENT ROOSEVELT has

m RESIDENT ROOSEVELT has a
penchant for doing the unique and
unusual, but nothing that he has
done since entering the White House will
be so wholly without precedent In the
annals of the presidency his forth
coming trip to the Isthmus of Panama.
When 1t was first announced that the
strenuous Chief Magistrate intended TO
visit the isthmus in order to see Uncle
Sans big interoceanfc canal In the max
ing. a large portion of the public gasped
with establishment. for there prevailed a
general impression that such a jaunt
would be contrary to law.
However, It Is only an unwritten law
and not a legal statute that our younges.
President Is going to smash by his scheme
for gaining at first hand information
to the nations biggest engineering under
taking. Moreover, this Is not the first
time President Roosevelt has disregarded
the tradition that Miss Columbia's best
paid employee must remain a virtual pris-
within the confines of the United
States. At the conclusion of his South
ern trip some months since the President
came North from New Orleans
armored cruiser and this vessel was, dur
ing a considerable portion of the voyage,
outside the three-mile limit-that imag-
stitute the boundary of the republics
jurisdiction.
Other presidents, at least a couple of
Them. have disregarded this three-mile
limit, though to be sure they never ven
tured far from home President
Roosevelt now proposes to do. In Octo-
Der. 1888, President Arthur visited Alex
andria Bay, Thousand Islands, and some
OF his political enemies declared that in
the enthusiasm of n fishing trip he not
only ventured beyond Yankee territory,
but actually went beyond the middle of
the st. Lawrence River and into Cana
dian territory. President Cleveland was
similarly criticised when on ope of his
hunting and fishing trips to North Caro-
lima the vessel that carried him in round
ing Cape Hatteras passed beyond the
three-mile limit fixed by internal ional law.
There 10, however, one important fact
TO be taken into consideration in connec-
tion with President Roosevelt's long
ocean journey to the isthmus, and that Is
that he will travel on United States
warship. Authorities all agree that the
deck OF an American naval vessel Is
United States territory, and the Chief
Executive might consistently travel to the
farthest end of the earth so long as he
remained on a floating fortress flying the
Stars and Stripes.
Similarly Ii is decreed that the Canal
Zone at Panama. the strip of territory
that this government has acquired a
right of way for the canal, is Uncle Sans
soil. and that the nations ruler has u
perfect right to reside temporarily there
on. President Roosevelt will needs have
care, however. that he does not, by
any ,nisstep. get over the boundary line
into the Republic of Panama proper. for
that would constitute an entry into for
eign territory. OF course the American
President will want to greet President
Amador and the other leading men of
the worlds newest republic but they will
have to either make a Journey into the
Canal Zone for such greeting, else
the great champion of the canal project
will be compelled TO stand on the edge
hands across the border.
An incident somewhat similar to this
occurred when the late President Harri-
visited Texas and walked half way
10 line beyond which was Mexican
territory. When President Mckinley
visited this same point some years later
IL proposed to have Presideat Diaz
Il Mexico meet the visitor from Wash
ington In the middle of the bridge and
shake hands across the div ding line but
the plan was not carried out. and so