Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-09-23
CHAPTER ".
The RoosevsIe impetus.

ffs u The RoosevetG tupotuss
ToREIGN activities In Panama
were watched. officially and
unofiicially. by the Americans
with profound interest and
with the desire that the construction
of q canal should be the work Of the
United States. The thought Of COM
munication between the oceans being
In European hands was distasteful TO
our statesmen. }7 gfe
In 1852. when the Panama railroad
was being built. captain Of q COM
pany In the Fourth regiment Of In
fantry. Ulysses 8. Grant. crossed the
isthmus at Panama on his way to the
new California post. An epidemic Of
cholera broke out. costing the lives Of
eighty men. and the general hard
ships Of the trunsit deeply impressed
Captain Grant with the need Of bet
ter passage.
Seyerul American exploring parties
had been on the isthmus. and In 1864
Lieutenant Arthur Strain, with TWEEN
ty-seven companions. attempted to
penetrate the jungle. They got lost,
and after ninety days Of living death
Strain and two or three Of his men
reached Panama.
President Lincoln in 1858, when be
was freeing the negro slaves, cast bis
eyes upon the Chiriqui province Of Pan
anna as suitable place for colonizing
the negroes Of the south after the civil
war. but bis untimely death prevented
the opportunity to, work out the idea.
That Captain Craft who bad cross
ed the isthmus In 1852 became preai-
dent in 1869. and the very same year
he directed General Stephen A. Huri-
but to negotiate treaty with Colon
bia for Panama canal. he knew
from experience how advantageous 4
would be to bis country. Such Q
treaty was signed ct Bogota on Jan
28, 1870. but the United States senate
did not ratify II, and the senate Of Co
lombla mutilated It. 20
President Grant then esnt Admiral
Ammen to Nicaragua to investigate
that route. more In piQue &C Colon
bia than from a belief In its availabtf
ity. Colombia returned the feeling By
turning to the French and giving q
concession. At the instance Of Presi-
dent Grant the Panama route again
was surveyed by Commanders 3. P.
Lull and T. o. Seifidge, In 1915. bat
from this time onward the French had
the center Of the stage.
Their spread eagle operations served
to make the world rlnd the Americans
think that a canal was Q white ele-
phant proposition. .rhe Spanish-Amer-
lean war. however, suddenly brought
the American people to realization Of
the vital necessity. from military
viewpoint alone. OF an intsroceanic
canal E fsif 800
Day by day as the battieship Oregon
steamed around Care horn this lesson
was impressed upon the people. A
10000 mile journey could have besn
saved by Panamil canal. The war
over and peace allowing the country
and the governments; to consider othsf
things. President fdcKinley reorgsnr
lied the isthmian canal commission
which he had appointed IN 1887 WITH
the following personnel: agi
Admiral John q. Walker. chairman:
Samuel Pasco. George 8. Moris0n
Lieutenant Colonel Oswald 81. Ernst
o. 8. A.: Colonel P. G. Hains. o. g. A.:
Lewis NJ. Haupt. Alfred Noble WI
liam d. Burr and Professor Emory r
johnson. ass $3.50
This commission was appointed IN
March. 1899. with instructions TO In
vestigate all Central American routes
The Walker commission unomcially
asked the French company what ~
property might be bought for, and
when quoted price Of $101,1 1,141,b0
promptly decided that Nicaragua look
ed better. The report made on Nov.
16. 1901. by the commission frankly
stated that the Panama route was pref
erable. but the price asked By the
French company was prohibitve. The
commission dropped the remark that
$40.OO0O00 was about what the French
holdings were worth to the Unitsd
States. 4.l. $40
When It had agreed to the COM
missions valuation the report 10 the
president promptly was revised IN f.
vor Of the Panama route.
Theodore Roosevelt upon assuming
the office Of president promised to car
ry out the policies of President Nc
Kinley. and. so far as the canal policy
Is concerned. be succeeded so eminent
ly that deliberate judgment, formed
from a perspective view Of the whole
undertaking. warrants the assertion
that his energy. decision and sound
judgment made an interoceanic canal
possible in this generation.
The moment his dynamic personality
got behind the idea 1t received an Inn
petus. and he bucked the line Of OBJ
stacles that arose in the path Of the
project until he retired in 1909, when
the enterprise was advanced beyond
the possibility Of failure.
1t was to President Roosevelt that
the Walker commission reported tn No
vember. 1901. His nrst message 10
congress urged immediate action. and
after good deal of wrangling over
the Hepburn act In favor Of Nicaragua
the Spooner act was passed on June
%. 1902.
The Spooner act written by Senator
John G. Spooner Of Wisconsin. proyid-
ed for an isthmian canal commission
of seven members and authorized the
Panama route II the French property
could be bought for $40,000,000 and q
right of way could be obtained from
Colombia. In the event such condi.
lions could not be met It authorized
the Nicaraguan route and seemed 30
lean toward lock type canal An I'M
mediate appropriation Of $10.000,000
was made available for preliminary
expenses.
President Roosevelt now had the an
thority he desired for going ahead with
the project. Secretary Of State John
Hay and the minister from C0lombia