Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1914-07-08
ROOSEVELT PRODS WILSON
Says u. S. Agreement to Give CoIum-
bia $4,000, 900 is Betrayal
of Honor of Our Country.

| OF honor OF our country.
'w@
New York, June 24-Theodore
Roosevelt tonight issued the follow
ing prepared statement on his arrival
at quarantine on the Imperator:
1.-The payment of $25, 100000 to
Columbia, together with the expires
sion of what is in effect an apology
for our having secured the right to
build the Panama canal, is merely
the belated payment of blackmail,
with an apology to the blackmailers.
eff this proposed treaty, submitted
by President Wilson through Mr.
Bryan is right, then our presence on
the isthmus is wrong.
''In such case Panama should at
once be restored to Columbia and we
should stop work on the canal and
abandon the place, bag and baggage.
! There should be no half way measure.
eff we as a nation have not been
guilty of theft we should not pay
blackmail.
US. LAUGHING STOCK.
'The handing of our foreign affairs
by President Wilson and Secretary
Bryan has been such as to make the
United States figure of fun in the
international world.
"This proposed Columbian treaty
caps the climax, and if ratified will
rightly render us an object of con-
temptuous derision to every great
nation.
"In view of its submission to the
congress, l wish to call attention to
exactly what was done under my
administration. Because of the action
of that administration, the people of
the United States acquired what they
could by no other means have acquir-
ed, the right to build the Panama
canal. In 1903 it was still doubtful
whether we would adopt the Nicaragua
or the Panama route. The govern
ment of Columbia was exceedingly
anxious that we should adopt the
latter and offered to arrange, and did
arrange, treaty with US in order to
prevent our going to Nicaragua.
ACTED IN GOOD FAITH.
"Partly in consideration of this
treaty we abandoned negotiations
with Nicaragua. We acted in good
faith and the course of action we
thereby entered upon was conditioned
on their proposal, their promise.
It was our right and also our duty
to our people and to the rest of the
world to exact the performance of
this promise.
eve were in honor bound not. to
permit the great enterprise to be ar
rested by the corrupt greed of a
government, impotent itself to build
the canal, impotent to keep order on
the isthmus or to preserve it from
invasion and from the dominion of
any old world power.
BETRAYAL OF HONOR.
''Until the present proposed treaty
was negotiated by President Wilson
and Secretary Bryan l had not sup
posed that any American administra-
ton would thus betray the honor and
interest of the American people by
submitting to blackmail. -
''TheColumbia governmental power
which negotiated the canal treaty was
the same that rejected it. And it
was partly in consideration of this
treaty that we abandoned the Nicara-
guam route.
"But when we had thus committed
ourselves and the Colombian dictator,
that is the Colombia government,
thought it was too late for US to
change, he decided to get more money
from US.
He WANTED $40, OOO,O 900.
"He summoned congress, a con-
gress that carried out his orders
without altering them in the smallest
particular, which did nothing what
ever except reject the treaty. One
of the speakers assigned the real
reason for their action with much
frankness. We had agreed to pay
the French company $40, 900, 900.
''The Colombian government, in
defiance of its own legislative act,
proposed to confiscate the property of
the French government, so as thereby
to be in better position to negotiate
with ia. in other words be able to
get this $40, 900, 900 from US.
i n