The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-07-02

OOINlluCd lOIl L age OHS,
conceived and not the hundredth Tart
Of the inhabitants Of the isthmus
knew Of the revolt until an American
officer, IN the uniform of the United
States army raised the flag Of the new
republic"
Regarding the acting president,
M~arroquin, whom he quotes Colonel
Roosevelt as describing as an "abso-
lutte and controlled DICTATOR, Mr.. Du-
bOis says: He was a helpless and
hapless old man, placed in the midst
OF great national unrest and disorder
at the close Of tho most disastrous
civil war in the history Of Colombia.
He was not in accord with the con-
gresS and the congress was alive with
diSCOrd, and 5000, 600 of innocent and
hap!css people saw the true interests
OF their country destroyed by the self
lsh disputes Of less than 100 men. If
Theodore Roosevelt had realized the
true situation in BOgOta, he would
have reinforced his patience with
SYMPATHY for that helpless people who
had been, for 100 years, our best
friends south Of the Rio Grande.
The claim made by Colonel Roose-
welt that the Colombian treaty is a
Matchmaking agreement is dealt with
by Mr.. Dubois in his Interpretation
Of the document.
while negotiating for a treaty I
made the Colombian authorities UNI
derstand that under no circumstances
would the United States apologize to
any nation for political act-that was
our unwritten law that never had been
and never would be broken. In purely
Informal conversations and in my un-
official memorandum l suggested that
ChiValrOus expression of regret tina
orr t~TinnnGhin had IN q INV 20 hnno
married such as any real gentleman
would freely grant to another, might
later be embodied in the treaty as a
balm for the wounded feelings OF a
once friendly nation which had been
Inundated before the world, whose
credit had been destroyed in foreign
countries, whose borrowing ability
had been annihilated and whose per-
sistent APPEALS FOR arbitrat ton had
been ignored. The opposition to this
feature on the ground that 1t is an
apology, is nOl Just and is not in the
true Interests of the United States. If
the Anglo-SaEOns are to live in har-
mOny with tho Latins on this CONT
nent they must treat them with abso-
lutte justice, just as we shall exact
justice from them"
Dealing directly with article III of
the treaty providing a payment 70
Colombia which Colonel Roosevelt at
tackled as blaCkmail, Mr.. Dubois de-
scribes the claims of Colombia for the
unpaid a]nnuitieS on the Cession of the
trans isthmlan railroad company, the
reVersiOnaTy rights in the Panama
railroad and Panama's portion in the
Colombian national debt, all of which,
in his opinion. should be met by the
United States.
Under the contract Of 1857" he
Ga VIC "COInnhjo nnIAI tho trorc-
lsthmian Railroad Co. to the Panama
Railroad Co. for a period of ninety
nine years. n for this she was to
receive $3.50. 900 annually during the
life of the contract. At the time Of
separation of Panama there were re-
naming siXty-four annuties unpaid,
amounting to SIC, OO0. 900.
The concession also insured to
Columbia r~eversionary rights in the
Panama railroad at the expiration of
the contract of 1867.
The physical value Of the railroad
shortly after the revolt was placed at
$16,444,OOO. In addition Colombia
claims that she Is entitled to several
millions of dollars for that part Of her
rational debt incurred in the interests
Of Panama before the revolution. q
claim that was recognized in the
treaty of 1909 made under the Roose-
Welt administration. Altogether these
claims total about $36, 900. 900"
Though Colonel Roosevelt asserts
that all Of the civil rights, titles and
p%eCuniary interests of Colombia passed
TO Panama at the moment of actual
separation, Mr.. Dubois declares thai
these rights had been virtually recog-
nized by the Roosevelt administration
itself.
"Colombia." he says, "by an agree
ment concluded in 1880 contracted a
debt of $4,000, 900 with the railroad
company, amortizable in t~wenty-nine
years by the company's $3.50, 900 an
nual payments. The amortization
actually proceeded and the debt would
have been l~iquidated in 1909. But. as
the United States prevented by physi-
cal force the suppression of the in
surrection on the isthmus by Colombia
six years before the debt could be
entirely paid, and never attempted 10
exact the six missing installments of
the amortization, they recognized
Colombia's right of ownership
These INC other material claims OF
Colombia says Mr.. Dubois, Justify
the naturalization article Of the
treaty, to say nothing Of the tremend-
Gus territorial loss and humiliation that
| Colombia has sustained"