The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1914-05-15
ROOSEVELT TALKS
ABOUT POLITICS
Repeal of Canal Tolls Fool
ish and Ignoble.
To Pay Columbia Twenty Five
Million Dollars is to Submit
to Blackmail.

Para, May 12.-Colonel Roosevelt
in an interview today, attacked Pres
dent Wilson's free tolls repeal pro
gram and his proposal to give Co
lumbia $25, 100000 in return for
treaty.
In view of the harness of a vot,
on the canal tolls repeal bill in thu
Senate. and the Astonishing statemen
| trust wholly without foundation, tina
the Administrator has offered to pay
Columbia $25.OOO.OOO blacl1mail be
cause Colombia behaved badly IL
the past, | wish to say word OF
why the Panama tolls exemption
clause should not be repealed.
81 have no question that we 1lave
a legal as we'll as an unquestionable
moral right 10 exempt genuine coast
traffic from tolls, but if this is con-
tested by any power interested with
which we have an arbitration treaty.
unQuestipnably we should arbitrate,
for we have explicitly Stated that in
terpretaiton of treaties is a proper
subject for arbitration and we must
never make promises we do not
keep.
but to submit our cause to arbi-
tration when We believe it is just is
one thing and TO abandon it in ad-
vance of arbitration is a totally diff
ferent thing. 1t would be bad enough
to repeal the exemption clause in
any event, but the circumstances un-
der which the repeal is asked make
1t infinitely worse.
1--WE Progressives explicitly stated
in our platform that we believed coast
Wise traffic should be free of tolls.
Our platform was promise we
solomnly made, not to use in an eff
fort to get power and cynically aban-
don afterward."
"NOr is this all. 1t would he bad
enough If the Admin .stration shame
lessly admitted it had won the cleo
ton on false pretenses, but that it
now felt that it would be immoral to
carry out its promises, Bolemnly made
10 the American people. 1t has done
much worse however. Repeal Is not
asked on the ground of the demands
Of justice-it is asked on THE ground
thai to take this ACTON would help us
in carrying out that timid and in
'olved course of conduct, that for ov-
sr year has masqueraded as the
'orelgn policy of the American Gov
- I'VE are asked ITO surrender our
lights in the canal we built with
'ur own money and with the effort
" our citizens-whlch Is the greal-
'st engineering feat of all ages-so
Is. fOrsooth, some other nation may
hay on our behalf the game We are
90 weak 20 play ourselves.
Such a plea is pure nonsense. If !
Uncle Sam would do justice to 9TH
rs and insist upon justice in return.
e has the power by his own strength !
o secure that justice. Above all, to .
ry 10 placate foreign Powers so that
80 may be able to bear ourselves as
re ought on the American continenT
5 ais foolish as ignoble.
IF l had fgollowed such a course
nd asked permission from foreign
overs and trusted to strength not
ur own. the American battle fleet
Iculd not have made the voyage
round the world-a voyage which
id more for International peace than
II the preposterons arbitrai BON
'eat.es formed to please the amiable
Id women of both sexes, which our
ryan. ut the behess Of AIR. Wilson.
IN evolve in those rare moments when
g permits business of the, State De-
aftmsnt 70 serve what 10 regrds 4
> the legitimate interruption 10 y
leasure and profit"