The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1916-02-13


Administration came into power. a
more curious AMI complete substitution
of the SOLDERING effect OF authority than
has been furnished ty the affair o. the
Nicaragua treaty.
The country knows. generally, that a
treaty OF some sort In pending. and
that the Senate must rntify IT, some
people remember that II takes two
thirds majority TO rarify. Others re-
cali that Il is a buSiness transacted In
executive session.
During the Taft Administration tho
treaty with Nicaragua was nesotlnted,
II has been pending since Ihe' Demo-
Gratis dubbed II "doIlar Diplomacy
then. and were almost a unit against
Il. Mr.. Bryan wrote his antaRonism to
dollar diplomacy into the Baltimore
platform. aiming II especially against
this Nicaragua treaty.
Ancient Fetch Upheld.
Later he became Secretary OF State
and In that capacity negotiated new
treaty similar TO the old one, urged It's
adoption. and had the forces Of the Ad-
minlstration, legislative and executive.
behind ~
For a long time this NicaragraE
Recently the discussion In the Senate
has not been primarily on the treaty.
but on the question OF whether-such
discussions should be held In opep
or In executive seFEion.
IL has been the theory or the Senate
from the beginning that treaties SHOULD
be talked about In executive session. on
the ground that more candid Language
could be used. without the danger OF
afs ls.e- IN 20 nAti0nR
latterly there he's been growing op-
position to this pollcy. IL has been
pointed out repeatedly that the sun
stance OF the same dscuHsions almost
always gets into the public considera-
ton. Incident to making APPROXIMATION
of revenues with which to carry treaty
provisions into execution. But no df-
ference: the ancient fetch OF n special
sion preroRative has been one of The
elements of Senatorial superiority.
A Simple Little Scheme.
Tho Nicaragua treaty IL. in fact. just
q simple little scheme for giving the
Central American republic some money
thas X very much needs. and that WASH
Ington feels disposed TO give to II.
About four years ago there being do
meatic trouble In Nicaragua. American
naval vessels were sent there. troops
and marines were landed. and little
battle was fought In which several
Americans lost their lives.
As result OF our determined interDo-
sltion order was restored. and Presi-
dent Diaz was placed at the head of
the country. He has been maintained
there. ever since bv the show OF Ameri-
can force and American interest In the
country: absolutely nothing else.
u The force has been kept, OF tho scene
without intermission: Dias Mas been as
AZ any satrap In India n British
little KING He has REPRESENTED the
policy. aims. and aspirations OF WASH
ington and his country has been good
of economically. by reason OF the con-
siderable period OF quiet that has re-
suited.
Diaz Regime Hard Up.
But this Diaz regime. created by
Washington, sustained by our arms
guaranteed by our show OF interest In
II, immune to attack from other coun-
tries because We have displayed n real
concern IL Its behalf, has been awfully
hard up. In fact, It pressingiy needed
just about three million dollars TO fund
some debts In Europe. keep creditors
there amiable. and maintain confidence
In the Diaz rule.
So the present NICARAGUA United
States treaty was cooked up to provide
an excuse tor giving this money to the
.Nicaraguan government. or course.
that was not the nominal object: the
real facts were admitted by some or
the earnest supporters OF the pact un-
der questioning an the secret session or
the senate.
Nominally, the treaty provides that
Nicaragua shall give Uncle Sam an ex-
elusive option on the right 10 use the
Nicaragua canal route across that cOun-
try. Most VI the length OF this route
| Is represented Dy the San Juan rITer.
whicn 10 u boundary stream between
Nicaragua and Costa Rica. and not
Nicarakua's to give away. Mexico, CIV
ing away exclusive rights on the ITO
Grande would appear in about as piaus-
ible u position as Nicaragua does, ten
dering the control of the san Juan TO.
the United states.
Nicaragua's Title Questioned.
In aadIuOn, Nicaragua was To give
| us q naval base in Fonseca Bay. Now,
| Fonseca Bay Is one OF the finest road
| steads in Caribbean waters. There IA
only one trouble about Nicaragua's
| little gift to this country: Nicaragua
dc esn't own the bay. honduras ana
| Salvador own most OF IL. and the part
| that belongs to Nicaragua Is the least
! useful tor naval purposes in fact II Is
1 doubtful II there Is any real navaI
value to the parts that Nicaragua con-
trolls.
Finally, we are to receive two islands,
Great and Little Corn Islands, In the
! Caribbean Sea Theoretically they are
/ going to be very valuable In connection
| with the naval base-which we don't
really get-and the canal-which nobody
! pretends to think we or anybody else
! will ever build. But. in Gact. as the
| Senate discussions have brought out.
! there Is also grave doubt whether Mica
ragua owns these islands. In fact,
| when Cleveland was President the Uni
| ted states ratified a treaty that casts a
most serious question on Nicaragua's
| title to these islands!
Sole Reason for IL.
| Altogether. then, Uncle Sam was get
ting a mighty small return. 1t was adj
mitted. In the recent Senate discussions
that neither this country nor any other
had any notion of building new canal
over the Nicaraguan route to compete
! with Panama. IL there Is ever a new
| canal, II will be a sea level one where
| the present lock ditch Is at Panama,
The actual and sole substantial rea-
son for giving Nicaragua S,OOO0OO cash
| for these various concessions was that
| Nicaragua needed the money. that it's