Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1921-04-29
TREATY WITH COLUMBIA RATIFIED.

After refusing for seven year:
during the Wilson administration
10 act on the treaty negotiated with
Columbia in 1914 by MIR. Bryan
while Secretary of State. the Sen
ate Oh the Goth ratified the treaty
by Smartlyi more than the ncccS
Sary twO-thirdS vote the vote
standing CD to 10 or II more vote
than was necessary. Mr.. Harding
had urged the ratification of the
treaty.
The Colombian treaty grew ont
of the charge that the United States
had wrongcd Columbia IL the par
tition of Panama. 1t WAS one thing
in sequence Of many connected
with the building of the Panama
canal, and what WAS charactcr'zth
by its proponents the taking ol
The I>,hmus BY Theodore Roosevelt
while Congress debated
Briefly stated. those who urged
ratification of the treaty charged
that when Panama rrvoltcd from
Colombian rule. American naval
forces prevented Colombia from re-
covering her territory.
Those who opposed ratification
nf the treaty charged that Colour
bia had long been engaged in Try
ing TO hold up" the United. States
for a large sum of money for :,
canal route; that Panama, once an
independent State. rcvoltcd from
Colombian rule for just cause and
that the presence Of American
naval forces had nothing to 10
with the failure Of Colombia Ia
force Panama back into her state.
In short. ii was charged that In,
United States, Theodore Roosevelt
President. winked or cOnnivcd nj
the Panama revolution to gel tn,
canal zone. The treaty as al first
negotiated expressed THE regret
Of the United States. Later til,
treaty was rcdrawn. the expression
of regrets left out and the United
States simply agreeing TO pay Col
Onbia s25,O00,000. 1t was arguet
by the treaty opponents that the
pay Of $50 100000 was itself an adj
mission that the United States haC
wronged Colombia.
On November 3, 1903. Panama
rcvolted and set itself up as an in
dependent state. A small American
naval force, less than so men, the
record says, was landed to protect
Americans. Ten days later, the
United States recognized Panama
as an independent state, guaranteed
her independence, and later made
the treaty by which the canal zone
was ceded TO the Cunted States and
tho canal was built.
The immaculate Theodore work.
cd his scheme through with cas-.
and celebrity doing great wrong 10
Colombia which the Government
now seeks to atone for with the
SUM of twenty-five millions. Viii
son and Harding both recommend
ratification of the treaty.
The strange shifts that often oc-
cur in political tides find an illus
tration in the history of the treaty.
II was negotiated at the instance
Of William Jennings Bryan, Dem
-ocratic Secretary of State. submit,
ed by a Democratic President
Woodrow Wilson, blocked in rati.
hcatlon by a Republican minority
recommended for ratification by d
Republican President, Warren G.
Harding. and urged by leaders OF
Senate prcpondcrantly Republican
The treaty as finally drawn, how.
ever, differs from that signed al
Bogota on April &. 1914 and placed
before the Senate by President Viii.
son on June IL, 1914, the principal
change being the elimination Of a
paragraph whereby the United
States would have expressed its re,
greet to Colombia for the loss OF
Panama.
This was done, no doubt for no
other purpose than satisfy, if pos
siblc, the friends of Theodore
Roosevelt who feared the effect I'D.
on his name and reputation as such
an official and public expression OF
regrets would necessarily imply.