THE DIPLOMATIC HISTORY OF THE PANAMA CANAL
The cutting of the isthmus between North and South America was the dream
of navigators and engineers from the time when the first discoverers
ascertained that nature had neglected to provide a passage. Yet the new
continent which so unexpectedly blocked the way of Columbus in his
search for the Indies opposed for centuries an insurmountable barrier to
the commerce of the East and the West. The piercing of the isthmus
always seemed a perfectly feasible undertaking, but the difficulties in
the way proved greater than at first sight appeared. There were (1) the
physical or engineering problems to be solved, and (2) the diplomatic
complications regarding the control of the canal in peace and its use in
war. The weakness of the Spanish-American states, whose territories
embraced the available routes, and their recognized inability either to
construct or protect a canal made what might otherwise have been merely
a question of domestic economy one of grave international import. In
this respect, as in others, the problem presented the same features as
the Suez canal. To meet these difficulties three plans were successively
developed during the nineteenth century: (1) a canal constructed by a
private corporation under international control, (2) a canal constructed
by a private corporation under the exclusive control of the United
States, and (3) a canal constructed, owned, operated, and controlled by
the United States as a government enterprise. The Clayton-Bulwer treaty
provided for the construction of a canal in accordance with the first
plan; several unsuccessful attempts were made to raise the necessary
capital under the second plan; while the third plan was the one under
which the gigantic task was actually accomplished.
The comparative merits of the Nicaragua and Panama routes long divided
the opinion of experts. American engineers generally favored that
through Nicaragua. The length of the Nicaragua route, from Greytown on
the Atlantic to Brito on the Pacific by way of the San Juan river and
through Lake Nicaragua, is about 170 miles. The elevation of the lake
above the sea is about 110 feet. Its western shore is only twelve miles
from the Pacific, with an intervening divide 154 feet above the sea.
From the southeast corner of the lake flows the San Juan river, 120
miles to the Atlantic, with an average fall of about 10 inches to the
mile. The serious objections to this route are: (1) the lack of harbors
at the terminals, Brito being a mere indentation on the coast, rendering
the construction of immense breakwaters necessary, while at Greytown the
San Juan broadens out into a delta that would require extensive
dredging; and (2) the enormous rainfall at Greytown, exceeding that
known anywhere else on the western continent--nearly 25 feet.
The Panama route from Colon on the Atlantic to Panama on the Pacific is
about 50 miles in length, with a natural elevation nearly double that of
Nicaragua. There are natural harbors at each end which are capacious and
able to accommodate the heaviest shipping. The Panama Railroad, built
along the line of the proposed canal, in 1850-55, gave this route an
additional advantage. There were, however, certain disadvantages: (1)
the unhealthfulness of the vicinity, rendering labor scarce and
inefficient; (2) the heavy rainfall, 10 to 12 feet at Colon; and (3) the
treacherous character of the geologic structure, due to its volcanic
origin, through which the cut had to be made. The impossibility of
making even approximate estimates of the cost of the work in such a
deadly climate and through such an uncertain geologic formation was one
of the greatest difficulties to be overcome. The De Lesseps plan
provided for an open cut throughout at the sea-level, at an estimated
cost of $170,000,000. The work was begun in 1884 and prosecuted until
1888, when the gigantic scheme collapsed, after the company had expended
about $300,000,000 and accomplished less than one-third of the work.
Great as the engineering problems of the various canal schemes have been
shown to be, the importance to the world's commerce of the object in
view would, in all probability, have led to their solution and to the
construction of a canal long before the United States undertook the
Panama enterprise, had it not been for difficulties of an altogether
different character, complications arising out of the question as to the
status of the canal in international law. The diplomatic difficulties in
the case of an interoceanic canal are very great. It cannot be regarded
as a natural strait, like the Dardanelles, the Danish Belts, or the
Straits of Magellan, which were for a long time held under exclusive
jurisdiction, but are now free to all nations. Nor, on the other hand,
could an isthmian canal be compared to the Kiel canal, which is within
the territory of Germany, and which, although open to commerce, was
specially designed to meet the needs of the German navy. Such canals as
this are built by the capital of the country through which they pass,
and are protected and controlled by its government.
No one of the republics to the south of us, through whose territory it
was proposed to build a canal, could raise the capital for its
construction or insure its protection when completed. No company
chartered by one of these governments could have raised the necessary
capital without some further guarantee. Hence it was that all companies
organized for this purpose had to secure their charters from some more
powerful nation, such as the United States or France, and their
concessions from one of the Central American states. This rendered
necessary a treaty between the state granting the concession or right to
construct a canal through its territory and the state chartering the
company. The claims of other states to equality of treatment in the use
of such a canal constituted another element that had to be considered.
With the establishment of the independence of the Spanish-American
republics the question of the construction of a ship canal across the
isthmus became a matter of general interest, and it was one of the
proposed subjects of discussion at the Congress of American Republics
summoned by Bolivar to meet at Panama in 1826. In the instructions to
the United States commissioners to that congress, Mr. Clay authorized
them to enter into the consideration of that subject, suggesting that
the best routes would likely be found in the territory of Mexico or of
the Central Republic. As to the diplomatic status of the canal, he said:
If the work should ever be executed so as to admit of the
passage of sea vessels from ocean to ocean, the benefits of
it ought not to be exclusively appropriated to any one
nation, but should be extended to all parts of the globe
upon the payment of a just compensation or reasonable
tolls.[140]
In 1835, and again in 1839, the United States Senate passed resolutions
authorizing the President to enter into negotiations with other nations,
particularly Central America and New Granada, for the purpose of
protecting by treaty either individuals or companies who might undertake
to open communication between the two oceans, and of insuring "the free
and equal navigation of the canal by all nations." Presidents Jackson
and Van Buren both commissioned agents with a view to carrying out these
resolutions, but without success.
While a prisoner at Ham in 1845, Prince Louis Napoleon Bonaparte secured
from the government of Nicaragua a concession granting him power to
organize a company for the construction of a waterway to be known as "Le
Canale Napoleon de Nicaragua." After his escape from Ham, he published
in London a pamphlet entitled "The Canal of Nicaragua, or a Project for
the Junction of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by means of a
Canal."[141]
Although the United States government was a party to endless
negotiations in regard to an inter-oceanic canal, there were only three
treaties of any practical importance prior to the close of the
nineteenth century, by which it acquired rights and assumed obligations
on that account.[142] These were (1) the treaty with New Granada
(Colombia) of 1846; (2) the Clayton-Bulwer treaty with England of 1850;
and (3) the treaty with Nicaragua of 1867. We shall proceed to examine
these in detail.
The treaty with New Granada was signed at Bogota, December 12, 1846, and
ratified by both governments in 1848. It did not differ materially from
the general draft of treaties, except in the thirty-fifth article, which
was of a special character and related to the Isthmus of Panama. By this
article "the government of New Granada guarantees to the government of
the United States that the right-of-way or transit across the Isthmus of
Panama, upon any modes of communication that now exist or that may be
hereafter constructed, shall be open and free to the government and
citizens of the United States," for the transportation of all articles
of lawful commerce upon the same terms enjoyed by the citizens of New
Granada.
And in order to secure to themselves the tranquil and
constant enjoyment of these advantages, and for the favors
they have acquired by the 4th, 5th, and 6th articles of this
treaty, the United States guarantee positively and
efficaciously to New Granada, by the present stipulation,
the perfect neutrality of the before-mentioned isthmus, with
the view that the free transit from the one to the other sea
may not be interrupted or embarrassed in any future time
while this treaty exists; and, in consequence, the United
States also guarantee, in the same manner, the rights of
sovereignty and property which New Granada has and
possesses over the said territory.[143]
This treaty was to remain in force for twenty years, and then, if
neither party gave notice of intended termination, it was to continue in
force, terminable by either party at twelve months' notice. This treaty
was in full force when the Panama revolution of 1903 took place. Under
the protection of this treaty the Panama Railroad Company, composed
mainly of citizens of the United States, secured a charter from New
Granada, and between 1850 and 1855 constructed a railroad across the
isthmus along the line of the proposed Panama canal. In consequence of
the riot at Panama in 1856, efforts were made by the United States to
modify this treaty so as to give the United States greater control and
power to protect the means of transit, but without success.[144] Other
attempts to modify it in 1868 and 1870 likewise failed.[145]
In 1862 the Granadian government, through its representative at
Washington, notified the United States that a revolutionary chief, who
was then trying to subvert the Granadian confederation, had sent an
armed force to occupy the Isthmus of Panama, and the government of
Granada called upon the United States to enforce its guarantee.
Simultaneously the same information was received from the United States
consul at Panama, and the President instructed the United States naval
commander at that port to protect at all hazards and at whatever cost
the safety of the railroad transit across the isthmus.
The Granadian government, however, was not satisfied with this action,
and urged the United States to land a body of troops at Panama,
suggesting that it consist of 300 cavalry. Under the circumstances,
President Lincoln hesitated to take such action without consulting Great
Britain and France, and Mr. Seward instructed our representatives at
London and Paris to seek an understanding with those governments in
regard to the matter. He declared:
This government has no interest in the matter different from
that of other maritime powers. It is willing to interpose
its aid in execution of its treaty and for the benefit of
all nations. But if it should do so it would incur some
hazard of becoming involved in the revolutionary strife
which is going on in that country. It would also incur
danger of misapprehension of its object by other maritime
powers if it should act without previous consultation with
them.[146]
In a conference between Mr. Adams and Lord John Russell, the latter
declared that he did not consider that the contingency had arisen which
called for intervention; that so far as he could learn, no attempt had
been made to obstruct the free transit across the isthmus. The French
government took substantially the same view.[147] In questions of a
similar nature that arose later, the attorney-general of the United
States expressed the opinion that the guarantee by the United States of
Granadian sovereignty and property in the territory of the isthmus was
only against foreign governments, and did not authorize the United
States to take sides with one or the other party in the intestine
troubles of that nation.
In April, 1885, the Colombian government, which was embarrassed by civil
war, called upon the United States for the fulfillment of the treaty of
1846, to secure the neutrality and sovereignty of the isthmus. President
Cleveland at once sent a body of troops to the isthmus with instructions
to confine their action to preventing the transit and its accessories
from being interrupted or embarrassed. As soon as peace was
reestablished, the troops of the United States were withdrawn.[148]
Four years after the signature of the above treaty with Colombia, and
two years after its ratification by the Senate, the United States and
Great Britain executed what is popularly known as the Clayton-Bulwer
treaty. It is of great importance to understand clearly the
circumstances under which this treaty was negotiated.
For very obvious reasons, the Isthmus of Panama was for many years the
objective point of all canal schemes, but as the engineering
difficulties of this route began to be fully appreciated, attention was
directed more and more to that through Nicaragua. The occupation by
Great Britain, under the assumption of a protectorate, of the territory
about the mouth of the San Juan river, which belonged to Nicaragua and
Costa Rica, and in which the Atlantic terminus of the canal would fall,
was a source of no little uneasiness and perplexity to the United
States. In June, 1849, Mr. Hise, charge d'affaires of the United States
in Central America, negotiated without the authorization or knowledge of
his government, a treaty with Nicaragua which gave the United States
exclusive rights in the construction of a canal through the territory of
that state.[149] This treaty was not submitted to the Senate, but was
made use of in the negotiations that were opened shortly thereafter with
Great Britain for the purpose of ousting her from her position of
control over the mouth of the San Juan. A few months later, September
28, 1849, Mr. Squier signed with Honduras a treaty which ceded Tiger
Island, in the Bay of Fonseca, to the United States, thus giving us a
naval station on the Pacific side of the isthmus. This treaty, like that
negotiated by Mr. Hise, was unauthorized and never submitted to the
Senate.[150] Both treaties were used, however, in bringing England to
the signature of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. This activity in
treaty-making was occasioned by the acquisition of California and the
rush to the gold fields by way of the isthmus.
During the period that elapsed between Mr. Bancroft's withdrawal from
London and Mr. Lawrence's arrival as the representative of the United
States, Mr. Clayton instructed Mr. Rives, who was on his way to Paris,
to stop in London and hold a conference with Lord Palmerston on the
Central American question. At this date the United States was striving
simply for equal rights in any waterway that might be opened through the
isthmus and not for any exclusive rights. Mr. Rives declared to Lord
Palmerston "that citizens of the United States had entered into a
contract with the state of Nicaragua to open, on certain conditions, a
communication between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by the river San
Juan and the Nicaragua lake; that the government of the United States,
after the most careful investigation of the subject, had come
undoubtedly to the conclusion that upon both legal and historical
grounds the state of Nicaragua was the true territorial sovereign of the
river San Juan as well as of the Nicaragua lake, and that it was,
therefore, bound to give its countenance and support, by all proper and
reasonable means, to rights lawfully derived by their citizens under a
grant from that sovereign." He further said:
That the United States would not, if they could, obtain any
exclusive right or privilege in a great highway, which
naturally belonged to all mankind, for they well knew that
the possession of any such privilege would expose them to
inevitable jealousies and probable controversies which would
make it infinitely more costly than advantageous; that while
they aimed at no exclusive privilege for themselves, they
could never consent to see so important a communication fall
under the exclusive control of any other great commercial
power; that we were far from imputing to Her Britannic
Majesty's government any views of that kind, but Mosquito
possession at the mouth of the San Juan could be considered
in no other light than British possession, and his lordship
would readily comprehend that such a state of things, so
long as it was continued, must necessarily give rise to
dissatisfaction and distrust on the part of other commercial
powers.[151]
The negotiations thus opened by Mr. Rives were continued by Mr. Lawrence
upon his arrival in England, but were shortly thereafter transferred to
Washington, where Mr. Clayton succeeded in arranging with Sir Henry
Lytton Bulwer the terms of a convention which was signed April 19, 1850.
The intention of the two governments, as declared in the preamble, was
to set forth "their views and intentions with reference to any means of
communication by ship canal which may be constructed between the
Atlantic and Pacific oceans by the way of the river San Juan de
Nicaragua, and either or both of the lakes of Nicaragua or Managua, to
any port or place on the Pacific ocean."
By the first article Great Britain and the United States bound
themselves never to obtain or maintain any exclusive control over the
said ship canal; never to erect or maintain any fortifications
commanding the same or in the vicinity thereof, or to colonize or
exercise dominion over Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito coast, or any
part of Central America; and never to make use of any alliance,
connection or influence with any of these states to obtain any unequal
advantages in regard to commerce or navigation through the said canal.
The second article provided for the neutralization of the canal in the
event of war between the contracting parties. The third guaranteed
protection for the persons and property of the parties legally
undertaking the construction of the canal. The fourth related to gaining
the consent of the states whose territory the canal should traverse. The
fifth article provided for the neutralization and protection of the
canal so long as it was managed without discrimination against either of
the contracting parties, and stipulated that neither of them would
withdraw its protection without giving the other six months' notice. In
the sixth article the contracting parties promised to invite every state
with which they were on terms of friendly intercourse to accede to this
convention. In the seventh article the contracting parties agreed to
lend their support and encouragement to the first company offering to
construct the canal in accordance with the spirit and intention of this
convention. The eighth article was of special importance. It declared
that "the governments of the United States and Great Britain having not
only desired, in entering into this convention, to accomplish a
particular object, but also to establish a general principle, they
hereby agree to extend their protection, by treaty stipulations, to any
other practicable communication, whether by canal or railway, across the
isthmus which connects North and South America, and especially to the
interoceanic communications, should the same prove practicable, whether
by canal or railway, which are now proposed to be established by the way
of Tehuantepec or Panama."[152]
Such are the main stipulations of the celebrated Clayton-Bulwer treaty,
which remained in force until 1901, and which during that period
probably called forth more discussion than any treaty which the United
States had ever signed.
In after years a large number of people on this side of the Atlantic,
forgetting the object and aim of the treaty and the circumstances under
which it was negotiated, thought that the United States conceded too
much and violated the principle of the Monroe Doctrine in giving England
a position and interest in America which she did not before possess.
This opinion was held by some prominent statesmen at the time the treaty
was negotiated, notably by Buchanan, who poured forth severe criticism
and ridicule upon it. While it was before the Senate for ratification,
he wrote to a friend:
If Sir Henry Bulwer can succeed in having the two first
provisions of this treaty ratified by the Senate, he will
deserve a British peerage. The consideration for our
concessions is the relinquishment of the claim to the
protectorate of the Mosquito shore--so absurd and unfounded
that it has been ridiculed even by the London _Times_. Truly
Sir Henry has brought this claim to a good market when he
found a purchaser in Mr. Clayton. The treaty altogether
reverses the Monroe Doctrine, and establishes it against
ourselves rather than European governments.[153]
Let us see what the interests of the two signatory powers were at that
time in Central America. The United States had recently acquired
California by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and the rapid development
of the Pacific states made the canal a question of greater importance to
the United States than ever before. The great transcontinental
railroads, which some fifteen years later established direct overland
communication with the Pacific states, were then hardly thought of.
England's interest in the canal, on the other hand, was rather a
prospective one, but farsighted as usual, she had provided for future
contingencies by occupying several years before, under the guise of a
protectorate over the Mosquito Indians, Greytown at the mouth of the San
Juan river, the Atlantic terminus of the canal. In addition to the
Mosquito coast, England at this time held the Bay Islands and Belize, or
British Honduras. The United States, it is true, had never recognized
the claims of Great Britain to dominion over the Mosquito coast. These
claims, which dated back to the eighteenth century, when British
wood-cutters in search of mahogany, and smugglers entered the territory
occupied by the Mosquito Indians and established cordial relations with
them, had been abandoned by the treaty of 1786 with Spain, but were
revived in 1841, when a ship of war was sent to San Juan del Norte to
announce the protection of England over the lands of the Mosquito king
and to raise the Mosquito flag.[154] In 1848 the English and Indians
drove the Nicaraguans out of the town and changed the name to Greytown.
The United States uniformly denied the rights of the Mosquito king to
sovereignty over the district, and consequently the pretensions of the
inhabitants of Greytown to political organization or power derived in
any way from the Mosquitos. In his instructions to Mr. Hise soon after
the occupation of Greytown, Secretary Buchanan said:
The object of Great Britain in this seizure is evident from
the policy which she has uniformly pursued throughout her
history, of seizing upon every available commercial point in
the world whenever circumstances have placed it in her
power. Her purpose probably is to obtain control of the
route for a railroad or canal between the Atlantic and
Pacific oceans by way of Lake Nicaragua.... The government
of the United States has not yet determined what course it
will pursue in regard to the encroachment of the British
government.... The independence as well as the interests of
the nations on this continent require that they should
maintain an American system of policy entirely distinct from
that which prevails in Europe. To suffer any interference on
the part of the European governments with the domestic
concerns of the American republics, and to permit them to
establish new colonies upon this continent, would be to
jeopard their independence and ruin their interests. These
truths ought everywhere throughout this continent to be
impressed upon the public mind; but what can the United
States do to resist such European interference whilst the
Spanish-American republics continue to weaken themselves by
civil divisions and civil war, and deprive themselves of
doing anything for their own protection.
Whatever the rights of the case, Great Britain was in actual possession
of the Atlantic terminus of the proposed canal, and the United States
was not prepared forcibly to oust her, even if such a course had been
deemed advisable. The United States had no rights in the case at this
time by treaty with Nicaragua or otherwise, none of the statesmen of
that day having been broad enough in their views or bold enough to
consider the territory of Nicaragua as "a part of the coast-line of the
United States." All that could be opposed to England's _de facto_
possession was the Monroe Doctrine, and England held that her claim
antedated the declaration of that principle of American diplomacy. Mr.
Clayton cannot, therefore, be justly charged with a violation of the
Monroe Doctrine, for the effect of the treaty was to leave England
weaker territorially on this continent than she was before.
The Clayton-Bulwer treaty left open several minor questions that
required adjustment before the canal enterprise could be pushed forward
with success. Chief among these were the dispute between Nicaragua and
Costa Rica in regard to their boundary line and the controversy between
Great Britain and Nicaragua in regard to the territory claimed by the
Mosquito Indians. In April, 1852, Mr. Webster and Sir John Crampton
agreed upon a basis for the settlement of Central American affairs, and
drew up and signed a proposal to be submitted to Nicaragua and Costa
Rica.[155] This proposed basis for a treaty was rejected by Nicaragua,
which left the questions involved in the same unsettled position.
A much more serious obstacle to the accomplishment of the objects of the
Clayton-Bulwer treaty than the failure of the above proposal arose from
the wide divergence of opinion between the British and American
governments in regard to its interpretation. The discussion involved two
principal points: (1) Whether the abnegatory clauses of the first
article were merely prospective in character and directed against future
acquisitions in Central America, or whether they required Great Britain
to abandon her protectorate over the Mosquito coast at once; and (2)
whether the Bay Islands came within the purview of the treaty. It was
expressly stipulated that Belize or British Honduras was not included in
Central America and therefore not affected by the treaty one way or the
other. A declaration to this effect was filed at the state department by
the British minister, Sir Henry Bulwer. In reply, Mr. Clayton, after
conference with the chairman of the Senate committee on foreign
relations, acknowledged that British Honduras did not come within the
scope of the treaty, but at the same time carefully refrained from
affirming or denying the British title to that settlement or its alleged
dependencies.[156] This left open the question as to whether the Bay
Islands were dependencies of Belize or of the Republic of Honduras.
Shortly after the failure of the Crampton-Webster proposals, Great
Britain took advantage of the uncertainty that existed in regard to the
status of the Bay Islands and by a formal proclamation, issued July 17,
1852, converted her settlements on those islands into "The Colony of the
Bay Islands." When the United States government expressed its surprise
at this proceeding, the British government replied that the Bay Islands
were dependencies of Her Majesty's settlement at Belize and therefore,
by explicit agreement, not within the scope of the Clayton-Bulwer
treaty.[157]
In 1856 an effort was made to terminate the difficulties arising out of
the different constructions put upon the Clayton-Bulwer treaty by the
negotiation of a supplementary convention. On October 17 of that year a
treaty was signed in London by the American minister and Lord Clarendon,
known as the Dallas-Clarendon treaty. It provided (1) for the withdrawal
of the British protectorate over the Mosquito Indians; (2) it regulated
the boundaries of the Belize settlements on the basis of a compromise;
and (3) it provided for a cession of the Bay Islands to Honduras, upon
condition of the ratification of a treaty already negotiated between
Great Britain and Honduras, which virtually erected an independent state
of the islands, exempt in many particulars from the sovereignty of
Honduras, and under the protectorate of Great Britain.
The first two clauses were acceptable to the United States Senate, but
it was deemed proper to amend the third by striking out all that part of
it which contemplated the concurrence of the United States in the
British treaty with Honduras, and simply to provide for a recognition by
the two governments of the sovereignty of Honduras over the islands in
question.[158] Great Britain rejected this amendment and the
Dallas-Clarendon treaty fell through. Great Britain and the United
States were thus thrown back upon the Clayton-Bulwer treaty with its
conflicting interpretations.
In October, 1857, the President was notified informally that the British
government had decided to dispatch Sir Wm. Ouseley, a diplomatist of
well-recognized authority and experience, to Central America to make a
definite settlement of all matters in dispute between the United States
and England; that the efforts of the new plenipotentiary would be
directed to those objects which had been dealt with in the
Dallas-Clarendon treaty of 1856, viz., the cession of the Bay Islands to
Honduras, the substitution of the sovereignty of Nicaragua for the
protectorate of England over the Mosquitos and the regulation of the
frontiers of Belize; that it was the intention of Her Majesty's
government to carry the Clayton-Bulwer treaty into execution according
to the general tenor of the interpretation put upon it by the United
States, but to do so by separate negotiation with the Central American
republics, in lieu of a direct engagement with the federal
government.[159]
President Buchanan replied that he would be satisfied with this course
and that upon receiving an official assurance to that effect, he would
change the character of the message he had already prepared for
Congress. On the 30th of November, 1857, the British government
submitted to the United States the alternative of referring the
Clayton-Bulwer treaty to the arbitration of any European power which the
United States might prefer to select or of adjusting matters by
negotiations with the Central American republics, as already outlined in
Sir William Ouseley's prospective mission.[160]
At this stage of the negotiations matters were further complicated (1)
by the negotiation of the Cass-Yrissari treaty of November 16, 1857,
between the United States and Nicaragua for protection of the transit
route and (2) by the invasion of Nicaraguan territory by a band of
filibusters under General Walker, bent on the subversion of the lawful
government of the country. The treaty was not ratified, however, and the
Walker expedition was arrested by the interposition of the United States
navy.
The United States government not having given any definite answer to the
British proposal to submit the treaty to arbitration, the British
government delayed dispatching Sir William Ouseley on his mission. In
the negotiations which took place during this delay the question of the
abrogation of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty was discussed between the two
governments. In his message of December 8, 1857, President Buchanan had
suggested the abrogation of the treaty by mutual consent as the wisest
course that could be pursued in view of the increasing complications to
which the varying constructions of it were giving rise. The British
government took up this suggestion and expressed its willingness to
concur in such a course, but also expressed the opinion that the
initiative should be taken by the government which was dissatisfied with
its provisions.
The British minister was, however, directed by his government to make it
perfectly clear to the government of the United States, that to abrogate
the treaty was to return to the _status quo ante_ its conclusion in
1850; that Great Britain had no kind of jealousy respecting American
colonization in Central America, and did not ask or wish for any
exclusive privileges whatever in that quarter.[161] Finally, Sir William
Ouseley was dispatched on his mission and during the years 1859 and 1860
succeeded in negotiating treaties with Guatemala, Honduras, and
Nicaragua, the provisions of which were in substantial accord with the
rejected Dallas-Clarendon treaty.[162]
The treaty with Nicaragua signed at Managua, January 28, 1860, though
restoring to that republic nominal sovereignty over the Mosquito
territory, reserved to the Indians the right of retaining their own
customs, assigned boundaries to that reservation in all probability
greatly beyond its true limits, and confirmed grants of land previously
made in that territory. Notwithstanding these facts, in his annual
message of December 3, 1860, President Buchanan declared that the United
States government was satisfied with the final settlement. His words
were:
The discordant constructions of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty
between the two governments, which at different periods of
the discussion bore a threatening aspect, have resulted in a
final settlement entirely satisfactory to this
government.[163]
The Clayton-Bulwer treaty was negotiated with the expectation that the
construction of a ship canal would rapidly follow, but the unfortunate
entanglements that grew out of the variant constructions put upon that
treaty by the contracting powers deferred to an indefinite period the
accomplishment of the object it was designed to promote. By the time
these differences were adjusted the attention of the American public was
centered upon the first throes of the gigantic struggle of the war of
secession and the canal question was for several years completely
overshadowed. The government of the United States emerged from that
struggle with larger ideas of its position among the powers of the world
and with broader views of national policy. Mr. Seward gave expression to
that feeling in the purchase of Alaska, in his interposition in Mexico
and in his efforts to secure a position for the United States in the
West Indies. In order to strengthen the position of the United States he
wished to purchase Tiger Island, a possession of Honduras in Fonseca bay
on the Pacific coast. As this island lay in Central America, Mr. Seward
could not take any steps in the matter without the consent of Great
Britain, on account of the renunciatory clause with respect to that
territory in the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. He, therefore, directed Mr.
Adams, April 25, 1866, to sound Lord Clarendon as to the disposition of
the British government toward the United States acquiring a coaling
station in Central America. In this dispatch we find the first
suggestion of a repudiation of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty on the ground
that it was a special and not a general contract, and that the work for
which it had been negotiated had never been undertaken. Mr. Seward uses
these words:
At the time the treaty was concluded there was every
prospect that that work would not only soon be begun, but
that it would be carried to a successful conclusion. For
reasons, however, which it is not necessary to specify, it
never was even commenced, and at present there does not
appear to be a likelihood of its being undertaken. It may be
a question, therefore, supposing that the canal should never
be begun, whether the renunciatory clauses of the treaty are
to have perpetual operation. Technically speaking, this
question might be decided in the negative. Still, so long as
it should remain a question, it would not comport with good
faith for either party to do anything which might be deemed
contrary to even the spirit of the treaty.[164]
The subject was brought to the attention of Lord Clarendon in a casual
way by Mr. Adams, but it was not pressed and Mr. Seward refrained from
disregarding the renunciatory clause of the treaty.
In 1867, a treaty between the United States and Nicaragua, covering the
case of an interoceanic canal, was negotiated and ratified by both
parties. It granted to the United States the right of transit between
the Atlantic and Pacific oceans on any lines of communication, natural
or artificial, by land or by water, then existing, or that might
thereafter be constructed, upon equal terms with the citizens of
Nicaragua, and the United States agreed to extend its protection to all
such routes of communication, and "to guarantee the neutrality and
innocent use of the same." The United States further agreed to employ
its influence with other nations to induce them to guarantee such
neutrality and protection.[165]
This treaty, like the treaty with Colombia of 1846 and the
Clayton-Bulwer treaty, contemplated the neutralization of the canal. It
in no way infringed our engagements with England under the
Clayton-Bulwer treaty, but in providing for the joint guarantee of other
powers, was in accord with the provisions of that treaty.
In 1873, Mr. Hamilton Fish directed General Schenck to remonstrate, if
upon investigation he found it to be necessary, against British
encroachments upon the territory of Guatemala as an infringement of the
Clayton-Bulwer treaty.[166]
In spite of the doubts expressed by Mr. Seward in the dispatch to Mr.
Adams above quoted, as to the perpetual character of the obligations
imposed by the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, the obligatory force of that
instrument after the readjustment of 1860 was not seriously questioned
until interest in the canal question was suddenly aroused anew by the
concession granted by Colombia to Lieutenant Wyse in 1878, and the
subsequent organization of a French construction company under the
presidency of Ferdinand de Lesseps, the promoter of the Suez canal.
The prospect of the speedy construction of a canal under French control,
for which De Lesseps' name seemed a sufficient guarantee, produced a
sudden and radical change of policy on the part of the United States.
In a special message to Congress, March 8, 1880, President Hayes made
the following statement of what he conceived to be the true policy of
this country in regard to a Central American canal:
The policy of this country is a canal under American
control. The United States cannot consent to the surrender
of this control to any European power, or to any combination
of European powers. If existing treaties between the United
States and other nations, or if the rights of sovereignty or
property of other nations stand in the way of this policy--a
contingency which is not apprehended--suitable steps should
be taken by just and liberal negotiations to promote and
establish the American policy on this subject, consistently
with the rights of the nations to be affected by it.
The capital invested by corporations or citizens of other
countries in such an enterprise must, in a great degree,
look for protection to one or more of the great powers of
the world. No European power can intervene for such
protection without adopting measures on this continent which
the United States would deem wholly inadmissible. If the
protection of the United States is relied upon, the United
States must exercise such control as will enable this
country to protect its national interests and maintain the
rights of those whose private capital is embarked in the
work.
An interoceanic canal across the American isthmus will
essentially change the geographical relations between the
Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States, and
between the United States and the rest of the world. It will
be the great ocean thoroughfare between our Atlantic and our
Pacific shores, and virtually a part of the coast-line of
the United States. Our merely commercial interest in it is
greater than that of all other countries, while its relation
to our power and prosperity as a nation, to our means of
defense, our unity, peace, and safety, are matters of
paramount concern to the people of the United States. No
other great power would, under similar circumstances, fail
to assert a rightful control over a work so closely and
vitally affecting its interests and welfare.
Without urging further the grounds of my opinion, I repeat,
in conclusion, that it is the right and the duty of the
United States to assert and maintain such supervision and
authority over any interoceanic canal across the isthmus
that connects North and South America as will protect our
national interests. This I am quite sure will be found not
only compatible with, but promotive of, the widest and most
permanent advantage to commerce and civilization.[167]
The message itself was accompanied by a report from the secretary of
state, Mr. Evarts, in which he called attention to the mutual
engagements entered into between the United States and Colombia by the
treaty of 1846 in reference to a transit route across the isthmus and
declared that the guarantee of the neutrality of the isthmus and of the
sovereignty of Colombia over the same would be a very different thing
when the isthmus should be opened to the interests and ambitions of the
great commercial nations.[168]
President Garfield, in his inaugural address, approved the position
taken by his predecessor on the canal question,[169] and very soon after
assuming the portfolio of state, Mr. Blaine outlined the new policy to
our representatives in Europe, cautioning them, however, against
representing it as the development of a new policy and affirming that it
was "nothing more than the pronounced adherence of the United States to
principles long since enunciated by the highest authority of the
government."
This dispatch of Mr. Blaine is remarkable for several reasons, but
chiefly for the fact that it completely ignores the existence of the
Clayton-Bulwer treaty, there being no allusion to that celebrated
convention either open or implied. Aside from this there are three
points to be noted. In the first place Mr. Blaine calls attention to the
rights and duties devolving upon the United States from the treaty with
Colombia of 1846, and states that in the judgment of the President the
guarantee there given by the United States requires no reenforcement, or
accession, or assent from any other power; that the United States in
more than one instance had been called upon to vindicate the neutrality
thus guaranteed; and that there was no contingency, then foreseen or
apprehended, in which such vindication would not be within the power of
the nation.
In the second place, Mr. Blaine declared with emphasis that during any
war to which the United States of America or the United States of
Colombia might be a party, the passage of armed vessels of a hostile
nation through the canal of Panama would be no more admissible than
would the passage of the armed forces of a hostile nation over the
railway lines joining the Atlantic and Pacific shores of the United
States, or of Colombia. This declaration was in direct opposition to the
second article of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. Mr. Blaine then proceeded
to expatiate upon the remarkable development of our Pacific slope and
the importance of the canal in facilitating communication between our
Atlantic and Pacific states, alluding to the canal in this connection,
in the very apt phrase of President Hayes, as forming a part of the
_coast-line_ of the United States. It does not appear to have occurred
to Mr. Blaine that the same arguments applied with equal force to Great
Britain's American possessions to the north of us, which likewise
extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and were likewise entering
upon a period of unusual development.
The third point to be noted in the dispatch is the statement that the
United States would object to any concerted action of the European
powers for the purpose of guaranteeing the canal or determining its
status.[170] This declaration was supposed to be nothing more than a
reaffirmation of the Monroe Doctrine.
A copy of this document was left by Mr. Lowell at the British foreign
office on the 12th of July, 1881. No formal notice of the dispatch was
taken by the British government until November, when Lord Granville
replied that, as Mr. Blaine had made the statement that the government
of the United States had no intention of initiating any discussion upon
this subject, he did not propose to enter into a detailed argument in
reply to Mr. Blaine's observations. He wished, however, merely to point
out that the position of Great Britain and the United States with
reference to the canal, irrespective of the magnitude of the commercial
relations of the former power, was determined by a convention signed
between them at Washington on the 19th of April, 1850, commonly known as
the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, and her majesty's government relied with
confidence upon the observance of all the engagements of that
treaty.[171]
Before this reply reached Washington, Mr. Blaine had again taken up the
question of the canal in a special dispatch of November 19, 1881. In
this dispatch he addressed himself specifically to a consideration of
the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, and urged upon the consideration of the
British government modifications of such a radical character as to
amount to a complete abrogation of the treaty. The grounds of objection
to the treaty were stated in full. In the first place it was declared
that the treaty had been made more than thirty years before under
exceptional and extraordinary conditions, which were at least temporary
in their nature and had long since ceased to exist. The remarkable
development of the United States on the Pacific coast since that time
had created new duties and responsibilities for the American government
which required, in the judgment of the President, some essential
modifications in the treaty. The objections to the perpetuity of the
treaty were then stated in full. First and foremost was the objection
that the treaty by forbidding the military fortification of the proposed
canal practically conceded its control to Great Britain by reason of her
naval superiority. The military power of the United States in any
conflict on the American continent was irresistible, yet the United
States was restrained from using this power for the protection of the
canal, while no restrictions could be placed upon the natural advantages
that England enjoyed in this regard as a great naval power. A more
serious objection to the treaty, however, was urged in the statement
that it embodied a misconception of the relative positions of Great
Britain and the United States with respect to interests on this
continent. The United States would not consent to perpetuate any treaty
that impeached "our right and long-established claim to priority on the
American continent."
In the third place, at the time the convention was agreed upon, Great
Britain and the United States were the only nations prominent in the
commerce of Central and South America. Since that time other nations not
bound by the prohibitions of that treaty had become interested in
Central America, and the republic of France had become sponsor for a new
canal scheme. Yet by the treaty with England the United States was
prevented from asserting its rights and the privileges acquired through
treaty with Colombia anterior to the Clayton-Bulwer treaty.
In the fourth place, the treaty had been made with the implied
understanding that British capital would be available for the
construction of a canal. That expectation had never been realized, and
the United States was now able to construct a canal without aid from
outside resources.
In conclusion, Mr. Blaine proposed several modifications of the treaty
which would leave the United States free to fortify the canal and to
hold political control of it in conjunction with the country in which it
might be located.[172]
A few days after the dispatch was written, Lord Granville's answer to
Mr. Blaine's first dispatch reached Washington, and on the 29th of
November, Mr. Blaine wrote a second dispatch equally voluminous with the
one of November 19. In this he reviewed the discussions which had taken
place between 1850 and 1860 in regard to the treaty with a view to
showing that it had never been satisfactory to the United States and
had been the cause of serious misunderstanding. He failed, however, to
make mention of the settlement of 1860 and the declaration of President
Buchanan that the United States was satisfied with that adjustment.
The full reply of the British government to Mr. Blaine's arguments was
given in two dispatches dated respectively January 7 and 14, 1882. Lord
Granville took exception to certain conclusions which Mr. Blaine had
sought to establish by analogy with the conduct of Great Britain in
regard to the Suez canal. His lordship fully concurred in what Mr.
Blaine had said as to the unexampled development of the United States on
the Pacific coast, but reminded him that the development of her
majesty's possessions to the north of the United States, while less
rapid, had been, nevertheless, on a scale that bore some relation even
to that of the Pacific states. In the view of her majesty's government,
the changes desired by the United States would not improve the situation
as regarded the canal, while the declaration that the United States
would always treat the waterway connecting the two oceans "as part of
her coast-line" threatened the independence of the territory lying
between that waterway and the United States.
Her majesty's government believed that the only way to relieve the
situation was to extend the invitation to all maritime states to
participate in an agreement based on the stipulations of the convention
of 1850.[173]
The task of replying to Lord Granville's two dispatches fell upon Mr.
Blaine's successor in the State Department, Mr. Frelinghuysen. Mr.
Frelinghuysen's voluminous dispatch of May 8, 1882, reiterated in the
main the arguments advanced by Mr. Blaine. He adduced evidence at great
length to try to show that the Clayton-Bulwer treaty was a special
contract for the accomplishment of a specific object, which had never
been achieved, and was no longer binding; that Great Britain had
violated the treaty by converting her _settlement_ of British Honduras
into a _possession_ without ever receiving the assent of the United
States, and that such act would entitle the United States to renounce
the treaty. The dispatch was further characterized by a direct appeal to
the Monroe Doctrine in these words:
The President believes that the formation of a protectorate
by European nations over the isthmus transit would be in
conflict with a doctrine which has been for many years
asserted by the United States. This sentiment is properly
termed a doctrine, as it has no prescribed sanction and its
assertion is left to the exigency which may invoke it. It
has been repeatedly announced by the executive department of
this government, and through the utterances of distinguished
citizens; it is cherished by the American people, and has
been approved by the government of Great Britain.
After quoting a part of President Monroe's message of December 2, 1823,
and reviewing the circumstances under which it was delivered, Mr.
Frelinghuysen said:
Thus the doctrine of non-intervention by European powers in
American affairs arose from complications in South America,
and was announced by Mr. Monroe on the suggestion of the
official representative of Great Britain.[174]
In his reply of December 30, 1882, Lord Granville proved conclusively
that Article VIII. of the treaty was understood by the American
government during the discussions of 1850-1860 as establishing a general
principle applicable to all waterways connecting the two oceans. In
answer to the second point, Lord Granville adduced the notes exchanged
between Mr. Clayton and Sir Henry Bulwer in July, 1850, which made it
perfectly clear that, in the understanding of both governments at that
time, the claims of Great Britain to Belize or British Honduras were not
affected one way or the other by the treaty.[175]
In a later dispatch, August 17, 1883, Lord Granville briefly touched
upon Mr. Frelinghuysen's appeal to the Monroe Doctrine, reminding him
very pertinently that neither the American administration which
negotiated the treaty nor the Senate which ratified it considered that
they were precluded by the utterances of President Monroe from entering
into such a treaty with one or more of the European powers.[176]
The correspondence on the treaty closed with Mr. Frelinghuysen's
dispatch of November 22, 1883, in which he reiterated with no small
degree of bluntness and pertinacity the arguments of his earlier
dispatches.
The Clayton-Bulwer treaty was designed at the time of its execution to
establish a permanent principle of control over interoceanic
communication in Central America. No provision was made, as in most
treaties, for its abrogation, and the American government could not
terminate it without the consent of Great Britain for fear that she
would return to her position of vantage at the time the treaty was made.
For this reason, while Mr. Frelinghuysen claimed that the treaty was
voidable, he did not actually declare it void.
Mr. Blaine's efforts to secure a modification were the result of the
development of a new policy by the United States and the arguments
presented by Mr. Blaine and Mr. Frelinghuysen in support of this policy
were disingenuous and flimsy. It may be safely said that no state papers
have ever emanated from our government on so serious a question equally
lacking in logical consistency and moral force.
The result was that Great Britain refused to consent to a modification
of the treaty and the United States saw before her the alternative of
abiding by the terms of the treaty or ultimately resorting to war with
England.
In December, 1884, Mr. Frelinghuysen negotiated a treaty with Nicaragua
providing for the construction of a canal by the United States to be
under the joint ownership and protection of the United States and
Nicaragua. The United States also guaranteed the integrity of the
territory of Nicaragua. When Mr. Cleveland became president this treaty
was still before the Senate for consideration. Mr. Cleveland withdrew
the treaty, and in his first annual message, December 8, 1885, reverted
to our traditional policy. He declared himself opposed to entangling
alliances with foreign states and declared:
Whatever highway may be constructed across the barrier
dividing the two greatest maritime areas of the world, must
be for the world's benefit, a trust for mankind, to be
removed from the chance of domination by any single power,
nor become a point of invitation for hostilities or a prize
for warlike ambition.[177]
No discussion as to the validity of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty took place
between the two governments after the close of President Arthur's
administration. Mr. Cleveland's message above quoted was accepted as a
reaffirmation of the treaty on the part of the American government.
Upon two occasions subsequently questions arose between the two
governments involving the stipulations of the treaty. In 1888, and again
in 1894, the United States felt called upon to protest against British
interference in the affairs of the Mosquito coast.[178] The ground of
interposition on the part of Great Britain was alleged to be found in
the treaty of Managua, signed between Great Britain and Nicaragua on the
28th of January, 1860. This convention, it will be remembered, was one
of the three treaties entered into by Great Britain with Central
American republics with a view to removing the causes of dispute in the
construction of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. The treaty of Managua
assigned a district to the Mosquito Indians within the limits of the
republic of Nicaragua. The sovereignty of Nicaragua over the district
was recognized, but the Indians were secured in the possession and
enjoyment of their own domestic customs and regulations. It was agreed,
however, that nothing in the treaty should prevent the Mosquitos at any
subsequent date from voluntarily agreeing to absolute incorporation with
the republic of Nicaragua. By the terms of the treaty the protectorate
of Great Britain over the Mosquito coast was to cease three months after
the exchange of ratifications.
In reply to the protest of 1888, Lord Salisbury said that her majesty's
government had no intention to assert a protectorate in substance or in
form over the Mosquito nation, but that according to the convention with
Nicaragua of 1860, Great Britain undertook "to secure certain rights and
privileges to the Mosquito Indians, and in the event, which has arisen,
of the Mosquito Indians complaining that their rights are infringed by
Nicaragua, by whom is remonstrance to be made to Nicaragua unless by
Great Britain, with whom she has concluded the convention in
question?"[179]
In the spring of 1894, yet more serious trouble arose. The Mosquito
territory was invaded by the troops of Nicaragua and Bluefields was
surrounded. The British consul at that point protested against this act
as contrary to the treaty of Managua. The protest being unheeded, a
force of troops was landed from the British ship _Cleopatra_ and on
March 9, the Nicaraguans were forced to retire. Mr. Bayard was
instructed by telegraph "to ascertain and report fully by cable the
occasion for this action." The British government disavowed all
intention of violating the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, which it recognized
"as extant and in full force."
In July, 1894, United States marines were landed at Bluefields to
protect American interests and to restore order. Later the British
government assured Mr. Bayard that its action had been wholly
unconnected with any political or conventional question touching the
Mosquito reservation, but simply to protect British interests.
By a convention signed November 20, 1894, the Mosquito Indians
surrendered their rights under the treaty of 1860 and were incorporated
with Nicaragua. This voluntary incorporation took away all further
occasion for interposition on the part of Great Britain, and Mr. Bayard
reported that it was received with "the most open expression of
satisfaction at the foreign office."[180]
The attempts of Blaine and Frelinghuysen to bring about a modification
of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty were, as we have seen, unsuccessful. In
fact, their only effect was to strengthen the British government for the
time being in the determination to hold us more strictly to the terms of
that convention. In 1896 Secretary Olney in a review of the situation
declared:
Upon every principle which governs the relations to each
other, either of nations or of individuals, the United
States is completely estopped from denying that the treaty
is in full force and vigor. If changed conditions now make
stipulations, which were once deemed advantageous, either
inapplicable or injurious, the true remedy is not in
ingenious attempts to deny the existence of the treaty or to
explain away its provisions, but in a direct and
straightforward application to Great Britain for a
reconsideration of the whole matter.[181]
It was precisely in this spirit that Secretary Hay undertook in 1899 to
negotiate a new treaty with England. The original draft of the
Hay-Pauncefote treaty, signed February 5, 1900, provided for a
neutralized canal and drafted for its control rules substantially in
accord with the Constantinople convention of 1888, providing for the
regulation of the Suez canal. The most important provision of the new
treaty was that authorizing the United States to construct and to assume
the management of an isthmian canal, either directly or through a
company. The United States Senate, however, amended the treaty in three
important particulars: (1) by declaring that the Clayton-Bulwer treaty
was thereby superseded; (2) by providing that the restrictions in the
regulations governing the use of the canal should not apply to measures
which the United States might adopt for its own defense and for the
maintenance of public order along the canal; and (3) by cutting out
entirely the article providing for the adherence of other powers. The
British government refused to accept these amendments, and a year
elapsed before an agreement was finally reached.[182] The revised treaty
which was ratified by the Senate December 16, 1901, was a compromise
between the original draft and the Senate amendments. The new treaty
abrogated in express terms the Clayton-Bulwer convention, and provided
that the United States might construct a canal under its direct
auspices, to be under its exclusive management. The principle of
neutralization was nominally retained, but under the sole guarantee of
the United States, with power to police the canal, and the clause of the
first draft forbidding fortifications was omitted.[183]
This convention removed the principal diplomatic obstacles which stood
in the way of constructing a canal through the isthmus. For several
years the United States had been investigating the cost of constructing
a canal through Nicaragua, that route being the one which had always
been considered most feasible by the great majority of American
engineers. Two commissions, one in 1895 and another in 1897, had
reported favorably on the practicability of that route. A third
commission, headed by Admiral John G. Walker, was appointed under act of
March 3, 1899, which authorized an expenditure of $1,000,000 for the
purpose of making a thorough investigation of all available routes.
While the Walker commission was carrying on investigations in Nicaragua,
at Panama, and along the Atrato river, the various financial interests
concerned in the choice of routes were actively at work in Washington,
each trying to influence Congress in favor of its particular project.
The New Panama Canal Company had secured, at the time of the
reorganization, an extension of its concession to October, 1904, and
subsequently another concession to October, 1910, but the validity of
the latter arrangement was in doubt. The company could not raise the
necessary funds to continue the work at Panama and was therefore
threatened with the forfeiture of its franchise and property. It
concluded, therefore, that its only hope lay in transferring its
concession and property to the American government. With this end in
view, an active lobby was maintained at Washington for the purpose of
influencing public opinion in favor of the Panama route.
But the Panama Company had a powerful rival in the Maritime Canal
Company, which held a charter from Congress and had secured a concession
from Nicaragua. This company had started work at Greytown in 1890, but
having been forced from lack of funds to stop work in 1893, was now
urging Congress to make its enterprise a national one. It found a ready
champion in Senator Morgan of Alabama, who had for years taken a lively
interest in the canal question and who had strong convictions as to the
superiority of the Nicaragua route. In 1900 Nicaragua declared the
concession of the Maritime Canal Company null and void, and granted a
new concession to a group of New York capitalists known as the
Grace-Eyre-Cragin Syndicate. The Maritime Canal Company, however,
refused to abandon its claims, and a contest between the two concerns
was carried to the lobbies of Congress. The opposition of the
transcontinental railroads to a canal at either point brought into play
another set of powerful interests, usually arrayed against the plan
which appeared for the time being most likely to succeed.[184]
On November 16, 1901, the Walker commission after a thorough
investigation of the Nicaragua and Panama routes made its report. It
estimated the cost of construction of the Nicaragua canal at
$189,864,062, and the cost of completing the Panama canal at
$144,233,358. To this latter sum had to be added the cost of acquiring
the rights and property of the French company, which had stated to the
commission that it estimated its interests at $109,141,500, making the
total cost of the Panama canal $253,374,858. The commission expressed
the opinion that the interests of the French company were not worth
over $40,000,000. In conclusion the report stated:
After considering all the facts developed by the
investigations made by the commission and the actual
situation as it now stands, and having in view the terms
offered by the New Panama Company, this commission is of the
opinion that the most practicable and feasible route for an
isthmian canal, to be under the control, management, and
ownership of the United States, is that known as the
Nicaragua route.[185]
A bill was promptly introduced into the House of Representatives by Mr.
Hepburn providing for the construction of the canal through Nicaragua,
and on January 9, 1902, this bill passed the House by the almost
unanimous vote of 308 to 2. The report of the commission had meanwhile
created great consternation among the stockholders of the New Panama
Canal Company, and on January 4, 1902, a definite offer to sell out to
the United States at $40,000,000 was made to the commission by cable. On
January 18, the commission filed a supplementary report which
recommended the adoption of the Panama route instead of that through
Nicaragua.
When the Hepburn bill came up for discussion in the Senate, the
situation had thus been radically changed, and a long debate ensued as
to the relative merits of the two routes. Senator Morgan continued to
fight for Nicaragua as the traditional American route, declaring that
the Panama Company could not give a valid transfer of its property and
interests. But this objection was cleverly met by Senator Spooner, who
offered an amendment, which was virtually a substitute, authorizing the
President to acquire the rights and property of the French company at a
cost not exceeding $40,000,000; to acquire from the Republic of
Colombia, upon such terms as he might deem reasonable, perpetual control
of a strip of land, not less than six miles in width, extending from the
Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean, with jurisdiction over said strip;
and to proceed as soon as these rights were acquired, to construct a
canal. But should the President be unable to obtain a satisfactory title
to the property of the French company and the control of the necessary
strip of land from the Republic of Colombia "within a reasonable time
and upon reasonable terms," then he was instructed to secure control of
the necessary strip through Nicaragua and to proceed to construct a
canal there. The bill as amended passed the Senate June 19, 1902, by a
vote of 67 to 6. The House at first refused to concur in the Spooner
amendment, but after a conference it finally gave way and the measure
was adopted by a vote of 260 to 8. The act was signed by President
Roosevelt June 28.[186]
Attorney-General Knox was sent to Paris to make a thorough investigation
of the affairs of the Panama Company. He reported that it could give a
clear title. The next step was to secure a right of way through
Colombia. After considerable delay Secretary Hay and Mr. Herran, the
Colombian charge d'affaires, signed, January 22, 1903, a canal
convention, by the terms of which the United States agreed to pay
Colombia $10,000,000 in cash and an annuity of $250,000 for the lease of
a strip of land six miles wide across the isthmus. Objection was raised
to this treaty because it failed to secure for the United States full
governmental control over the canal zone, but it was considered the best
that could be gotten and it was ratified by the United States Senate
March 17, 1903.
The Colombian Senate, however, did not regard the treaty with favor.
They felt that Panama was their greatest national asset, and they knew
perfectly well that in spite of threats to the contrary President
Roosevelt was determined not to adopt the alternative of the Spooner
amendment and go to Nicaragua. After discussing the treaty for nearly
two months, they finally rejected it August 12 by the unanimous vote of
all the senators present.[187] They probably thought that they could get
better terms from the United States and particularly that they might
reserve a fuller measure of sovereignty over the isthmus. President
Roosevelt declared that the action of the Colombian Senate was due to an
"anti-social spirit" and to the cupidity of the government leaders, who
merely wished to wait until they could confiscate the $40,000,000 worth
of property belonging to the French company and then sell out to the
United States. This view is not borne out by the dispatches of Mr.
Beaupre, the American minister, who repeatedly warned Secretary Hay that
there was a "tremendous tide of public opinion against the canal
treaty," which even the Colombian government could not ignore. The
charge of bad faith against Colombia does not come in good grace from a
country whose constitution also requires the ratification of treaties by
the Senate.
As soon as the Hay-Herran convention was rejected by the Colombian
Senate, the advocates of the Nicaragua route began to take courage and
to demand that as the "reasonable time" allowed in the Spooner act for
the President to acquire the right of way through Panama had expired, it
was now his duty to adopt the Nicaragua route. The directors of the
French company were again in a state of consternation. If they could not
sell to the United States they would have to sacrifice their property
entirely, or sell to some other purchaser at a lower figure. It was
rumored that Germany was willing to buy their interests. The directors
of the company were so completely demoralized that William Nelson
Cromwell, their American attorney, hastened to Paris to dissuade them
from taking any rash step. The rejection of the Hay-Herran treaty was a
great disappointment to the inhabitants of the isthmus, who considered
this action a sacrifice of their interests, and some of the foremost
citizens conferred with the American agent of the Panama Railroad
Company as to the advisability of organizing a revolution. Before taking
any step in this direction, it was considered advisable to send one of
their number to the United States, and Dr. Amador was selected for this
mission. He had conferences with William Nelson Cromwell and with
Secretary Hay. The latter merely outlined what he considered the rights
and duties of the United States under the treaty of 1846, but refused of
course to commit the government to a definite support of the
revolutionary project. Amador was somewhat discouraged at the result of
his conference with Hay, but his hopes were revived by the sudden
arrival of Philippe Bunau-Varilla, the former chief engineer of the
French company, who entered with enthusiasm into the revolutionary
scheme.[188]
The Colombian Congress adjourned October 30 without any reconsideration
of the treaty, and President Roosevelt at once ordered the _Boston_,
_Dixie_, _Atlanta_, and _Nashville_ to proceed within easy reach of the
isthmus. Their commanders received orders to keep the transit open and
to "prevent the landing of any armed force with hostile intent, either
government or insurgent, at any point within fifty miles of Panama." The
_Nashville_ arrived off Colon November 2. It can hardly be denied that
these measures created a situation very favorable to revolution.[189]
The revolutionists had been greatly disappointed at Dr. Amador's failure
to get a definite promise of support from the American government, but
their spirits revived when they learned of the presence of American war
vessels. Still they were slow in taking advantage of their opportunities
and the government at Washington was growing impatient. At 3.40 P.
M. November 3 the following dispatch was sent to the American
consuls at Panama and Colon: "Uprising on isthmus reported. Keep
Department promptly and fully informed. Loomis, Acting." At 8.15 a reply
was received from the consul at Panama: "No uprising yet. Reported will
be in the night. Situation is critical." At 9 P. M. a second
dispatch was received from the same source: "Uprising occurred to-night,
6; no bloodshed. Army and navy officials taken prisoners. Government
will be organized to-night."[190]
Before the _Nashville_ received the order to prevent the landing of
armed forces, 450 Colombian troops arrived at Colon. The principal
officers were provided with a special train to take them across the
isthmus to Panama. When they arrived they were seized by the
revolutionary leaders and locked up for safe-keeping, while the railroad
officials saw to it that there were no trains for their troops to use.
The next day Commander Hubbard landed fifty marines from the _Nashville_
at Colon, and a day later the officer in charge of the Colombian forces
was persuaded by a generous bribe to reembark his troops and leave.
Events continued to follow one another with startling rapidity. On the
6th the _de facto_ government was recognized and a week later
Bunau-Varilla was received by President Roosevelt as envoy extraordinary
and minister plenipotentiary of the Republic of Panama. Such hasty
recognition of a new government was of course without precedent in the
annals of American diplomacy, and it naturally confirmed the rumor that
the whole affair had been prearranged. On October 10 President Roosevelt
had written a personal letter to Dr. Albert Shaw, editor of the _Review
of Reviews_, who was a strong advocate of the Panama route, in which he
said:
Privately, I freely say to you that I should be delighted if
Panama were an independent state, or if it made itself so at
this moment; but for me to say so publicly would amount to
an instigation of a revolt, and therefore I cannot say
it.[191]
This letter throws an interesting light on an article in the _Review of
Reviews_ for November of the same year in which Dr. Shaw discussed the
question, "What if Panama should Revolt?" and outlined with remarkable
prophetic insight the future course of events.
In his annual message of December 7, 1903, the President discussed the
Panama revolution and undertook to justify his course under the treaty
of 1846. This message failed to allay public criticism, and on January
4, 1904, he sent a special message to Congress in defense of his action.
He held that Colombia was not entitled "to bar the transit of the
world's traffic across the isthmus," and that the intervention of the
United States was justified, (1) by our treaty rights, (2) by our
international interests, and (3) by the interests of "collective
civilization." The "legal" argument in this message, if we may dignify
it by that name, is reported to have been prepared by Root and Knox,
both at that time members of the Cabinet. Several years later, after Mr.
Roosevelt had retired from the presidency, he expressed the real truth
in a public speech when he said:
If I had followed traditional conservative methods I should
have submitted a dignified state paper of probably two
hundred pages to the Congress and the debate would be going
on yet, but I took the Canal zone and let Congress debate,
and while the debate goes on the canal does also.
The reason why the President did not wish the matter to go before
Congress again was that he had decided upon the Panama route, and he
knew that when Congress convened in December, the situation remaining
unchanged, action would be taken to compel him to adopt the alternative
of the Spooner amendment and go to the Nicaragua route. His object in
the hasty recognition of the Panama revolution was therefore to make the
Panama route an accomplished fact before Congress should meet. This was
the attitude definitely assumed in the message of January 4, 1904, in
the course of which he said:
The only question now before us is that of the ratification
of the treaty. For it is to be remembered that a failure to
ratify the treaty will not undo what has been done, will not
restore Panama to Colombia, and will not alter our
obligation to keep the transit open across the Isthmus, and
to prevent any outside power from menacing this transit.
The treaty referred to was the convention with Panama which had been
signed November 18, 1903, and which was ratified by the Senate February
23, 1904, by a vote of 66 to 14. By the terms of this agreement the
United States guaranteed the independence of the Panama Republic, and
agreed to pay the Panama Republic a sum of $10,000,000 upon the exchange
of ratifications and an annual rental of $250,000 a year beginning nine
years thereafter. Panama on her part granted to the United States in
perpetuity a zone of land ten miles wide for the construction of a
canal, the United States receiving as full power and authority over this
strip and the waters adjacent as if it were the sovereign of the said
territory.[192] The construction of the canal was at once undertaken and
the work was carried through successfully by General Goethals and a
corps of army engineers. It was opened to commerce August 15, 1914,
though it was not completed at that time and traffic was subsequently
interrupted by landslides.
Colombia naturally felt aggrieved at the course pursued by President
Roosevelt and refused to recognize the Republic of Panama. She objected
to his interpretation of the convention of 1846. In this convention the
United States pledged itself to keep the isthmian transit open and
guaranteed Colombia's sovereignty over the same. This treaty established
an obligation to Colombia alone, and it is difficult to accept the
President's view that it established an obligation to the world at large
against Colombia. Colombia demanded that the whole question be submitted
to arbitration. As the United States had always held the ground that
disputes arising out of the interpretation of treaties should be settled
by arbitration, it was inconsistent for the United States to refuse to
arbitrate. But President Roosevelt did refuse. The Panama episode
created strained relations with Colombia and made a very bad impression
throughout Latin America. The United States has since been eyed with
suspicion by its weaker Southern neighbors. The Taft and Wilson
administrations both tried to appease Colombia by a money payment, but
this subject will be discussed in a subsequent chapter.
FOOTNOTES:
[140] Report of International American Conference, Vol. IV (Hist. App.),
p. 143.
[141] Snow: "Treaties and Topics in American Diplomacy," p. 328.
[142] Our treaties with Mexico and Honduras, although covering the case
of canal constructions, were of no practical importance, as the routes
through these countries were not feasible.
[143] Correspondence in relation to the Proposed Interoceanic Canal, the
Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, and the Monroe Doctrine. Government Printing
Office, 1885, p. 5. Referred to hereafter as "Collected Correspondence."
[144] _Ibid._, pp. 23-27.
[145] _Ibid._, pp. 27 and 40.
[146] Seward to Adams, July 11, 1862.
[147] "Collected Correspondence," pp. 7 and 8.
[148] Mr. Scruggs to Mr. Bayard, April 16, 1885, For. Rel., also
"Messages and Papers of the Presidents," Vol. VIII, p. 326.
[149] "Collected Correspondence," p. 94.
[150] _Ibid._, p. 14.
[151] "Collected Correspondence," pp. 11 and 12.
[152] "Collected Correspondence," p. 99.
[153] Mr. Buchanan to Hon. John A. McClernand, April 2, 1850, "American
Hist. Rev.," Oct., 1899.
[154] "Wharton's Digest," Sec. 295.
[155] "Collected Correspondence," p. 102.
[156] _Ibid._, p. 234, also Wharton's Digest, Vol. II, p. 190.
[157] "Collected Correspondence," p. 248.
[158] "Collected Correspondence," p. 286.
[159] _Ibid._, p. 262-263.
[160] _Ibid._, p. 276.
[161] "Collected Correspondence," p. 280.
[162] _Ibid._, pp. 294-302.
[163] "Messages and Papers of the Presidents," Vol. V, p. 639.
[164] "Collected Correspondence," p. 303.
[165] "Collected Correspondence," p. 132.
[166] _Ibid._, pp. 310-12.
[167] "Messages and Papers of the Presidents," Vol. VII, p. 585.
[168] "Collected Correspondence," p. 313.
[169] "Messages and Papers of the Presidents," Vol. VIII, p. 11.
[170] "Collected Correspondence," pp. 322-326.
[171] _Ibid._, p. 326.
[172] "Collected Correspondence," pp. 327-332.
[173] "Collected Correspondence," pp. 340-352.
[174] "Collected Correspondence," pp. 160-161.
[175] "Collected Correspondence," pp. 353-359.
[176] _Ibid._, p. 364.
[177] "Messages and Papers of the Presidents," Vol. VIII, p. 327.
[178] See Mr. Bayard to Mr. Phelps, Nov. 23, 1888. For. Rel., 1888, Pt.
I, pp. 759-768.
[179] For. Rel., 1889, p. 468.
[180] See Foreign Relations, 1894, App. 1. "Affairs at Bluefields," pp.
234-363.
[181] Senate Doc. No. 160, Fifty-sixth Cong., First Sess.
[182] Moore, "Digest of Int. Law," Vol. III, p. 211.
[183] Foreign Relations, 1901, p. 245.
[184] Johnson, "Four Centuries of the Panama Canal," Chap. VIII.
[185] Report of the Isthmian Canal Commission (Sen. Doc. No. 54,
Fifty-seventh Cong., First Sess.).
[186] U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. XXXII, Pt. I, p. 481.
[187] Senate Doc. No. 51, Fifty-eighth Cong., Second Sess., p. 56.
[188] Johnson, "Four Centuries of the Panama Canal," pp. 162-171.
[189] Senate Doc. No. 53, Fifty-eighth Cong., Second Sess.
[190] House Doc. No. 8, Fifty-eighth Cong., First Sess.
[191] _Literary Digest_, October 29, 1904.
[192] Foreign Relations, 1904, p. 543.