How Columbia Ruled Panama

The story of the rule of Panama by these arbitrary satraps sent down from Bogota reads like the history of the rule of a Roman proconsul or the story of the methods of a Turkish governor.

Continuing USA Acquires Rights to Build the Panama Canal,
our selection from Speech to the US Senate by Chauncey M. Depew delivered on January 14, 1904. The selection is presented in 5 easy 5 minute installments. For works benefiting from the latest research see the “More information” section at the bottom of these pages.

Previously in USA Acquires Rights to Build the Panama Canal.

Time: 1903

The result was that it was easy for the Government forces every time to put down a rebellion because the recruits of the State could not be gathered into a successful army. But lo! the working of this provision the other way. Citizens of Panama in November of this year, without a dissenting voice, reasserted the sovereignty of the State which they never had surrendered, and proclaimed a republic. The Colombian army joined the revolution. With the military forces of the Bogotan Government enlisting under the flag of the new Republic, the authority of Panama was complete throughout all its borders. When, therefore, sometime after the Republic had been established and was in working order, and had at Panama its army, a Colombian army landed at Colon for the purpose of invasion and battle, the United States took toward it the same position that it had taken toward the revolutionists in the many efforts made by them for the freedom of Panama.

Our Government simply said to these soldiers: “You cannot take possession of this railroad and interrupt traffic across the isthmus. You cannot engage in a battle or a series of battles which would stop communication for an indefinite period.” At this point occurs an episode of which I find no parallel in ancient or modern history. The General of the invading army said to the authorities of the new Republic, “We are here to suppress you, arrest you, carry you prisoners to Bogota and overthrow the Republic, but what will you give us to quit?” The sum of eight thousand dollars was paid to the General -— five thousand for the officers and three thousand for the men -— and the invading army sailed away with the proud consciousness of having become possessors of a part of the assets of the new Republic.

The story of the rule of Panama by these arbitrary satraps sent down from Bogota reads like the history of the rule of a Roman proconsul or the story of the methods of a Turkish governor. Arbitrary arrests and imprisonments without trial were common. Arbitrary assessments of shopkeepers and people of property were of every-day occurrence. These victims have been afraid heretofore to speak, but now the newspapers are filled with their stories. The price of life and liberty, after forcible seizure of person and property, was dependent upon the amount that the citizen disgorged. Under this tyrannical rule he was helpless before the courts or upon appeal to the central Government. Panama had as much right to revolt as had Greece from Turkey in the early part of the nineteenth century or Bulgaria in the latter part, and even more, for she never had consented to surrender her sovereignty to Colombia.

The people of Colombia outside of Panama number about four millions, of whom two millions are of Spanish descent and two millions a mixture of Caucasian, Indian, and negro. There are few or no railroads or other highways in the country, there is no system of general education, and dense ignorance prevails. A very small proportion of the people —- a few thousand —- are educated in the United States or in Europe, and form the governing class. Colombia is separated from Panama by hundreds of miles of mountains and impenetrable forests and swamps, inhabited by hostile Indians. Panama, on the other hand, has every facility, under good government, for a prosperous State. It is about as large as Maine. It has the same agricultural possibilities as the other Central American republics. It is rich in minerals and timber. Great cities, thriving populations, and varied industries have always grown along the lines of commercial highways.

While the Panama Canal is being constructed and a hundred fifty million dollars spent within the Republic, there will be a wonderful industrial development. When the canal is opened and the commerce of the world is passing to and fro, the population of Panama will speedily rise above the million point. Merchandise of every kind for the supply of the ships sailing through it will bring capital and business talent to the cities on either side and through the interior. Sanitation, which has done so much for Cuba, will make the isthmus as healthful as any part of the United States. With American ideas and American sovereignty over the large strip between the two seas, and American influence and example, schoolhouses will dot the land and the people will become educated to an appreciation of their liberties and the proper exercise of them and of their marvelously favorable commercial, fiscal, and industrial position.

But, it is said, the position of the United States in recognizing the Republic of Panama is a reversal of our national position on the subject of secession. I cannot conceive of the argument by which comparison is made between the States of the American Commonwealth and Panama and Colombia. One hundred and seventeen years ago our forefathers saw that a nation could not be held together by such a rope of sand as the Articles of Federation. They met in convention, not under the rule of a dictator, not under the guidance of an autocrat, but as the accredited representatives of the people of the various States. When their labors were completed the country read, and the world was astonished by, the marvelous instrument they had prepared.

The opening sentence of this great charter tells the story of the perpetuity of our national life: “We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” For eighty years the national sovereignty was questioned only in debate. Today in every part of the country public sentiment is unanimous in its approval of the verdict which came from the arbitrament of arms. Our Union is sustained by a continued series of decisions of our highest court, by the judgment of our Presidents and Congresses, and by the results of war, and, unimpaired by the passions of the conflict, will continue forever. It is sacrilege to compare this majestic and impregnable fabric of government with the position of Panama in the Republic of Colombia.

A. Maurice Low began here. Chauncey M. Depew began here.

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