Mr. Hay to Mr. Beaupré. [Telegram.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 11, 1903. (Sent 12.12 p. m.) Earnestly desiring an amicable solution of matters at issue between Colombia and Panama, we have instructed our consul-general at Panama to use good offices to secure for General Reyes a courteous reception and considerate hearing. It is not thought desirable to permit landing of Colombian troops on Isthmus, as such a course would precipitate civil war and disturb for an indefinite period the free transit which we are pledged to protect. I telegraphed you on November 6 that we had entered into relations with the provisional government. HAY. CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE SECRETARY OF STATE AND THE CHARGÉ D'AFFAIRES OF COLOMBIA. Mr. Hay to Doctor Herran. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 6, 1903. DEAR DOCTOR HERRAN: I inclose copy of a dispatch which has today been sent to our minister at Bogotá. Very sincerely, yours, JOHN HAY. BEAUPRÉ, Bogotá: [Inclosure.] Mr. Hay to Mr. Beaupré. NOVEMBER 6, 1903. The people of Panama having by an apparently unanimous movement dissolved their political connection with the Republic of Colombia and resumed their independence, and having adopted a government of their own, republican in form, with which the Government of the United States of America has entered into relations, the President of the United States, in accordance with the ties of friendship which have so long and so happily existed between the respective nations, most earnestly commends to the governments of Colombia and Panama the peaceful and equitable settlement of all questions at issue between them. He holds that he is bound not merely by treaty obligations, but by the interests of civilization, to see that the peaceable traffic of the world across the Isthmus of Panama shall not longer be disturbed by a constant succession of unnecessary and wasteful civil wars. Dr. Herran to Mr. Hay. [Translation.] HAY. LEGATION OF COLOMBIA, Washington, D. C., November 7, 1903. EXCELLENCY: I acknowledge the reception of your excellency's note of the 6th instant, inclosing a copy of the telegram sent on the same day to the legation of the United States at Bogotá by the Department of State. In that telegram your excellency refers to the relations already entered into by the Government of the United States of America with the Colombian rebels who on the evening of the 3d usurped the power in the capital of the Colombian Department of Panama and imprisoned the lawful civil and military authorities. Your excellency will undoubtedly receive the reply of the Colombian Government through the same channel that was used to forward the notice of which your excellency was pleased to send me a copy, but, in the meanwhile, I am discharging a duty by lodging in advance with your excellency, in the name of my Government, a solemn protest against the attitude assumed in the Department of Panama by the Government of the United States to the injury of Colombia's rights and in disaccord with the stipulations of article 35 of the still existing treaty of 1846-1848 between Colombia and the United States of America. I reiterate, etc., TOMAS HERRAN. Mr. Hay to Dr. Herran. No. 22.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 11, 1903. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 7th instant, in which, acknowledging my communication of the 6th instant, you are pleased, of your own motion and in the absence of instructions from your Government, to lodge a protest against the attitude assumed by the Government of the United States in respect to the situation on the Isthmus of Panama. Accept, sir, etc., Mr. Tower to Mr. Hay. [Telegram.] JOHN HAY. EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES, Berlin, November 10, 1903. (Received 5.40 p. m.) In regard to the report telegraphed from New York that the Colombian consul-general there had declared that Colombian citizens had petitioned the Colombian Government to send a deputation to thank the German Government for its offered protection and to make concessions of land to Germany therefor, I have just received the assurance of the German minister for foreign affairs that there is no truth whatever in this report. He added that Germany has no interest in the Panama matter, and that the question of an interference on the part of Germany does not exist. Paris, November 11, 1903. (Received 3.50 p. m.) The French generally are much pleased with events in Panama and our attitude there. In conversation with minister for foreign affairs he expressed himself in very sympathetic manner. Has authorized French consul at Panama to enter into relations with de facto government. Recognition will no doubt follow in time, and it seems to be disposition of European powers to await formal recognition by the United States before acting. PORTER. RECEPTION OF MINISTER OF PANAMA. Mr. Varilla ta Mr. Hay. [Translation.] LEGATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA, Washington, November 11, 1903. MR. SECRETARY OF STATE: I have the very great honor to bring to your knowledge the fact that the Republic of Panama has designated me to fill, near the Government of the United States of America, the post of envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary with full powers to negotiate. While begging you, Mr. Secretary of State, to transmit to His Excellency the President of the Republic of the United States the substance of the present communication, I venture to ask you to solicit from his kindness the appointment of a date on which he will authorize me to present to him my letters of credence. No. 1.] I have, etc., P. BUNAU-VARILLA. Mr. Loomis to Mr. Bunau- Varilla. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 12, 1903. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 11th instant, in which you advise me that the Republic of Panama has appointed you to fill, near this Government, the post of envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, with full powers to negotiate. You further ask that this information may be communicated to the President and that he will kindly fix a date at which you may present your letters of credence. In reply I have the honor to say that the President will be pleased to receive you for the purpose mentioned to-morrow, Friday, at 9.30 a. m. If you will be good enough to call at this Department shortly before the hour mentioned, the Secretary of State will be pleased to accompany you to the White House. Accept, etc., FRANCIS B. LOOMIS, Acting Secretary of State. Remarks made by the minister of Panama on the occasion of the presentation of his letters of credence. MR. PRESIDENT: In according to the minister plenipotentiary of the Republic of Panama the honor of presenting to you his letters of cre dence you admit into the family of nations the weakest and the last born of the republics of the New World. It owes its existence to the outburst of the indignant grief which stirred the hearts of the citizens of the Isthmus on beholding the despotic action which sought to forbid their country from fulfilling the destinies vouchsafed to it by Providence. In consecrating its right to exist, Mr. President, you put an end to what appeared to be the interminable controversy as to the rival waterways, and you definitely inaugurate the era of the achievement of the Panama Canal. From this time forth the determination of the fate of the canal depends upon two elements alone, now brought face to face, singularly unlike as regards their authority and power, but wholly equal in their common and ardent desire to see at last the accomplishment of the heroic enterprise for piercing the mountain barrier of the Andes. The highway from Europe to Asia, following the pathway of the sun, is now to be realized. The early attempts to find such a way unexpectedly resulted in the greatest of all historic achievements, the discovery of America. Centuries have since rolled by, but the pathway sought has hitherto remained in the realm of dreams. To-day, Mr. President, in response to your summons, it becomes a reality. The President's reply to the remarks made by Señor Bunau- Varilla on the occasion of the presentation of his letters of credence. MR. MINISTER: I am much gratified to receive the letters whereby you are accredited to the Government of the United States in the capacity of envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the Republic of Panama. In accordance with its long-established rule, this Government has taken cognizance of the act of the ancient territory of Panama in reasserting the right of self-control and, seeing in the recent events on the Isthmus an unopposed expression of the will of the people of Panama and the confirmation of their declared independence by the institution of a de facto government, republican in form and spirit, and alike able and resolved to discharge the obligations pertaining to sovereignty, we have entered into relations with the new Republic. It is fitting that we should do so now, as we did nearly a century ago when the Latin peoples of America proclaimed the right of popular government, and it is equally fitting that the United States should, now as then, be the first to stretch out the hand of fellowship and to observe toward the new-born State the rules of equal intercourse that regulate the relations of sovereignties toward one another. I feel that I express the wish of my countrymen in assuring you, and through you the people of the Republic of Panama, of our earnest hope and desire that stability and prosperity shall attend the new State, and that, in harmony with the United States, it may be the providential instrument of untold benefit to the civilized world through the opening of a highway of universal commerce across its exceptionally favored territory. For yourself, Mr. Minister, I wish success in the discharge of the important mission to which you have been called. INSTRUCTIONS TO NAVAL AND CONSULAR OFFICERS CONCERNING FREEDOM OF TRANSIT ACROSS ISTHMUS. NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, November 12, 1903. SIR: In accordance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 9th instant, calling for all correspondence and other official documents relating to the recent revolution on the Isthmus of Panama, I have the honor to transmit herewith all such matter on file in the Navy Department. Very respectfully, The PRESIDENT. WILLIAM H. MOODY, Secretary. [Translation.] NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, D. C., November 2, 1903. NASHVILLE (care American Consul, Colon): " Maintain free and uninterrupted transit. If interruption threatened by armed force, occupy the line of railroad. Prevent landing of any armed force with hostile intent, either Government or insurgent, either at Colon, Porto Bello, or other point. Send copy of instructions to the senior officer present at Panama upon arrival of Boston. Have sent copy of instructions and have telegraphed Dixie to proceed with all possible dispatch from Kingston to Colon. Government force reported approaching the Isthmus in vessels. Prevent their landing if in your judgment this would precipitate a conflict. Acknowledg ment is required. GLASS, Marblehead, Acapulco: DARLING, Acting. NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, D. C., November 2, 1903. Proceed with all possible dispatch to Panama. Telegraph in cipher your departure. Maintain free and uninterrupted transit. If interruption is threatened by armed force, occupy the line of railroad. Prevent landing of any armed force, either Government or insurgent, with hostile intent at any point within 50 miles of Panama. If doubtful as to the intention of any armed force, occupy Ancon Hill strongly with artillery. If the Wyoming would delay Concord and Marblehead, her disposition must be left to your discretion. Government force reported approaching the Isthmus in vessels. Prevent their landing if in your judgment landing would precipitate a conflict. DARLING, Acting. NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, D. C., November 3, 1903. CRUISER ATLANTA, Kingston, Jamaica: Proceed with all possible dispatch to Colon. diately. When will you sail? Acknowledge imme DARLING, Acting. a Same order to Commander of Dixie, at Kingston, Jamaica. |
