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EDITORIAL PAGE
MR. TAFT’S OPPORTUNITY TO ASSERT
AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE AT PANAMA
He Has Helped Build the Canal: Now He Should
Defend It Against Unwarranted British Interference
The United States owns a strip of land ten miles wide on
the Isthmus of Panama. For that strip it paid twenty million
dollars. Within its limits it is digging a ship canal at an expense
of four hundred million dollars. Also, under the American flag,
courts administer justice, order is maintained, all the rights and
powers of sovereignty are being exercised.
With regard to the conduct of the canal that is soon to be
completed by American money and by American enterprise, the
house of representatives now has said to the government of
Great Britain, in effect:
"The canal is ours. We paid for it. We shall main
tain, operate and protect it. But because yours is a mari
time nation and you desire to keep ours from be
coming one, we have permitted you to interfere with
our management of the canal. Because you objected
to discrimination against British ships, we have dis
criminated against American ships. Because your agents
in Washington have had more influence with us than the
American citizens whom we represent, we have consented
that the American merchant marine shall remain a strag
gling handful of vessels'that shall continue to be the laugh
ing stock of the maritime world.’’
Truly a stirring example of American patriotism! A noble
stand for the self respect and dignity that until now have made
the United States the first among the nations of the world!
It is said in defense of the supposed representatives of the
people who have brought the United States to this humiliating
position that we were obliged by the provisions of the Hay-
Pauncefote treaty to open the canal on equal terms to the nations
of the world. First let it be remembered that the Hay-Paunce
fote treaty was concluded before the United States had made its
own property the strip of land through which the canal has been
built. Then let us for a minute examine the language of the
treaty:
“It is agreed that the canal may be constructed under the auspices
of the government of the United States, either directly at its own cost,
or by gift or loan of money to individuals or corporations, or through
subscription to or purchase of stock or shares, and that, subject to the
provisions of the present treaty, THE SAID GOVERNMENT SHALL
HAVE AND ENJOY ALL THE RIGHTS INCIDENT TO SUCH CON
STRUCTION AS WELL AS THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT OF PROVID
ING FOR THE REGULATION AND MANAGEMENT OF THE CA
NAL."
Thus even in 1901, when a convention between the nations
was necessary BECAUSE NEITHER OWNED THE CANAL
STRIP, the United States was at liberty, without any objection from
Great Britain, to build the canal and to proride for its regulation
and management.
"But,” assert the men who have yielded to the bully
ing of Great Britain, "it is provided that the canal shall
be free and open to the vessels of commerce and of war of
all nations observing these rules on terms of entire equal
ity, so that there shall be no discrimination against any
such nation or its citizens or subjects in respect of the con
ditions or charges of traffic or otherwise. Such conditions
and charges shall be just and equitable.’’
There can be no question that this refers not to the vessels
of the United States, which nation undertakes the tremendous ex
pense of building the canal, but to the vessels of other nations. It
is they that stand as the party of the second part. It is they that
are to observe the rules, and it is they for whom the rules are
made. And in the admission of American ships free of tolls, as
provided by the canal bill as sent from the senate, the canal is
made free and open to the nations of the world and no discrimi
nation is made between them.
As the matter was put by Senator Jones of Washington, in
one of the ablest addresses delivered in the senate during the de
bate on the canal bill:
"The owner of a ferry promulgates rules for the use of his ferry,
to be observed by his passengers, not himself. When he says that 'all
persons observing these rules may pass his horses and cows across this
ferry' no one would understand that 'all persons observing these rules'
includes himself, or that he would charge himself for crossing his cows
and horses. If the owner of certain lands puts up a sign: 'All hunt
ing on these lands prohibited,’ no one would contend that he could not
hunt thereon.”
When a man or set of men undertake to do wrong, they can
find a thousand explanations of their conduct. And the common
est explanation of all is that the things they are about to do
through greed, or cowardice, or self interest, is that they are
acting from the highest and most patriotic motives.
Every enemy of children and of humanity who has supported
the infamous child labor system in either house has solemnly
announced that he was doing his humble best to support the con
stitution of the United States, that hallowed document whose
sanctity must be preserved against the aggressions of sentimental
humanity.
The Atlanta Georgian
Every friend of England who has voted to bar American
ships from an American canal has, in long and labored speeches,
contended that we are solemnly obligated by treaty compact to
treat the nations of the world alike, and that it would be perfidy
to give American ships the little advantage they would receive
from free canal tolls, when such an action would discriminate
against the ships of a great and friendly nation.
Yet this "great and friendly nation" which after its usual
fashion took the Suez canal away from Egypt, whose people had
built it, charges tolls for its use to the ships of all the world,
but openly returns to its own vessels every cent they pay in such
tolls. And if the same "great and friendly nation" had been per
mitted to build the Panama canal, the ships of the United States
would have found the toll bar at the portal, and a British toll
gatherer there to collect from every American ship that sought
to pass through.
Let no one deceive himself as to the lofty position taken
by the enemies of the Republic who have thus sought to give
up the right to control their own affairs, independent of Great
Britain, that was very dearly bought in 1776 and in the seven
years that followed, and which was reasserted in 1812.
As to the Hay-Pauncefote treaty, the language is clear, and
the meaning is plain. No American citizen with the prevalent
American gift of common sense can take any other view of the
rights of the United States with regard to the canal. Congress
has said to the people that the canal has been built by their
money and their blood, that they must continue to pay for its
operation and maintenance to send their sons to police it, to de
fend it in time of war, and yet never, under any conditions, to
gain from it one scrap of advantage. But Congress, or the ma
jority of its members, can not make the people believe that such
an action was dictated by high motives, or that the preservation
of national honor entered into the question at all.
What will be the future of the canal under this bill, forced on
the Senate by the Democratic majority in the House, and now
awaiting the signature of the President? What will be the future
of the American merchant marine, in the fond hope of rehabili
tating which the people freely consented to the building of the
great waterway?
The canal we must maintain. Vast numbers of men, all paid
out of the public pocket, must operate it. Engineering operations
on a gigantic scale must be continued. The upkeep of the great
est achievement of human hands will not be a trifling matter.
The cost will be continuing. And the people must pay, and again
pay, and every cent will come from pockets already taxed by
the cost of living all they can bear.
Return? There will be no return, save from the single advan
tage of free tolls for coastwise vessels, against which even the
British thinking members of the house could find no possible ar
gument in the Hay-Pauncefote treaty.
As to our merchant marine; it will continue to be as it has
been, or worse. It is the undisputed intention of every maritime
nation to rebate to its vessels the tolls charged at Panama as Eng
land now rebates the tolls at Suez. And the vessels that fly the
American flag, discriminated against by the American Congress,
will find competition still more ruinous, and without subsidy, with
out advantage, the gates of the canal over which flies the same flag
that they carry at their taffrails closed to them, they will gradual
ly drift into the possession of foreign owners, or to the boneyard
till the American flag is but a memory on the high seas.
Congress has passed the bill. It still must be signed by Pres
ident Taft. Mr. Taft's stand in the matter thus far has been pa
triotic. There is still time for a ringing veto to express to Con
gress the view of the American citizens whose money built the
I canal.
The President has had much to do with the giant enterprise.
He has been often at Panama in person. As Secretary of War he
had practical charge of the construction work. And at all times and
in all places he has voiced the hope that the canal might be of
the highest benefit to all Americans.
Thus the future of the canal is in the hands of the presi
dent, as has been its past. Against a brave American utter
ance from him the un American members of congress could not
stand.
Treaty obligations are binding, but no congressman, in vot
ing to give American ships the benefit of an American canal, need
violate either the spirit or the letter of the Hay-Pauncefote
treaty.
National honor is of the highest importance, but the one way
to preserve national honor is to maintain the independence that was
established at the signing of the Declaration, and to guarantee to
the citizens who make this nation great that their representatives
in congress and their president will keep it great in the eyes of
i all the world,
TUESDAY. ‘AUGUST 20. 1912.
CAPTAINS ALL
By HAL COFFMAN.
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Look at the captains sailing their ships,
Built out of matches, paper and chips!
You couldn’t get greater excitement up
If the race were for the America’s Cup.
Each watches the course with an anxious grin,
Till his ship goes down or comes safely in.
Widows :: :: :: :: By Dorothy Dtx
(( T SEE,” said the woman in
I white, '“that a priest in
Massachusetts has preached
a sermon In which he exhorted the
widows In his congregation to
stand aside and give the young
girls a chance to secure such hus
bands as are floating around loose
in that communitj’.”
"Well, you haven’t heard of any
of the widows taking his advice,
have you?" inquired the woman in
blue.
"No, and you won’t,” said the girl
in the pink hat, “widows are pi
rates, and those long veils they
wear are nothing but the black
flags that they nail to their masts,
showing that they are going to give
no quarter.”
“Widows are a queer proposi
tion," said the woman in white in a
speculative tone. “Why is it, for
instance, that we speak of a woman
of 40 who has never been married
as an old maid, while we call a
woman of 40 who has lost her hus
band a young widow? Also, It is
true that a woman who reaches the
age of 45 without ever having been
married practically has no chance
whatever of ever getting married,
but a widow of 45 can marry two
or three times more if she wants
to.
“And the two women may be
equally good looking, and equally
well off financially, and equally
charming and intelligent. You
wouldn't think that the fact that a
woman had been married would
enhance the value of her matri
monial stock, but it does. Even a
widow with children can marry all
around a spin, and give the pret
tiest young girl a run for her
money. T wonder why this is
thus!”
“Pooh,” replied the woman in
blue scornfully, “that's easy. The
widow is the matrimonial profes
sional. while the spin is the ama
teur, and, other things being any
where near equal, the professional
always wins out. Any woman, not
a fool, who has been married,
knows men and their little pe
culiarities and weaknesses, and
how to work them as no unmar
ried woman possibly can.
"Did you ever notice the differ
ence between the way a widow and
a young girl talk to a man? The
young girl babbles along about the
things she's interested In. She
talks about the books she's read,
the people she’s met, the parties
t
THE HOME PAPER
We pause for a moment upon onr way /
To watch the kids at their earnest play,
Then turn to the daily moil and strife,
As we captain our barks on the sea of life:
For it lies with each soul to lose or win—
If his ship £oes down or his ship comes in. ?
she’s been to, and the men she’s
danced with, and she’s even idiotic
enough to break into paeans of
praise of some particular youth
that she thinks is a perfect demi
god.
“If the girl is pretty enough the
man will listen to her with a dis-
vw 3 ■ m
M A, X* M
DOROTHY DIX.
trait and bored air, but you can
see him writhing in his chair, and
it doesn’t need a prophet to tell
you that he's not going to get
caught that way again if he can
help it.
"But, behold the widow and the
man together! You will observe
that he is doing the talking, and
that she is listening with a rapt
expression on her face while he
discourses about himself, and his
business, and his automobile, and
the places he's been to, and the wit
ty things he said, and the good
times he had.
“And the widow only puts in
enough words to keep him going,
and to indicate what a marvellous
conversationalist she thinks he is.
And never, never, never will you
find a widow outside of the Home
for the Feeble Minded who is in
discreet enough to praise one man
to another. She remembers how
her poor, dear, departed John took
it when she was incautious enough
to admire some other man than
himself
"Moreover, the young girl and
the spin both expect a lot of men.
They represent the romantic fiction
theory of how men ought to treat
a woman, while the widow exempli
fies the real facts in the case.
“They expect a man to pay them
compliments, to send them flowers,
to write them notes, and to gener
ally dance attendance upon them.
On the other hand, the widow
knows that no matter how much a
man loves a woman there is some
body that he always loves a thou
sand times better, and that’s him
self. So, Instead of waiting to be
flattered, she gets busy herself
with the hot air machine; Instead
of demanding to be entertained she
does the entertaining: instead of
expecting the man to do things for
her she cossets, and pets, and
fusses over him.
“Above all, the woman who has
been married, if she has a grain of
sense in her head, has learned not
to argue, and to keep her opinion to
herself when it differs from a
man s. Also, by the time she’s
killed off one husband with dys
pepsia. a woman has learned to
cook and keep house, and for these
and sundry other reasons a widow
is a preferred matrimonial risk,
and a man shows good judgment
when he marries one.”
“I suppose that a wife who has
cut her wisdom teeth on matri
mony, so to speak, would be easier
to get along with than one who
went into it just sloshing over with
all the grand and noble and impos
sible ideals that we all have as
brides,” said the woman in white,
" That's right,” responded the
woman in gray, “when I think of
the blqe china 1 made my poor hus
band live up to when we were first
married, and the barrels of tears I
shed because he was just human
and not a plaster saint, I wonder
he didn t divorce me. That’s where
a widow wins out. She’s been
through the teething, and mumps,
and measles and other infantile
ailments stage of matrimony, and
knows enough to drive with a light
rein, and that there's no use in
worrying over the state of a man's
affection, so long as he pays the
bills without grumbling.”
“I wonder why people marry the
second time?” sal the girl in the
pink hat.
"You remember Dr. Johnson's ex
planation.” replied the woman In
white. "He said it was the triumph
of hope over experience.”
"Nonsense," exclaimed the wom
an in blue, “men and women who
marry the second time do it for
the same reason. They miss hav
ing somebody to knock their
faults.”