698 Presidential Addresses 



lombia made the treaty, and yet when the Colom- 

 bian Congress was called to ratify it the vote against 

 ratification was unanimous. It does not appear that 

 the government made any real effort to secure rati- 

 fication. 



Immediately after the adjournment of the Cot\- 

 gress a revolution broke out in Panama. The people 

 of Panama had long been discontented with the Re- 

 public of Colombia, and they had been kept quiet 

 only by the prospect of the conclusion of the treaty, 

 which was to them a matter of vital concern. When 

 it became evident that the treaty was hopelessly lost, 

 the people of Panama rose literally as one man. Not 

 a shot was fired by a single man on the Isthmus in 

 the interest of the Colombian Government. Not a 

 life was lost in the accomplishment of the revolution. 

 The Colombian troops stationed on the Isthmus, who 

 had long been unpaid, made common cause with the 

 people of Panama, and with astonishing unanimity 

 the new republic was started. The duty of the 

 United States in the premises was clear. In strict 

 accordance with the principles laid down by Secre- 

 taries Cass and Seward in the official documents 

 above quoted, the United States gave notice that it 

 would permit the landing of no Expeditionary force, 

 the arrival of which would mean chaos and destruc- 

 tion along the line of the railroad and of the pro- 

 posed canal, and an interruption of transit as an in- 

 evitable consequence. The de facto Government of 

 Panama was recognized in the following telegram 

 to Mr. Ehrman: 



