Presidential Addresses 



Panama Canal Company and the control of the 

 necessary territory of the Republic of Colombia . . . 

 within a reasonable time and upon reasonable terms, 

 then the President" should endeavor to provide for 

 a canal by the Nicaragua route. The language 

 quoted defines with exactness and precision what 

 was to be done, and what as a matter of fact has 

 been done. The President was authorized to go to 

 the Nicaragua route only if within a reasonable 

 time he could not obtain "control of the necessary 

 territory of the Republic of Colombia." This con- 

 trol has now been obtained ; the provision of the act 

 has been complied with; it is no longer possible 

 under existing legislation to go to the Nicaragua 

 route as an alternative. 



This act marked the climax of the effort on 

 the part of the United States to secure, so far as 

 legislation was concerned, an interoceanic canal 

 across the Isthmus. The effort to secure a treaty 

 for this purpose with one of the Central American 

 republics did not stand on the same footing with 

 the effort to secure a treaty under any ordinary con- 

 ditions. The proper position for the United States 

 to assume in reference to this canal, and therefore 

 to the governments of the Isthmus, had been clearly 

 set forth by Secretary Cass in 1858. In my Annual 

 Message I have already quoted what Secretary Cass 

 said; but I repeat the quotation here, because the 

 principle it states is fundamental : 



While the rights of sovereignty of the States oc- 

 cupying this region (Central America) should al- 



