714 Presidential Addresses 



cial tribunals as might be agreed on for their en- 

 forcement. These were conditions precedent pre- 

 scribed by the Congress; and for their fulfilment 

 suitable stipulations were embodied in the treaty. 

 It has been stated in public prints that Colombia 

 objected to these stipulations, on the ground that 

 they involved a relinquishment of her "sovereign- 

 ty"; but in the light of what has taken place, this 

 alleged objection must be considered as an after- 

 thought. In reality, the treaty, instead of requiring 

 a cession of Colombia's sovereignty over the canal 

 strip, expressly acknowledged, confirmed, and pre- 

 served her sovereignty over it. The treaty in this 

 respect simply proceeded on the lines on which all 

 the negotiations leading up to the present situation 

 have been conducted. In those negotiations the ex- 

 ercise by the United States, subject to the para- 

 mount rights of the local sovereign, of a substantial 

 control over the canal and the immediately adjacent 

 territory, has been treated as a fundamental part of 

 any arrangement that might be made. It has formed 

 an essential feature of all our plans, and its neces- 

 sity is fully recognized in the Hay-Pauncefote 

 treaty. The Congress, in providing that such con- 

 trol should be secured, adopted no new principle, 

 but only incorporated in its legislation a condition 

 the importance and propriety of which were uni- 

 versally recognized. During all the years of nego- 

 tiation and discussion that preceded the conclusion 

 of the Hay-Herran treaty, Colombia never inti- 

 mated that the requirement by the United States of 



