754 Presidential Addresses 



possible way menace the liberty of the island, and 

 yet serve as important defences for the Cuban peo- 

 ple, as well as for our own people, against possible 

 foreign attack. The people of Cuba have been im- 

 measurably benefited by our interference in their 

 behalf, and our own gain has been great. So will 

 it be with Panama. The people of the Isthmus, 

 and as I firmly believe of the adjacent parts of Cen- 

 tral and South America, will be greatly benefited 

 by the building of the canal and the guarantee of 

 peace and order along its line; and hand in hand 

 with the benefit to them will go the benefit to us and 

 to mankind. By our prompt and decisive action, 

 not only have our interests and those otthe world 

 at large been conserved, but we have forestalled 

 complications which were likely to be fruitful in 

 loss to ourselves, and in bloodshed and suffering to 

 the people of the Isthmus. 



Instead of using our forces, as we were invited 

 by Colombia to do, for the twofold purpose of de- 

 feating our own rights and interests and the in- 

 terests of the civilized world, and of compelling the 

 submission of the people of the Isthmus to those 

 whom they regarded as oppressors, we shall, as in 

 duty bound, keep the transit open and prevent its 

 invasion. Meanwhile, the only question now before 

 us is that of the ratification of the treaty. For it 

 is to be remembered that a failure to ratify the 

 treaty will not undo what has been done, will not 

 restore Panama to Colombia, and will not alter 

 our obligation to keep the transit open across the 



