Mr. Beaupré to Mr. Hay.
Bogotá, May 4, 1903.
Sir: I have the honor to advise that the opposition to the ratification of the canal convention is intensifying. The press is teeming with articles rancorous in enmity to the proposed treaty, while public opinion is veering into a current of extreme bitterness against the authors of the pact, especially Mr. Herran.
A gentleman of my acquaintance prepared an article favorable to the convention and sent it to the publisher of a newspaper here. The article was declined, and the writer admonished that it would be to his welfare, with his views, to keep out of the controversy.
Mr. Mancini, the representative of the French Canal Company at the capital, says that he is emphatically of the opinion that the Congress will refuse to ratify the convention, and that he has written to his company to that effect. He also said that while there was a moral obligation clearly upon the Government to defend a contract of its own making, it had not done so, and evidently did not intend to do so. It is entirely impossible to convince these people that the Nicaragua route was ever seriously considered by the United States; that the negotiations concerning it had any other motive than the squeezing of an advantageous bargain out of Colombia; nor that any other than [Page 143] the Panama route ever will be selected. Therefore, it is contended, and generally believed, that there is no immediate necessity of confirming the Hay-Herran convention; that the negotiations can be safely prolonged, in the end securing very much better terms for Colombia.
The public discussion is largely along the lines of the loss of the national honor by the surrender of sovereignty; that the clause in the convention guaranteeing sovereignty means nothing, because the lease is perpetual; that the whole contract is favorable to the United States and detrimental to Colombia.
Private discussion, which perhaps more clearly reflects the real situation, is to the effect that the price is inadequate; that a much greater sum of money can be obtained, and that the United States can be obligated to guarantee the sovereignty of Colombian ports outside the department of Panama against the invasion or seizure by foreign enemies. The one great determining point, however, is the belief that the price can be greatly augmented.
The Congress has not been called, but it is still thought that the session will commence about the 1st of July.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,