[Inclosure.]
The Secretary of War
to Minister Magoon.
War
Department,
Washington, April 26,
1906.
Sir: I am in receipt of the letter dated
February 21, 1906, from the Secretary of State, respecting the
exercise by the United States of authority to maintain public peace
and order in the territory of the Republic of Panama, provided for
in the constitution of that Republic and stipulated in the treaty of
November 18, 1903. I concur in the views expressed by the Secretary
of State, and a copy of his letter is transmitted herewith for your
information and guidance.
It is evident from the letter of the Secretary of State that in his
previous instructions to you, to which he refers, he had not
intended to restrict in any way the power of the United States to
maintain peace and good order, not only in Panama and Colon, but in
any adjacent territory of the Republic in which domestic
insurrection or violence would obstruct the great purpose of the
United States to build the canal. His instructions to you were
intended to emphasize the dignity and sovereignty of the Republic of
Panama as a nation and a government, and to point out that it would
be improper for the United States to interfere with the elections or
other internal affairs of the Republic of Panama, and to take steps
to maintain peace and order in its territory in the first instance;
that it was the duty of the Republic of Panama to maintain its own
peace and good order, and that he could not assume that it would not
do so. He did not mean at all to circumscribe the powers of action
of the United States in case an insurrection in the Republic of
Panama anywhere threatened danger to the interests of the United
States in building the canal, or to its property in the Canal Zone.
The question whether such interference ought to take place he
characterizes as a military question, and one to be determined by
the knowledge of conditions on the Isthmus and the practical effect
that the insurrection would have on the building of the canal. I
have no
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hesitation
whatever in saying that in my judgment an insurrection in any part
of the Republic would disturb the order in Panama and Colon and
adjacent territory, and would greatly increase the difficulties that
the United States would have in constructing the canal; and while,
of course, the forces of our Government ought not to intervene until
it is established that the Republic of Panama can not maintain order
in its own territory, I think the United States may properly, under
the clauses of the treaty construed in the light of the provision of
the constitution of Panama, quoted by the Secretary of State, and to
prevent its inevitable interference with the work of canal
construction, suppress any insurrection in any part of the Republic.
Of course, such action taken with respect to an independent
government, even with its consent given in its fundamental law,
ought to be lightly taken, or until all the circumstances are known,
until it is fully established that the Government of Panama is not
able to maintain itself. Of this, a request by the President of
Panama for our intervention to suppress an insurrection would be the
best evidence. If this fact does appear, then the duty of our
Government will be plain. I sincerely hope and confidently believe
that no disturbance of the peace or insurrection will take place; if
it does, the authorities of Panama can suppress it without
assistance of the United States; but persons discontented with the
Government of the Republic of Panama should not be encouraged to
attempt to overthrow it on the supposition that the United States
would not take steps, if the occasion arose under circumstances
already described, to lend its aid by armed force to suppress an
insurrection in any part of the Republic of Panama.
Very respectfully,
