The Panama Treaty
By means of a treaty signed by Secretary Hay and the Colombian Minister, the United States has secured a perpetual lease, running in hundred-year periods, of the strip of land through which the Panama Canal extends. Although the price of rental is not yet agreed upon, the United States of Colombia has received seven million dollars, in consideration of which it will forego all revenues and sources of income connected with the land for a period of fourteen years. In the meantime the terms will be decided. Should the price of rental remain unsettled at the end of that time, the question will be left to a committee of five arbitrators.
Now that seemingly the last legal obstacle has been overcome, we can reasonably anticipate the completion of the Panama Canal.