to the presence of our navy. On the principle that treaties concerning
territory run with the territory, ignoring changes of sovereignty, our
time-honored obligation to keep peace on the isthmus, bound us, if
Panama set up for herself, to protect her even against Colombia. England
would concur. English ships would use the canal more than ours. Great
Britain, risking and spending nothing, would gain incalculably. France,
too, would acquiesce. The Frenchmen got some $40,000,000 if the canal
crossed Panama but lost everything if it passed to Nicaragua. Other
European nations wished the canal built and felt that now was the
accepted time. Latin-American States alone showed sympathy with