A CHURCH IN CHORRERA
Scarcely any general European war involved more intricate and delicate questions of the reciprocal rights of nations than did the acquisition of the Suez Canal by Great Britain. Volumes have been written on the subject of the diplomacy of Suez. The Constantinople conference called for the discussion of that topic, and the specific delimitation of the authority of Great Britain and the rights of other maritime nations was one of the most notable gatherings in the history of diplomacy. The Panama waterway will bring new problems and intensify old ones for the consideration of our statesmen. The Monroe Doctrine is likely to come in for a very, thorough testing and perhaps a new formulation. The precise scope of that doctrine has of late years become somewhat ill defined. Foreign nations say that the tendency of the United States is to extend its powers and ignore its responsibilities under this theory. In Latin America, where that doctrine should be hailed as a bulwark of protection, it is looked upon askance. That feeling is largely due to the attitude of this country toward the Republic of Colombia at the time of the secession of Panama.
A NATIVE KITCHEN
A problem of the highest importance to the credit of the United States in Latin America, which should be settled in accordance with principles of national honor and international equity, is the determination of what reparation we owe the Republic of Colombia for our part in the revolution which made Panama an independent state and gave us the Canal Zone.
NATIVE HOUSE IN PENOMENE
In an earlier [chapter] I have tried to tell, without bias, the story of that revolution and to leave to the readers’ own judgment the question whether our part in it was that merely of an innocent bystander, a neutral looker-on, or whether we did not, by methods of indirection at least, make it impossible for Colombia to employ her own troops for the suppression of rebellion in her own territory. As President, and later as private citizen, Mr. Roosevelt was always exceedingly insistent that he had adhered to the strictest letter of the neutrality law—always that is except in that one impetuous speech in San Francisco, in which he blurted out the boast, “I took Panama and left Congress to debate about it afterward”.
GIANT CACTI OFTEN USED FOR HEDGING
Planted close together, these cacti form a barrier impassible by animals