ter-oceanic canal across that
republic; and offered to enter into treaty stipulations to that effect."
Mr. Hise strongly urged the acceptance of this offer, and prepared and
forwarded to the State Department a treaty, accepted by the government
of Nicargagua, which confirmed in specified terms the offer of full and
complete control and government of said canal. For reasons best known to
the Department of State, this treaty, called the Hise treaty, was never
accepted or presented to the Senate for ratification and adoption, but
was somehow quietly smothered, and the Clayton-Bulwer co-partnership
treaty reported and adopted in its stead.

It will be seen at a glance, by even the most careless political tyro,
that the Hise treaty was directly in line and accord with the express
principles of the "Munroe Doctrine;" and that it would have given to
this country the exclusive rights, which under the treaty adopted it
must share with its co-partner, Great Britain. Had the United States
accepted the offer made by Nicaragua, and thus obtained the exclusive
privilege of opening and controlling the canal, we could have opened it
to the commerce of the world, on such terms and conditions as we should
deem wise, just, and politic; and it would have been more creditable to
us as a nation to have acquired it ourselves, and opened it freely to
the use of all nations, rather than to have entered into a
co-partnership by which we not only have no control in prescribing the
terms upon which it shall be opened, but lose the right of future
acquisition and control of Central American territory. Had we accepted
it (or should we accept the recent offer of Nicaragua to the same
general effect) we should have held in our possession a right, and a
might, which would have been ample security for every nation under
heaven to have kept the peace with the United States.

Honorable Stephen A. Douglas, in commenting upon the conduct of the
State Department of 1849 and 1850, said: "When we surrendered this
exclusive right we surrendered a great element of power, which in our
hands would have been wielded in the cause of justice for the benefit of
all mankind."

"But suppose," said Senator Clayton in reply, "that Great Britain and
other European powers would not have consented to our exclusive control
of a canal, in which they, as commercial nations, had as much, and more
interest, that we had?"

"Well, then," in the language of Senator Douglas, "if