quarter of a million a year. This treaty,
after months of debate in press and Congress, was rejected by the
Colombian Senate on August 12, 1903, though the people of Panama,
nervously anxious lest this opportunity to sit on the bank of the
world's great highway should slip into the hands of their rivals of
Nicaragua, had urged earnestly the acceptance of the terms. The majority
of the Colombians probably expected to grant the American requests in
time but were determined to force the last penny from the United States.
As Hay wrote: "The Isthmus is looked upon as a financial cow to be
milked for the benefit of the country at large. This difficulty might be
overcome by diplomacy and money."

President Roosevelt at this point took the negotiations into his own
hands. Knowing that the price offered was more than just, he decided to
depend no longer on bartering. He ordered the American minister to
leave Colombia, and he prepared a message to Congress proposing that the
Americans proceed to dig the canal under authority which he claimed to
find in the Treaty of 1846. It was, however, doubtful if Congress
would find it there, particularly as so many Congressmen preferred the
Nicaragua route. The President therefore listened with pleased attention
to the rumors of a revolution planned to separate Panama from Colombia.
Most picturesquely this information was brought by M. Philippe
Bunau-Varilla, a former engineer of the De Lesseps company, who glowed
with the excitement of coming events. Roosevelt, however, relied more
upon the information furnished by two American officers, who reported
"that various revolutionary movements were being inaugurated."

On October 10, 1903, the President wrote to Dr. Albert Shaw, of the
"Review of Reviews":

"I enclose you, purely for your own information, a copy of a letter of
September 5th, from our minister to Colombia. I think it might interest
you to see that there was absolutely not the slightest chance
of securing by treaty any more than we endeavored to secure. The
alternatives were to go to Nicaragua against the advice of the great
majority of competent engineers--some of the most competent saying that
we had better have no canal at this time than go there--or else to take
the territory by force without any attempt at getting a treaty. I
cast aside the proposition made at the time to foment the secession of
Panama. Whatever other governments can do, the United States cannot go
into the