securing, by such underhand means, the cession. Privately,
I freely say to you that I should be delighted if Panama were an
independent state; or if it made itself so at this moment; but for me
to say so publicly would amount to an instigation of a revolt, and
therefore I cannot say it."

Nothing, however, prevented the President from keeping an attentive eye
on the situation. On the 16th of October he directed the Navy Department
to send ships to the Isthmus to protect American interests in case of a
revolutionary outbreak. On the 2d of November, he ordered the squadron
to "maintain free and uninterrupted transit.... Prevent the landing of
any armed force with hostile intent, either government or insurgent,
at any point within fifty miles of Panama." At 3:40 P.M., on the 3d of
November, the acting Secretary of State telegraphed to the Isthmus for
confirmation of a report to the effect that an uprising was in progress.
A reply dated 8:15 P.M. stated that there had been none as yet, but
that it was rumored one would take place during the night. On the 4th of
November independence was proclaimed. The only fatality was a Chinaman
killed in the City of Panama by a shell from the Colombian gunboat
Bogota. Its commander was warned not to fire again. On the 6th of
November, Secretary Hay instructed our consul to recognize the new
republic, and on the 13th of November, President Roosevelt received
Bunau-Varilla as its representative at Washington.

This prompt recognition of a new state, without waiting to allow the
parent Government time to assert itself, was contrary to American
practice. The United States had regarded as a most unfriendly act
Great Britain's mere recognition of the belligerency of the Southern
Confederacy. The right of the United States to preserve the neutrality
of the isthmus, as provided by the Treaty of 1846, certainly did
not involve the right to intervene between the Government and
revolutionists. On the other hand, the guarantee of possession which
the United States had given to Colombia did involve supporting her
Government to a reasonable extent; yet there could be little doubt that
it was the presence of American ships which had made the revolution
successful.

The possible implications of these glaring facts were cleverly met by
President Roosevelt in his message to Congress and by the Secretary of
State in the correspondence growing out of the affair. The Government
really relied for its just