A general revolution broke out in Colombia in 1885, due to the efforts of the President, Rafael Nunez, to introduce Revolution of 1885. measures for conciliating all parties. He was a Liberal but the Radicals of his party objected to his methods, and State after State rose in revolt. On the Isthmus the Liberals were in control, also; but General Aizpuru, former President of Panama, seized the opportunity to start a revolution. He was obliged to retire from the city after an attempt to stampede the garrison, and reinforcements were hurried to Panama from Colon. This left Colon without Government troops, and there Pedro Prestan raised the standard of revolt. He tried to seize a shipment of arms on an American vessel in the harbor, but was prevented from doing this by the U. S. S. Galena, whose commander took possession of the ship. Meanwhile a battalion of 160 men was hurried to Colon from Panama, and at Mount Hope met and defeated the poorly armed revolutionists on the following day, May 18, 1885. The troops after a little more fighting entered Colon, and order was being established there when fire broke out and destroyed all but seven buildings in the town. Ten thousand people were made homeless, and the loss was six million dollars. fire was attributed to Prestan and his followers. He fled to Cartagena, but the revolutionists would have nothing to do with him, and falling into the hands of the Government he was sent back to Colon, tried by court martial, and hanged, August 18. Burning of The While the troops were absent in Colon, Gen. Aizpuru entered Panama and after a brisk skirmish took the city. An armistice of a month was declared, and End of War at the instance of the Colombian Minister Panama a in Washington, the United States Government, Department. acting under the treaty of 1848, landed a thousand marines to protect the Isthmian transit. Meanwhile a force of Colombian troops was sent to the Isthmus, and pending their arrival the American marines tock charge of the city, arresting the revolutionary chiefs, who were soon set at liberty, however, on promise not to fight within the city. The Colombian force entered the city without resistance on April 29. As a result of this war the constitution of 1863 was amended, and a more centralized national state was erected, known as the Republic of Colom bia, in which Panama and other former States were merely provinces, but with a large measure of local self-government. The Three Years' War. A result of the effort of a coalition of Conservatives and Liberals in Colombia, calling themselves Nationalists, to form a strong central government, was that from 1885 to 1900 Colombia, and consequently Panama, was ruled by military dictators. The rule was arbitrary, and the very strength it evidenced in putting down revolt from time to time, was one of the causes of the Liberal Revolution of 1899-1902, known as the three years' war. Belisario Porras, with a force recruited in Costa Rica, set up in Chiriqui on March 29, 1900, at Burica, a provisional government, and with recruits from all parts of the Isthmus joined a force under Emiliano J. Herrera, the military chief of the new government, at Aguadulce in Veraguas. The revolutionary army gradually approached the capital, defeating the Government troops at Bejuco and Corozal. On July 24 and 25, the Liberals, 1000 strong, were victorious at Calidonia, a suburb of the city, and could have entered Panama. By advice of the American consul in Panama, H. A. Gudger however, and because a Colombian force of a thousand men had arrived at Colon, they agreed to withdraw, the Colombian Governor, Charles Alban, agreeing that they would not be prosecuted for their part in the insurrection. The insurgents retired from the line of the railroad, but kept up a harassing guerrilla warfare in all parts of the country. In September, 1901, Domingo Diaz landed a force recruited in Nicaragua on the Isthmus, and there ensued a series of bloody skirmishes at Empire, San Pablo, and Buenavista (Bohio). The revolutionists were driven back from the railroad line, and were forced to yield Colon, which had been taken by surprise on September 19. In all this warfare the revolutionists had the sympathy of the mass of the people, because they were fighting against a government that was at once alien and oppressive. Meanwhile Gen. Herrera had been recruiting a force along the west coast of Colombia, and in December he landed on the Isthmus with 1,300 men, and at Anton incorporated in his command the guerrilla band under Porras. Throughout the interior the revolution was successful, until the middle of 1902, when a government force of 2,000 men made some gains in Cocle. Negotiations were opened for peace, and this was accomplished on November 21, 1902, on board the U. S. S. Wisconsin, when concessions were made to the revolutionists, and a general amnesty was declared. The peace lasted until the fall of 1903, when it became evident that the government at Bogota would not ratify the treaty allowing the United States to construct a canal across the Isthmus. Then ensued the bloodless revolution of 1903, when by the aid of the United States, Panama became independent of Colombia, and a protectorate of the United States. Revolution of 1903. It is not the intention here to discuss the right of this revolutionary movement, nor to add a word to the debated question of who got the money paid by the United States for the French canal rights. The facts are as follows: The Isthmian Canal Commission of 1899-1901 advised the Government to construct its isthmian canal across Panama along the line of the partially completed French canal, provided the French company's rights and property could be purchased for $40,000,000. To the end of consummating the purchase, a law was passed by the United States Congress on June 28, 1902, providing for the purchase, in case an agreement could be made with Colombia for the perpetual lease of a canal zone with rights of sovereignty therein for $10,000,000 and an annual rental of $250,000. John Hay for the United States and Tomas Herran for Colombia prepared a treaty which, to become effective, must be ratified by the United States Senate and the Colombian Congress within eight months after January 20, 1903. Colombia's Congress passed the treaty in the lower house, but the Senate hesitated. The alienation of national territory was declared unconstitutional by some Senators, and the price to be paid was declared insufficient by others. The Hay-Herran concession of the French company was about Treaty. to expire, and it was openly argued that the matter should be held up until the canal rights reverted, when Colombia would get five times ten millions. The Panama representative in the Senate returned home with the information that the treaty could not be ratified at Bogota unless the United States was willing to pay more than ten millions. Finally, on August 12, 1903, it was definitely rejected. The law authorizing the purchase of the French canal rights stated explicitly that if the purchase could not MR 22928- -9 Panama's be made, the canal should be constructed across Nicaragua. The alternative meant ruin to Panama. It would be worse than if no canal had been constructed at all to have one across Nicaragua, in competition with the Panama Railroad transit. It never did take much to start a revolution in Panama, and the Isthmian leaders, financed by French canal stockholders, went frankly to work to declare independence. By September, representatives of the revolutionary junta had gone to the United States and sounded the Government at Washington as to its attitude in case of a revolution. Whatever the answer was, the movement persisted. Meanwhile the Colombian government knew all about this, but took no measures to meet the crisis. President Sanclemente hoped up to the last to force the treaty through the Senate, although the eight months' limit had expired, and he depended moreover on the terms of the treaty of 1848, which stipulated that the United States would maintain the sovereignty of Colombia on the Isthmus. November 4 was fixed for the declaration of independence, but on November 3 a Colombian battalion of 500 men landed at Colon to prevent the separatist moveIndependence ment. The commanding officers hurried to Declared. Panama to take command of the garrison, but the chief of the garrison, Esteban Huertas, had been won over to the revolution, together with the officers. The Colombian officers were made prisoners; and at 4 o'clock the following afternoon, the formal declaration of independence was made in Cathedral Plaza. The only fatality was that of a Chinese citizen killed by a shell fired from the Colombian gunboat Bogotá, which had begun to shell the city, because of the refusal to release the Colombian generals, but which was driven away by some shots from rapid-fire guns mounted on the sea-wall. Landing of Marines in Colon. In Colon, the Colombian troops were refused carriage across the Isthmus on the morning of November 4. The news of the coup d'etat in Panama reached the ears of the Colombian colonel, and he threatened reprisals on the city of Colon. It was probably only an idle threat, but some marines, landed from the U. S. S. Nashville, placed the old masonry freight building in condition to protect the American residents, and this prompt action decided the day for peace. On the following day the Colombian troops were sent back to Cartagena. On November 6, the United States recognized the independence of Panama. From November 4, 1903, until February 26, 1904, Panama was a sovereign state; and on the latter date, when the treaty with the United States was signed, it became a protectorate of the United States, occupying a position similar to that of Cuba. Events of importance within this period that are not mentioned in this chapter will be found elsewhere in this book under the headings, "Panama Railroad," "French Attempt," "The Church in Panama," "Indians," "The People," etc, etc. ** |