Details
ROOSEVELT, Theodore. Typed letter signed ("Theodore Roosevelt"), as former President, New York, 24 October 1911. 1 page, 4to, on Outlook stationery, with original envelope
"WHEN I TOOK PANAMA I DID NOT EXPECT COLUMBIA TO LIKE MY DOING IT ANY MORE THAN A UNITED STATES MARSHAL WOULD EXPECT A TRAIN ROBBER TO ENJOY BEING CAPTURED"
A feisty letter in which T. R. likens the criticism of a Colombia Consulate to a whining train robber (and he mispels the nation's name throughout the letter!): "As for the attack on me by the Consul of Columbia, it is so preposterous that I really cannot understand anyone being interested in it. When I took Panama I did not expect Columbia to like my doing it any more than a United States marshal would expect a train robber to enjoy being captured, and I have not a particle more interest in what Columbia says than this same United States marshal would have in such articles by a train robber." Roosevelt was always pugnacious on the subject of Colombia and the Panama Canal. In spite of fierce criticisms over his actions, he never had the slightest qualms about acting as he did: fomenting a revolution in the Colombian province of Panama, recognizing its independence, then negotiating a favorable treaty for the creation and control of the canal zone by the United States. Roosevelt thought he'd had a deal in Colombia in 1903 under the Hay-Herran Treaty, which called for the U. S. to pay $10 million plus another $250,000 annually for a six mile long canal across the isthmus. But the Colombians refused to ratify the treaty and demanded further payments. Enraged, Roosevelt saw this as crude extortion. Meanwhile, shrewd Panamanian businessmen learned of the impasse and saw an opportunity to reap the profits of the canal for themselves. They declared Panama independent, and Roosevelt sent the gunboat Nashville and 10 other warships to keep the Colombian military from crushing their new government. A new treaty was hastily signed and ratified with Panama, under the original terms offered to Colombia in Hay-Herran.
"WHEN I TOOK PANAMA I DID NOT EXPECT COLUMBIA TO LIKE MY DOING IT ANY MORE THAN A UNITED STATES MARSHAL WOULD EXPECT A TRAIN ROBBER TO ENJOY BEING CAPTURED"
A feisty letter in which T. R. likens the criticism of a Colombia Consulate to a whining train robber (and he mispels the nation's name throughout the letter!): "As for the attack on me by the Consul of Columbia, it is so preposterous that I really cannot understand anyone being interested in it. When I took Panama I did not expect Columbia to like my doing it any more than a United States marshal would expect a train robber to enjoy being captured, and I have not a particle more interest in what Columbia says than this same United States marshal would have in such articles by a train robber." Roosevelt was always pugnacious on the subject of Colombia and the Panama Canal. In spite of fierce criticisms over his actions, he never had the slightest qualms about acting as he did: fomenting a revolution in the Colombian province of Panama, recognizing its independence, then negotiating a favorable treaty for the creation and control of the canal zone by the United States. Roosevelt thought he'd had a deal in Colombia in 1903 under the Hay-Herran Treaty, which called for the U. S. to pay $10 million plus another $250,000 annually for a six mile long canal across the isthmus. But the Colombians refused to ratify the treaty and demanded further payments. Enraged, Roosevelt saw this as crude extortion. Meanwhile, shrewd Panamanian businessmen learned of the impasse and saw an opportunity to reap the profits of the canal for themselves. They declared Panama independent, and Roosevelt sent the gunboat Nashville and 10 other warships to keep the Colombian military from crushing their new government. A new treaty was hastily signed and ratified with Panama, under the original terms offered to Colombia in Hay-Herran.