SRO A its Suez too 0 The U.S. has By ART SHIELDS NE can understand John Foster Dulles’ anguish about Suez. He knows the idea of nationalization can travel fast. And Egypt’s example is being closely watched by the peoples of the Middle East, where Yankee oil rigs drain rich Arab sands. . . But Dulles is worried about the Western Hemisphere too. Ideas can leap over oceans as well as desert sands. And Egypt’s example fits the needs of distressed American lands. So Ike’s unhappy Secretary of State may see a powerful movement rising in Chile and Peru for the nationalization of the American Copper Trust mines before long. And he may hear voices in Venezuela de- manding the ownership of the fabulous South American oil fields . . . He remembers that Mexico took title to her oil- fields long ago. Dulles may worry about Panama as well. For he can expect Latin Amerita to look at its own “Suez” on the Pana- ma Isthmus, and ‘say: “What’s good for Egypt is good for me too.” . * The Panama Canal zone is stolen property. It. was stolen from the Republic of Columbia by U.S. Marines. And the theft was admitted -by Presiden “Big Stick” Teddy Roosevelt in his arrogant , boast: “I took the Canal Zone, and let congress debate; while the debate goes on, the Canal goes on too.” No one is better informed about this crime than John Foster Dulles himself. For the records of the theft can be found in Dulles’ law offices at 48 Wall Street. Those are the offices of Sullivan & Cromwell, the biggest law firm of imperial finance. And the theft was directed by Dul- les’ chief patron who hired him and pushed him along. That was William Nelson Cromwell, who headed the law firm until Dulles took his place. The story goes back to 1880, when a French firm began digging. the ditch under a treaty with Columbia. The company was headed by Fer- dinand De Lesseps, the aged promoter, who had directed the project at Suez. “nd the human cost was frightful in- deed. De Lesseps cared little for lives. One hundred and twenty thousand Egyptians perished at Suez. And 22,000 new graves were dug on the Pana- , ma Isthmus in 10 years. Many victims’ were West Indian Ne- ‘groes. For that terrible tropic- al pestilence —Yellow Fever— took its deadliest toll from these poorest paid workers. Then De Lesseps went bust. Another company —The New Panama Canal Company—was formed with the help of American finance. And Crom- well. came into the picture as company lawyer and political guide. Cromwell was hired for his influence in Washington. He knew how. to make Senators and Presidents dance to his tune. And his job was to un- load the New Panama Canal Co., with its rusting and worthless machinery, on the American Government for all the traffic would bear. * The job wasn’t easy, Ameri- can engineers favored the easier route along Nicaragua’s lakes and rivers. So Cromwell decided to soften the way to Panama with bribes. The size of the bribe fund can only be guessed. Henry Watterson, the noted editor of the Louisville Courier-Journal of that day, estimated that “twenty millions (in bribes) went to the grey wolves of the U.S. Senate.” This may be an exaggerated figure, but some smaller items have been of- ficially admitted. Thus Cromwell gave $60,000 to the Republican campaign fund in 1900, when McKinley and Roosevelt were, running against Bryan, the anti-im- -perialist candidate. And he gave it for a price. The price was a plank in the Republican platform, calling for a canal through Panama, instead ‘of Nicaragua. e The money was paid to Sen- ator Mark Hanna, the Cleve- land capitalist, who managed the campaign. . * Another $100,000 was spent on the fake*Panama “Revolu- tion” of November, 1903. The Columbia Senate had refused to ratify a treaty sanctioning the Isthmus Canal. The terms were too cheap; Columbia’s sovereignty would be tossed away, and Columbian “public opinion was strongly against it,’ the American Minister to Bogata admitted in a dispatch to the state department. So Cromwell began plotting his Panama “revolution.” The plot was worked out in dozens of confidential talks in the White House and Senate Of- fice Building. And the firm of Sullivan & Cromwell concent- rated on this dirty job for months. “Two of our partners were constantly traveling between New York and Washington,” said Cromwell later. “They were often occupied for days, sometimes weeks, in confer- ences with the Secretary of State, Party leaders in Wash- ington, and with the President himself.” Cromwell’s puppet was a discredited Columbia politici- an, named Manuel Amador, who lived at Panama City. He was promised the presidency of the new puppet. Republic. And he was told to wait for orders from Washington. The final orders were not transmitted by Cromwell him- self. The wily lawyer stayed behind the scenes. And he let a French’ adventurer, named Philippe Bunau-VarNla, who had been connected with the Panama company, send the flash. The flash~came after Ama- dor had distrbuted the $100,000 bribe money to a string of pet- ty politicians and local Army officers. And the flag of the puppet Panama Republic was raised over Panama City. That flag was made by a New York woman in a little Hudson River town and ship- ped to. Panama City. Bunau- Varilla boasted how he got the woman to do it, in an inter- view with Editor Barron of the Wall Street Journal many years later. And the French adventurer bragged that - he had supplied the “revolution- ists” with their Constitution as well. It was copied verba- tim from the Constitution of Cuba. * This imported flag was hoisted on Nov. 3, 1903, as the cruiser Nashville was steam- ing into the harbor of Colon. Commander Hubbard had orders to protect the puppets from 500 Columbian troops, who had landed in the port. He did that by posting a force of bluejackets and mar- BRIT. HONDURAS rines in front of the railroad station. The Columbian troops were now unable to proceed to Panama City to put down the insurrection without a battle with the American Navy. That battle would have been hopeless. Seven more naval ships were on the way — the battleship Wy oming among them. And the helpless Colum- bian general was soon arrest- ed by the Panama puppets. Teddy’s “Big Stick” had won. Washington wasted no time in legalizing tle theft. The Amador Junta was recognized as the “de facto” government on November 6, three days after the coup. “De jure” re- cognition followed on Novem- ber 13. Next came the signing of the Panama Canal treaty. It was signed by John Hay, Roosevelt’s Secretary of State, and his new minister from Panama—the Frenchman, Bu- nah-Varilla.. And—shameful to tell—the ink from this stolen goods treaty came from an inkwell left by Abraham Lin- coln. The*treaty was drafted by Bunau-Varilla. It gave the United States perpetual rights to a 10-mile strip across the Isthmus, where the French- man had been digging. And the New Panama Canal Company which Cromwell’ re- presented,was paid $40,000,000 . in hard American cash. There were angry American protests against this “pirate” deal, as Professor Henry Loomis Nelson of Williams College called it. For anti- imperialist sentiment was were paid in sil¥ August 24, 1956 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE 7 AMERICA BAI Gul strong in those day ident Roosevelt Street behind hi era of brutal 14! mination on the gan. This discriminatio® the Canal job, © Engineer John F. 9 to refer to the “lazy n——?* continued at the P? where dark-skinm! +, half the value ® wages given AM@ Labor Unions W® outlawed, meanW? group of Americal tions, led by the | Co., took over life of Panama 0U Canal. Zone. * The Isthmus i8 © a tight, little oli8@ my officers a executives and * orators. This has ™ ed many protests | perialist oppress!) And these proh a climax in 1947 Panama Assembly” refused to rat! ment to contin¥® military bases. — The “No was carried oU of the Canal been forgotten Latin Americé. may come whet Organization States may dema ica’s “Suez” BE its rightful ow?