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Show WII.SON INCONSISTENCY. In the proposnd Colombian tronty the H adrninittration bns guest its cnaal ease away, it Las furnished iis fos, who are tho friends of an American poliey, just the ammunition they need to uteko 'urecssful Hj;ht iu the eenato. scerctary Bryan has anuoMwrel that j tbe proposed Ireatv will r-crmit f o'om bia f rpc 'o of thr Par h "a . nal ft. I Its mcaotwa'r, its trooi a an. I ill arm I nnd navy supply vessels. Ho also announces an-nounces that Great Britain agreed to such a trcnty in 1D09. We wonder if Secrotary Bryan realized that he was satirizing himself and President "Wilson. "Wil-son. Tho present administration first finds ont what England wants and then announce.fi its policy. One day England wants ono tiling, and tho administration ad-ministration concedes it; the next day England wants just the opposite thing, and the administration concedes it. In j this case tho administration is acting j liko that old bungler, Polonius, In his conversation "with Hamlet, when ho sought to humor Hamlet concerning tho aspect of a cloud. Hamlet Do you soo yonder cloud, that's almost in shapo of a camel! Polonius By tho mass, and 'tis liko a camel, indeed. Hamlet Mothinks it is like a weasel. Polouyis It is backed liko a weasel. Hamlot Or, liko a whale t Polonius Very like a whale. Tf the administration wero consistent, consist-ent, it would rcfuso to mako a treaty giving Colombia tho right to pnsB any of Its ships through tho canal free of charge. It -would quoto tho Hay-Paun-cofoto treaty, as follows: "Tho canal shall be free -and open to the vessels of commerce and of war to all nations on terms of ontlro equality." Tho administration's exenso for making mak-ing tho treaty with Colombia on the basis of tolls exemption is that England Eng-land permits it. In 1009 England ngrcod to preferential treatment for Colombian vossols because of "Colombia's "Colom-bia's peculiar relation to tho canal." Tho fact that the United States also has a peculiar relation to tho canal does not seom to be any reason in tho president's way of thinking for giving preferential treatment to our own vessels, ves-sels, but it is hold to bo a reason for irivinff referential treatment to Co lombia's vessols. Could Inconsistency go further? Tn declaring that tho United States hns not tho right undor tho Ifay-Paun-cef ote treaty to exempt American coast-wiso coast-wiso shipping from tho payment of tolls., tho president gives to tho words "all nations" a certain, definito construction, con-struction, and in conceding Colombia's right to havo its vessels exempted from tho payment of tolls tho prosidont givos precisely an opposlto meaning to the same words. |