OCR Text |
Show RAINEY MAKES SENSATIONAL CHARGES IN REGARD TO PANAMA CANAL Denounces Cromwell, Farnham and C. P. Taft as Robbers of Republic of Panama and United States Treasury Unsparingly Attacks Obaldia Demands Investigation, Though Roosevelt and President-Elect President-Elect Have Co-operated With the Accused j leaders of the constitutional party of Panama and put in a president more pliant, less devoted to high Ideals, and of course, in such an emergency as that, his attontlon was directed to his. ; old friend and ally, Obaldia. He was i a roan after Cromwell's own heart. So 1 it was determined that Obaldia was to become president of Panama. . Crom-I Crom-I well and his friends had developed I certain methods for defrauding and I robbing the little country and they did not propose to bo interrupted in any way by the awakened public pat-1 pat-1 Tlotlsm and honesty of Dr. Amador j and his friends." "Subsequently," he said, "Obaldia's opponent withdrew on account of the interference of Secretary Taft in the elections." In President Amador's farewell message to ihe general assembly, said Mr. Rainey, ho directly charged Mr. Taft with forcing the election or Obaldia. Obal-dia. "The plant ot Mr Cromwell and his associates," ho declared, "was to ab-I ab-I Folutely appropriate to their own use I the revenue of the republic and to steal the foroBts and the public lands. The necessity for Mr. Tail's interference interfer-ence and fov the election of Obaldia j becomes now as plain as day." Mr. Rainey referred to the fact that ' there was pending and about to be . adopted in ihe general assembly of ! Panama "the most Infamous railroad imposition ever submitted to any government gov-ernment by which Randolph D. Ward of New York, was to bo largely the j beneficiary. He called attention to what he said was the failure of Ar- nold Shankliu, the American consul 1 general at Panama, to. make a report : requested by the bureau of forestry last year, because, "he evidently reels ' he owes his position there to William Nelson Cromwell." and charged that i certain interested parties were seeking J to levy tribute upon the people or i Panama and indirectly the people or the United Slates In connection with these timber land frauds. "It will be interesting to know who the gentlemen are who are attempting : in this way to impoverish the Repub-t Repub-t 11c of Panama," and he mentioned William Wil-liam Nelson Oomwell, Roger L. Farnham, Farn-ham, W. S. Harvey and Charles P. Taft. "I don't charge that the gentleman, who will be inaugurated president of the United States on the fourth day of March, 1b a party to this infamous scheme for robbing this little country. His friendship for Crojnwell, Farn-hani Farn-hani and E. A. Drake, as members of the board of directors of the Panama railroad, his continued endorsement ot both Cromwell and Farnham, his interference in-terference on the Isthmus of Panama, which corapolled the election of corrupt cor-rupt a statesman.absolutely under tho control of X3romwell, as president of that republic all thee things and other things for which the present administration ad-ministration is responsible made poa-blble poa-blble the signing of a contract by Obaldia Obal-dia which may bring to the gentlemen Interested therein, riches beyond the dreams of avarice." Mr. Rainey charged that Mr. Cromwell Crom-well and Mr. Farnham have been actively ac-tively engaged here for two or three ; weeks promoting treaties affecting Columbia and Panama, pending before the senate. He said that If the plans ! of Mr. Cromwell and his associates go through aud if these treaties are I confirmed, there will be no revenues lu Panama out of which to pay the million dollars or more indemnity to Colombia, payment of which Is guaranteed guar-anteed by thid country. "The United States government will he called upon to pay it all," he predicted, pre-dicted, "and If th6e plans for the spoliation of Panama proceed to a successful conclusion, it will not be long until immense burdens of a different dif-ferent character, connected with Panama, Pan-ama, will bo imposed "upon our treasury." treas-ury." "These patriotic gentlemen." said Mr. Rainey, in conclusion; "therefore, are being permitted not only to rob the republic of Panama, but Indirectly to lob the treasury of the United States and In their efforts in this direction they have had eo far the complete cooperation co-operation and the active assistance of ' I the present administration and of the i j next president of the United States." Washington, Jan. 26. Charging that William Nelson Cromwell, Roger L. Farnham. Charles P. TAft and others are parties to the .'.'most . Infamous railroad proposition ever submlttod to any government," and that they "are being permitted not only to rob the Republic of Panama, but indirectly indirect-ly the treasury of tho United States, Representative Rainey, of Illinois, today to-day directed the searchlight of publicity pub-licity upon the affairs in the canal .one in a stirtllng speech in support of his resolution, providing for an investigation by congTess of the Panama Pan-ama canal. "In their efforts In this dlrection'ho continued, "they have had, vo far, the complete co-operation and active assistance as-sistance of the present administration and of the next president of tho United Unit-ed States." Mr. Rainey I raced the history or the proposed canal four hundred years back and warned that "we have already al-ready started In the direction of the rucks upon which the French companies compan-ies were wrecked." Referring to the government's libel Fiilt against the New York World and grand jury Investigations now under way in this city and In New York, Mr. Rainey said: "If we aro to carry this project through to a successful conclusion, we must avoid graft. It is not tho part 6f wise statesmanship to dispose of TOFolutiontJ asking for an investigation investi-gation of any phase of the canal question ques-tion with the sweeping and absolutely unsupported olflclal declaration that there Is nothing to investigate. It is not the pan of the sound -statesman-. Fhlp and true patriotism to attempt to revive the obsolete common law customs cus-toms of 200 years ago, and to employ all the tremendous agencies of the povernmont hi attempting to crush the , newspapers, which have had the courage cour-age to call aueiitlon to a queatlonabla transaction In connection with the canal." Mr. Raine ;as particularly bitter In his denunciation of Mr. Cromwell, general counael for the New French Panama Canal company and counsel and director of tho Panama railroad, which Is owned by the United States government. He charged that "through the manipulations of Mr. Cromwell, the French canal company was permitted per-mitted to steal from the United States norernment ihree or four million dollars," dol-lars," and that after he "had become an officer, in fact, of the United States, he became a party to an attempt at-tempt to coilect from the United States a fraudulent claim on the part of the canal company of $2,200,000." He also waa unsparing in his attack upon Don Jo&e Domingo de Obaldia, president of Panama, who, he said, represented "as no other Spanish stato in his generation, all that Is corrupt in Spanish-American politics." w "Without Obaldia," he stated, "Cromwell's career would have beea Impossible. Without Cromwell, Obaldia Obal-dia would hao been impossible." Against President-Elect Taft now en route to the canal zone, Mr. Rainey directed tho accusation that, on the occasion of his last trip to Panama in May, "he did nothing on the lsth--mus except to openly push the candidacy can-didacy of ObAldla for the presidency. He asserted that a very thinly veiled veil-ed threat to seize the republic, It Obaldia was not elected, was contain-' d In a letter written by Mr. Taft to the then President Amador, and that to prevent this, Arias, Obaldia's opponent, wlthnrew. Reference to President Roosevelt's attack on Senator Tillman was made by Mr. Ralnoy.'by asserting that Senator Sen-ator Lodge of Massachusetts, was re-eponsible re-eponsible for the. expenditure on Jan-, Jan-, ary 1, last, of oer $1,000,000 to purchase pur-chase the fcieamshlps Shawmut and Tremont for the Panama Railroad company, which the canal commlsslou did not want and did not need, but which were bought because the constituents con-stituents of the senior senator from Mf BBachuaetis wanted to sell them. He said that for some weeks the tcret agencies of the government had been at work Investigating the sonlor Fenntor from South Carolina. "They have," he cald, "discovered ; that ho used his frauk inadvertently in private pri-vate correspondence and bo deprived tho government of revenue , to the tmount of two cents, and tho matter considered important enough to be embodied in a special meissage from ne president to congress. The jeu-ftr jeu-ftr senator from Massachusetts, 1 be-Jeve, be-Jeve, Is still invited to White House dinners, is the President's rrlend and fdvlaer and the cabinetmaker for the coming president. I have not heard of any secret service agents dlaturb- the senior senator from Maesa-cRetts, Maesa-cRetts, and yet he is directly, individually indi-vidually and solely responsible that there wag taken out of the treasury of the United States over one million dollars " A year or two after the Indepen-lence Indepen-lence of Panama," continued Mr. Kal-"the Kal-"the oulclalH of the little repiib-c repiib-c commenced to absorb Ideas ot patriotism, pat-riotism, peculiarly dlsUBlfjrul to Mr. romwell, .Mr. Cromw l - determined o displace Mr. Amador and the other |