In my own judgment, very fully considered and maturely formed, that
exemption constitutes a mistaken economic policy from every point of
view, and is, moreover, in plain contravention of the treaty with Great
Britain concerning the canal concluded on November 18, 1901. But I have
not come to urge upon you my personal views. I have come to state to you
a fact and a situation. Whatever may be our own differences of opinion
concerning this much debated measure, its meaning is not debated outside
the United States. Everywhere else the language of the treaty is given
but one interpretation, and that interpretation precludes the exemption
I am asking you to repeal. We consented to the treaty; its language we
accepted, if we did not originate it; and we are too big, too powerful,
too self-respecting a nation to interpret with a too strained or refined
reading the words of our own promises just because we have power enough
to give us leave to read them as we please. The large thing to do is the
only thing we can afford to do, a voluntary withdrawal from a position
everywhere questioned and misunderstood. We ought to reverse our action
without raising the question whether we were right or wrong, and so once
more deserve our reputation for generosity and for the redemption of
every obligation without quibble or hesitation.
Pages:
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111