Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T08:57:44.832Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Commissary Issue in American-Panamanian Relations 1900-1936

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Thomas M. Leonard
Thomas M. Leonard*
Affiliation:
Saint Joseph College, Emmitsburg, Maryland
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Although the Panama Railroad Company had operated commissaries in the nineteenth century, not until the United States had begun canal construction in 1904 did pressure increase for supplies and services. In 1905 Canal Zone Governor Charles Magoon reported that two salary increases had been granted to meet rising food costs on the isthmus. On each occasion, however, the salary increment was offset by the Panamanian merchants who had raised commodity prices. Laborers purportedly slipped into the jungle in search of food. In July, 1905, Governor Magoon and Chief Engineer of the canal project, John F. Stevens, agreed to establish a commissary system to distribute food at cost to the canal labor force totalling approximately 17,000 men. Apparently reacting to the jungle environment and to greedy Panamanian merchants, the United States government turned to the commissary operation. With time's passing, the commissaries blossomed “from a pork and beans beginning to silk stocking maturity.” By the late 1940's, the casual visitor wondered if he had stumbled upon a typical United States Department store in the tropics. Many Panamanians were deeply angered by this business activity, believing that their country's economy had been crushed and their right to live and expand denied. Some Panamanians charged that an international crime had been committed by the United States against the small nation. The Republic's merchants contended that most of the commissary trade actually belonged to them.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , July 1973 , pp. 83 - 109
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1973

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 For a disscussion of the Panama Railroad Company, see Hebard, R., The Panama Railroad: The First Transcontinental, 1855–1895 (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1920)Google Scholar; and Howarth, David, Panama: 400 Years of Dreams and Cruelty (New York: McGraw Hill Book Company, 1966), Chapter VII.Google Scholar

2 Duval, Miles P., And Mountains Will Move (Palo Alto: Stanford University Press 1947), pp. 186–187.Google Scholar

3 Annual Report of the Isthmian Canal Commission, 1904–1905, Senate, 55th Congress, 1st Session, Document 127 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1906), p. 8. Hereafter referred to as Canal Commission Report.

4 For a fuller discussion of the commissary operation see Dimock, Marshall E., Government Operated Enterprises In The Panama Canal Zone (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1934)Google Scholar; and Smith, D. H., The Panama Canal (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1927).Google Scholar

5 Mack, Gerstle, The Land Divided: A History of The Panama Canal and Other Isthmian Projects (New York:Alfred A. Knopf, 1944), p. 549.Google Scholar

6 Calloway, C.H., “Canal Zone Workers Like Their Shops,” U.S. News And World Report, 25:7, December 3, 1948.Google Scholar

7 Porras, Demetrio A., Problemas vitales Panameños (Panama: Ministerio De Educacion, 1960), p. 88.Google Scholar

8 Department of State, Numerical File, Volume 345, Case 3739. Enclosure 3. Hereafter referred to as Numerical File.

9 Numerical File, Enclosures 11–13.

10 Numerical File, Enclosure 7.

11 Department of State, Decimal File 1910–1929, 811F.244/25-26. Hereafter referred to as 811F.244/-.

12 811F.244/38, Enclosure 1.

13 81lF.244/37, Enclosure 1.

14 811F.244/77, Enclosure 1. See also, Memoria, que el ministro de las relaciones exteriores, 1920 (Panama: Imprenta Nacional, 1921), pp. 22-28. Hereafter referred to as Memoria.

15 811.244/42.

16 811F. 244/50. See also Memoria, 1922, Vol. II, pp. 194-203; and Foreign Relations of The United States, 1921 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1928). pp. 751–761.

17 Documents Relating To The Special Commission Of The Republic of Panama Before the Government of The United States (Panama: National Imprint, 1920), pp. 6–8.

18 Ibid., pp. 11–14.

19 811F.244/52.

20 81lF.244/45.

21 811F.244/45, Enclosure 3.

22 811F.244/81, Enclosure 1.

23 811F.244/78.

24 For complete text see Senate, 69th Congress, 2nd Session, Executive Document B (Washington, D. C: Government Printing Office. 1926). Minutes of the final meeting of the commissioners is found in Foreign Relations, 1926, Vol. II, pp. 828–832.

25 Ibid. pp. 13–14.

26 Ibid.

27 Ibid., p. 13.

28 Article V, Ibid., p. 14.

29 See Velarde, Fabian, Analises del nuevotratado (Panama: Star and Herald Press, 1927), pp. 18–19.Google Scholar

30 Foreign Relations, 1928, Vol. III, p. 669.

31 Ibid., pp 670–671.

32 811F.244/91.

33 811F.244/107, Enclosures 1, 4 and 5.

34 811F.244/130; 811F.244/185. Enclosure 1; and 811F. 244/186.

35 811F.244/130, Enclosure 1; and 811F.244/185, Enclosure 2.

36 811F.244/129.

37 811F.244/138 and 140.

38 811F.244/142.

39 811F.244/159.

40 811F.244/167, Enclosure 2.

41 Ibid.

42 811F.244/167.

43 811F.244/167.

44 811F.244/199.

45 811F.244/26, Enclosure 1.

46 811F.244/38, Enclosure 2.

47 81lF.244/32, Enclosure 1.

48 81lF.244/77, Enclosure 1; and Memoria, 1920, pp. 22–28.

49 811F.244/50 and 52.

50 811F.244/74.

51 Senate, 69th Congress, 2nd Session, Executive Document B, p. 14.

52 Cosentiai, Francisco, Los tratados y las convenciones de la Zona Canal de Panama (Panama, Benedetti Hermanos, 1946), p. 22.Google Scholar

53 811F.244/95.

54 811F.244/167, Enclosure 2.

55 811F.244/167.

56 811F.244/249.

57 811F.244/242.

58 811F.244/242.

59 See Executive Orders Relating to the Isthmian Canal Commission, 1904–1911 (Washington, D. C: Government Printing Office, 1911).

60 Numerical File, Enclosures 11–13.

61 Numerical File, Enclosure 3.

62 Numerical File, Enclosures 11–13.

63 811F.244/167, Enclosure 2.

64 81lF.244/190. Enclosure 1.

65 Ibid.

66 811F.244/190, Enclosure 2. Brackets supplied.

67 81lF.244/191, Enclosure 2.

68 811F.244/192.

69 Annual Report of the Isthmian Canal Commission, 1906–1907. (Washington Government Printing Office, 1908, p. 33. Hereafter referred to as Canal Commission Report.

70 Numerical File, Enclosure 3.

71 Numerical File, Enclosure 3.

72 811F.244/77, Enclosure 1; also Memoria, 1920, pp. 22–28.

73 811F.244/52.

74 81lF.244/95.

75 811F.244/160.

76 81lF.244/248.

77 For a fuller discussion of the Clark memorandum see Mecham, J. Lloyd, A Survey of United-States-Latin American Relations (New York: Houghton Mifflin, Co., 1965), pp. 112–113 Google Scholar; and Mecham, J. Lloyd, The United States And Inter-American Security (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1963),Google Scholar chapters 4, 11, and 12; and Ferrell, Robert H. (ed.), The American Secretaries of State and Their Diplomacy (New York: Cooper Square Publishers, Inc., 1963), Volume 11.Google Scholar

78 As quoted in Stuart, Graham H. , Latin American And The United States (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1956), p. 67.Google Scholar For a discussion of the Good Neighbor policy see J. L. Mecham, Survey. Chapter V; J. L. Mecham, Inter-American Security, Chapter V.

79 Ibid.

80 G. W. Westerman, Cincuenta años. See also Welles, Sumner, Time For Decision (New York: Harper Brothers, 1944), p. 201.Google Scholar

81 Foreign Relations, 1927, Vol. III, pp. 484–489.

82 For a discussion of the claims conventions see B.L. Hurt, “The United States-Panama General Claims Commission,” American Journal of International Law, 28: 61–73, January, 1934.

83 Langley, Lester D., “Negotiating New Treaties With Panama: 1936,” The Hispanic American Historical Review, 48:222, May, 1968.Google Scholar See also McCain, W. D., United States and Panama, pp. 244–45.Google Scholar

84 Alfaro, R. J., Medio siglo de relaciones entre Panama y los Estados Unidos (Panama: Imprint national, 1953), p. 26.Google Scholar

85 811F.244/201A.

86 Foreign Relations, 1933, Vol. V, pp. 866–868.

87 “Roosevelt-Arias Statement,” Panama Star and Herald, October 18, 1933. p.1.

88 Ibid.

89 Reception for Arias Planned,” Panama Star and Herald, October 30, p. 1.

90 Governor’s Report, 1934, p. 66.

91 Hull, Cordell, The Memoirs of Cordell Hull (New YorkQ: The MacMillan Company, 1948), Vol. 1, p. 345.Google Scholar

92 Langley, L. D., “New Treaties,” p. 225.Google Scholar

93 For a discussion of the 1936 Treaty negotiations see Ibid., pp. 220–233. Langley finds that Welles was most conciliatory towards Panama.

94 “President Arias Speaks to Nation,” Panama Star and Herald, March 3, 1936, p. 11.

95 “Ricardo J. Alfaro’s Arrival,” Panama Star and Herald, March 4, 1936, p. 4.

96 For discussion of Senatorial objections see U. S. Congress, Senate Executive Report. No. 5, 76th Congress, 1st Session (Washington, D. C: Government Printing Office, 1939).

97 “Senate Okays R.P. Treaty,” Panama American, July 26. 1939, p. 1.

98 “Treaty,” Panama American, July 26, 1939, p. 3.

99 For full text see Treaty Series, No. 945 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1939).

100 Welles, Sumner. Time For Decision, p. 202.Google Scholar

101 Reynolds, T.H., Pan Americanism, p. 433.Google Scholar In 1943, Alfaro’s own book saw the treaty incomplete. See Medio siglo, p. 28.

102 Ballesteros, Batista, El drama, p. 95.Google Scholar See also “Acting the Part of the Good Neighbor,” Christian Century, 53:420, January, 1936.

103 Union, Pan American, Panama: General Descriptive Data (Washington, D.C.: Pan American Union, 1918), pp. 10 and 21Google Scholar; and Graham, CM., Report On The Commerical and Economic Situation in the Republics of Panama and Costa Rica, 1921. (London: His Majesty'’s Stationery Office, 1921), pp. 8–9, 12–13.Google Scholar

104 AFrancis, lan D., Economic Conditions in the Republic of Panama and The Panama Canal Zone, 1929 (London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1930), pp. 9–10.Google Scholar

105 Andrews, C. F. W.. Report on the Economic and Commerical Conditions In the Republic of Panama and the Panama Canal Zone, 1933–35 (London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1936), p. 6.Google Scholar

106 For further discussion refer to sources under Table I.

107 Baxter, John K., “Pro and Con,” Panama American, August 2, 1926, p. 2.Google Scholar

108 Oxley, W.H., Report.1925, p. 10.Google Scholar

109 Ibid.

110 Baxter, John K., “Pro and Con’.Google Scholar

111 Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Central America: Panama. File number 430.24, enclosure, August 31, 1935.

112 Full text see Treaty Series, No. 431, Construction of a Ship Canal to Connect the Waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans: Convention Between the United States of America and Panama, November 18. 1903 (Washington, D. C: Government Printing Office, 1938).

113 “The Rebublic of Panama grants to the United States all rights which it now has or hereafter may acquire to the property of the New Panama Canal Company and the Panama Railroad Company as a result of the transfer of sovereignty from the Republic of Colombia to the Republic of Panama over the Isthmus of Panama and authorizes the New Panama Canal Company to sell and transfer to the United States its rights, privileges, properties and concessions as well as the Panama Railroad and all the shares or part of the shares of that company. Ibid., p. 4.

114 Ibid., pp. 1–2.