Page:Dramatic Moments in American Diplomacy (1918).djvu/251

Rh "Confronted by a decision so despotic, we decided to prepare for an armed combat, rather than submit passively to the tyrant's sentence of death.

"But Colombia was capable of crushing all resistance. * * * Consequently we turned our eyes toward the great American Republic. * * *

"Why should not this great Republic, so rich, so powerful, give the necessary co-operation in money and military force?

"This idea seemed to us so reasonable that we decided to entrust with a mission to the United States a certain Beers, more generally known by the name of Captain Beers.

"He was an employee of the Panama Railroad. His mission consisted in visiting the right persons in order to learn whether this double support could be obtained.

"The persons whom Beers saw assured him that nothing was easier and they promised to obtain all that we asked for. * * *

"Our friends then decided to delegate two of their number in order to reach a final under-