14 SEPTEMBER 1901, Page 2

The news from the Isthmus of Panama is not minute,

and may not be accurate, but if true it is of some importance. It is stated that the Venezuelan troops have joined the Colour. bian insurgents, and that a division of the latter is threaten. ing Colon at the Atlantic end of the Panama Railwey, The United States Consul was officially informed of this threat, and replied that the Treaty forbade any interference with the Isthmian route, and if this were attempted the United States would act. The insurgents will, therefore, probably halt ; but the Government of Washington is not likely to endure this kind of disorder on a route whose safety is vitally important to its citizens. Somebody in Aspinwall, or Colon, or Panama will fire a shot some day which will hit an American, and then the State of Panama will cease to belong to the Federation of Colombia. Warships, we notice, American, British, German, and even Italian, have a tendency just now to drift towards the Isthmus, which, geographically a mala.rious swamp, is politically one of the most important morsels of territory on the globe.