Hatred, envy, and ambition are elements of discord; in the political arena the battle rages fiercely, not so much with the idea of securing the triumph of principles as with that of humbling, and elevating persons and parties; public tranquillity, indispensable to every citizen for the free enjoyment of what he possesses either by luck or as the fruit of his labour, is gradually getting unknown; we live in a sickly atmosphere; crisis is our normal state; commerce and all other industries are in urgent need of perfect calmness for their development and progress; poverty invades every home. The notion of mother country is mistaken or obliterated, owing to our political disturbances. The conception of mother country is so intimately associated with that of political disorders, and with the afflictions and distrust which they engender, that it is not unusual to hear from one of our countrymen what could not be heard from a native of any other country: "I wish I had been born somewhere else." Could many be found among us who would feel proud when exclaiming, "I am a Colombian," in the same way as a Frenchman does when exclaiming, "I am a Frenchman"? This was a cheerful pronouncement for a people to hear from the lips of a man who was just assuming high office in their midst. It suggests some further reasons why the Panamanians should have so readily asserted their independence once more when the negotiations between Colombia and the United States fell through. Long before that happened, before the Colombian Congress which was to deal with the Hay-Herran Treaty had assembled, a much-respected citizen of Panama, Dr. Manuel Amador (Guerrero), had written to the Colombian president warning him that serious consequences would follow at Panama if that treaty were not ratified. For answer the central government foisted on Panama a candidate for Congress who was well known as an enemy of the United States and of the isthmian canal scheme. Representations to the government at Bogota were useless, and Panama saw the prospect of a canal being constructed through her territory fading into distance.