Rutherford Hayes actually said...

"It is the right and the duty of the United States to assert and maintain such supervision and authority over any interoceanic canal across the isthmus that connects North and South America as will pro..."

"No European power can intervene for such protection without adopting measures on this continent which the United States would deem wholly inadmissible."

"An interoceanic canal across the American Isthmus will essentially change the geographical relations between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States and between the United States and the ..."

"If existing treaties between the United States and other nations or if the rights of sovereignty or property of other nations stand in the way of this policy--a contingency which is not apprehended--s..."