The HayPauncefote Treaty provided that a canal might be constructed by the United States, or under its direction, which caused intense hostility in the U.S. to which Senator Henry G. Davis (a millionaire and Senator from West Virginia) offered an  amendment.
It nullified the ClaytonBulwer Treaty of 1850 and gave the United States the right to create and control a canal across the Central American isthmus to connect the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. These provisions excited intense hostility in the U.S., and Senator Henry G. Davis offered an amendment adopted by the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Henry Gassaway Davis (November 16, 1823  March 11, 1916) was a millionaire and Senator from West Virginia. 
