The Sun.
London, England, 1867-11-14 00:00:00

PROSPECT US.

The President of the Republic of Honduras, being duly
authorised, has given full powers to Mons. Victor Horran,
Minister at Paris, and Senor Don Carlos Gutierrez, Hon-
duras Minister in London, to contract on account of the
Government a Loan, to be applied towards the construc-
tion of an Interoceanic Railway from Puerto Caballos, on
the Atlantic, to the Bay of Fonseca, on the Pacific.
'l'o show the importance attached by the British Go-
veanment to the Honduras Interoceanic Railway, it may
be stated that the line has been surveyed on the part of her
Majesty's Government by Lieutenant-Colonel Stanton,
R.E., and a detachment of Royal Engineers sent out for
tho purpose. Colonel Stanton reports "That the harbours
at both termini are unexceptionable, and that the read can
be constructed " without any sharper curves or heavier
gradients than aro to bo found on existing lines over which
locomotives work without difficulty."
The new Treaty between Honduras and Great Britain
declares that—

" In order to secure the construction and permanence of
the route or road herein contemplated, and also to secure
for the benefit of mankind the uninterrupted advantages
of such communication from sea to sea, her Britannic
Majesty recognises the rights of sovereignty and property
of Honduras in and over the line of the said road, and for
the same reason guarantees, positively and effiaciously,
the entire neutrality of the same. And when the proposed
road shall have been completed, her Britannic Majesty,
equally engages, in conjunction with the Republic of Hon-
duras, to protect the same from interruption, seizure, or
unjust confiscation, from whatsoever quarter the attempt
may proceed."
Treaties signed by the Honduras Government with
France and the United States contain the same provisions,
and the French Government, considering the public utility
of the Honduras Railway, has promised the official quota-
tion of the Honduras Loan on the Paris Bourse.

The following official report by Rear-Admiral Davis,
made to the Secretary of the Navy of the United States
Government, in compliance with a resolution of the
American Congress on the 19th of March, 1866, demon-
strates likewise the importance which the United States
Government attaches to the construction of the Honduras
line :

" The reader who follows the course of the surveyors,
naturalists, and geologists from the capacious, safe, and ex-
cellent harbour of Puerto Caballos, through regions re-
markable for their salubrity, fertility, great variety of cli-
mate and productions, and valuable mineral resource; to
the waters cf the splendid harbour of La Union (Bay of
Fonseca), cannot but regret that capitalists have not found
it to their interest to carry out one of the most promising
and one of the least embarrassing enterprises of the
day:,
The line of railway has been carefully selected and sur-
veyed by Mr. Trantwine (late engineer-in-chief of the
Panama Hallway) and an efficient staff, and a contract has
been entered into for the construction of the whole line
with stations and rolling stock, for a stipulated sum of
about £B,OOO a mile, including every outlay, and the works
are to be proceeded with in sections.
From time to time, as the instalments of the present
Loan are received, the proportion to be applied to the
construction of the first section of the railway will be
banded to and held by trustees in trust, to pay the con-
tractor the instalments on his contract, as certified by the
Government Engineer. The balance of the Loan will be
applied in clearing the forests, and in payment of engineer-
ing and other incidental expenses.
The interest and sinking fund of the Loan are specially
guaranteed by a first charge upon the intended railway
itself and its revenue, and also by a first mortgage upon
the whole of the domains and mahogany forests of the State
of Honduras, which, according to official report, aro of im-
mense value.

It is arranged that the whole of the produce of the above
mortgaged State domains and forests shall be consigned
direct to London by the llonduras Government to Messrs.
Biscboffsheim and Goldschmidt, who will pay over the peo-
ceeds of the sales towards the annual interest and sinking
fund, and the construction of the remaining sections of the
railway.

It has been further arranged in the contract that, as soon
as any portion of the railway is completed, the contractor
shall bring down to the terminus, free of charge, by the
return empty waggons, any produce of lam Government
forests and domains that may he ready for shipment to Eng-
land.

Beginning at tho harbour of Puerto Caballoa, on tho
Atlantic, the railway will proceed over the table land of
Honduras—in a lino of 230 miles to tho Bay of Fonseca, on
the Pacific.

The ports at either end are spacious, safe, and easily
accessible for the largest ships.
The steaming distances from Liverpool to San Fran-
cisco, touching at Jamaica, are—by way of Panama, 7,980
miles ; Nicaragua, 7,720 miles ; Tehuantepec, 7,740 miles ;
Honduras, 7,320 miles.
The distance between New York and San Francisco, by
Panama, is 5,224 miles ; by Nicaragua, 4,700 miles ; by
Tehuantepec, 4,200 miles; by Honduras, 4,121 miles— a
saving, by way of llonduras, as compared with Panama,
the only line on which a railway is already constructed, of
1,103 miles.

The difference in actual distance, coupled with the su-
periority of ports, the facilities of embarkation and disem-
barkation, and. the connection with the American coast
lines, will effect a saving in time, as compared with the
Panama route, of not less than five days between the
Atlantic and Pacific ports of the United States.
The line will afford the easiest, safest, and speediest
route between Great Britain and British Columbia ; it will
also offer the increased facilities of first-class ports for the
establishment of speedy intercourse with Australia and
NOW Zell.land, and will bring Jamaica, Belize, and other
British l os.iessions in the West Indies into the direct line
of co mintmication.

Last year tho divi.lend paid by the Panama Company
was at the rate of 24 per cent. per annum On a capital of
£1,600,000, in addit'en to a bonus of 40 per cent. from
accumulated profits. The Honduras line will in all pro-
bability return as much profit as the Panama line, if not
considerably more.
Sufficient of the proceeds of the present issue will be
applied to the construction of the first section, from Puerto
Caballos to Santiago. This section will enable the ex-
portation of the mahogany, ch., to take place; the means
of transport now existing being too expensive to be re-
munerative. Careful estimates have satisfied the Honduras
Government that the surplus revenue of the State domains
and forests will ba amply sufficient to complete the whole
line, without any further issue of stock, but in case it should
be found advantageous, on account of increasing traffic, to
accelerate the opening of the railway from sea to sea by
raising more money, further stock will be issued for the
Construction of the remaining sections of the railway.
The several contracts and other documents can be in-
in spectedat the office of Messrs. Baxter, Rose, Norton, and
Co., soil cit9rs, N. o. 6, Victoria-street, Westminster.
Applications ior the Loan will be received from Mon-
thly, 11th November, to Friday, the 15th November, by
the Loudon and County Bank, 21, Lombard-street, and
branches, where prospectuses and forms of application can

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