Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1846-12-01
THE ENQUIRER.
RICHMOND, VA.
Saturday Morning, November %, 1876
TaRASCO.

Saturday Morning, November 2e' ie4o.
TABASCO.
We do not at all understand The motives VI
Commodore Perry in not taking possession OIL
Tahasco which il seems he might easily have
done. True, he succeeded in cutting oul gun .
Mexican feet in very brilliant manner. bu' Il
strikes us he should have made "clean work oil
the expedition, and run up the American nag IN
Mace of the Mexican colors, which his lhlIo
wel-directed cannon shot levelled 10 Inc ground
We presume that our Government will at once
station garrison al Tahasco. II might as well
have icen done al The first blow
We are the more impressed with this OPINION
since reading very interesting and sensible ar'i-
cle in the New Orleans Della. That paper pro-
pounces The conquest Of Tabasco, OF course
hereafter 10 be secured by a sufficient American
garrison, as the most important event IN Inc war
with Mexico. Its reasons are lald down on
broad and sound basis. We cannot do better
than transfer them TO our columns, asking Inc al
,ep,ye consideration of our readers. Really this
Mexican war, as il progresses, teens WIN vial
consequences 10 ourselves and 10 The whole civil
lied world. With vigilance and enlightened pru-
dence, we may turn its results INTO important
moral and Commercial teneills:
al, would be fortunate il such canal as We
| have described could be cut through the lstnmus
OF Panama, (proper, which is but iony-one miles
wide; but the impossibiliiy oi doing hls has been
fully proved by M. Garcia, an engineer, VINO @
surveyed The Islhmus by order OF the French Co.
yernmen,. and The result of whose investigations
was published in The Journal des Debats, on The
18Th OF January, 1916. To say nothing oil the
want OF sufficient harburs al either end OF The ca
nal in this locality, a tunnel would be requisite,
capable of giving passage 10 ships OF l20O tons
burlhen, with their lower masis standing. IL
would have 10 be cut through solid Porpnyry
rock; It's dimensions would be about eight times
those of the Box tunnel; and the cost OF excaya-
ling it, estimated BY NJ Garela al two millions
sterling would prooaoiy mol iail lar shoil oi i've
times that amount.
Imporlant il is, not on account OF the force en-
Moved and the resistance overcome, but from its
position and the interest with which It's occupa-
lion is now regarded by all the world, and the
commercial supremacy which il vii! give 10 The
nation by which ii may be permanently occn-
pied. One project oil canal from The Atlantic
10 III. pacfc, has for years been lavorile one
among commercial nations OF The world
Two points we've selected al which il was sup
nosed such a canal could be made-ths lslhmus
ri Panama and the lslhmus Of Tchaunepec; The
former has been decited 10 be impractcable-
the latter. il is believed affords an easy route,
and, Judging from numerous surveys which have
been made, The undertaking would be almost GER
tain OF success. This route, il adopted has Ia
basco for its port on the Gulf Of Mexico and The
Bay OF Santa Maria for lis terminus on the Pa
cifc-bolh sale, deep and excellent haTbcrs.
Ofthe advantages of this route, We can for the
moment give no better description than The lol-
lowing from The London Spectator OF September
l9:
"Scarcely doubt remains that the mos eligi-
! bic locality tor The proposed work is IN The 18TH
mus of Tehuantepec in The Mexican territory.
| II is true the land is wider here than al points
farther South but il presents, in the liable land Of
Tarifa, the only gap as YET discovered in The gra-
nile chain that extends from Behring's Straits 10
| Terra del Fueso. The total breadth Of the lsth-
mus OF Tehuantepec is l40 miles; bnt the great
er part OF this space is occupied on the South by
laguons which could easily be converted INTO a
commodious harbor, and on The North by the CO.
axacoacos, a river OF great volume, admitting
the largest vessels al all seasons 10 distance OF
| hirty-ive miles from its mouth. (at. IL deg. b
min. NJ and capable OF being made navigabe
| twenty-five miles further. The canal 10 he exca-
vailed would therefore, be bu; fifty miles long
| The highest point 10 be snTmonnrd is 20O metres
(2lS yards) above the level If the Pacific, and
| 100 metres above the Atlantic; the ascent and de-
scent would be effected by means OF $50 locks
Water for feeding The canal can be had in album
| dance al the summit level The Mexican Gov
ernmen, has assigned 10 the protector OF The ca
nal, Don Jose de Gafay, The fee-sinple OF nearly
five millions Of acres in The islhmus, together
with the privilege Of establishing colonies over
/ ~ ~ EfitI 10 eli cir a.
nal The foreign colouists are 10 enjoy all requi-
site i,nmunies, and even the right Of working
| the virgin mines which are known 70 exist beneath
| The surface. The islhnus possesses a fine sa-
lubrious climate, and in many places most fruit
lul soil. Timber for ship-buding, dye-wood,
mahogany and other hne-grained trees are 10 be
had in profusion in The forests of the Coatzacoal-
COS. TIE supply Of auimal food is nexhausti-
| BILE; and nature has neglected nothing that could
mark out III 8 region as one OF the most eligible
for colonization on The face Of The globe. Hence
arises one OF The most striking advantages which
the scheme we have been considering possesses
over all lis rivals. II would not be necessary TO
encounter al once the risk and cost oil e1cavating
The canal. All that is requisite In the first in
stance is 10 transport 10 The spot an industrious
and well.discipiined population, who. ailer com
peling temporary communication between Inc
two oceans, would develop the immense resour-
coS oil Inc county,, dHQ iIOui W.
Of completing the grand design.
"There are political Circumstance to which we
cannot for The present more than allude, bnl
which call for the establishment in Tehuantepsc
Of a we-orsanized colony under the protection OF
England and France, as matter CT vial impol-
lance to Mexico, and OF proporionatc interest 10
her allies"
| When il is considered that the Spectator is
journal OF much influence, and supposed 10 DC
under the control Of the Ministry, The hints con-
tanned in The foregoing article, and particularly
the guarded language of the last paragraph, are
| moi without their meaning-in plain language, u
| might be construct: The United States is likely
10 IA Ike possession OF the Northern part OF Mexi'
| 20. and thus open a communication with Inc
norris of the Pacific, therefore, il is the duty OF
| England and France 10 seize this more direct and
practicable route, and place il under their JOINT
protection.
In week, however, the Spanish marriage Sc.
yered the sand rope Of The cordial understanding,
and The British paper threw France overheard,
and came out with The following significant para.
graph, intended 10 prepare the people OF England
for this new spolalon OF one oil its most intimate
allies and most senseess dupes. The Spectator
cannot be misunderstanding appeal 10 English
jealousy OF American progress and French raPa-
city, TO justify lawless appropriation on Inc part
OF its own Government is Too palpably apparent.
"There is but one sure way TO save Mexico,
and that is to transfer fresh, healthy blood into
her languid veins; 10 coonize portion OF her
magnificent territory with people worthy TO oc-
cupy and able to defend il. II Mexico were 10
mingle portion OF the Ango-Saxon element
with her population she might venture 10 cope
with the motley of that indomilabe race that now
threatens her existence In our paper asl week
on the project OF cutting ship canal through The
great American Islhmus we pointed out The adj
mirabe opportunity now offered for peoplng the
Islhmus OF Tehuanlepec, and realizing the meal
culable natural advantages of one OF the most ell
gible commercial sites on the face OF The globe
That majestic region, leeming with boundless
wealth, washed by two oceans, lraversed through
hall It's breadth BY navigable river, which offers
al its mouth the finest haThor in The Gull OF mex,
leo, may now be secured by Engishmen' WIZ
they refuse TO accept region which was selected
by the sagacious mind of the great conqneror
Corlez TO constitute his own private domain2 II
So The French will be delighted 10 grasp The prize