The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1849-12-02

dusy and this canal is democratic measure, because
trade But It is useless to speculate TO the results OF
opening canal They no doubt will be far greater than
the most sangune among US dare to anticipate We all
things from IT, and that the margin for the results Is
wide one.
In contemplating this subject other matters besides
those of commerce. but matters with which the desnes
of the nation to be closely woven, present them
selves TO the minds eye They loom out in the distance
too boldly to escape our observation. When we regard
America a slaveholdng country, we are struck with
the fact that this institution is being pressed upon both
from the North and the South In this country the States
70 the north have gradually abolished slavery or forbid
emancipation and abolition is pressing this institution
down upon the Gulf of Mexico towards the tod zone
In South America Brazil is the great slayeholding power
and there this institution has been pressed upon from the
South and forced up also in the tord towards the
valley OF the Amazon and the Caribbean II seems
as though Providence, in its nscTulable ways was 50
OF slavery this continent is to be in about this in
terropca Perhaps it is to be the banks Of the
Amazon, where the negro = again to hnd himself a.
ions in the Old World.
Thirty years ago. from the Sabine around by the Span
ish main to the mouth OF the Oronoco. there but
nation and she rich, powerful. and strong But since
that time she has lost her sway and instead OF the strong
hand OF power to govern and unite those people, we Ind
These are divided into factions among themselves, and
weakened that handful OF men might overrun them
with far more ease than any people, savage or civilized
which inhabited the promised land and which God
with his own hand and thrust aside to make way Tor the
children OF Israel.
Antilles, Cuba, st. Domingo, and chain OF islands
stretching in direct line from slave territory on the
north to slave territory on the south From the Florida
TO the mouth of the Amazon, those islands are to
this sea like stepping for crossing pool Nature
has so placed them
prodgous in the display Of vital forces and energies
With us, vegetation reposes for season. every year 1t
goes to rest in the fall and sleeps through the winter
There knows no rest; sumner and winter i Z II aw
there is contest continually going on between the land
and the sea that each making nroads upon the other
and that ssa is h sas e Sss
with the waves They come in their might drive back
and bury il in the sand In few days it struggles out
and, acquiring strength marches down to the waters
edge and commences anew to contend for foothoid In
the sea- 1t is awful in its display OF vital forces
There, on the banks Of the Amazon, under moist
had the courage to battle with the ferocous wild beasts
poisonous reptiles and the terrible vegetation The negro
alone can do this and may not his be the destiny to sub
of civzaon and Christianity the black forests and Wig
orous soils of that vast region! This canal by ncreas-
ing the commercial prosperity of the country, by vastly
much as it would do for the South-the slave States
would greatly hasten the day when slave labor is TO be
dispensed with there and when the black is to give place
to the white by seeking out new home, or fleeing
TO some region where he may be to himself.
An immense vista is opened from this point of view,
in ang anS tine dm e
ed at the things which fit across and present themselves
in shadowy outlines for contemplation. may be par
doned for alludng TO the subject of slavery in this
nexion But the Institution is being crowded down both
from the north and the SOUTH and is encrclng this
that compelled to ask there be not some sort of
connection between this and the desnies of the black
MANI Is he 10 be driven into it, is he to go il
with Cuba and Hayt for stepping stones to the valley OF
the Amazonl Or is he to plant himself down on the
margin OF it, and day hold the keys OF the worlds
commerce Certain it is that destiny to be press
ing him down upon the orrd zone, and pointing to that
his last abiding place this continent whatever is to
matey to play in the affairs of the New World
The expense of ship canal across the isthmus OF Pan
has been estimated European engineers at twenty
five millions OF dollars The summit TO be overcome is
two hundred and sevenyfve or eighty feet above the
level of the the river "Chagres navigable only
for small vessels part OF the year. and iT Sap part o. The
miles broad railway is already in process OF consruc
ton, or rather lettings on it have been made canal
ss,oss LehqaalePee Is gu, o. ,ae question: noIs are
impracticable 1t is useless therefore, TO discuss the
hypothetical advantages of this route.
speak Of canal by the Nicaragua route though offers
advantages which are very inviting Therefore, shall
cenfne myself to canal across the isthmus OF Panama
can ou snip snu a ae s aaa
enment it would be one OF the most profitable invest
mens that be offered to capitalists, even though its
actual should treble the estimates Statistics prove
that if vessel bound from the United States the
ket OF Peru could the sthmus Of Panama, she could
afford TO pay s4 SO per ton for the privilege, and thus
the Cape Horn cruiser in Lima equal terms as to
freight and with double or treble advantages time
H. then, we deduct from this two thirds and say
that the canal when built afford to pass loaded
them and the saving OF time, will induce all vessels bound
to or from the Pacific to use the canal in preference to
/" the Horn"
in the whaling business they will 300 tons each