The New York herald., 1868-05-27
The Chinese Mission and It's Bearing Upon
= the American Isthmian Crossings.

| connection with the mission of Mr. Burlingame
to the great Christian Powers is the trade lines
that bear upon the Celestial Empire, and which
are likely to be developed by the extraordinary
demands when commercial relations shall have
been fully established between China and
Europe. Hitherto the isthmus crossings OF
Panama, Nicaragua and Tehuantepec have
derived their chief importance from the ia
cilities they afforded as means of interoceanic
communication between the Atlantic and Pa
cifc to California and the western States of
South America AS these highways now
stand Panama is the only one that shows any
success obtains from the mission Of Mr. Bur
lingame which is anticipated new interests will
be awakened in behalf of all these routes.
Whatever claims the Isthmus Canal project
through Suez may have upon the existing
commerce of the East, it cannot successfully
compete with either Panama, Nicaragua or
| Tehuantepec for the new trade now opening
with China and japan. 1t must, therefore, be
limited to the commercial interchange between
Mediterranean Europe and India proper A
single geographical statement will illustrate
this. For example, the distance from Yoko-
hama to The west coast of France or London is
eleven thousand five hundred and nine miles,
and the time, including stoppages, trans
shipments, &C.. occupied for the transit
of passengers and freight is sixty days;
while by either of the tropical routes indicated
the distance between the same points is less by
fifteen hundred miles, and the time can be
easily made In forty days, with only one break
of bulk in the cargo and one transfer of passen-
gers in the journey. This enormous saving mnst
project in this struggle for commercial su-
premacy. The great mail and passenger route
between Europe and China and Japan will un-
doubtedly be that of the American continental
railway to the Pacific, when completed; but
the European freight lines must of necessity
seek their way through the tropics, and thus
vitalize these narrow crossings into great high
ways for the traffic of the world. 1t is not
reasonable to anticipate that the merchants of
either England or France can endure the
tariff which 80 long a line Of land trans
portation as the Pacific Railroad would
entail. 1t needs no argument to prove
that the ocean is the cheapest and most
French navigators ignorant Of the fact that
the nearest line between any two geographical
points does not lie upon the arc Of the direct
line between them, but upon an arc which
passes nearer the poles. Hence the great
circle from the English Channel to the tropics
crosses the Atlantic as far north as fifty-three
degrees north latitude, and, passing along the
coast of the United States, touches the
| Gulf of Mexico and measures four thousand
seven hundred and sixty miles. In like
manner the great circle from Panama passes
along the Pacific coast, parallel with and very
near Acapulco, San Francisco and Oregon
1t crosses by the Aleutian Islands to the coast
of Asia, and its entire length is seven thousand
nine hundred and forty -four miles, So much,
| then. for the great circle track Of sailing
vessels. But we live in an age of steam, and
some consideration must be paid to the require
ments of that auxiliary power. In other
words, lines must be sought out on long
voyages where coaling stations are conve-
niently available. If line be drawn from
the west coast of England-say the Lizards
to either Tehuantepec or Panama, it will pass
close to the Azores, or Western Islands, and
through the scattered West Indian group.
The distance Of the first would be four
thousand seven hundred and nineteen, and
the second four thousand four hundred and
eighty-two miles, or less than day difference
under steam. If, on the other hand, we project
the same line from the tropical crossings
through the Pacific to the West, the distance
to Sydney, in Australia, is seven thousand
two hundred and fifty miles, and passes very
near the Marquesas Islands, making, as it
were, ''halfway house" in mid-ocean.
Again, line drawn from either Nicaragua or
Tehuantepec to Canton touches the Sandwich
Islands and divides the whole distance of
eight thousand five hundred and sxty-seven
miles into nearly equal parts. Thus the
fleets of England and France would steam
through q line unbroken only at the
narrow links which connect the north
ern and southern Continents Of America.
The Marquesas Islands, lying directly in the
route Of the navigator, would at q step ad
vance into one of the most important maritime
ports in the world while the Society Islands,
also in possession Of France, would enhance
immensely in their value; more than all, re-
turning back, the vessels Of all Europe would
ere long procure their tropical productions from
the newly awakened islands in the Pacific
Ocean. In connection, therefore, with the mis-
sion Of Mr. Burlingame we can see how great
win be the interest Of all the commercial States
of Europe n Fastening the opening Of these
isthmian communications. Rotterdam and
Hamburg, the busy Zollverein and its millions
Of industrious laborers, the patient manufactur-
ers Of Switzerland, the woollen merchants Of
Austria. the workshops of Manchester and Bir-