The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-11-15
THE ,SUEZ CANAL.

THE ,SUEZ CANAL
The completion of the Suez Canal will ap-
parently solve the problem which puzzled the
European navigators for many centuries, and
at last furnish the short passage to the Indies
which Columbus strove in vain to discover.
after one of the mightiest nations on the globe
has been created in the New World which he
found peopled by savages. 1t remains to be
seen whether the enterprise will prove. in all
respects, an industrial and financial success.
Although this is highly probable, yet, in this
practical age, men prefer to await tangible
and fully -attested results before they render
a final and comprehensive judgment on any
novel project 1t is difficult, if not impos-
sible, to assign limits to the capabilities of
modern engineers. Give them men and
money enough, and they can not only dig
ship canals, but remove mountains and con-
struct edifces far more gigantic and impos-
ing than the famed Egyptian pyramids. The
real question at issue is, whether the new
ship canal will prove a paying investment,
and whether its utility, as measured in dol
lars and cents, will afford a remunerative re-
compense for the labor and expenditure in
volved in its construction and repair The
boat canals especially in northern latitudes,
have been superseded by railroads to such an
extent, that even the great Erie Canal of
New York, although sustained by continued
State appropriations, is barely able to com
pete, during the summer months, with the
railway lines, and the ordinary canal stocks
are among the poorest of modern invest
ments 1t is possible, however, that the sue
cess of the most gigantic artificial water
communication ever constructed may react
favorably upon some of the boat canals by
suggesting methods for their improvements
and that the triumph of NJ. Lesseps, at Suez
may not only insure the construction of an
interoceanic canal between the Atlantic andF
the Pacific, but give new impetus to the
various important internal canal projects now
under consideration in the United States and
other countries.
The commercial advantages of the Suez
Canal, although very great, mayl be over
estimated 1t will shorten the length of
voyages, and thus save the interest on cargoes,
the wear and tear of ships, the cost of freight,
and the wages and time of crews, but when
these savings are added up, the sum total is,
after all, not strikingly impressive in these
times of huge financial aggregates, for the
reason that when sailing vessel is fairly
started on what is at best long and tedious
voyage, no very great expenditure is involved
in its prolongation for few weeks or even
few months. There is, however, an ample
margin for profit if the SueZ Canal permanent
ly realizes the expectations of its projectors,
and ship owners can we'll afford to pay them
large percentage on the cost of their work, if
they practically abrogate the tedious route
around Cape Horn.
The American merchants of the Atlantic
coast will share the advantages of the new
improvement with the Europeans. They,
too. will find their shortest sea route to Cal
cutta and Canton by the Suez Canal until
similar work is completed on the Isthmus of
Darien. But, meanwhile, California and
Oregon will remain the most convenient ave-
nues of communication between the eastern
coast of Asia and a civilized and friendly
people, No triumph of modern engineering
can neutralize the great natural advantage
connected with the western frontier of our
ocean-bound republic, and every year of pro-
gress will add immensely to the utilization of
this superiority. In spite of all that France
OF England can do, San Francisco can still
trade more advantageously with China and
Japan than Marseilles or Liverpool, and, in
national point of view it matters but little
in what section Of our wide domain the inn
mediate profits of Asiatic commerce are
realized.
The jealous hostility displayed by
Great Britain to the early movements OF
M. Lesseps shows how much she breads the
proximity of another powerful rival in hel
gigantic schemes Of Asiatic aggrandizement
and aggression The new canal will greatly
diminish the former difficulties in the way OF
prompt despatch OF French fleets anG
French armies to the coast of Southern OF
4. Eastern Asia. Already the advancing lines Of
Russian absorption closely approach the Eng
{ lish outposts, and the day may not be far dis
tant when France, too, will seek to sway
vast districts of territory and countless horde
Of human beings on Asiatic soil. If Napoleon
III, or his successors, choose to embark IL
such an undertaking, the aid furnished by M
Lesseps will prove Invaluable. 1t will dimir
ish the risk dangers, and difficulties hur
dred fold, and this single fact may wor
changes in the destiny of large portion
mankind which win outweigh in importanc
the prospective commercial results OF the ne
improvement.