The New York herald., 1871-03-06
The worid's oonmerce- -AuerIcau Intcr-
Oceanic ship Canal and Railway Bnicr-

| From the horrors and desoiations Of war we
propose 10 consider, In this article, the ''msn'-
fest destiny" which invites the ''great repub,
lie" oaward in the glorious trlnmphs Of peace.
To this end We would first cel the readers
attention to the sketch with the accompany
ing map Of the worid) which we give else
whore in these columns, indicating the great
lines of commerce. proposed and In operation
| between the two he.nispheres and across this
| COntincst, and The commanding central posi-
| tiou Of tiie United States and OF this imperial
| city in reference to the commercial exchanges
OF the globe. A glance at this little map VIII
be sufficient 10 show that the lions share OF the
| trade of all ,his Continent md ~ islands, and
| Of the Pacific Ocean aud OF ell tho Oriental
nations and islands OF Asia, and Of the rich
| islands of Australasia and Polynesia-that, In
short, the bulk Of al this measureless traffic
| is within our reach, and viii be ours with the
opening OF ship canal across any one Of the
isthmus routes, from the Mexican isthmus of
Tehuantepec down to the Gulf Of Darien. A
railroad viii not do, unless we can make a
railroad, ship canal is indispensable to the
end suggested, and the only question concern
ing such canal is the most feasible route. We
must have il by some route. The only qnes
tion is the best
The practical experiment of the Union
Pacific Railroad has settled the question that
we can never bring into New York the trade
Of Eastern Asia by rail across the United
States against the cheaper, though ten times
longer, water route Of Cape Horn, taking time
short isthmus railway between Aspinwal and
Panama has established the fact that 1t Is
cheaper and safer to risk the passage of n
ships cargo around ''the Horn" than to risk
the costs and dangers Of it's transshipment over
land from Panama or Aspinwall. Our Union
Pacific Railway has proved its mission to be
the settlement and development Of the coun-
try between the Mississippi river and the
Pacific Ocean within reach Of its transporta-
ton. Such, too, will be the mission and the
results of the Northern Pacific road fanking
the British Possessions, and of the Texas
Pacific road, running along from New Mexico
westward, near our Mexican boundary.
Between our great Western plains and the
Pacific Ocean, and between our Northern and
Southern boundaries, we have vast Asiatic
region which, excepting the Missouri river
and some short lifts of navigation here and
there on !he Pacific, is without water ways Of
communication. II is an arid region, without
navigable streams resembling in its general
features the As;atic region between the Black
Sea and the Eupbrates-that region which
fills SO large space in the worlds history as
the cradle of the human family and the nur-
sery Of cvilization-that region in which the
ruins Of Baalbec aud Palmyra attest to this
day the We alth Of the overland commerce to
the Mediterranean which built up those splcn-
did marble cities in the desert. From our
great plains to the Pacific, excepting the line
Of the Missouri and our few short river chan
nels of navigation on the Pacific, we can do
nothing without railways; but with them we
may exceed the marble wonders of Baalbec
and Palmyra. As we are building up line
Of prosperous States and Territories along
the Union Pacific road, so will line be built
up on the Northern and the Southern roads,
and the local traffic thus created In each case
viii rapidly pay oil expenses. The govern
ment, too, will be indemnified, as well as the
land grabbers, from the settlement Of these
otherwise uninhabitable wastes and from the
development of their wonderful mineral re-
sources. 1t is the railway that 10 needed to
people and develop these desolate regions In
America, and it is the railway that will bring
again to life and prosperity the waste places
Of Western and Central Asia.
Here, however, in the work Of local settle
meut ard development, excepting their through
passenger traffic and some small through
shipments OF freight, ends the business Of
ship canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific
Ocean will give us the control of the trade OF
the Pacific and of Eastern Asia, and from
Tehuantepec to Darien there are o half dozen
| routes over which ship canal may be con.
structed, with locks on each side from the sum-
NIT level. From New York or Liverpool the
advantages Of the Tehuantepec route to China
and Australia are apparent on our map, as are
the drawbacks of the Darien route in the
matter OF distances. We want, however, not
only an inler-eceanic ship canal, but canal
with deep, safe and capacious harbor at each
end and above ALL if possible, we want a
throughout canal-a canal in which we can
sail from sea 10 sea, as by the Suez Canal,
without lockages. From Tehuantepeo to
Aspinwall, and below FOR hundreds Of miles,
no feasible route for such canal has SO far
been discovered, nor do we think that Captain
Shufeldt will discover any route over the
Tehuantepec isthmus available for such a
canal. If it shall turn out that at no point
between Mexico and South America Is ship
canal practicable without lockages up and