The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1879-12-19
THE NlCARAGUAN CANAL
Senior De Franco Ccrrcborate5
Admiral Anmen.
GENERAL GRANT. PRESIDENT.
Calculations that the Caral VIII Return
Splendid Profits 10 Capitalist


[BY TELEGRAPH TO THE HERALD.
PuILApELrnIA Dec. A.. ls1o
The interview with Admiral Ammcn printed In 10
days HERALD has been very prominen. topsc %
conversation In this city. gentleman whose re'A-
tons with the Grant party such 10 snsss Lis
words to unusual importance said 10 your eor
respondent this evening that. - 20 much Of the
story had been told. the whole might - veil 10
known. He then stated that the visit Of General
Grant to Havana. and possibly Vera Cruz and th<
city Of Mexico. is in reality only with view 10 ID
verting attention until special steamer can b. nttcc
out in which the President Of the future later
oceanic Canal Company Will visit Greytovn. nnc
with party of skilled engineers 60 over every foo&
Of the route. With the steam launches whsch vsn
be provided the journey readily be made 20 the
lake and down again ,rsidc of week. rhas the
gentleman asserted 10 the true signihcance Of the
visit to the West Indies"
SENIOR DE rRASco's STATEMENT.
After much inquiry your correspondent succeeded
in finding Sehor do Franco. Nicsraguan Minister "a
Italy, at q late hour tonight. The gentleman ws
about going to bed. but realizing the urgency Of ths
correspondents visit kindly agreed to tslk for
few minutes. He entered ut into tho spirit Of
the canal enterprise and said:-"The gallant
Admiral accurately stated the situation -
far as the concession and the capital srs
concerned. I will 60 even further. aud !
now say to you positively that 0ensrAl
Grant has already accepted the Presidency Of the
Nicaraguan Canal Company. mako NO mental resers
vation but you that that 10 settled. OF cousss
you can understand that many matters Of detail WIN
have to be arranged before the company can open
its oces Letters have to be written to Europe. for
instance. and answers received The temper OF she
people Of the United States. as expressed through
Congress. will have to be learned. Many other a.
tails not of vital Importance but desirable to have
settled, are to be gone into.
''You are then equally confident ~ Admiral
Ammen that the money will be raseds" asked the
correspondent.
MILLIONS
II am; but. saying nothing about any syndicate
OF capitalists who would take up the bonds. may
give you few figures to show its probable succsss
az q popular loan. NJ. de Lesseps calculated thss
the minimum annual tonnage which would pass
through the Panama Canal would equal 6O00.00
tons. on which he proposed to charge So per ton.
This would produce SIS. 600 900 gross income. from
which. after dedpcting $1.Ooo.00O for maintenance.
SIT 100000 are left for the reimbursement OF
$780, O00.O 900 of capital at the rate OF about ~
per cent. have stated the de Lesseps scheme drss
that you may see how much more remunerative the
Nicaragua Canal bonds will prove. If the tonnage
by way of Panama equals 100000 tons the Same
will be true of Nicaragua. This company IL. how
ever composed OF practical commercial men, who be-
lieve 50 per ton quite enough to charge Calculated
on the tonnage estimate Of NJ. de Lesseps this
would produce gross receipts Of $l2.000.0O0s
which. after deducting cost OF mstnte-
nance, would pay ten to eleven per cene
on the proposed capital of 100000. O00 Remember
have reasoned on the tonnage basis assumed BY
M. de Lesseps. although have what we believe
70 he for tn cal
q more favorable prospect for our company. VIXEN
you remember with what avidity the four per cent
bonds Of the United States bought up BY the
American people. can you doubt the popularity Of
such q loan. guaranteed it will be. by the COM
mercial nations of the wcrld?''
HOW TO SECURE NEUTRALITY.
.How will tho neutrality of the canal be attained,
Seior?' the correspondent inquired.
1.-THE United States at the formal request Of Mica
ragua will invite all nations to join In universal
treaty of neutrality regarding the canal within the
spirit of the Cayton-Bulw treaty between Eng
land aud the United States. The Nicaragua
canal can be opened in few years, while the Pan.
ANA canal would certainly require twenty-five ana
more likely thirty years. 1t would never be finished,
principally. I willing to grant to save
argument, because NJ. de Lesseps could not be sx-
pected to live it completed. just SO surely
slOCOO,0OO or s20000.00o are sunk in any canal
scheme and the project then abandoned the fate OF
all other similar projects is sealed for century 70
come
The correspondent then repeated the story about
General Grants proposed visit to Nicaragua. and
asked Seiior de Franco what ne knew about it.
For the Hrst time Sehor De Franco seemed slightly
surprised. He said that General Grant would uns
doubleday visit the territory through which the
route of the canal lay at early day. "But, said
he that is too far ahead to speak with certainty.
because it will probably be three months hence.
General Grant is familiar with the route. He trav-
ersed the Nicaraguan peninsula by this very route
in 1854. and the scheme has been q prominent one
in his mind since his accession to the White
House. It is one of the dreams of his youth that
he hopes to render real.
After general conversation regarding the people
Of Nicaragua future of that country II the canal
is built tho alluvsl deposits of the San Juan and
the proposed methods of constructing the artificial
harbors on the two oceans. the interview was