New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1879-08-20

ed Importance. 1t will diminish by
three thousand miles the distance
which separates Europe from the
western coast of America andOcean-
lea; it will render the communica.
ton with China, Japan, New Zea-
land, and New Holland speedy and
easy by means ofsteamboats; it will
elevate Immediately to prodigious
degree of prosperity those countries
through which such an undertaking
must draw annually two or three
thousand merchantmen; it will open
new channels to the introduction Of
European produce; in word it will
advance by several centuries the
progress of Christianity and civiliza-
ton throughout half of the globe"
Shortly after the publication Of his
phamplet the writer was relieved
from his difficulties, in so far as he
contrived to escape from the prison
in which he was confined. He came
to London, desperately pressed for
cash; and in 1847 made strenuous at.
tempts to float his favorite object.
He proposed to launch a joint.stock
Nicaragua Canal Company, with a
capital of four millions sterling. A
friend introduced him to solicitor;
the solicitor brought him in COM
munication with capitalist to
whom the promoter showed his sta.
tistics and his estimates of costs, and
his plan Of the course of the propos.
ed canal, drawn by his own hand.
There was some talk of the promoter
taking a trip to Central America to
survey the regions to be traversed
by a waterway; but 1848 arrived,
and in due course came February
Oath. 1t occurred to the Sanguine
promoter that there was a scheme
of a far more important nature to be
tloated in France, whittier he repair.
ed without delay, and the Nicarau.
qua Canal Comp. (Unlimited came
to nothing. The name of the pre-
moter was Prince Louis Napoleon
Bonaparte, the prisoner of Ham, the
exile of Chislehurst, the Emperor
Napoleon iii. ~ s..
To this very curious episode in
the Imperial career allusion was TO.
Gently made by Count Ferdinand de
Lesseps, at a meeting of the French
Geographical Society. The great
Engineer has. issued the prospectus
of his 'Inter Oceanic Canal Univer.
salCo. for theC Cutting Of theAmerican
Isthmus,'' and an English version
of it has been transmitted toLondon.
Everything about this stupendous
scheme is worthy of the daring gent
us which severed two continents by
the digging out of the Suez Canal.
As to it's practicability, from f.
nancial and not an engineering
point Of view, opinions will, Of
course, differ. NJ de Lesseps wants
sixteen millions sterling and asks
Tor eight. years to complete his enter.
prise; but he maintains that, after
making the most liberal allowance
for expenses, including interest upon
an after loan in bonds, there will be
enough left to pay the happy share.
holder III per cent. TO this we
must add the benedictions which
future generations of merchants and
shipowners will lavish on him, what.
ever these may be worth in the
money market. Now, if any one
but NJ. de Lesseps had proposed this
scheme it would have been put aside
with as much quiet contempt as the
famous Honduras Ship Railway of a
few years back; and, even as it is,
the broad distinction between the
Panama and Suez projects cannot be
lost sight of. In Central America
there is no Egypt to supply forced
labor to any extent and cash to the
amount ofas many millions sterling
as may be wanted. Yet without
these two helps the SuezC Canal would
probably meyer have been cut at all.
On the other hand M. de Lesseps
now has what he had not in 1868,
and earlier, the prestige arising from
success, and this will powerfully help
him on the Continent. In England
it is to be expected that the pensive
investor, thinking modify Of what
ne lost in the days when it might
have been said, with Hood, 'sOnly
propose to blow a bubble, and, Lord!
what hundreds will subscribe for
soap" will maintain reserved atti.
tude. He will let others dig the canal,
b9qwill ungrudgingly applaud them
when it is finished.