The New York herald., 1879-09-05

the interoceanic canal. and that not to be
thought of for moment. They had been claiming
as have already told you. for years the monopoly
of this question: they claimed all the knowledge
the subject; and to back out now would be to lose
an tme money t acu ~ sn Which che was
tain and to lose their popularity besides. The Con-
gress would have been dissolved without decision
than have adopted another than the French
HOW THE pEs1REp RESULT wAs OBTAINED.
But how this to be accomplished? M. de Les
seps' galoping Congress adjourned for several
days. We heard more of rushing the thing
through d pAmsr,caase. They had to stop to change
their base. lieutenant wyse. with such Of the able
engineers were pledged to his scheme, went to
work in secret committee and labored night and day
till they elaborated new plan, to cover, as they
thought the objections of Mr.. Menocal and with. OF
course much higher figure of cost. The committee
having in charge the estimates on the probable
coipts and expenditures of the canal instructed
by the President to try and make the receipts cover
the new % estimate Of costs, which they did
fcan engineers. backed this time by over
Z iwhelming arguments by Sir John Hawkshaw.
showed that the plan still defective, and again
the Congress was adjourned to give time to the
Wyse secret committee to get up new figures and
new plan na ,ntS anS %as now 9R
= walk and all to allow Lieutenant wyse to prepare
estimates difficult details which he had never
studied the ground and which, therefore, were only
theoretical The majority of the engineers in the Con-
gress lost their interest in the proceedings from
this moment and became simple lockers on, while
the Congress relapsed back into its original charac
ter Of u Congress for the benefit OF Lieutenant
wyse and his party The Congress was now
engineers, on the other the business mon and the
spectators. 1t looked at one time as IL the Con-
gress If called upon would have voted for the plan
of Mr.. Menocal by Nicaragua The charter of Mr..
Wyse from the Colombian government exacts the
building of the canal by the most economical route,
and to build it by the dearest route is violation
and forfeiture of the charter; but those difficult
ties which were pointed out to tho Congress, no
longer stopped the proceedings. The Wyse party
had now offered their ultmatum. which
open cut without locks and with dscersoir or side
canals. the whole to cost s25oOOOOo0 and TO pay in
receipts $1S, ,000.00 year.
At this point NJ de Lesseps made long speech
He is tenacious well as able. and did not pro-
pose to suffer defeat. He commenced by sew
era propositions, which are true, rs. for example,
that in looking at the map Panama appears to be the
right place for canal: that this route already had
railroad and thriving city at each end which would
facilitate the construction OF the canal 1t could there
be built without locks. in his opinion, which was
which new and rather astonishing, but which
nevertheless produced marked effect in avor of his
many of the problems connected with it were
unsolved and looked dark; but that, as they
progressed and difficulties crowded upon them.
men Of genius sprung up to meet and con-
quer tho difficulties. The same. he said, would
take place in this new enterprise. For every dilii
Guilty there would be found man Of genius capable
of conQuering 1t. As for the money, there
plenty in France; the enterprise was French. 1t
would add Largely to the glory Of France and the
scription books The effect OF this speech enor-
nous. The American engineers had shown that the
fall of twelve feet Of rain. impossible; that It
never could be finished IL commenced, nor made to
pay dividend il finished. 1t all to purpose;
Lieutenant Wyse and his committee had but to retire
to their consul tation room to find at once in their
own heads the figures necessary to head Off
Mr.. Menocals figures. 1t was the game Of II
you, and go you one better" played by men who
had no cards. but plenty Of money. The next day
the final meeting and the final voting were to take
place The question had been placed on national
and patriotic ground; had arrived at the
moment Of Sublime resolutions" Of those ''sub.
n1,,t xv1,i bava ulc
the ridicule of France; they were going to carry
hundreds of millions OF money abroad for the good
but the money they had; it would require men
OF genius, but these also they had; the absurd
barrier which nature had thrown up between
the two going to fall before the force Of
French genius and the power of French money. 1t
was impossible in the absence OF any practical
figures, not to grow ischrymose over the Panama
route. Nevertheless, the intelligent Chairman was
not going TO trust the vote to any hazard which
ing the meeting that the voting should be nominal;
that each member Of the congress should be called
up in alphabetical order to declare, by yes how
WORD but only by word; and, in he had
much to say. that it should be said in writing. ad
vpfinS certain wsverins frenchmsn were prevented
from dodging an Affirmative vote.
M DE LEssEPs WORD.
AS the voting went certain delegates, by at
tempting to make speeches against the project and
against the mode Of voting. irrtated M. de Lesseps
to such point that he suddenly exclaimed, for the
:
that he would take charge OF the canal himself, and
that they might be that IL he took hold OF it
the canal would certainly be cut. and cut quickly.
honestly and economically This announcement
electrified the house. not only because NJ de Lesseps
is much loved and is really the best man for the
work, bat because it was plank of safety thrown
to . scheme which was being saved with difficulty.
After this the voting was more cheerful and when
finished counted up "a yeas and 62 nays and absen-
tions, on total of 1856 registered delegates. When
my name called declared that abs tanned from
voting ON the ground that only one ro ute was put to
aud nnno Of fho rou had haap enff.
cieny studied hope that this vote will meet with
the appreciation of your honorable society. or the
three-Admirsl Ammen, Mr.. Menocal and Professor
Lawrence Smith-voted with the abstentionists on
been suficientiy elaborated, while the other three
voted in the Affirmative II it be thought the word
'abstention' was too mild WORD to be found in
the mouths OF American delegates, it must be
stated In extenuation that these delegates were
met and surrounded during their whole stay
dned aud fated that they will be excused for lacking
the heart to look their entertainers in the face
pronounce 80 harsh word ss "no." An analysis
of the final vote will show that the able engineers
who came to the Congress with their minds free
from prejudice. and with desire to arrive at tho
truth. to be found among the absentecs voting
with the abstentionists Thus. as the majority TOR
the Wyse scheme was small. as the neutral experts
ming to end manipulated in the interest of that
scheme, 1t may be said that, from international
point OF view, the decision of the Congress was no
decision at all, and that 1t ~ without force and not
binding. Thus. too, although great use
is being made Of this sanction Of the Con-
gress, and although the Congress in fact
tanned in its list OF delegates many of the most
distinguished engineers in the world. the whole
affair in reality comedy of the most deplorable
kind, and should have no weight Whatever in any
Interior measure it may be desirable to adopt Ger
tainly there allusion politics in the Con-
gress. and the enterprise was honestly intended to
be . purely financial one; but every under
stands that the bankers who proposed to take the
intended to shove the shares into the hands OF
the people as rapidly possible that a the end OF
two three years. when the company failed. as it
certainly would, the French government. for mo-
tives OF popularity, might be led to rcspon
sibility in the affair. and then the American Canal
would stand exactly in the dangerous position in
which the canal of Suez now stands-that is to say
with a large portion of its stock In the hands of
powerful government waiting an opportunity when
the protecting Powers were in trouble to utilize its
stock a. it's personal interests mig lat demand.
so well did VI. de Lesseps understand the neces-
sity OF getting his stock into the hands of small
l,.i. mi h..., Lafar N