The New York herald., 1879-09-05
DE- LESSEP'S. GREAT SCHEME.
An American Delegates Adverse Report on the
Proposed Panama Canal.
How THE CONGRESS- WAS MANIPULATED
French Pride Aroused to Fur
ther Private Ends.

| DR.. w. e. Johnston. delegate OF the American
Geographical Society the international Congress
lately held Paris to consider proposed routes
for an interoceanic canal through the Isthmus of
Panama. prepared areport the proceedings of the
Congress. which has just been placed in the hands
of Chief Justice Daily the president Of the Geo.
graphical Society The document bears date. paris,
August 15." and in opening Mr.. Johnston explains
his. motives for choosing that time for putting his
views record. he says that. as the subscription
failed in France the agitation in favor of the scheme
is likely to be transferred to this country. and he
considers it the highest Importance that the Amer
can public should be fully posted to the manner
in which the Convention was manipulated" and
the vote in favor of the Panama scheme obtained.
His account Of the affair is in respect favorable
the project or reassuring to the methods by which
its adoption was brought about.
THE REPORT.
The text of Mr.. Johnston's communication is as
PARIS August IL. 1870.
Chief Justice DAILY. President OF the American Geo
My DEAR sIn-i did not render you at the mo-
ment account Of the proceedings OF the Inter-
oceanic Canal Congress in this city two months ago.
was not able at that time to do
The subscription has failed. but M. de Lesseps
announces that the project is not abandoned. and
that he going to the United States to try to inter-
est the people In the scheme. As the agitation
the subject is going. therefore, to be maintained.
and perhaps transferred to the United States, you
will need all the data the subject is possible
obtain For this reason and because the American
part the affair has been perverted. feel it be
duty to go back and give you the history OF the
ceedings of the Congress and its accompanying in
As have taken the liberty of informing you IN
previous letters the French people had come to look
upon this canal question exclusively their own.
For many years the press and the public of the
country had talked and acted as II they had mon
efforts of the American government nor to the sur
veys OF our able naval officers, or If they were
srred to it to deprecate their value or to throw
doubt on their sincerity. 1t charged in
print that these officers bribed by the railway
companies to slur over their work and not to find
possible route. In country full of money seeking
outlet this state of things naturally begot null
titude of schemes for an interoceanlc canal. You
would hardly believe how many people were spend
ing their time and money the last few years
on this. for them, empty bubble. the pre-
tended inertia OF the Americans all this
railway companies All OF these schemes were sub
mtted to Nj. de Lesseps and were encouraged by
him. He is the great canal digger. His influence
with his countrymen is legitimate and universal;
he kind hearted and obliging but he is ambitious
also-perhaps not more SO than other people-and
appeared SO anxious to attach his name to the
cessful company that he gave his consent to all.
forward that he announced publicly his sympathy
and cooperation. These men were Messrs. Wyse.
Turr and Bixlo. Lieutenant Wyse, of the French
| Navy, is . Of former English minister at
Athens, and his mother was Princess Bonaparte OF
the Roman branch Of the family. General Turr is q
Hungarian and married Lieutenant Wyse's second
sister. NJ Bxio was q brother Of the Minister
Bixio of the Provincial government Of 1SAs. He
! died of fever the isthmus.
ORIGIN OF THE CONGRESS.
! These gentlemen. backed by some bankers and
personal friends their visit to the sthmus
three years ago, and examined of the Atrato
routes They came back sick, reported unfavorably,
and aftor some months consultation. in which NJ
de Lesseps took large part. it was decided that
Lieutenant Wyse should return to the isthmus and
look at the Panama route. with the view Of making
and the affair to which the public in France
would be most likely to subscribe The survey
made, how imperfectly was afterward shown In tho
| Congress, by the abandonment OF all the fgures
OF the plan, the party returned to Paris and
last winter the plan or campaign OF putting through
congress was to be called so as to give authority to
the scheme. M de Lesseps was to preside at
president had the right to constitute the Congress
US he saw fit enough French members of the right
invited to counterbaance any opposition
that might manifest itself. SO far as Lieutenant
Wyse and party were concerned. they sought, hrst
to reimburse themselves the losses already sus
tanned, and for which they were responsible to cer
tain bankers and friends and this they hoped to do
the responsibilities they had incurred. This the
origin of the famous Congress. 1t was not. as you
see very high toned affair; it was not intended
that It should be- The object was to get out Of
old debt by creating new one. to be shouldered by
some one else. The digging of Panama canal was
fair But it turned out that the Congress-
became very serious and very grave
Countries began to arrive the hope Of Carrying out
the prepared programme diminished. The great
satisfaction which was at first manifested at the
prospect of having large and respectable gather
ing, soon gave place to sad reflections and sad
mises. The arrival Of tho two eminent American
authorities. Messrs. Ammen and Menocal. was u
deathblow to their hopes and, although those two
gentlemen wore treated with the greatest considers
was disaster. and that new base of operations
would have to be adopted. There Is nothing in
fact more curious in the history Of caucuses than
the evolutions of this Congress. Not only was the
president of the Congress named in advance but so
also the officers and the committees. and even
fbaxr rnpk fha nvUt fAsQ N MT h
ing. it was intended. was to be left to
hazard. AT the first meeting. at which
Interested in the subject. nothing was done or
allowed to be done but the reading Of the names of
the members, the names Of the committees and
their presidents and indication of the work they
were to do The first meeting did not last an hour.
no one had WORD =" say Du, ,ne presa.n. ana sec
| distinguished guests who had come a long way to
the study of the interoceanic canal project was c
NAKED at the end by the president hastily adjourn
| ing the meeting with tue remark. "Gentlemen, We
are going to rush this thing rAmericaine. We
shall get through by next Tuesday, Thus not only
was the Congress packed and manipulated so as to
run through hastily and without fail the imperfect
and impossible scheme of Lieutenant wyse, but the
most distinguished and honorable experts from all
parts of the world invited to give their aid aud
to cover 1t with their responsibility.
AMERICAN DELEGATES.
1t was hardly dignfed therefore, for men holding
high rank as government delegates to take their
seats in a congress which had been gotten up for q
certain limited and well defined object and in which
no proposition outside the programme stood the
least chance oi huoption. rortuhhtcy american
government had given such instructions to its dele
gates as would meet just such an emergency. They
were simply to furnish to the Congress, for its in
| struction the facts and figures collected at the
bureau in Washington, without plcdging the gov
ernment to anything. Their mission was mission
! OF goodwill and not of partisanship, and IL the
| Congress did not benefit by 1t the govern
ment OF the United States and its delegates
were not blame. When IL came the turn of Messrs.
| Ammen Menocal to give to the Congress their
| figures and estimates of the different routes
| plete revolution took place in the Congress. The
great body OF able engineers who had come to the
| Congress nupledged to any route. and who had
| come seriously to study the question without
| prejudice, were astonished to find that nobody in
| Europe knew anything about the question. The
expose of the American delegates was revelation in
fact to the whole Congress- The estimates of Lieu
| tenant wyse were shown to be as fictitious as IL
| made in Paris without his ever having visited the