The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1880-02-17
THE TG6UANTEPBO ROUTE.

Now that Monsieur de Lesseps has act
ually set foot on American soil and shows by
his presence that he is in earnest about his
Panams canalproject, new interest is awak-
ened in the great question of inter-oceanic
connection. At the Paris Congress the only
route voted on as a rival to tho Panama
route, was the Nicaragua scheme, and
thanks to the persistent gable of Adj
miral Ammen, who has been charged by our
Government to look after the matter Of u
connection between the two oceans, this Mic
araugua route has monopolized public atten-
ton to the great detriment of the Tehuante-
pee, one more feasible every way, and one
that will best serve the commercial interests
of the United States. Fortunately u serious
consideration of the whole question
is bringing the Tehuantepec scheme
into some prominence. Both the
Panama and Nicaragua routes are too far
south for the welfare ofthe commerce of our
country, and either one would contribute
more to the wealth of European nations than
they will to that of these United States. II
is barely possible that the cost of a Tehuan-
tepec canal will be something greater than by
either of the more southern routes, but even
if this be SO, what boots it il
II conduce more to our material
prosperity Ought not the advantage OF
having an opeRing for the Mississippi river
through the Gulf of Mexico to the Bay OF
Tehuantepec and cut into the very Pacific
ocean, to be so considered that the Tehuan-
tepec route should not be rejected through Il
false economy The Mississippi river is the
great artery of American commerce, the
mighty outlet for all the West and South,
and if we can get highway between the two
great oceans, such as the Tehuantepec canal
would give us, that will add to the impor-
lance of our own grand river and Of our
Southern gulf, ought we not to do it! Gen
eral Grant is possibly in Vera Cruz at this
time, port SO near the point at which Te-
huaAtepec canal would start, that can we not
hope that he may take M active interest in
this route, at least lar enough to inquire into
it, feasibility? We feel satisfied that if he
ever gave Tehuantepec canal any thought
and informed himself as to estimated cost and
the proposed manner Of construction, that
he would discountenance any other project.
If the coming of Monsieur de Lesseps 10
America will lead to the construction of a
Tehuantepec canal by our people, it will
have effected inestimabe good. What a
grand future would the construction of this
canal insure for New Orleans. Every section
of our Union from its most northern to its
most Southern extreme would be benefited
by a Tehuantepec canal 1t would give to
our country the entire tradeof Mexico, and
Il would develop the trade of that country to
a fabulous extent. 1t would lit from the
heart and the brain of our sister republic the
incubus ofanarchy and misrule that para
lyses il now, and makes it but hiss
ing and reproach in this age of
advancement. It would be the grandest
achievement, this Tehauutepec canal, of this
or any other age since creation dawned. 1t
would make the West AMI South mighty in
deed. and make of the last land of palaces,
the teeming hive of a countless wealth. The
Mississippi valley would bloom as the rose
Of $ rrn.