Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-05-12
From Our Regular Correspondent
Paris Letter.
PARIS, France, April 26, 1880

PARIS, France, April 26, 1880.
The complimentary banquet offered TO
NJ. de Lesseps was given last evening in
the grand hall of the Continental hotel. NJ.
Paul Dolloz, in short, well chosen speech,
proposed the toast of the ovening-"The
health of NJ. de Lesseps," who, he said,
had opened II passage for ships through
the sand of the desert,and was intent upon
making breach through the Cordileras
in reply, said that he counted on the
efforts of France and the press to enable
him to complete the great circular move
ment which will follow the rotation of the
earth, and avoid the perils of the Cape of
Good Hope and Cape Horn. In opening
the Panama canal, we shall, he said, be
assisting the work of civilization and hu-
manity. The cost of the enterprise will
certainly not exceed 60O,00O,OOO t., much
less than that of the Sucz canal. lie then
gave II hasty sketch of his tour and ex-
pressed satisfaction with his success in
the United States. lie related how he
overcame the scruples of the Americans,
who were disposed to resent the piercing
of the canal in neighboring state by ask
ing them whether they would dream of
opposing John Bull were he to commence
the formation of one in Canada. BY dint
of reasoning and answering all questions
put to him, NJ. de Lesseps brought the
Americans round TO his ideas, and left
them with liberal offers of support. On
leaving Paris he had three difficulties TO
dispose of. The first objection made to
the scheme was the insalubrily of the
climate of Panama. This he set aside by
taking his family with him, and during II
stay of seventy-three days, not one of
them was ILL. Another, and a greater
difficulty, lay in the necessity of proving
the practibility of the enterprise, and this
M. de Lesseps claims 10 have done to the
entire satisfaction of all concerned. After
carefully studying the ground he finds that
there is only Il mountain five kilometres
long to be pierced to unite the two streams
of the Rio Chagres and the Rio Grande,
which fall respectively into the Atlantic
and the Pacific. The isthmus of Panama
at this point only measures seventy-three
kilometres across and cannot be compared
to the isthmus of Suez, which measures
one hundred and sixty-two, and where the
workers had no water, no lodging, and
nothing but burning desert to rest upon.
The American difficulty, NJ. de Lesseps
says, has been overcome, and America
accepts the canal,as does France, knowing
it to be for the good of humanity and the
civilization of the world.
Writing in Figure on the vexed question
of II dissolution, M. Maynard remarks that
it seems to be desired by M. Gambett,,
but not by NJ. Grevy. NJ. Gambetta, how
ever, may not gain his point. and the
conservatives should consider how it NAV
affect themselves. The extreme radicals
are already crying out against the propo.
sition, for they declare that they would be
taken by surprise before their organiza-
ton was complete and before they had had
time to convert France to the pleasant
idea of being represented by five hundred
trinquets. Trnquet, may observe, is
communist expating his offenses in New
Caledonia.