National Republican., 1881-11-04
General Butler and the Isthmus Ca
nal Question.

New York Herald, presents with that
clearness and force which are pre-emi-
nently his own, the arguments against
any inter-oceanic canal whatever across
the American isthmus. He takes the
ground that such a canal would benefit
the people of other nations commercially
at the expense of our own. He fears the
rivalry of British commerce on the Pa
cific coast, and claims that the Asiatic
trade is now mainly our own, because
Asiatic products can be put down in Eng
land by way of our continental railroads
cheaper than they can by way of Cape
Horn, the Cape of Good Hope, or the
Suez Canal.
As to the first objection, we are unable
to see that the Panama Railroad is as
good security against British competition
for the commerce of the Pacific coast as it
appears TO General Butler to be. Let us
see. He says that England can lay
down goods at the end of the Panama
Canalas cheaply as she can in New York"
Did he mean on the Atlantic side? That
she can do now. Did he mean at the Pa
cific end of the canal? Then he must
add the canal tolls. He says: "Now she
and we must sail fifteen thousand miles
around the Horn to do it unless she en-
ploys an American railroad at Panama"
Well, if she employs the Panama Rail-
road it is still only question of the
amount of tolls she must pay. If the
railroad company should charge no
greater tolls than would be exacted by
the canal company, then already would
be realized the Generals fears of British
competition with American commerce on
the Pacific. 1t may be well, too, to con-
slider that the Nation that secured the
majority of the stock of the Suez Canal
rather than pay tribute to foreign cor
poration might find means to possess
itself of the business control of railroad
fifty miles in length, if ever it found itself
excluded from q valuable market thereby.
The South American trade is now monop-
olized by England by reason of favora-
bic rates over the Panama Railroad for
all English freight destined for ports
south of Panama. American commerce
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as well rs on the Atlantic coast of South
America.
1t may well be doubted whether Ameri-
can goods can be laid down in San Fran
cisco by rail for distribution up and down
the coast from Sitka to Magellan Straits
as cheaply rs England can lay them down
by the Panama Railroad. The freights by
the Pacific railroads increase with the
reduction of the miles travelled. Thus
If Nevada and Utah could produce every.
thing for which market could be found
on the Pacific, it would still be cheaper
to buy those products in New York. This
is because freight from New York tc
San Francisco, q distance of three
thousand three hundred miles, is
only three-eighths as much rs it is from
Nevada to San Francisco, distance OF
five hundred miles-SS0O u carload is
charged for the short haul, while only
$500 is charged for the whole distance.
The pooling arrangement between the
Panama Railroad and the Pacific rail-
roads proves that American commerce
is not left free to avail itself of q cheaper
nearly all-water route to the Pacific, and
the easy rates referred to over the Pan.
anna road for South-America-b bound
freight from England close the door in
that direction upon American products
which have paid the high pooled rates tc
reach the distributing point.
The American people derive little more
oI frpp hnt,ipn, o;n 4,
cross our continent by rail en- route for
England than they would from having
them pass through canal at Panama
The freight on teas from Japan TO Sdr
Francisco isHe same as from Japan 10 Ne,,
York. And so San Francisco is not, as
General Butler supposes, the entrepot o
all commerce from the East. In like
manner England can make such term,
with the railroad companies rs will senC
New York to Liverpool for teas which
have passed through the former to thu
latter city.
And so, take it all together, the ques
ton is whether European competition by
canal would be more injurious to Ameri
can productions and trade than HON,
monopoly by rail. We think it would
not. The contest is to be between lane
and water transportation rather than be
tween American and European com
merce.
Our country is as deeply interested as
any other in cutting off the ten Thousand
miles Of ocean travel around Cape Horn
The vast economy Of water over lnnf
transportation will always compel tn,
carriage of large proportion of inter
changing products by ship, even between
the opposite sides of the same continent
The crafty ingenuity of modern times
have devised oppressive contracts
whereby shippers have bound themselves
to abandon water transportation entirely
under penalty of being mulcted in an in
crease of charges upon merchandise tina
must go by rail. But these conspiracie
against the natural lawsof commerce will
in time rebound upon the shallow greeC
which inspires them.
Those who differ with General Butle
as to the desirability of connecting til,
two oceans by a canal, whether favorinl
the Panama or the Nicaragua project o.
the novel idea of Captain Eads, will agree
with him as to the importance of Ameri
can control of any plan that may be car
ried into execution. He talks like thu
statesman when he suggests that insteaC
of clustering about whipping other ma
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