Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1881-12-07
Capt. Eads, Ship Railway.

0ack from the adventurous epOcn anC
from the busy brain of Cortez. The "wilC
surmise" which held Balboa "silent upon
peak in Darien" very soon gave way t
a depressing conviction that there was an
obstacle in the way of Columbus idea o.
reaching the east by way of the west, and
Cortez was not content with merely con
quering Mexico as long as anything re-
unsined beyond. He made a pei sonal ex
ploration of the Coatzacoalcos, the river
of the isthmus, with a view of establishing
a portage across the shol path to the South
Sea. for the rich commerce of ZipaDgr
and far Cathay. Spain thought we'll ol
the project, and, after three hundred years
of thanking. issued a decree in 1914 author.
izing the attempt. But the revolution
had already started, and prevented all fur
ther proceedings until 1S42, when the re
public granted concession to Don Jose
de Garay to build railroad there. The
Garay concession lapsed. although the gov
ernment of the United States was prepared
to pay fifteen millions of dollars for II right
of way across the isthmus. and authorized
the commissioners of the boundary treaty
to offer that sum to Mexico. This too fell
through but after the gold discoveries of
California our government kept it's eye on
the isthmus, and has since made two sur
veys for the purpose of determining the
practicability of canal. These surveys
were made by General Barnard in 1851,
and by Commodore Shufeldt in 1870; but
it looks as if the isthmus was waiting for
the ship railroad for in the interval three
successive concessions were made to Mex.
leans, and one to an American company,
vet the Panama Canal, twelve hundred
miles farther away from us, was begun
before the Mexican government turned a
willing ear to the idea of Eads.
The idea of Eads is that wherever a
canal can be dug to float ship. a railroad
can be built 10 carry ship, and, strange
and novel as the idea sounds upon its first
mention, the most sober minded and com
petent engineers of this country and of
England declare that it is scientifically
sound and quite practicable.
The Tehuantepec project is already well
advanced, and under circumstances that
promise speedy success. The concession
which the Mexican government gave to
our fellow countryman is the most liberal
that any government ever granted to a
private individual. 1t exempts his com.
pany from taxes and duties of all kinds,
ives him right of way and full control OF
tolls and regulations. As one of the few
opponents OF the bill in the Mexican Con-
gress put it, the grant made Eads sover.
eign of the isthmus in place of Mexico,
which had abdicated. Its Importance to
US consists in the fact that the charter
permits the company to discriminate in
favor of the commerce of any nation which
aids in building the work. If this provis-
ion is made use Of, it may open to us a way
which we mourn the loss.
Our country, which possesses the larg.
est coast line and the finest harbors in the
world, and which, in its lusty and adven.
turous youth, ranked second only to the
mother county in the strength of its mer'
chant marine and navy, has fallen so far
to the rear that it hardly carries one
twenty fifth part of its own foreign com
merce. We have lost our vessels, our sea
manship, our prestige, our naval strength
and those substantial profits which flow
from ocean transportation and from the
industries connected with it. The most
liberal of all people toward foreigners in
all other respects. we have sunk TO the
level of the old Spanish exclusiveness in
Mexico with regard to our coastwise trade,
and we do not allow an Italian, or Nor
wegian, or an Engli.hman, to trade along
our coast, well knowing that, if we allow.
ed them to compete with US, we would be
d iven out of the competition. The prob
lem of remedying this disgrace and restor-
ing our commerce to its natural position is
one which craftsmanship and self interest
have both failed to solve. If the building
of the Tehuantepee ship railway should
open the way to solution of it, it would
be worth more to US than the fifteen mil
lions we offered thirty years ago for the
mere right Of way. This is the considera'
ton which leads the projectors Of the
enterprise to count on the aid of this
nation. If the worlds commerce can be
than around Cape Horn, it will 60 there
if it can be carried more cheaply in Ameri.
can bottoms than in English bottoms, il
will 60 in American bottoms; and it is a
question in which American capitalists and
American citizens all have an interest
namely, to discover whether II rebate o
thirty five or fifty per cent on transit due:
would enable US to compete with England
our chief mpetitor-while at the same
time permitting the company to make
enough money to earn interest on its cost
This is the question which was before con
gress last winter, and which will be sub
mitted TO its wisdom again next winter
Hayper's Magazine for November.