The patron of husbandry., 1882-05-06
~ The Ship-RaiIway.

1here is no question before Con
gress of as great importance as that
of the construction of the Ship
Railway at Tehuantepec. The
completion of the Railway not only
means the establishment of a per
manent water competition which
will compel the trans-continental
railroads to relax their grip upon
the throats of the producers, but
it also means the opening up of new
and valuable markets to the pro-
duts of our soil. After Capt. Eads
removed the bar at the mouth of
the Mississippi river, the products
of the mighty valley had ready ac-
cess to the markets of the Atlantic.
When he shall have removed the
isthnian barrier, the markets of the
Pacific will be open to us also The
benefits flowing from the success
ofthe Jetties are almost stincalculable
The export Of cereals from New
Orleans in 1851 was in amount eight
times larger than in 1874 the year
before the Jetties were completed.
Who can estimate the value of the
results which will follow the con-
struction of an isthmian transit way?
The total cost of the Ship Railway
would be but as ga drop in the
bucket compared to the enormous
returns which the investment would
guarantee to our people. If the
Government of the United States
were to invest the whole estimated
cost, S75,ooo,ooo, in the work, the
money could not be better invested
but as Capt. Eads only asks guar
antee of 6 per cent. annual divi-
dends on $5o,ooo,ooo, and as the
bill now pending provides for the
ultimate return to the Government
of every dollar advanced by it, we
are at a loss to understand why |
Congress should for a moment
hesitate in granting the desired aid.
The bill also guarantees that the
company shall, for ninety nine
years, not only transport over its
railway all vessels, mails, troops,
and property of our Government
free of charge, but it also provides
that for a like period, all vessels be-
longing to citizens of the United
States and registered in the United
States, shall be transported upon
the railway for fifty per centum of
the tolls charged for transportation
of the vessels of any other nation
except Mexico. The great benefit
of this discrimination in tolls to our
commerce is apparent. 1t would
bring our ships at once into sue
cessful competition with those of
England and France and in time
we would be able. to monopolize
very large share of the carrying
trade
Cheap tolls to our vessels will
result in cheap transportation OF our
products, and every dollar saved in
the cost of transportation is dollar
in the pockets of our farmers.
Capt. Eads is not required by the
concession which he obtained from
Mexico to seek aid only from oar
Government. Should Congress re
fuse to pass the pending bill, Capt.
Eads can, and no doubt will, go to
England, and English capital, ever
on the alert to grasp all commercial
advantages, would not hesitate to
accept proposition which we in
our blindness had rejected. In that
event, English commerce would en-
Joy all the benefits now. 80 freely
| offered to our own, and we would
be left to regret too late our mex
cusable folly.
No Senator or Representative
who has the interests of his people
at heart can fail to give his earnest
support to the S:1ip- Railway pro-
lject,