National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1884-12-12
THE N1cARAeuAN CANAL.


Admiral Ammcn-SOme tacb MOI uehcthuy
Known Presented.
To ne Editor.
While there are other considerations which
might determine our government to execute
great work such as the Nicaragua canal at
even n commercial loss, IL is obvious that
limit exists beyond which action should not
be taken, such for example, would say, as
the sen.lovol canal at Panama, involving pri-
marily from its physical conditions enormous
outlays, cntailing great uncertainty Of results,
and certainly great outlays for its maintenance
in a navigable condition, and from time to
time serious delays from land slides into the
canal The subject presents itself as nbnor-
NAL, dlstastofll, aud unnatural IL not consid-
cred commercially What will the canal cost
aud what for its inalntenanco2 What will be
the minimum tr lllc and what period Of time
VIII be necessary to execute the WORK.
on the present location the englneer's esti-
mate for labor and material Is Sil, 1893 S39 In
every construction OF this kind what IL known
as contingent fund is requisite for machinery,
superintendent, unforeseen difficulties delays,
interest on money sc. More recent examina'
tions assure the fact that the canal location
can be very materially improved but ns thls
has not yet been effected instrumontally no
reduced estimate for labor and material y
admissible, and although considerable VIII
result, II will not be taken now into account.
over the present line of location the cubes are
well ascortalnod and the character OF the
material TO be cxcavated Is approximately
known. The estimate for dredging where the
material eau bc numed Into Its place OF
deposit is 20 cents per cubic yard.
Improved machines make this estimate
than fifteen miles of dredging OF the my
three miles requiring excavation, II further
location does not reduce this ten milosor more,
which is highly probable. On the eastern sec.
finn NJ UHl Ull ptibin Nurta In paTtl Ia uiVpu Mt
30 cents per yard. More than half of this can
be dredged Rnd ilumed TO It's dumping ground
at n cost not exceeding ono.third OF the esti-
mate. Rock excavation In tho san Juan river
Is given ut IS per cubic yard, when 1t can bo
contracted for ut u considerably less hgurc,
The reader will bear In mind that al OF the
engineers estimates were doubled by the canal
commissioners appointed by the President, and
will br here, in stating the maximum cost OF
the canal ut ss2,3hLbIo.
The engineers estimate for earth was 3j
cents, for still clay, 20 cents, and for rock I'm
dumping grounds throughout are very conve'
nlont Us they may well be on u lock canal,
and there arc no cuts of more than ll feet IN
depth above the water level, and they are
quite short. The mean cut above the In
tended water level OF the canal Is less than 10
feet, and the deepest fills are three feet below
IL. As all of tho excavation can be made
with sufficient natural drainage, except the
parts that can be dredged the most economic
conditions exist for the execution OF every
part OF the work, and this would not bc the
case were II u soa.level canal, where blasting
ana removing rock must be slow and expen-
slNc operation
Tho engineers estimates were not made TO
favor the construction of the work; they were
made for tho government. with contingent
OF % per cent, which perhaps would prove
too small, but 1t Is not at all improbable that
the cost OF the canal when executed in tho
best manner, may not exceed s65, 100000, in
tercst included. Without sacrificing economy
nearly every part of tho construction can be
entered upon ut the Same time, aud for this
reason the canal may be open for traffic within
five years from this date,
Admitting the maximum figure for construc-
ton instead of the last named, let us consider
a minimum figure OF tonnage and Of transit
dues. OF immense importance to us prospec-
lively Is our coastlng trade which would pass
through It, ono million tons for the present
would be u low estimate, and in less than half
u century II would be five times that amount.
The grain product for export to Europe of the
north Pacific coast now exceeds 2,0OO,0OO tons,
and the vessels partly laden with iron and
coal, aud partly In ballast going through the
canal for cargo, would be not lesst than l,0O0,OOO
tons. Then We have the trailio to and from
Japan, northern China, the Philippine and
Sandwich islands, the islands of the South
Pacific, New Zealandi aud Australia, to and
from our Atlantic coast and European ports
one million tons would be a small estimate
We have then 5,gO0,OO0 tons plainly In sight as
soon ~ the canal Il open Tor traffic. and will
leave lnt lIAlllt vi iit MHNl tDhkl OF south
America 10 the Panama canal, upon the hy-
pothesIs that II will actually be completed.
With canal dues Of FL ier net ton aud deduct.
ing sl ,OO0JO TOR maintenance OF tho canal and
for towage VIC have si,uJO000 for dividends,
which is a small fraction below per cent on
sS2,3s16ls, the maximum cost OF the canal ar
rived at by doubling tie engineers estimates.
But trafllc Of enormous proportions will
develop from the construction OF tho canal,
without which II would be Impossible, the
timber traffic from Puget sound extending
northward even to Behring's strait, to our east
crn coast, and to Europe. In order to have
conception Of what this viii amount to- let the
skeptic visit the Liverpool steamer Oregon and
examine the thirteen splendid timbers In
bright colors from the slate of Oregon, with
which that vessel Is finished. The yellow
cedar when finished is as beautiful as satin, is
rs easy 10 work as cypress, and surpasses oak
In durability. All of these timbers are superb
and arc TO be found In enormous quantities
convenient for shipment, and can be put on
board OF sailing vessels and auxiliary pro-
pelers ut small cost and with munlhGent
profits, and can be sold In Europe at certainly
below the market price at this time of ordinary
pine plank; add 10 this the constantly.increas
ing wine product of California, and we SEQ at
once what mine of wealth the construction
OF the Nicaragua canal will bring to all of the
Inhabitants Of the west coast, and what an
amelloration 1t will prove to those OF our east
coast and Europe
We may well conceive that the earnest COM
menCement of the construction of the canal
would serve at once to establish Our ship
building interests aud our iron trade, upon
which almost all the prosperity of our indus.
tries depends, and thus revive the entire traffic
of our country We see In this timber trailic
that the canal dues viii soon have TO be re-
duced TO 90 cents per ton TO avoid Il revenue
far above the usual rate of interest paid on an
investment
Such persons MS may object to government
construction of the work are reminded that
our citizens holding u concession were unable
during period OF years 10 obtain OF congress
II simple act OF incorporation. 1t IL idle now
to inquire into the influences that prevented;
the question now is presented In It's simplest
form,
Statesmen may perceive the advantage of
our government constructing the canal rather
than abandoning II TO another government
| They may perceive, too, that after developing
the commercial certainty OF this caual the non
construction of II by US will not prevent It's
construction by Others, We're it only for the
purpose Of silOnong the question politically II
would seem cheap to construct II were the
cost ten times the amount of tue sum named,
| |; would prove a far better economy than
spending double that amount in war, which
would seem altogether u probable result from
nOu-aCtlOn AZ this time. II we do not now de-
| tGrmine on the construction of the canal our.
! selves we certainly would have small reason