New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-05-03
THE NEW FIELD OF WEALTH
WHAT THE PANAMA CANAL WILL DO.

which YOUR country is likely to derive from J."
Whenever | have come in contact Win any vi
your fellow-countrymen who felt soino app
sion in regard 10 the objects OF the '"0
misunderstanding have beeu quickly 0i0"io" VI
.na sbort conversation has always been sufficient
to dissipate all fears
Il is. then with pleasure that take the oppor-
+nnitv which Won offer me for few minutes chat
with the people of the United States whom nave
visited. whom admire, and who have supplied me
with 40 excellent co-laborcrs for the worK OF tno
Interoceanic Canal.
Tho limited States will he the most Important
customers of this canal and they will be It's prin-
c;nal benefciaries. So made 1t point 10 COMIC ~
an understanding with them before appearing 10
the capitals of the world in order TO organize '"o
company for the cutting of the American iS'",""'
There was no intention-as some persons nave
yentured to insinuate-Of forming company io'
the promotion of the cOlonzinS schemes OIL eniS U.
that nation but universal company, withou'
political affiliations with any Government ""'0'
would he administered commercially III the ecuoi"i
interest of trade the basis oil It's future pfoSPo'S
,rbe interests of mankind, when they are promoted
in proper way, are great pacinoaVoiS'
ponoma Canal. as | said in 1872 will be an arti-
eel Rosnborus. which will put the cities OF the
Pacific coast in easy and rapid communication WIN
the American shore of the Atlantic and Win
Europe. which will unite by maritime route can
Franci.co with New-Orleans with PhIadeiphia'
with New-York, with Boston. The citizens Oh Tue
limited States who are men OF Affairs III inc peSV
sense of the word can have and IN iact uo n"'o
only kindly feelings for the Panama Cana'' WINCH
will contribute powerfully to the Development Vi
their commerce with Eastern Asia ana Ocean'ca'
with the lands bathed by the Pacific and the North
Atlantic. and which will wonderfully facilitate
their coastng trade from one ocean to the other.
When the canal is opened the actual conditions OF
commerce between those two oceans VIII DC 'iS'S
modified and the past Will cease to be the measure
of the future. The cutting OF the American ist'"'
will do as much for the prosperity OF the uniteo
statas as was done by tho excavation of the
Egyptian Isthmus for the well-beng oil the mari
time nations of Europe. and even more
That which. up to the present time, has prevented
pubiic opinion in the United States from becoming
unanimous on the subject of tho Panama Canal Is
probably the i'll founded fear still felt by soho
private interests that they will fnd in the canal
dangerous competitor. Your great railroad COM
panies seem to dread the facilities that VIII he
secured to navigation between the two SHORES oil te
Union They understand that they Will be Obliged
TO reduce their rates, which at the same time are
likelv 60 become more stable. They right IN 80
thinking: but they are wrong in believing that
they will not be repaid literally for the necessary
sacrifices They will profit by the great develop
ment in interior commerce which Will necessarily
sprine from the new facilities for expectation.
They will see sprngng up or expanding on all their
lines agricultural commercial. industrial centres,
and their profits will increase at the same time that
their methods aud system will become more liberal
and more advantageous for the merchants, the
farmers and the dealers.
On the American coast there is mart which Will
profit more than any OF those now open upon the
Atlantic. San Francisco, which is already your
principal port upon the Pacific Ocean, Will draw TO
herself considerable part of tho new traffic; shs
will become the chief emporium of the two worlds
upon that ocean. and she will be likewise the
privileged provider. because she has behind her one
of the most fertile plains on the long American
coast llne That plain is an immense storehouse oil
wheat of barley, of fruits, OF wines and OF WOODS.
Moreover, thanks to the Panama Canal. the
lumber of California will be sent to the marts of
tho Atlantic Oregon, Washington and the islands
which hem the coast from Vancouver AS far as
Mount Fairweather will be able to sell their
products everywhere. European immigration.
TAINTED by the natural riches of those regions, will
bring TO them its arms, its funds, its spirit Of
progress.
Ii is q question of lessening by four thousand
miles the length of commercial voyages of limiting
the dangers of passages. of reducing the cost OF
navigation, of insurance and OF mlddemen, OF
diminishing the losses in interest and exchange, and
consequently of lowering the prices of commodities
while augmenting their consumption. stimulating
their production and opening new field TO human
activity.
Is it necessary for me to dwell on these thingsf
Are not the services which the Panama Canal-that
marvellous means of drawing together nations and
Al, f1otor IL,
indicated by the manifold efforts which have been
made since the discovery of America, to secure the
opening of a maritime way between the Atlantic
and Pacific oceansf
Major Mcfarland, In an official report to your
Government, has demonstrated in an iTrefntable
manner all the technical difficulties which stand
in the way of making practicable maritime
canal across Nicaragua So it is that one of your
principal sip-owners, Mr.Arthur b. Ross in a letter
which he has written to the Secretary of the Navy
of the United States and which has been commnni-
Gated to the Senate at Washington, has thoroughly
elucidated tho question that you put III your
letter, making conspicuous, with an ndlsputable
authority the usefulness OF the Panama Canal fol
the American wheat trade.
Here is the comparison which he makes:
Suppose a sailing vessel, worth $4,000, begins or
January to load ut New-1Ork Tor san francisco
by way of Cape Horn. She sails on February
ai,d reaches San Francisco on June /. During si1
weeks TINS vrsSe IS dischargiDg her cargo ana load
ing with California wheat for Liverpool
She leaves san Francisco on July 10, reaches Liver
pool on November 10. discharges her cargo anC
sails ia ballast for New York. where she arrives
about December 81, thus finishing her year o.
yoyagng.
Ne will estimate the profit realized by the owner
of this vessel OH the trip from New-YOrk 10 Sal
Francisco at SO 90 per ton. This amount will BIO il
hand when the cargo is discharged at San Fran
cisco. The amount in hand may he handled in thi
way:
June 49, Ship of 900 tons at IS so. 900 OF
Interest that sum at per cent per year.
from .Iune Is 10 Dec. 31......-........... 400 81
july Is. Departure from San Francisco for
London, with 1000 tons OF California wheat
al BIB net per 2o,OOO W
To this In hand for freight add: