Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1885-11-27
THE T%EHUANTBPEC RAILWAY

"~' @8 msebAA8 Ol ptOlu-
inent business men Of New Orleans at
the Cotton Exchange in that city on
Monday night last to take into con.
slderation the plans proposed by Capt.
J. B. Eads for the construction of a
ship railway across the Isthmus Of
TchuantepeO.
1t is an enterprise Of vast import
ance to the people Of the United States,
but to none more so than the
people of the Mississippi Valley.
Among the speakers who addressed
the meeting were j. Fl. Oglesby, Esq,
Judge Charles E. Fenner, ex-senator
B. F. Jonas, and the great Engineer
and protector of the scheme, Capt. j.
B. Eads. All of the speakers spoke of
the feasibility of and the great benefits
to be derived from the proposed rail-
way.
The following is the substance of
Capt. Eads remarks:
During the construction of the
j%etties at the mouth of the Mississippi
river he had conceived the idea of this
ship railway"
After that he presented the matter
to some citizens Of New Orleans. and
a pioneer syndicate was formed in
which were, among others, Messrs. J..
H. Oglesby, b. D. Wood. Gen. Beaure-
gard, S. H. Kennedy, and Lewis John
son. Subsequently he Went to Mexico
with his engineers and was aided in
every way by the Mexican Govern
ment, who gave a concession and sup.
piled additional engineering skill.
The surveys made established the
fact that the railW ay was practicable.
Since then the speaker had put all his
energy into this enterprise. There
were now some seventy.fve members
of the company. In the measures al
ready taken about $325,000 had been
expended. To-day the enterprise
stands before the scientific world as
the only practicable and feasible plan
Of transporting ships across from
ocean to ocean.
1t was now proposed to ask the Con-
gress of the United States to guaran.
tee 5 per cent. on SIS 1000 600 invested
in the enterprise, the interest to begin
upon the completion of all the works,
one-third of the guarantee to be paid
by Mexico and two-thirds by the Uni
ted States, making $2,500,000 annually
for fifteen years. In consideration of
this concession, it is proposed to carry
the coastwise commerce Of the United
States for thirty years at rates Is per
cent. less than those paid by other ma
tions, Mexico excepted. If the Unitel
States is called upon to pay the guar
antee, it is to be returned whenever
the ship railway shall be able TO declare
dividends over S per cent.
TO avoid any question as to what are
actual net profits, the concession from
Mexico provides that half of the gross
revenue shall be taken upon all &C.
casiOns as the net profits of the road,
and the United States will be asked to
guarantee that two-thirds of these net
profits shall not be less than 81, 500, 1000
per annum for fifteen years, Mexico
having already agreed to guarantee
the other one-third, or $l,250,000 per
annum. 1t is proposed also to give
the United States the same number of
directors in the board which Mexico
reserve to herself, that is, two-ninths
of the whole, the two governments
having four.ffths of the Board of
Directors, and these State directors
will be authorized, whenever the
dividends shall exceed ten pr cent. to
revise the tariff of tolls for the pur-
pose of keeping them down to that
limit for the benefit of commerce
through all time hereafter. Besides
all this, it is proposed that no portion
of the guarantee whatever shall take
effect until after a large loaded vessel
shall have been carried in perfect
safety from ocean to ocean.
Mr.. S. B. McConnico made a few
remarks and referred to the EXPOSE
ton, which had as its object the devel-
opment of commerce between the
United States and the Spanish Ameri-
can States. He expressed his confidence
in Capt. Eads' ability to do what he
claimed he could do, and urged that it
was proper for New Orleans to fully
indorse the enterprise. He read the
following resolutions;
Whereas, the growing demands of
the worlds commerce renders it i'm
peratively necessary that a nearer and
more economical route by sea shall be
opened between the Atlantic and the
Pacific Oceans, than the long and dan
gerouS one around Cape Horn; and
Whereas, the markets of India, China,
Japan and the islands of the Pacific
are practically closed to the United
States by the American Isthmus, while
the Suez Canal has opened those mar
kets to the peoples Of Europe; and
Whereas, the shortest and most sen,
sible of all the isthmian routes is
across the isthmus Of Tehuantepec,
which saves 1000 miles in distance
and twenty days in time over the
Panama route, and 10000 miles in dis
lance and fOur mODths in time ovpr