New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-12-16
n DE LESSEPS'S DOWNFALL.

The downfall of man of genius like NJ. dc
Lesseps naturally excites sympathy ana re-
greet. He has earned his title as the Orahu
Frenchman. Since the completion OF the ouez
Canal he has been indisputably the first clazen
Of the Republic. picturesque and heroic
figure in the annals of modern progress, he has
helped bv his fame to make France great at
critical period in her political history when her
statesmen, politicians and intrguers were con-
spring to belittle her reputation among nations
The collapse of his ill-fated Panama enterprise
bankrupts not only a horde of credulous share
holders. but also his fame, which had become
one of the inspiring traditions Of modern
France The worlds stock of genius is never
at any time so large that the displacement OF
commanding personality like that of Nj. de
Lessons can be regarded with indifference and
cynicism
NJ. de Lessepss msfortunes may legitimacy
be traced to his extraordinary successes The
Suez Canal was a vast project which was OPP
posed by Governments, statesmen, capitansts
and engineers. The nation which had the
largest and most direct interest in its compile
ton denounced and ridiculed it as an imprac-
Gcable and chmerical undertaking. One Eng
lish Ministry after another displayed stupid
obstinacy in blocking the progress OF water
way which was to shorten the lines OF COM
mupication with India and Australia. English
engineers united in declaring either that the
/ canal could never be finished or that 1t could
not be kent open if it were once cut through.
English capitalists discredted the enterprise
as one Of enormous cost, which could never by
any possibility be made remunerative. NJ. dc
! esseps was without allies in Europe, and at
the outset stood almost alone in France. The
construction Of the canal was pre-emnently the
work Of one man Of indomitable energy, mex
haustibe force and sublime faith in his des-
tiny. Gradually he overcame every obstacle
in his path. Without securing the support OF
great fnanciers he enlisted the aid of host OF
small investors in his own country. Depend
ing solely upon the good will and active CO.
operation of a broad minded Egyptian ruler, he
persevered in his colossal undertaking, ana with
untiring patience and consummate tact won
first the liberation and then the sympathy OF
Government after Government. No other
European could have achieved the triumph
which was peculiarly his own, when the canal
proved one of the greatest engineering and
financial successes of the age.
When NJ de Lesseps appealed to the same
class of small investors who had supported his
first project to furnish him with the capital re-
ouired for cutting the Panama Isthmus he had
the enormous advantage Of trading upon his
previous successes. Did the engineers pro-
nounce the new enterprise impractcable That
was nothing; so had they predicted the failure
of the Suez Canal. Were capitalists alarmed
by the estimates of cost and the narrow margin
left for possible returns from the investment
That, too, was nothing for equally positive hac
they been in demonstrating the financial ruin
of his first work. Were there new menaces OF
international complications caused by European
ealousies and the American Monroe Doctrine
That, too, was nothing for Governments hac
strenuously opposed the other canal, and then
resistance had finally been overcome by his In
flexible will 1t was enough for the French in
yestors that VI. de Lesseps staked his reputa-
ton on the feasibility of the Panama Canal
They took him at his word, and year after yea
poured their accumulated savings into the rocky
defles which he was scratching rather thar
piercing.
NJ de Lesseps had succeeded once with thu
whole world against him, and Frenchmen be
lieved that he could not fail. Their faith II
him was not more profound nor more unques
tioning than his faith in himself. Nj. de Les
seps was fatalist so far as the future OF HI
own enterprises was concerned. He could no
he convinced as late as Wednesday that thu
Panama Company was doomed. He was still
intoxicated with his own hopes. Like drown
ing man snatchng at straws, he still believed
that his enterprise was safe and that genius ant
good fortune would carry him through. Thi
is the pathetic side Of the collapse of the mos
reckless speculation since the South Sea bubble
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