Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1889-01-18

the battles OF his party unfiinchingly with
tongue and pen and often wrested victory
from the jaws Of defeat He served in con-
gress with distinction. His refined and
scholarly face was a feature If state and
national conventions, and during the short
rule Of the Wing party he was one of the
prominent men of the nation.
After the overthrow of 1852 he retired
completely from public life. He took little
part in politics, but acted in 1860 with the
American" or Bell-Everett party. The war
reused all his old energy, for he was a de-
voted lover of the Union; and, though not
an original anti-slavery man, be supported
Lincoln's policy zealously, serving most eff
GENTLY as provost marshal of the Terre
Haute district. After twelve more years in
comparative retirement, he was again called
to Washington as President Hayes secretary
of the navy. Thirty-fve years before he had
entered the capital as a congressman. He
appeared there now in the midst of genera
ton that scarcely knew him. and of all his
old southern Whig friends of other days only
Alex Stephens was there to greet him. The
lines Of their two lives had been as divergent
as the mind can imagine. The photographers
had their little jokes about the "ancent mar
liner of the Wabash" and the ''resurrected
Whig," etc.; but Secretary Thompson's ad-
ministration of the navy was a decided sue
cess.
Since the close Of the Hayes administration
Col Thompson, as Hoosiers call him, has
lived quietly at Terre Haute. His duties as
attorney for the canal company have been
light, and he has employed his leisure in
writing History Of the Tariff Laws" in
the United States. Though close upon his
S0th year, he is still in fairly good health
and vigor, and enjoys the respect Of all the
people of the west. The Panama canal fail
ure will no doubt prove the greatest grief Of
his life. He never was business man" in
the common acceptation Of the term; never
had much capacity as money maker, and
accepted the position of American represent
alive Of the scheme only on the assurance Of
eminent engineers that the project was FEAST
BILE. His salary was s25 900 per year.
OF all the men connected with the canal,
however, Ferdinand de Lesseps is most COM
pletely crushed. Ten years ago he was the
most popular man in France, for his Suez
canal had proved a great success in the
face Of all his critics. In 1850 it was an
nounced that many of the original investors
had made fortunes; the French peasantry
and middle classes had realized handsomely
on their smaller investments, and were eager
for NJ. de Lesseps to show them new open
ing. He showed the Panama canal and they
have sunk in it-well, the total loss cannot
yet be announced, but his firanciering has
been reckless beyond anything known since
the John Law scheme or the South Sea
bubble.
The French stand appalled, at the last ex
hibit, which shows that the canal company
| hos lioh 70 t,a 81
s4ls, $780, 600 And Of this only $780, ,O0C
was realized as working capital-all the re-
naming 500, $50, 900 went as interest, com
missions, subsidies, bonuses to promoters and
downright bribery Yes, bribery for nc
other term can be applied to the dealings
with French newspapers and politicians
which were so fragrant as to astonish even
the Americans familiar with Credit Mobilier
For years it was impossible to get true
statement of the facts into any Paris paper
and even after English and American en-
gineers OF the highest standing had demon
strated the total failure Of the plan, but one
newspaper of prominence in France could bt
induced to notice them. The Economist
Franchise did, as early as 1885, begin to show
the folly of the scheme But the hard work
ing and economical French were fooled tc
their fill, and now mourn their lost francs.
The worst of 1t is that the S2J2, 900 paid il
interest and subsidies is all that is saved
most of it is still in France-for all that put
into actual work is as if it had been thrown
into the sea- theoretically $500 600. 900 more
would finish the canal-that is, it would TAX,
out the $50, 000 900 cubic meters Of earth re
manning in the original diagram Of the canal
practically, say all the American engineers
it cannot be finished at all, for the soil is 81
incoherent and the tropical rains SO heavy
that the banks would slide down like sof
putty" till the canal would have TO be fiv,
times as wide at top as at bottom. And il
the center of the isthmus is a reef of hare
rock for which no allowance was made
NJ de Lesseps himself now admits tina
there must be a canal with LOCKS but thu
Chagres river on which he relies, is such al
untamable tropical torrent that the cost o
mastering it is now beyond all compute
ton The most charitable view is that hi
head was turned by the success Of the Sue
canal, and he completely deceived himsel
ard was deceived by his engineers, but it i
hard to reconcile his conduct with common
honesty.