New-York tribune., 1890-03-31


ENTERPRISE POSSIBILITY OF THE
MULTIPLICATION OF THE CONTRACT
BY THE COLOMBIAN GOVERN.
NENT-woRK AT NIoARA-
sUA-AN AMERICAN
POLICY NEEDED.
rvRou s1Arf CORRESPONDENT TIE TRIBUNE.
Panama March H.
Water is a wholesome but insipid drink after
a riotous excess Of cogpac and champagne. Pan
ana, during the period of the French occupa-
tion. enjoyed all the excitement OF prolonged
debauch Before NJ. de Lessepss arrival on the
Isthmus, in January, 1880, 1t was a drowsy town,
which the transit trade had failed to enrich.
In the course of twelve months rents of buildings
were quadrupled the prices Of land within few
blocks of the handsome little Plaza more
than doubled, and the most sober-mlnded resi-
dents were seized with mania for speculation.
French contractors came in, with ahventurers'
nrofcatcs. gamblers and harlots close behind them
For nine years there were high prices, everish eA-
element, business activity, hard drinking and
general demo1lization Champagne flowed ana
diamonds flashed. Improvi1encc in canal manage
ment was matched by reckless play in tae gombng
heus Corruption, bribery and immortality were
rappant. The moral sense Of the staid old
town was perverted long before the collapse OF
the canal enterprise. The mercenary contractors,
the tainted adyenturers, the diamond merchants,
tbc gamblers and the rakes retired from the
Isthmus when their occupation had gone. Panama
awokc from its dcbauch year ago to live on
water in place Of cognac. Rents and real estate
values went down with rush; trade declined;
the throngs Of loungcrs in the great taproom OPP
poste the Cathedral thinned out; diamonds dis
anpcared from the streets; life became painfully
ouet and unevcntful The times are dull, and
Panama Graves the stimulativc effects OF the ola
excitement, pronigacy and riotous living. III dc-
mands with passionate intensity OF lcchhg, thc
completion Of the Panama Canal. III Is mat'er
OF public indifference here whether the WORK pe
done by the French, the English or the AncIi-
cans, SO long as it is undertaken ny some well
couipped body Of capitalists for the revival oil
the business of the town, and, incidentally, for
the welfare Of the maritime world
With the forced chcerfulness and the suppressed
excitement of an unlucky gambler who Is watch
inu the turn OF the cards that Will determine 'he
fate OF his last gold piece, Panama is now await
inc the report of the Canal Commission from raris-
NJ Brunet. liquidator Of the company, In ordcr
70 inspire public confidence in the mismanugea
and collapsed enterprise, appointed an nternatona
commission OF cApfTle anu tuPV"'tN' ~ ~ ]'~
an exhaustive investigation Of the accounts OF
the contractors. and of the plans and estimates
Of the engineers. and TO decide whether the com
petion Of the canal was practicable. This com
mission dispatched TO the Isthmus a delegation OF
five. consisting OF one Belgian one Dutch ana
three French expcrts This delegation has spent
five weeks on the Isthmus, has inspected all the
material and machinery. has made a minute aud
thorourh examination OF every section OF the
nroposcd waterway, and has critically studied
the estimates working plans, and the revised cal
culations OF the engineers. The delegation Is
generally regarded here as most competent Dody
of expcrts Certainly they were discreet men. for
they left the Isthmus last month without impart-
ing "a any one the slightest hint respecting their
impressions and conclusions Nj. Bcrgrs. acting
director OF the company, has informed me that
neither he nor any other canal Official can form
any conjecture in regard TO the report OF The
cxpcrts Everything was done AZ the lsthmus
10 facilitate the investigations OF The Wishing
engineers but no intimations received re-
speciing their own Judgment Of The pracucabihty
OF continuing the work on the canal Tie manage
mcnt here he asserted, was prepared 10 begin
operations at any moment. but could not forecast
the conclusions Of the commission. Important
developments aud decisive news might be expected
from Paris within few weeks.
There are pessimists who can see naught but
evil, folly and calamity in the canal enterprise
and there are optimists who have the faith re-
auircd for moving the Cnlcbra mountain and
restoring ,he flow of financial investments into
this famous ditch. The optimists are the majority
party here, and are heartily supported by public
opinlon on the Isthmus; but the minority cX-
cerdingly acrid in their criticisms and vehement
in their dcnunclations Of canal management The
traveller who runs into Panama 10 await the sail
ing of steamer feels at once the movement Of
these hostile forces. III the morning the canal is
nainied black for him, and in the afternoon
vivid scarlet, and in the watches OF the night
as he listens from slccplchs bed to the nerve
rending clangor Of the cathedral BELL or the cease
less clicking OF glasses In the great bar-room Of
the Grand Hotel, he Is too bewidcrcd 10 dis
crminate between these violent contrasts OF
color. four days stay on the lsthmus
las convinced me that tie truth lies somewhere
between the extreme views which are held by the
enemies and the partisans of the canal That the
management Of the enterprise in all the stages
Of active construction was incapable. reckless,
wasteful corrupt and scandalous cannot be seri-
ously disputed. This is one of the few points
OF agreement between opponents and advocates
Of the canal. Sharp lines OF divergence open at
nearly all othcr points, us n'S "c i'""iiS Illus
,racd.
The present condition of the canal property is
represented, OH the one hand. as incredibly bad.
and on the other, pirnomcnally good The
houses and store sheds along the line are described
as rotting and mildcwng from unccosins damp
ness thr material and machinery as corroding
with rust and rendered practically worthless;
the rolling stock and tracks valuclcss for
future operations; the costly drcdges water
logged and irrctricvably ruined and the bed of
the canal as rapidly filling up with sand at the
Atlantic and Pacific mouths. and as Uttered with Il
rank growth OF tropical vegetation in the intcrmcd
late spaces On the other hand. the engineers and
section supcrintendcnts assert that all the ma
chnery materials and movable property IS in