Los Angeles herald., 1892-05-22

yCb buaJ bACCt vi WUJOl 40 AONOA AACVAA
to rise more than five or six feet. 1t
lies on the west side Of Nicaragua, and
its western shore is only twelve and q
bali miles from the Pacific, 106 feet
above the level OF the ocean. The San
Juan river is from 1000 to 1900 feet wide
and from thirty to 100 feet deep. It is
obstructed in only two places by rapids,
which will have to be reduced.
The first ten miles OF the canal lies
in lowlands, hardly above the level
of the sea, the soil Of which
is being removed by ordinary
dredging. Three gigantic locks will
raise the canal up to the level of the
lake, q height OF 110 feet, when plain
sailing is reached. After the lowlands
comes heavy rocky place two and three
fourths miles in length which will have
to be cut through. This work will take
between four and five years, but with
funds sufficient the entire canal can be
completed in that time. Four miles OF
canal are still to be constructed until
we get to this rock. The stone and rock
TO be obtained there are needed for the
breakwater at Greytown and the Ochoa
dam, which, although vcry large, will
by no means be the largest OF the world.
After some dredging in the lake the
route will be open to point on the old
transportation route of Commodore Van
derbilt, over which many thousand
Cslifornians have passed in early days.
The total height here is 100 feet. The
canal here must be excavated to thirty
feet below the water level and will run
into the Tolo basin, large enough to con-
tain q feet. Three more locks are
needed on this section OF the canal,
which will enter the Pacific ocean at
Brito, small harbor with large
natural breakwater.
"The distance from ocean to ocean is
1904 miles, the actual length of canal to
be built 26.S miles. that of lake, river
and basins 142.6 miles. The summit OF
the level above the sea is ITO feet.
1.-The work upon the canal has proved
trail America, because trade winds blow
the year. The result is that epidemics
and contagious diseases Of any kind are
unknown. A few people, out of several
hundred employees, were killed acci-
dentally, and some who came suffering
from pulmonary diseases were carried
off. Deaths among those who entered
the hospital did not exceed one-half of
per cent. Out of 1900 Jamaica negroes
imported to work in the swamp only
two died in four months. The temper
ature at Greytown is never over 81 nor
less than rs, and at the lake 81 and 20.
"The company has spent $4,000, 600,
and now appeals to men interested in
the canal and the great profit to be de-
rived from its construction. As an
argument that it will pay will say that
the Suez canal cost nearly 100000, 600,
and the annual net income is $4,000
600, while 5000, 600 tons of freight were
carried through 1t last year. Business
has grown 90 that it must now be
widened and deepened.>
ANY one familiar with the products
OF this coast knowe that there is more
freight ready for the Nicaragua canal
than passes through the Suez canal, and
that five years after it's completion
10, 600 900 tons will pass through it.
"The question should also be looked
at from the national standpoint. Dur
ing the late trouble with Chile the
secretary of the navy stated that either
the canal must be built or else there
must be constructed two navies-which
would cost more than the canal,
"If Germany canspend $50, 600 ,O00 to
build canal through Schleswig Hol-
stein to save sixty-tkree miles to her
ships, how much can the American
people afford to spend to save 10000
miles?
"Your congratulations upon your
many transcontinental railways are
right enough as far as passenger traffic
is concerned, but when it comes to com
merce you are farther away from COM
mercial centers than any one else in
the world. What California could pro.
duce if it had a market no man can sug-
gest. While timber is nearly exhausted
in the east and Europe, there is in
Washington, Oregon and California a
crop, which to be made profitable,
awaits a market. While in Oregon
standing timber ia worth so cents to 81
per Thousand, standing inferior timber
in New York is cheap at s.. If the
canal was constructed there lie no exag-
geration in saying that the increased
value of timber would pay the cost of
the canal twice over, and leave aihand-
some surplus for the company.
IF the country is to be developed
from here to Puget Sound, it can only
be done by short and cheap sea route.
The railroads cannot do it and leave the
producer any profit. The territory on
this slope is capable OF maintaining
more people in luxury than there are
inhabitants in the United States, yet its
entire population is only 1000, 900. Five
years after the opening of the canal the
population of the coast will be doubled
and .quadrupled in ten years.
I'm answer to the charge that has
been made that the canal would be a
monopoly and would afford no RELIEF to
the people, l will etate that this COM
pany has never applied to the govern
ment for. aid and never will. All it has
received from it is the franchise. In
reply to the proposition submitted'to
the board of directors OF the company
by the government, after mature refiec-
ton, we said: For purposes of national
defense, and for the benefit of the peo-
Pile, you could have the canal for what
it has cost us, and we should let the Sec
retary Of the treasury audit our ac-
counts. But if the government would
guarantee our bonds, we should be will
ing to tusn over to it 70 per cent of the
stock forever. And in order that all
monopolistic tendencies should become
impossible, we should be willing to let
the secretary of the treasury vote all the
government shares at all meetings. The
enterprise will be profitable undertak-
ing if run as q. private one, and there is
certainty, should the government take
hold of the canal, that the shareholders
would be reimbursed"
After detailing how the matter OF sub
scriptions for stock would be laid before
k1A daA 80