The state chronicle., 1892-06-15
THE ENICARAGUA CANAL.

The interview with DR.. Hogg, on
this subject, which recently appeared
in the CHRONICLE, has excited so
much interest on the part of many of
our readers that we recur to it again.
Our lands may tremble, as it were. un-
der the weight of cotton and cereals,
and untold riches may be dug from our
mines, but what availeth it all if corn
is to be burned as fuel, because of the
distance to markets, and freight is to
consume the profits Of our mineral
wealth? This is the problem that
now confronts the thoughtful states
man. Its correct solution will confer
lasting benefits upon mankind.
When the great Frenchman pro-
jected the Suez canal he was laughed
at, but the eagle eye of Dsralie
saw the advantages that would accrue
to Great Britain from this new outlet
for comm cree, and he quietly paid the
Khedive of Egypt about $20,O0O,0OO
for his interest. To-day this interest
can easily be sold for $95,OO0,0O0.
And so it has been with nearly all
great enterprises. Discouragement
meets them at the outset, and the
recognition of their Importance is
forced upon the world by practical
demonstrations.
The plea for the Nicaragua canal is
not an exception. The United States,
whose interest is more largely involved,
is slow to comprehend the futurn bear
ing Of this great work DR.. Hogg
tells US that for 400 years the question
of gettiig from the Atlantic to the
Pacific ocean has been discussed, and
that during all this time the idea OF
cutting through the sthmus has been
considered the most feasible. He re.
calls how the unfortunate De Lesseps
squandered lives and money to accom-
plish what appeared as the world,
only idea, and, fresh from the St
Louis conference, where the execu
tion OF another great plan wa
debated, the information he bring
back is worthy of the most careful
study. The reader has only to turl
TO the map of Nicaragua and there b.
will have before his eyes the proposition
and its practicablity. No one inter
csted in trade and business can hesita.
to approve OF this government under
taking the completion Of the Nicaragu
canal. 1t is the question of state.
manship for the century, and why
Because, as DR.. Hogg well says, vii
It's completion the products of Souther
mines and fiells will be placed with
profitable reach of markets heretofor
closed by distance. The cotton of tb
South will be placed nearer to $50
100000 Cinnamon than the cotton {
India or the yarn of Bombay. Th
cereals of the West will the
supply Eastern cities by tn
bridging of distance, and til
furnaces of the world would so,
he compelled, by the law of econom,
to look to Southern mines for fuel
keep them burning. The doubling
Cape Horn would be story of Il
past among sailors, who could the
sail from ocean to ocean over plac
waters. DR.. llogg gives the interes
ing facts that the canal would shortt
the distance from sea to sea by lO,O(
miles, would bring New Orleans witt
in 300 miles of the Pacific ocean, ar
New York within 1000 miles, thus i
creasing the trade of the Pacific with Il
Atlantic side of the continent and in Il
valuation of this trade should be not
that of the foreign commerce of t
countries fronting the Pacific now Va
ued annually at 81, 900, 100000. Su
questions as these are far more impt
tant than the little politics which ma
US mad every day. They elevate o
thoughts, broaden the mind by studyi
them, and, when answered properl
ameliorate the condition of the hum
race.