Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1893-01-05
THE PANAMA SCANDAL

THE PANAMA SCANDAL.
Tho Allegations OF WrongdosEE ON 49,
Part of Count De Lcsseps In Connecs.o1
with the lPanana2Canal kecatn ~.
rressional Exnmination OF the ScnsH1
Several Years Ago. which nes"
N0n-Committal Report.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 30. Following the
allegations of wrongdoing on the part
OF Count de Lesseps growing out "a .no
Panama canal scandal, comes w.
assertion that suspicion OF ms entio
honesty was excited Is 1ar ocA
as 1879 in the minds OF men"
bers of congress, and while the 1ace
that suspicion did exist cannot %
verified, some interesting information
that until now did not have this slgniI-
icance NAV be obtained from review
of the history of the canal project IN
the congress Of the United States
On December 9, 1879. the house OF
representatives adopted resolution
empowering select committee 70 ex-
anime into the subject of the SELECTION
of suitable route for the construction
of an interoceanic ship canal across
the American isthmuA
OF the eleven members who served on
the committee some are dead, while
others have retired into obscurity. leav-
ing only one remaining in congress
Senator Frye, of Maine. When asked
yesterday concerning his impression OF
the trustworthiness of Countde Lesseps
and his associates in the matter, as
gained from the testimony OF de Les
seps and others before the select COM
mittee, Senator Frye said his impress
sions of the inquiry were very lndls-
tinct. but he was certain that he had no
suspicion at the time that de Lesseps
was not the honorable man he had al
ways been represented to be.
81 had no suspicion that he was not
entirely what he was represented 10
be-" said the senator, until he changed
the plan of the canal to one requiring
the system of locks after he had Sc
cured his subscription on the repre-
sentation that it would be constructed
on the simple plan of sea level canal
1 believe Lieut.. 'Kimball, of the navy,
who had spent some time on the 18th
mus, first placed suspicion in my mind.
Count de Lesseps had been called on
for a report showing progress. and
Lieut. Kimban told me that he had not
represented the true condition OF the
work of construction. The members
of the committee, were not, I am sure,
suspicious of de Lesseps at the time.
They were, like myself, anxious to dis
cover the best route for ship canal
connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific
oceans. The inquiry developed in my
mind only one conclusion. and that was
that the Nicaragua canal project was
the better, in fact. the only practicable
one. Other members of the committee
were impressed with the Eads ship.
canal plan"
but, whatever may have been the
opinions Of individual members of the
committee in reference to the projects
considered. the inquiry resulted IN
nothing more than the presentation to
the house of series of resolutions re-
affirming the Monroe doctrine and
making no Recommendation concerning
the merits of this or that project
Whether this negative action was the
result of doubt as to the honesty of
the promoters of the Panama project,
has not appeared to this day, and.
judging from Senator Frye's belief, the
members of the committee were
not suspicious, although it is
reported that some of the
of congress were satisfied that
de Lesseps purposely misled the COM
mittee. Agitation of the American
status of the canal project may result
in an investigation that will bring out
more fully the workings of the pro-
moters in this country, and with the
growing propensity of the house Of
for investigating every
subject concerning the national gov
eminent that has suspicion of corrup-
ton attached to it, it is not improbable,
that some such inquiry may follow.