The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1893-02-07
THE NICARAGUA CANAL.

est IN the Nicaragua Canal bill anC
the subject will certainly be we'll in
vestigated before final action is tskeI
upon it. On January 14th in thu
Senate, Walcott of Colorado Offered
q resolution instructing the Commit
tee on Foreign Relations to inquir,
what sums had been expended upoI
the construction of the Nicsragu,
canal since the account of expendi
lures heretofore rendered. He re
marked that two years ago testimony
was taken by the Committee OIL
Foreign Relations which showed
that up to that time about S3,000,00C
had been expended. Now it was
proposed to give the company Sc
100000 in bonds, guaranteed by the
Government for S12,0O0,000 stock
He did not suppose that it would be
seriously commended that any such
expenditures had been made by the
company within the last two years,
and the purpose of his resolution
was to ascertain what the actual ex-
penditure had been.
Sherman, chairman of the Com
mittee on Foreign Relations, said he
had no objection to the resolution.
Two years ago, he said, the company
had expended 100000, and since
then had expended considerably
more, but not as much as S6,000,000.
The amount actually to be expended
was to be aseertaine6 by the Secre-
tary of the Treasury and the Secre-
tary of State, and the maximum was
to be turned over TO the company in
guaranteed bonds not to exceed
S6,OOO,OOO.
Hoar said Congress should see to
1t in the construction of the Near
aqua canal that daylight should be
constantly turned on every transac-
ton. The resolution was, at the sug-
gestion of Morgan, laid over till
Monday.
The resolution offered yesterday
by Morgan of Alabama, instructing
the Committee on Commerce to in
quire and report the advantages to
the interests of the United States
that would be afforded by the Mica
ragua ship canal, was taken up, and
Morgan spoke upon it. He said that
logically Great Britain had Just as
much ri ght as the United States to
charter a canal company and take
the control of it which it was pro-
posed the United States should take.
If Costa RIGA and Nicaragua were
to tender such an overture to Great
Britain, or if the owners of the con-
cession were to take it to Great Brit
ain and make the offer which they
made to Congress, and if Great Brit
ain should accept, the United States
could have one paltry plea = he
would not call it psltry-one emseu-
lated plea, and that was the worn
and torn and dirty Monroe doctrine,
which the Senate of the United
States had succeeded in kicking lit
orally into doll rags.
Sherman asked Morgan to notice
the objection made in some quarters
that the owners Of the S12,000,000 of
stock of the company would have
undue influence in the management
Of the corporation.
Morgan replied that in the pend
ing bill the power of the Govern
nent was reserved in the control of
he operations of the company The
was to own $780,
100000 of the S1OO,OOO,0OO of |
stock, and therefore would have |
control so far as direction of the
was concerned. Speaking |
If the provision of the bill for ten |
directors out of fifteen,
Morgan said that if the French Gov
rnment had had its own directors
n the Panama Canal Company the
obberies which had disgraced and
Yearly destroyed the French repub-
ic would not have been perpetrated,
nd the stories of fraud and corrup-
ion and villainy which were now
hooking the sensibllities of that
'reat and noble people would have
cen avoided.
Ex-senator Edmunds OF Vermont
tributes the former defeat of the
leasure to the influence of Cleve-
and. In an interview last week, he
aid he thought Congress would take
avorable action on the measure.
The Nicaragua canal" he added,
will revolutionize the country's
ommerce and promote its growth in
'ealth and population as nothing
Ise can. In fact, beyond the antici-
alton of its own people, it will give
lie United States the key to the
situation, making it the
reatest commercial maritime power
q earth. Just think of the wonder
Il benefits of the Suez canal to the
,mmerce of England and then null
ply them many times over Such
Ill be the results to the United
tates of the completion of the
icaragus canal"