Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-04-25
NICARAGUA CANAL.
| Senator Ier5an on It's Feasibility ind
| importance.
CLEVELAND FAvoRs 1T.
80 He Tbld the Distinguished Aisosm'"n
Rsccntiy-what II Needed TO secure
Government Aid.


BIRMINGHAM. ALA, April A--ln re-
sponse to an invitation from 'he cum
bined commercial ORGANIZATIONS Oh an"
hama. Senator John r. Morgan cna'rnnaii
~ the Foreign Relations Committee OF
the Senate. addressed that body to-day on
the subject OF the Nicaragua Canal.
Every city Of importance and every couh-
~ in the State was represented IN the
audience. in addition to about ON" i"'e,
ested listeners. His remarks began WIN
a very complimentary reference TO Gov
erpor Jones for the lively interest ne
manifested in this project In an ADDRESS
he delivered here to-day. He said that ne
was here TO ask his constituency TO ASSIST
IN completing the work. not In inaugu-
rating IL. not to submit to tax ior .aA.
purpose or to personal contrioutiohs-ua'
he wanted nothing But their united eni-
phatic and influential voices IN FAVOR vi
the construction OF the canal. now 'ha'
the harvest IL ripe for the sickle.
After referring to the committai OF tne
subject OF the construction or the canai
10 the Committee on Foreign Affairs 10 Do
discussed In secret, he said the ques''Vn
had been often debated In private couhsels
and i'm the executive and diplomatic chani-
hors of all the great governments or
modern times: that 1t had been the cream
Of France under the First and Third Ma
polAons: that IL had been the dream OF
Great Britain under many kings, anu
many other OF the smaller states or Eu-
rome. to gain the honor, proht, ana aa-
vantage OF the construction OF snip
transit across the Isthmus or Darien.
He told of how Great Britain mad gone 80
far as to adopt one OF the chiels Oh inc
MOSQUITO Indians in that TERRITORY ana
have him crowned King for the ultimate
nurnose OF gaining control over the coun-
try and controlling any commerchl aa-
vantage that would result from the con-
struction OF this ship transit; mat this
resulted In the ratification or what IS
known as the Clayton-Bulwer treaty pe-
tween Great Britain and Nicaragua, ana
in the formation in 1855 OF treaty Win
Nicaragua, which Is an exact copy or
the one Great Britain had negotiated the
year before, and which forever did away
with the possibility of an objection TO the
citizens Of the United States having an
agreement with Nicaragua by which a
canal for the passage of ships OF the
heaviest burden might be constructed
across the isthmus. He dwelt for some
time upon the great advantages the con-
| struction OF this canal would be 10 the
world at large. to say nothing of the In
comprehensive advantage resulting to the
people OF the United States. and especially
| to the people OF the State OF Alabama
BUT ONE THING WANTED.
| II wlsh to say to you now" he said,
with great feeling that there is but one
| thing wanted. and / regret to say 1t Is
! wanted for the completion of this canal.
by which I mean the passage OF an act
| OF Congress which will secure its COM
| pletion inside Of five years. and that one
| thing Is what you possess In common
! with the constituencies of the different
States of the American Union, and that
is the pressure Of your demand upon your
representatives in Congress that they shall
| cast aside tlmidity. that they shall rely
upon your strength and your faith and
your confidence, and have regard for
| your opinion in the support of this act
OF Congress which Is to complete this
work" ApplauseD
'"rhey have among the fruntiersmen OF
the West class of men, generally new
corners, who are called 'tenderfeet.'
| They are the men who are afraid to
| speak out, who are afraid to take re-
| sponsbllity. who are afraid to expose
themselves 10 danger, who have no enter
prise, and little faith in their constitu-
ents after they are formed. They are
called tenderfeet. and Congress abounds
with them. and the reason they are there
is that they are not held up to their re-
| sponsibilities. They will shrink under al
| most any pressure when they think their
reelection Is jeopardized. rather than
| .hf.Hy MD e,,I-
ject."
In contrast with this condition of many
in the House. he referred to the unshrink-
ing determination OF the senator's In sup
! port Of this measure; said he thought he
| could safely assure the people that the
! bill. which Is now on the calendar of the
! Senate and ready to be called up for dis
cussion at any time. would be passed by
majority approxlmating two-thirds
vote.
Senator Morgan then went into an ex-
! PLANTATION of why this matter had been
! acted on secretly, and when reported
| back to the Senate with the recommended
ton that it pass, to show that there was
! no politics in the bill, the first report OF
the bill was signed unanimously by Hon..
| John Sherman, of Ohio. George
F.dmunds, OF Vermont; William p.
|
OF New York: J. n. Dolph, of
Oregon; John T Morgan. of Alabama
Joseph F. Brown, of Georgia; Henry b..
Payne, of Ohio. and J. b. Fustis. of
Alabama, thus clearing 1t entirely Of the
possible insnuation that ii was a political
| measure.
Those" he said ARE not little names,
and the men whose signatures were APP
pended to that report staked their repu-
tation not only upon the truth Of the
statements therein contained, but also
upon the feasibility and advisability of
recommending this work. and both great
political parties have since endorsed the
measure in national conventions"
EXPENSE OF CONSTRUCTION.
In relation to the expense Of the con-
struction of the canal, Senator Morgan
made very full reference to, and COM
parison with, the Suez canal; that the
best engineering talent In the world had
made numerous and exhaustive surveys OF
the different routes, and had made their
reports on the possible cost and after
these the first bill had been prepared,
limiting Its cost to 500. 900. 600. when he did
| not think II would cost over $1,000 coo;
that Mr. Menocal and his assistants
had estimated that the canal would cost
So. 062, 250.50, which estimate had been In
creased % per cent. for extraordinary
and incidental expenses making Che
grand total se5,6S4.176; that after this re-
port had been made hundreds OF lines
had been run to test every possible con-
ditlon that might arise in connection
with the construction, and these esti-
mates were finally submitted 10 COM
mittee OF. disinterested engineers. who
raised the estimate about s25.oOoo00; but
the committee finally adopted the limit
OF about sSs000.O00 as the safest outside
limit; that the bill now on the calendar
. OF the Senate limited the capital stock
to s100,Oo0Oo0: that the government OF the
United States would never, in his opinion
be called upon to pay, one dollar OF the
| bonds OF the company upon Its endorse
ment; that the lands granted to the com
, pany interested In the construction OF
the Nicaragua canal we're OF the finest
for the production OF coffee. cocoa, sugar
, and all the fruits OF the tropics; that the
country through which 1t was now pro-
! posed To construct the canal was high anc
salubrious, and no fear need be entertain
, ed that the laborers would suffer the tor
lures suffered by those on the