The Portland daily press., 1895-09-02
THE NICARAGUA CANAL.
The Project to Be Favorably Reported
by the Commission.

Some Deviation of Details Suggested anu
the Cost VIII Be Greater Than at First
Estimated
The project for ship canal across
Nicaragua will be reported upon lasof-
ably by the commission which JusU re1ern-
ed to New York from Central America
and which was appointed in pursuance to
an act of Congress- The report Will ho'
be given out until Congress meets but IL
is well known that it approves the proJeot.
The commission suggests some oeVla-
| ton of details, and finds that the cos' VIII
be greater than hithero supposed. IL is
estimated that it will take Sis, 600, 600
and 20, 600 men six years to colnPleIe ele
work. The report will show that bhe
commission made very minute exam
| ination.
Mr.. Chauncey F. Black of Pennsylvania
has written a letter, in which ne reviews
the recent demand Of the 81: James va,
zette that England be Jolntiy lhCelesVe ~
With the United States in R ane savs 81
eff there ever was any ''crisis, or any
occasion for one, it has passed long ago.
The British government has seen tne
growth of Irresistible public sentiment IN
this country in favor OF the canal as an
exclusively American affair. IL mas seen
Congress establish purely American c ,',rl
poration to undertake it. IL mas seen III, pnii
after bill brought into Congress 60 lenu
to it the credit of the United States. IL
has seen our government authorize sur
veys, appoint commissions and AXE otner
steps looking necessarily to the exclusive
control of the canal. which were noto-
rious throughout the world, were uncon-
cealed and open and could not pc lnlSih.
terpreted. o none or any OF tnese mas
she offered any objection or entered any
protest. She Is, therefore, by every prln-
clpal of equity and every canon OF hohest
diplomacy precluded from objection or
protest now that, after these many years,
| the American mind has been resolved
| the American government largely com
mitted, American capital extensively eA-
pended. and the work is one way or an
other, either with or without government
credit, about to be put under way. " is
| impossible that the article in the 81;
| James Gazette can have had any o11clal
| inspiration, OF that it reflects view likely
to be entertained by the present or any
| future English ministry. A rude reslst,
ance by that government upon an equal
participation with the United safes IN
| the benefits military and commercial OF
tn is purely American canal would pro-
duce q very serious and dangerous situa-
| tion-a situation injurious to Doun
countries and threatening to the best in
terests of the civilized world. y
| After arguing that the Clayton Buiwer
treaty is a dead instrument, MI. BLACK
insists that Great Britain can have no
share in the canal, and he does not believe
| she will ever ask it. He then adds:
s.Our manufactures demand new mar
kets. and, as recent events have amply
shown. not only the South and Central
Americas, but something like thousand
millions of Asiatics. to whom we can go
most conveniently by this route, are walt
| ing to trade with us or with the English,
as circumstances may determine we
have, therefore, "a right to insist that this
American canal shall ..be under Ameri-
can control-that of the United States,
Nicaragua and Costa Rica-and that
while we do not propose the barbarlty OF
excluding the peaceful commerce OF any
nation, we do propose that There shall De
no possibility of any European nation
| excluding ours.
| tBut the military view of the matter is
even more impressive Since the signing
of the treaty our Pacific states have
| grown into an empire, threatened only
| BY the navalsand military ornaments OF
that country, which, according to the st:
| James Gazette, insists upon an equal
posession with us in this American canal.
With the. canal the efficiency Of our fleets.
passing rapidly between the two oceans,
would be more than doubled as against
the fleets of any other power. Shall we
share his advantage with Greaat Britain,
whose naval and military posts bristle In
peculiar menace to US in the Caribbean
sea-, along the Canadian frontier and on
the North Pacific? In this view of the
case alone it seems to me that no expendi-
ture of money would be too great for the
American people to make in order to
secure this enormous naval and military
advantage which naturally and justly
belongs to us. -