The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1895-08-01
Work Of the Commission Of InVes
tigatiOn Along the Route.
REPORT TO BE MADE THIS MONTH.
Plan to Join the Oceans Considered Feas-
ibIe from Every Point of fView--UBited
States Congress May Guarantee the
Canal Company's Bonds Next Session.

Next winter it is believed the United
States will put itself behind the Mica
ragua canal, and by the passage of the
necessary act through Congress assure
the piercing of the isthmus.
Early in August, Major VIM. Lud-
| low, Z. S. A., Commander NJ. 7. En-
dicott, Z. S. A., and Fred Noble, civil
engineer, of Chicago, comprising the
| Nicaragua Canal Commission, are eX-
| pected to return from Nicaragua to
Washington. The preparation of their
| report will then be undertaken, and
| in August or September it will be
known whether the government will
| become financial hacker for the enter
prise or not. The report of the Com
mission will be presented to the Presi-
dent about that time. If it is favorable
| to the project as now planned, there
| is believed TO be no reasonable doubt
that Congress will guarantee the
canal company's bonds at its session
ne xt winter.
There is one vital point which has
al yays been kept in the background
by the promoters Of the canal, and
that is that the concessions from
Costa Rica and Nicaragua to the canal
provide that the concession shall be
transferable under no circumstances
''to foreign governments or to
foreign public powers" The canal
company is restricted also from trans
fe ring any lands granted it to any
foreign government, and all transfers
to private persons must be made with
these restrictions. This, it is said by
its opponents, would prevent this
government from acquiring any pro-
prietary rights, and without a guar
antee it could hardly be expected to
stand behind the enterprise. Sub
stantiaI evidence has been produced,
however, showing that the govern
ments of Nicaragua and Costa Rica
do not consider the United States a
"foreign government" in the sense in
which the term was used in the con-
cession.
The commission now in Nicaragua
is charged with the duty of investi-
eating the practical stability and cost
of the proposed canal and of recon-
mending any deviation in the route
of the water way that may seem eX-
pedient. 1t can readily be seen what
The first duty was not so great as the
second, because three or four routes
for q canal across Nicaragua have al
ready been considered ana accepted
by competent engineers. Nothing
but informal reports have come to
Washington so far from the commits
sion now in Nicaragua, but these
have been encouraging.
The commission appointed to in
u l.
on the Nicaragua canal, says the en- |
gineers reached Greytown, the eastern |
terminus of the canal, and began an
examination of the property and i'm
provements of the canal company at |
that port.
One of the most important of these |
is a breakwater 1900 feet long, which !
extends out into the sea. The con- |
struction of this was begun in Deem !
ber 1889, with the result, as predicted |
by engineers, of increasing the depth |
of water in the bay, so that the depth |
on the bar is twelve feet at the present |
time. Notwithstanding the repeated |
efforts of the engineers to prevent the |
ravages of the teredo on the timbers |
of this breakwater, the Commissioners |
find that the wood was badly eaten.
The crumbling of the earth from the !
cliffs and the washings from the sur
face drainage has not been as dIsaS-
trous as expected, and it is said this
objection so often urged against the
feasibility of the canal has fallen fiat.
While the canal passes through very
wet region where the annual precipit-
alton is nearly twenty-five inches, the (
effects OF the movement OF such an
enormous quantity Of water have not
been bad, and give no indication that
the sides of the canal will be washed
down in few years-an objection s
that has been so often urged against
the project.
That portion of the canal already
built extending west from Greytown
toward the San Juan river was found
in splendid condition. The embank-
ments on each side have stood the
effects of the weather remarkably
well and show no serious effects from
the rainfall. The hospitals and other
were found in a good state OF
preservation. The railroad which the
canal company has built along the
route OF the canal for the transpOTta-
tion OF material and men has already
been thoroughly inspected and found
in good condition.
About two weeks ago the Canal
Commission moved on from GTeytown
to Lake Nicaragua, and after visiting
Granada and Managua, the capital,
passed from Nicaragua 10 the Pacific
along the route of the canal, distance