The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-01-12
JOINT OWNERSHIP
Cleyclaad'S un-American Nicaragua
Caea, Plan.
ENGLAND TO SHARE wlrn Us
\ leading EagliSh rnsiueeE ia a SkilltHllN
kuttea Arqpmeat, Is Authority Tor
the Naturalization Scheme,

The Nicaragua Canal Is a new book
the pen o( Archibald Ross Cotlu'
.oun, a noted English civil onglnCer and
the following review ot the work Is from
the British Trade Journal tho leadias
commercial paper NJ Great Britain;
After a thorough examination Of the
question and an Investigation OF the prob
lem In Central America Itself, MI col
auohoUn has rlyvp Us what Is unQues-
tionably the uoSt important work Yet
issued on the subject Of the Nicaragua
canal scheme. No n questions the
great effect which such a new water
must exercise on British commerce.
and on the trade ~ young and active
and as Il seems certain that such
A canal viii he made, the governments
most interested must decide upon the
to g0vcrn the undertaking,
De Lesseps' scheme must he regarded as
abandoned. That engineer, igaoripg the
essential physical differences between a
canal from Chagres NEAR ColnM to
Panama and u cut across the sal "
Sucs. with only a few yards OF a low
rocky barrier To pierce, began the western
canal. with disastrous results. Mean
there were various other PROJECTS
one OF a canal hy T~ehauntepec. which
was short lived. and was replaced by a
shin railway scheme. aud one OF a canal
10 utilize the san Juan river running
into the Gulf OF Mexico by and ncar
Grcytown and the great Nicaraguan lake
Al thar time the notion was that the
greatest engineering diaiculties would be
found near the Pacific. but that was soon
found to be erroneous, And IN conrse
OF time the attention OF the United States
was more and more directed to the Nica-
raguan route Ultimately al arrange
meut was arrived at with the small Mica
raguan republic by which the virtual SOW
ereignty Of The canal strip was secured
to the United States. which has voted the
immense sum required FOR the achieve
ment. II is now said that President
Cleveland feels II eNpedient to invite in
the accomplishment OF the work the aid
OF England, and Mr., ColQuhoun much
desires to insure the naturalization "
the canal. Circumstances require that
the canal shall be neutral. for u the
canal Is not TO be a failure from the first
aud an immense burden upon the United
States, Great Britain must be admitted
to, the use OF Il upon the most favored
nation terms. But whatever may be the
naturalization scheme. IL will amount TO
nothing virtually In time OF war. seeing
that such a ditch al be eGectually
blocked by sinking a dredger, or by the
strongest naval power placing a squadron
at either end. Yet there should be an
arrangement which does not In time OF
peace preyent US from using the great
waterway between the East and West.
Mr.. Colquhoun has visited the Panama
and Nicaragua routes this year and he
writes with skill and knowledge. He
presents the actual state Of the case in a
way which makes us d@cslr0us Of knowing
the next move. Colonel Ludlow, United
States engineers. the American military
attache in London. was called away by
the president last spring 10 undertake
the survey OF the route. His report has
now been handed In. and We avail the
presidents remarks upon tt. Meanwhile.
here are all the needtul facts and figures
on the subject from the British point Of
view. ~Crdoubtedly the opening OF the
canal will alter the trade Of the world
II will to some extent affect h value
q the shares IN thu Suez canal, though
the growth Of the worlds trade may
make UP for this. II will give i shorter
end commercially safer route to the Pa
cihc, and Il VIII enable the manufac-
turers OF the Eastern states Of America
and the new South to send their goods
TO tho Pdclac communities much cheaper
than they can now. IN spite OF the Won
derful railway facilities which are TO be
found today across NortG America liut
a question which has been too much ig-
nored Is how long 1t will last. Nicaragua
is cursed with earthquakes. One Of
them OF recent years reduced the level
OF the capital by three feet. IN a year
which he does not name, the writer eN-
p~erienced TWO within two months, one
at least OF which left a portion Of San
Juan for o short tlme without water. The
effect OF even a small earthquake on one
Of the CapaciOus locks made in the con-
siderable chain which rises some thirty
miles west OF Grry.Own. ami Involves
the removal OF 31.0Oo.Gg cubic yards Of
alluvial deposit and lecOmpose1 lava. and
10000 yards Of solid lava and indurated
ashes. would be 20 stop the traffic for
years, II not 10 sweep away by the floods
the whole bed and banks Of the canal
right down to the Caribbean Sea. The
Indian name for the country Is the land
that swings like a hammock" and Hum
boldt pointed ont there Is no spot on
the globe so full OF volcanoes as this
part Of America There were great and
destructive guakcs In 1881, 1874. 1867. 1870,
1873, 1853, 1885 and lss in this region. II
bk4 Aaf' AH -hH@N 'A| ~ 'NtNAbg NAAN
value Of a hundred million dollars worth
OF work. We hope, for the sake Of COM
merce, the canal will be made. but that
so long as the canal Is workable we can
under any circumstance be debarred
from its use, Is uncomfortable. Mr.. Colgu-
houn's book, while eXp)undlng the ad-
vantages Of the proposed canal, contains
the plans Of sections and levels and the
charts OF routes. Mr.. COlluh1un esti-
mates that the traffic will amount to a
possible mean Of seven million tons in
1908 1.-TWO years after the canal Is, or
should be, opened, and on a basis Of r.
per ton Of dues works out an income that
should, after paving for maintena~ac and
administration, leave enough to Uay six
per cent on an estimated outlay Of thirty
millions. As TO the probable effects of
the canal, Mr.. Colquhoun writes: 1T VIII
render greater service to the New Worlf
han the Suez Canal does to the Old.
II will bring Japan, Northern China, Aus
tralasia and part Of Malaysia nearer 10
the Atlantic cities Of the United States
than they are now to England. 1t will
benefit America in an infinitely greater
degree than 1t viii Europe, which will
only use the canal in trading with the
Pacific littoral Of the two Americas, the
South Sea Islands and possibly New
Zealand. II will divert little or no Euro
pean traffic from the Suez Canal. II
will give an immense impulse 10 United
States manufactures, especially cotton
and iron. and will greatly stimulate the
shipbuilding industry and the develop
ment of the naval power Of the United
States. It will cost more than the estl-
mates show, but It will have a greater
traffic than is usually admitted. The
appendices include the texts Of the Bull
wer Clayton and other treaties, Of the
various concessions to the Nicaragua
Association, the charter Of the Maritime
Canal Company, the report Of the board
of engineers, and the texts Of the two
bills before congress.
Piles Of people have piles, but DeWitt's
Witch Hazel Salve will cure them. When
promptly arplled II cures scalds and
burns without the slightest pain. Chag.