The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-08-04
THE NICARAGUA CANAL.
From the Philadelphia Ledger.

| From the Philadelphia Ledger.
The Nicaragua Canal commission has
entered uopn its duties, and the question
| of the feasibility of constructing the
canal under the auspices of the govern
| ment of the United states will probably
| form one of the important topics for dis
| cussion at the next session OF congress.
| incidentally to this discussion the pres
| ent status of the Clayton-Bulwe treaty,
| signed by the representatives OF Great
| Britain and the United States In 1850. for
the purpose of preserving the neutrality
| of the canal, will provoke earnest, IL not
acrimonious debate.
o.
The Nicaragua canal would furnish n
shortcut passage from the Atlantic TO
| the Pacific ocean for the commerce of the
world. 1t would shorten the sail from
Liverpool to San Francisco nearly 1000
miles, and the distance by water saved
| from New York city to San Francisco
| would be nearly 10000 miles These fig
| ures, without further detail, suggest vast
possibilities in the way of shortening
| transit for the sea trade of the world
| and promise financial success for the pro-
| jcct unless the cost of construction is
greatly in excess of expectations. An en-
| terprise of this character is always haz-
| ardous for it's first promoters, and the
| enormous sums looted from the confiding
| Frenchmen who invested so freely In the
| Panama canal have made 1t more diff
cult to finance such projects. If care
| fully carried forward the canal would be
| a magnificent work to mark the begin
| ming of the new century. 1t would enor-
| mously augment our coasting trade, and
| il it fell into the exclusive possession of
| a foreign power the canal would seri-
| ously impede our naval operations in time
| of war. 1t is inconceivable that the
United States would be content to pay
| toll to foreign ownership of a waterway
| Nuhf fSh mas
| possession of the kind on the globe. The
| citizens of Great Britain are reaping
| great profit from the Suez canal which
is now operated largely by English capt.
| tai.
| When the proposition to finish the Mic
| aragua canal under the auspices of the
| United States was under discussion dur
| ing the last administration, letter ap-
peared in the London Times on the sub
| ject which, doubtless, presents the Eng
| lish view of the Nicaragua canal ques-
| tion. The writer, who had lived in Mica
| ragua for some time and professed knowl-
| edge of the local conditions, said that in
| view of the far-reaching difficulties of a
political or international nature sur
| rounding the enterprise, the guarantee
| OF the bonds of the Maritime company is
| the nearest approximation which the
| United States government could make to
| complete ownership of the canal to avoid
| a violation of the sovereignty of Mica
| ragua and Costa Rica and a departure
| from the Clayton -Bulwer treaty, but in
| any case, in his view, under the terms of
| the Clay -Bulwer treaty a ship canal
| between the two oceans must be neu-
| tralized, as was the Suez canal.
| The Foreign Relations committee of the
| senate will investigate the status of the
| Clayton-Bulwer treaty, and the intima-
| ton is made that the committee will re-
| Fort in favor of its abrogation. 1t is
| urged that England has practically an
| nulled il by acts done in Central America
| in contravention of its terms. On several
| occasions this government has insisted
| that the treaty was no longer binding
| upon 1t, but Great Britain, whatever in
| depreciation may be placed upon her acts
| in Central America, has given no sign
| that she regards the treaty as a nullity.
| The diplomatic difficulties involved in the
| controversy as to the present binding
force of the ClaytonBulwer treaty are
| important, but not more serious than
many others which have yielded to states
| manlike treatment. The probable cost of
| the enormously expensive Nicaragua
| canal undertaking, and the extent to
| which the United States should commit
itself financially to the support of the en-
| terprise, are matters to which the coun-
| try should give very careful considera-
| ticn. The advantage of the completed
| canal to the country is obvious enough
| if we are not obliged to pay too high a
| price for 1t in the way of interna tional
| complications or the exhaustion of our
| treasury.