New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-12-11
will be for all concerned, including the city ana
the State.
SUEZ AND NICARAGUA.

The sending Of more troops to the Philppines
rojses afresh the question OF routes OF tia'e'
and TRANSFORMATION between the tnlteu S'".e'
and IT'S now possessions In the western rac'h''
So far as communication between san FRAN
cisco and Manila IL concerned. there 49, Vi
course no question. But it Will ol'eh happen
that shihs must be sent TO the fnlhpphes "''
rcctly from NewYork or some other poin' vi
orr Atlantic Coast. Such is the present casc'
There are now two routes for such expeditionS'
ono by way Of the Strait OF Magellan, the o'her
bv wav of the Suez Canal. For present Pu'-
noses the latter has naturally ana properly
been adopted. 1t has three great adVah'ase~
over the former One is that il Is shorter 'he
distance from New-York to Manila by way OIL
Susz being about 10000 miles. against l''lVo
miles BIZ way Of the Strait. a second Is 'l"'
the cost of coal is much less. perhaps not more
than half, certainly not more than two'hiros rs
much as It is on the Strait route, Desiues Vic
fact that so much less coal is needed lor 'he
trip. The third is that the Suez route Is tnc
safer and the more directly in communication
at all points with the civilized world
Such are the two routes now available, anu
nracticallv the only two, for that around inc
Cape OF Good Hope is quite out OF the question:
But there is a third route that might soon De
made available. and which would have some ue-
cided advantages over either Of those now III
use That IS by way Of the Nicaragua canal
II would not. Il is true. be the shortest Al
vould he by II about II 600 miles from New
York tn Manila or 1000 miles more than oy the
Srcy route. But 1t would have the advantages
Of cheop coal OF safety. and-of cher lhipor'
tance--of being for a great part or the wa! III
what we nav term home waters and or touch-
,nc M homo ports vessel going from New
York 70 Manila by way Of Suez Would leave
American waters almost as soon as II got out Oh
nor, md would not re-enter them until IL
reached its destination and every port II
toncbed at on the way would be an alien port.
Rut one going by way Of Nicaragua would sklrt
our OWE coast for long distance ana wouiu
traverse most OF the way waters in which our
FLAG is supreme. and every port it touched at on
the way would he an American port. For 'he
canal and rs two terminals would be prac'i-
colly American, and Hawaii and Guam are AZ
read, ours. This last would be in time OF peace
greet advantage. In time OF "ar "S '''''
would bp simply inestimable
Tho u1mis.aIablc demand Of the time. them
;s for n canal across the Isthmus of Nicaragua
II n.ust he deep enough to give passage 10 the
uuder the control and protection ana manage
mont Of the United States. Those propositions
oro perfectly practicable and perfectly reasona-
bic. To question the former would be 10 ques-
ton human enterprise TO dispute the latter
would be 20 dispute common-sensc. This coun-
try has a natural right 10 control waterway
which will practically be an extension or lis
own coast waters The interests Of the mari
time world moreover, demand that so important
q highway Of commerce shall be kept sare ana
vcutral We'll. it Ia a saying rs true as II Is oid
that what is the business Of all is the business
of none. So the canal must be controlled not
by some universal congress Of the nations, put
by one nation. Left to local control. 1t would
never be safe from revolutionary vicisstudes.
Some one great Power must therefore have II III
hand. and that Power, by every rule of reason
and right must.b be the United States. We snail
play ut Nicaragua very much the same part that
Great Britain is playing at Suez; and we DOUBT
not that the result will be equally satisfactory
TO all the world.