Omaha daily bee., 1898-11-25
ACROSS THE PANAMA lSTHMUS
Congressman Hepburn Tells About
the Canal and the Difficulty and
Necessity of Its Construction.

CLARINDA, Ia, Nov. 24.-(Special.) y
Hon. w. P. Hepburn, chairman Of the house
committee on interstate commerce, In whose
hands the Nicaraguan canal project Is placed,
has announced himself as in favor of gov
eminent control and ownership OF the
works. In a'lengthy interview on the sub
ject, he says:
~ have no reason to believe the Pacific
railroads are or have any disposition to be
opposed to the canal. The business it would
take Is largely the traffic which the rail-
roads cannot get. On the other hand, II
would soon double the population Of the
Pacific states, which would give the rail.
roads an immense gain in tonnage. l have
never, in all the consideration this question
has received, had it suggested to me that
the Pacific roads are opposed to the canal.
THE temper Of the American people at
this time demands that steps be taken toward
the construction of the canal. 1t will be
one of the big issues in the national legis>
lature in the next few years. The ques-
lions involved In the construction OF this
canal are such as have been presented in no
previous work Of the kind. For instance,
the one question Of seismic disturbances
Is a grave one. We know that they have
such disturbances in Central America,
YET uOlulu6 III 10 hhoWh do W thCii
character, violence or frequency or recur.
renee. There are volcanoes pouring forth
their volumes of smoke within sight Of the
route of the proposed canal. 1t is not diff
icult to imagine the havoc which might
be wrought to such a structure by an earth.
quake of three or four seconds shivering
along through the earth's crust some morn
ing before breakfast. When we remember
that for q distance Of seven or eight miles
the canal must be carried between retaining
walls elevated high above the present level
Of the country; when we remember that the
Ochoa dam, in the San Juan river, must
be built ninety feet high to raise the water
in that stream seventy-seven feet; that the
plans require that the vessels passing
through the canal are to be raised by three
canals on each side OF Lake Nicaragua. in
one lock forty-ive feet, another thirty-one
and another thirty-when all these things
are taken into consideration, the serious
ness Of the question Of seismic disturbances
will be appreciated. The locks, Of course,
would be more liable to damage by earth
quake than any other parts OF the canal.
This whole question has been before my
committee SO many times and the various
phases have been SO carefully discussed by
the most eminent authorities that l feel as
if l had a mental photograph OF the entire
country on my mind all the time. 1t seems
to be the consensus of engineering opinion
that the work is practicable; whether 1t
could be made financially profitable is dard
to determine. The most definite Information
to be had as to the volume of business that
would pass through the canal annually Is
unsatisfactory. An estimate Of about 7,OOO.-
600 tons Is as high as any statistics put it
so far as / have seen them. The canal would
have to enter into competition with the
Suez canal for much Of its business. IT
would shorten many routes OF the worlds
commerce, but 1t would not offer a great In
ducement to a large volume OF the trade
from western Europe. For example, II Is
200 miles farther from New YORK to Hong
Kong by way of the Nicaragua route than
by way OF the Suez canal. More than this.
the Suez route has in it's favor the fact that
1t presents far more opportunities for coal
ing. while the distances between coaling sta
lions by the Nicaragua route are very long.
The vessel from London to Hong Kong has
few long jumps between coaling depots. But
the steamer via Nicaragua must go $500
miles from the Pacific coast outlet OF the
canal before It will reach the Hawaiian is
lands to take coal; or II 1t goes via San
Francisco the distance from the latter place
to Honolulu is 100 miles. Then from Hon
olulu 1t is a clear course Of 1000 miles to
the next coaling station without going far
out OF the route. 1t Ia true that the Mid
way Islands, two or three small coral forma-
tlons. might be used for coaling bases,
These are somewhat out of the route. but
are about midway of the distance from the
Hawaiian group and belong to the United
States. l am informed, however, that to
make them Of any use for . harbor and