The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-12-04

New York, Dec. 3.-Ex- Senator War
ner Miller. who was at the head Of the
Nicaraguan Canal company, in a pub
lie statement today, touching the fact
that representatives of the Panama
Canal company are reported to have
gone to Washington supposedly to op-
pose the building of the Nicaragua ca
nal, said he looked upon it as ''an as
founding piece of effrontery on their
part" Mr.. Miller calls attention to q
message sent to congress by Presi-
dent Hayes on March 8, 1880, in which
he said:
The policy of this country is &. canal
under American control. The United
States cannot consent to the surrender
of this control to any European power
or to any combination of European
powers. Our commercial interest in Il
is greater than all other countries.
while its relation to our power and
prosperity as a nation, to our means of
defense, our unity, peace and safety.
are matters of paramount concern to
the people of the United States"
Mr.. Miller then says: The American
people VIII have no canal under any
auspices save their own. that Of their
own government, and if the Panama
canal is ever built, it must be surren-
dered to the control of the United
States.
1T viii be remembered that in 1887
a congress met in Paris, called by
Count de Lesseps, to consider the ques-
ton of an isthmian canal. At that con-
gress Count de Lesseps gave it as his
opinion, and it was the judgment Of
the entire assembly, that only a sea
level canal could be constructed at
Ire
was to be built, the proper place ID
hIild it was in Nicaragua. The con-
Sress decided in favor of a sea level
canal, and, of course, chose the Pana-
ma route"
Mr.. Miller reviews the organization
Of the old Panama company, its work
in the United States to block the Nicar-
aguan schemes, the failure of the old
company and the formation of a new
pose of keeping alive the concessions
from Colombia. Continuing, Mr.. Mil
Ter says:
Now when there seems to be a great
probability Of the United States gov
ernment aiding the Nicaragua canal
enterprise, the new Panama company
appears upon the scene to procure or
prevent legislation, not with a large
amount of money, but by tf5- simple
exercise of cheek. They are undertak-
ing to fool the American people with
the proposition that Panama. is the
proper place to build a high level canal
with locks. which de Lesseps and the
congress in Paris declared not feasible
in Panama, but feasible in Nicarag qua.
President Hutin claims to have solved
the heretofore unsolvable problems in
connection with the Panama route. The
Culebra pass has been found. according
to his statement, perfectly easy of exc
cutiOn. But the commission Of French
engineers. sent out by the French gov
ernment soon after the failure of the
other company, made a most vOlunin-
Gus report, which 1 have recently eX-
amined, and I do not find anywhere in
it that the commission ever said that
the route is feasible. They all say that
if certain possible contingencies did not
happen, the canal might be constructed
for something like 81, 600 900 900, and this
Mr.. Hutin has Whitfield down to $780,
900 Coo"
Mr.. Miller then enters into an analy-
sis, from an engineers point of view
of the difficulties to be overcome in
the construction of the Panama canal,
and concludes by stating that, in sup
port of the claims of Mr.. Hutin and
his assistants. we have only their
statements. He adds:
They admit openly that they came
here to persuade this government or
congress to do nothing in favor of the
Nicaragua canal, for they know very
well that the moment it is decided by
the American people, through its gov
ernment, that the Nicaraguan canal
shall be built. they cannot longer pro-
cure money from the cOnfding people
of France to be wasted in an imprac-
ticable scheme"