The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-06-16
|STHM|AN CANAL
COMMISSIONERS
Meet and Make Walker
President.
CALL AT THE WHITE HOUSE
MUCH PREL IMINARY WORK YET
TO BE DONE.
Careful Examination of Previous Re
ports to Be Had Before a Start
Is Made for Scene of
Operations.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

WASHINGTON, June 15.-The mem
berS of the commission appointed by
the President to examine into the
question of the most feasible route fer
a canal across the isthmus of Nicara-
qua met this morning in the Corcoran
building. The only absentee was ex-
Senator Pasco of Florida. Admiral
Walker was elected president. after
which the commission called upon the
President in a body to pay their re-
spects. Later they went to the State
Department and called upon Secretary
Hay, with whom they discussed some
of the details and the plans of the
work before them.
subsequently the commission held a
meeting at which there was a general
exchange of views regarding the work
before them, but no decision was
reached upon any point and the COM
mission adjourned until tomorrow.
The magnitude of the work before them
is fully realized by the members and
they propose to make most deliberate
survey of the situation before matur-
ing their plans.
All the members of the commission
are anxious that the work be pushed
with the greatest possible expedition
in the hope that report can be sub
mitted upon which Congress at its next
session can act.
The commission spent several hours
altogether in general discussion and an
interchange of views between individ-
ual members on various phases of the
project The probable inability of the
commission to accomplish its work and
n IN n
Congress the coming winter was re-
ferred to, and the opinion expressed
that the commission cannot dispose of
the preliminary portion of its work,
make the careful detailed examinations
in the field and return here and place
the results of the investigation, with
the accruing recommendations. In in
telligible shape before the session of
Congress beginning a year from next
December.
Two reports will be carefully exam
ined, in all probability, before the com
mission starts for the isthmus These
are the report of the last Nicaragua
Canal Commission, which unfortunate
-ly is not yet in print necessitating the
labOrious task of individual eXamina-
ton of the manuscript notes and maps,
and the report of the French commits
sion that had to do with the investi-
cation Of the Panama route. Other data
will be secured from various sources.
At to-mOrrow's meeting the question
of appointing a secretary and disburs-
ing officer will probably be passed upon.
Later on appointments will be made of
chief engineer and a large corps of en-
gineers to work in parties on various
routes. The last two or three Ameri-
can commissions have devoted their at
tention exclusively to the Nicaraguan
Canal so that the scope of the present
commission will necessarily involve a
large amount of work hitherto I'M
touched by our Investigations. Parties
of engineers will be put at work on
definite routes not already pronounced
impracticable, and even an exception to
this possibly may be made. The COM
missions session to-day developed no
definite understanding as to when it
would start for the isthmus, that being
deferred for the present. 1t is thought,
however, that there will not be a delay
of more than a few weeks before the
actual work of the investigation is be-