The age-herald., 1899-01-18
CANAL COMPANY
 GIVEN HEARING House Committee on Commerce
 Listens to the Scheme. CLAIMS ITS ROUTE BEST The Hearing Was Granted by the Com
The Hearing Was Granted by the Com mittee in Accordance With the De- termination to Give All Inter-
 ested a Fair Showing.

Washington, January 1.-The new Pana- ma Canal company was given hearing to- day before the house committee on com merce, in reference to its project for an inter-oceanic canal The hearing was in ac- cordance with a recent determination of the committee to hear all persons concerned in an isthmian canal, including the Panama as well as the Nicaragua projects.
 The Panama delegation included General Henry l.. Abbott, United States corps of en- gineers, retired; Louis Chororon, chief en- gineer of the company; MT. Bayard, com mercial representative and Messrs. Crop well, Curtis and Brown, as well a num- Der of technical experts of the company.
 In the opening statement, MT. Cromwell summed up the Panama project as follows:
 "As nearly one-half of the work of ex- cavation is actually completed the harbors at the termini are natural, open and free to entry by vessels of the largest draft, there is an existing railroad parallel to the canal and vastly expediting the work of construc- tion, the concessions, titles and solyency of the company are unquestionable.
 lover 5000 men, with a force of over 15O engineers hay been for four years, and
 
 work; the United States had by treaty with Colombia entered into special guarantys respecting a canal across the Istmus of Panama, and as all this work has been done and will be completed without the cost of penny to the people of the United States, we have right to assume that the Paytma canal is necessary, if not the controlling factor, of the isthmian canal problem.'
 The Panama canal treaty assured a neu- tral canal for the warships and commerce of the world, with special directions for the interests of the United States. He particu- lary denied that the new company was un- der the control of the French government or was influenced by any American railway interests. The company was not applying to any government for money, and in par ticular was not seeking any financial as sstance from the United States, although being conducted under an American treaty the company placed its work subject to the full inspection of the United States authori- ties. q
 Mr. Hepburn and MT. Mann pressed for a showing of how the finances would be raised to carry out the project. MT. Mann suggested that the only purpose seemed to be to head off the Nicaragua canal. In re- ply to MT. Stewart, MT. Cromwell said the Panama enterprise would be carried out without reference to the Nicaragua route. MT. Mann sought to show by a series Of questions that the company's $l00000,000 as- sets had cost it but $13, GOO and an agree ment relating to contingent profits. |. A
 Many inquiries were made as to the pur- pose of the company in appearing before congress; whether it was to head off a rival" This was disavowed by the com panys representatives, who said they were making no campaign against the Nicaragua canal but were coniining their efforts to showing that the Panama route was the best one and that it would be built through the new Panama company without recourse to goverlIn.~-at aid