The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1899-01-05
NEED OF THE CANAL.
NICARAGUA DITCH WOULD SAVE
TIME AND MONEY.
As a Business Venture Alone the
+ Proposed Artery, 1t IL Claimed,
Would Be a Big Bonanza in the Way
of Tolls and Lock ChargeA

That the proposed Nicaraguan canal is
vital to the interests of the United States
was emphatically demonstrated during
the recent war with Spain when our bat
tleship Oregon was compelled to make her
long voyage down around the Horn to
reach the scene of naval operations. The
apprehension of the American people dur
ing the long detour was painfully and just
ly excited, while the Government was de-
prived of several weeks service of its
finest man-of-war during the time it re-
quired to sail down the west coast Of
South America and up on the eastern side.
Then, again, the commercial benefits to be
derived by the completion Of the proposed
shortcut waterway are inestimable. A
most comprehensive article on the subject
of the Nicaraguan canal has been written
by Henry l. Sheldon, Chicagoan. Thi
is said by experts to be the most COMPLEX
study of the canal question yet undertake
en-. Mr.. Sheldon visited Nicaragua three
years ago and traversed the entire route
of the projected waterway, examined the
work done, and secured reliable data as
to cost and methods of construction. Mr.
Sheldon went not as the agent of any COM
pany or of the Government, but merely
as an individual having no interest, pc
cuniary or friendly, with the present COM
pany constructing the canal, and was
careful to incur no obligations which
would prevent his taking an unbiased
view.
ut may be well to say at the outset"
writes Mr.. Sheldon, 'that l reached the
conclusion that the canal in Nicaragua is
practicable, and can be constructed at a
cost on which fair returns can be earned.
1t also seems clear that, for many reasons,
1t is not suitable work for private cap
ital to undertake, and that it will be bet
ter that our Government should assist the
undertaking. There are strong equities
on the side of national aid, inasmuch as
the chief benefits will never be the tolls
collected from passing vessels The canal
may so, develop our trade with Eastern
Asia that a single year of that trade will
exceed in volume the total cost of =
construction. Its opening will double
value almost every acre of agricultural
land in California, Oregon and Washing
ton, and the population Of those States
will be more than doubled. For many
years l have occasionally visited the Pa
cifc coast, for either business or pleasure
and always the most striking aspect Of
its condition has been the absence of sat
isfactory markets for its products. Not a
bushel of it's large wheat crop comes to
the Atlantic coast by rail, as wheat can
not bear the cost of so long carriage
Neither can its lumber or ores come by
rail. In many places, after the farmer or
the fruit grower has paid the charges of
transportation companies, there is little
or nothing left for him. The population
continues small because the markets are
so inadequate. Twenty-Five years trial
has demonstrated that if railroads are to
be the sole means of communication the
development of the Pacific States will be
very slow. The only promise of relief is
in securing for these States some shorter
transportation to the Atlantic States, and
also to Europe. by water. Now, every
thing carried by water must pass around
Cape Horn. The only shorter route, ap-
parently practicable, is by way of ship
canal across the isthmus, through Nicara-
qua. This will save 10000 miles of the
distance around Cape Horn, and will en-
able an ordinary steamer to go from San
Francisco to New York in fourteen days.
The exact distance, by such canal. will