The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-05-15
MIR. REED AND THE CANAL.

| aragua canal bill before the Fifty-fifth
Congress; and the speaker has been more
or less severely criticised for having
blocked the progress of the great national
enterprise. What was the basis of his
opposition? Mr.. Reed gives good reasons
for his conduct in an article in the North
American Review. Instead of being hostile
to the canal, he shows that he is really
| favorably disposed towards it. He earn
estly desires to see the two oceans con-
nected by a ship canal across the isthmus.
| But, unlike many of the friends of the
| project, he has been asking "how" and
why" He has not permitted enthusiasm
| to get the better of judgment He has
carefully studied the data in the posses
sion Of the government, and has reached
the conclusion that we do not yet know
enough about what we propose to do to
permit of an accurate, intelligent plan
of how It can best be done. and what
the cost will be. when the canal has
been pronounced feasible" says the
speaker, at simply means that with time
and money it can be built" But how
much time. and how much money will be
necessary? That is the question to which
there has been no satisfactory answer
vouchsafed. The several boards of ex-
perts sent by the government to inquire
into the matter have submitted differing
estimates. The cost has been placed as
low as $4,000 600 and as high as $50 0O00O0
and there have been almost as wide dis
crepancies respecting the time required
for the work.
Meantime there are several important
questions bearing upon the cost, which
have not yet been examined into at all.
The whole of The route proposed has not
yet been explored. The various levels
of the proposed sections of the canals
have not been determined; and upon this
matter depends how much dredging and
blasting will have to be done-things bear
ing directly and heavily upon the question
of cost THE level of Lake Nicaragua
must be maintained al 10 or 112 feet
or at some level at all seasons within
very narrow limits. That level is the
basis of the whole work. Between that
level and the bottom of the canal must
be space enough for the ship to move at
reasonable speed. The lower the top. the
lower must be the bottom. If the bot
tom must be lowered there must be more
excavation and more cost. Flood waters
must be discharged, evaporation at the
rate of 1900 cubic feet per second in dry
seasons must be provided for. This is
more than the whole discharge of the
San The Of
will help fix the bottom of the canal and
that will help very materially to fix the
price :"
There has been disposition on the part
of some of the friends of the canal in Con-
gress to rush through a big appropriation
and let everything else lookout for itself
Their plan seems to be TO get the thing
started, and then push it, no matter what
the cost may be. Mr.. Reed does not look
at it that way. He wants to know what
we are going to get for our money before
we go into the business. Indeed, he is not
sure-it has not been made conclusively
plain-that the government needs to go
into the canal digging business at all. 1.-The
Panama people say they are at work now
asking help from no one, employing 5000
men and able to continue; whether they
are or not will be determined, for we
have taken steps TO find out. The Grace
syndicate, representing many large cap
italists declare that they will in October
have the right to build the Nicaragua
canal, and by their counsel. Mr.. Mcclure.
who says ne is duly authorized. declare
that they are ready without any govern
ment aid to build and complete the pro-
ject treating the government just as it
desires to be treated" If private capital
is ready 10 build two canals, or even one.
! the neutrality of one being guaranteed by
treaty is there need for the government
to go into the work of canal building?
There are several knotty problems con-
neeted with the canal matter both me-
chanical and political, which must be
cleared up before intelligent and salts
factory action can be taken in the prem
ises. Congress has appropriated a fund
of 100000 to be expended in clearing
them up. The problem, Mr.. Reed says.
lis too difficult 10 be mastered by en-
! thusiasm alone. Sound sense and discre-
tion must also be called into action
There ought not to be any intolerance in
regard to opinions on this great and i'm
portant enterprise. The final outcome no
| one can doubt The commerce of the
world in due time will eliminate Cape
Horn to as complete degree as it has
eliminated the Cape of Good Hope. The
uneasy dream of 400 years will soon be
a waking reality, and, across the rock
bound ridge which for all these years
has defied the ingenuity of man. the great
ships will go, freighted with rich cargoes
and the civilization of commerce and
peace"
| IL is by no means certain that New
York or any other city, win get a chance