Arizona republican., 1899-06-19
NCARAGUAN CANAL
May Be inc Most 8,, iro,
 OuS Mailer of Cong. 1Eibfa Hf
There Will Likely Be no Hurry About Legislation ES1abIi< hing inc Sfa- fuS of Affairs in inc PhiIIp- pines and Ofhsr DependsnCieS.


 canal may be the most conspicuous question before congress at the next
 session This is the belief of leading
 republican senators and representa- issues which now occupy attention
 will not be ripe for settlement for
 many months to come. There will be
 no attempt at radical currency 1egisla- tion. The republican majority in con gress will probably place itsslf un- l eQUivocally on record as favoring the gold standard, and will enact a bill
 on the general lines of the recommen-
 dations of the Atlantic City conference,
 which, it is now known, did not go ba- yond the suggestions oiE President Me Kinley in his annual message The establishment of a permanent form of government for the Philip pines and other new possessions will
 be left to later period. At least. this
 is what some of the most conserva-
 tive republican leaders advocate. They
 hold that the islands should continue
 under military control until complete
 information can be obtained which
 will enable congress to act with full
 intelligence. This will take a long
 time.
 With simple currency legislation and with the postponement of the estab- ishment of civil government in the colonies congress will find no question pressing upon it with greater insist ence than that of the construction of an isthmian canal.
 The administration is profoundly interested in this question. To some extent in the east, and to a far greater extent in the west, it has become po-, litical issue of the first consequence. Not only is the Pacific slope eager for the construction of the canal. but the entire Mississippi valley is clamoring for waterway which shall open up the west coast Of South America to the traffic which is already centering more and more around the Mississippi river and its tributaries.
 Leading republicans from the middle | west, who have recently called at the | White House have spoken emphatic | ally of the necessity of speedy legisla- tion. They have told the president | that the course of the last congress in l postponing the question and in author | iZing another commission has had a | bad political effect. Should the com mission just appointed delay matters still Further so that congress should again fail to come to a definite conclu- sion, the effect, they say, will be disas- trous. The business interests of the valley have set their hearts upon the construction of the canal They are in no mood to tolerate any thing that looks like juggling with the question, and they will resent the in reference or influence which they know are working for postponement.
 The president is determined that 50 far as the administration is concerned the question will be ready for pre- sentation to congress very early in the l. session. For this reason he has asked the commission just appointed to has ten it's organization and to set out for the isthmUs as soon as possible. A start will be made before the close Of he present month
 By the act of congress, the cmmis- sion is instructeds to inquire into the feasibility of the Panama canal route IS well as the cut through Nicaragua. 0f course, it will carry out it's instruc- ions. But it is significant that three members of the comm: :ssion, Admiral Walker, Colonel Haines and Prof. aaupt, who were also members of the .ormer commission, have already placed themselves on record officially IS emphatically favoring the Nicarag- Ian route, and as declaring the Pan una canal scheme unwise Prof. daupt, in an interview in Philadel- )hla,, parts of which he has since dis lVoWed, was reported to have declared hat the creation of the commission Of which he is a member was part of the game of procrastination set up by the opposition to the interoceanic water l way, and that the general impractical ' 'ility of the Panama canal scheme was (
 matter of common knowledge If he ( lad said these things for publication S liter his appointment 1t would, of Y purse, have been indiscreet, and he ould hardly do otherwise than dis l vow the statement. At the same :, ime, these are known to be his senti- nents. They harmonize exactly with he testimony which he gave before he senate committee in the last con-d f ress. Then he expressed the opinion I hat the Nicaragua canal could be con ( tructed at an outside cost of S90 O00,- I %, that the route projected was l feasible and that the coun- | ry through which the canal would T ass was exceptionally heaIthfuI and I ractically free from malaria and yell Y ow fever. The Panama route. he as C