The sun., 1900-02-09
THE AMERICAN CANAL
The People Begin to Understand What the
Pending Proposition Means.

To THE EDITOR or The SuN-Sir: Your
mastery editorial to-day on the Hay-Paunce'
fotc Treaty did not. unfortunately. treat of the
uses OF the trans. .isthmian canal In times OK
peace.
The case seems TO be as follows:
We have an Atlantic empire and Pacinc en-
plre. Our Atlantic empire thrives because
there our nineteenth century civilization 10
based OH up-to-date TRANSPORTATION. Our ia.
cfc empire IL stunted because II has TO base
nineteenth. century civilization on eighteenth'
century Transportation methods Its distances
are so great that II cannot do business with the
civilized parts In steamships. An isthmlan
canal will give our Pacific empire command of
modern transportation, put u proper founda.
ton undcr the structure OF It's commerce. and
start growth there comparable 60 that ofouf
middle West. which has followed the great de.
velopmcnt Of ail-and-wate transportation IL
the building Of railroads and deepening the
Great Lake channcl'.
such a canal hcars like relation to the pros.
perlty of our nation as n whole as the SauN
Ste. Marie Canal bears to that of the Great
Lake region. II is Just as essentially part of
our internal transportation system ns the
Sault Canal, the canal in the Ohio River at
Louisville. or the Hudson River. Like them. u
llliNt anu VIII ne u Ud'loIul HEUWuD. ~ uo
used without cost or unnecessary restrictions
By our domestic trade. II this use cannot
obtain. it will fail to bear IL full fruit ana our
Pacific empire will remain s,unted The
growth which will follow commercial freedom
is illustrated in the Sault Canal which. since IL
was made free. has developed n business Of
25.0O0,OOO tons. an increase of twelvefod
III eighteen years. and more than three
tnlnAup pnniHA
coast. foreign and coastwise included. The
Sault Canal has been the most successful
public work ever constructed except the Erie
Canal II begun under proper auspices. the
Nicaragua Canal will measure its success with
these Like those. II will build empires and
shape history. But a treaty which lays the
whole cost on uS, and at the same time compels
us TO make il free to all the world In order 70
make II free to our domestic trade and leaves
what will be our most vital artery OF sea-borns
commerc" exposed 10 the tourniquet OF ons
hostile warship. is not good craftsmanship or
good sense
Mr. Hay should have taken advice from some
expert on transportation before he exposed
himself to the ingenuity of a British diplomat;
for II there il one thing on which the b tish
are posted better than another it is transporta.
ton and its effect on modern life.
Lord pauncefote won great diplomatic vic.
tory over Mr.. Hay. He secured for his country
so far as he could, the free use Of the Nicaragua
Canal, without loading il with one cent OF
expenditure or an iota Of responsibility. He
knew the substance from the shadow and gos
what he wanted. At the same. time he placed
the canal under British domination to run with
British control of the sea
Tho Nicaragua AMI Suez canals arc not
parallel cases, The Sucz Canal il not part OF
the British cOastinc a. any isthmi ian canal be-
tween the Atlantic and Pacific is Of ours or, IL
the Sraz Canal is deemed a British waterway,
then Britain controls it 10y her navy. Do we
want treaty which will compel us to measure
nayies with Great Britain?
New IoER. Feb Z CHAuNcEY y. DuTToN.