The National tribune., 1901-04-18
THE TRUE INwARDNEss.

the British attitude toward the Nicaragu:
Canal.
The kernel of the whole matter is thai
until the Nicaragua Canal shall be bull
the British merchants have at least al
equal chance with those of New York and
our Atlantic Coast. in the trade of the
west coast of North and South America
and a large portion of the South Sea
Islands, including Australia. That is, 4
vessel from New York has relatively as
far to go to reach San Francisco, Oregon
Alaska, Western Mexico, Peru, Chile,
australia, etc, as a vessel sailing from
London or Liverpool. But the cOnstruc-
ton of the canal will give the American
vessel a start of several thousand miles
over the British ship. That is the milk
III the cocoanut. The writer states this
explicitly:
Without recapitulating strings of fig
ures which, even for the expert, are more
or less of WEAKNESS for the flesh, we
would ask our readers to open Il map of
the world and with Il colored pencil draw W
Il line along the west coast line of North,
Central and South America from Alaska
to Patagonia and another colOred line
from the southwest cape of Australia
through tne' uOEIn cape dCIoSS TO WueIe
the 136th meridian cuts New Guinea,
thence to the easternmost cape of the
northern island of the Philippines, then
through Annoy and on across China and
Siberia to the mouth of the Lena. The
first line will represent very closely the
present neutral competing zone for the
Sea-bOrne commerce to and from the
United States Atlantic ports and to and
from western European ports with the Pa
Citic; the second. the new position of the
same neutral zone after the opening of Il
waterway across the American isthmus.
Whereas, under existing conditions of
ocean communication, the eastern sea-
board of the United States. in respect to
ocean carriage in the Pacific is only on
position of equality with the western
seaboard of Europe. as far as the west
ern Seaboard of the Americas is con-
cerned, and is handicapped everywhere
else to the extent of the average distances
across that ocean, Immediately canal Is
opened across the American isthmus, the
tables will be completely turned. European
Atlantic commerce in the Pacific will then
only be in q position of equality with
American Atlantic Commerce along the
eastern coast line of the Asiatic CONT
nent, the Asiatic archipelago and that OF
Australasia, while along the west coast of
the Americas European sea-borne trade,
as compared with American, will be hand
icapped by the average width of the Pa
ciic Ocean. The only reasonable infer
ence is that the effect of the opening Of
such a canal upon the trade of the Amer
iCaS. not only between themselves, but
also between them and the Far East, can
not fail to be wholly unprecedented in
and that the impulse derived
therefrom will at least equal and prob
ably exceed in extent the impulse given
to European trade by the opening of the
Suez Canal. While the relative intrinsic
Importance of the easterly and westerly
ocean trade-routes of the world to and
from the Far East and the Australias will
remain unaltcred, as far as the trade cen
tiers of the Atlantic seaboard of Europe
are concerned. and continue TO be enor-
in favor of the SueZ Canal route.
their relative Importance will be entirely
reversed as far as the Atlantic seabOard
of America is concerned. This change in
intrinsic value must inevitably center the
interests and the carrying
trade of the Americas more and more eX-
around the development and CON
troll of the competing great westerly trade
route to the obviously serious detriment
of the older route in which we are SD
premely interested"
The writer relates with the greatest
frankness how keenly alive the British
merchants have always been to this con-
tingency, and how successfully British
statesmen have intrigued to prevent our
taking advantage of the situation. He
says:
'Thc 300 years intervening between the
middle of the 10th and the middle of the
18th centuries present an almost contin-
uous series of overt and covert armed at
tempts on the part Of Great Britain and
her subjects to seize and control the re-
Ivh Nicaragua Canal
will pass. These attempts were only dis
continued at the epoch of the Clayton
Bulwer treaty when il became apparent
to our statesmen, through the discovery
of gold in California, that new trade cen
tiers must inevitably be developed on the
Western Continent as rival trade centers
to western Europe. G., England, the
rivalry of which would only
be accelerated by the perfecting of the
westerly trade route. The onuS of build
ing a canal across Nicaragua, which was
then universally considered the only prac-
ticable route across the Isthmus, was de-
liberately thrown by that treaty into the
hands of the United States, and by the
exercise of this diplomatic foresight, the
postponement of its construction has been
secured for over 80 years. By the recent
Hay-PauncefOte convention we have, how
ever, as deliberately relinquisbed one of
the most important advantages secured us
by that treaty, viz, the joint guarantee of
and responsibility for the neutrality of the
canal when built, by which device we had
skilfully handicapped the control which
our cousins expected to exercise over
their canal when built, in favor of Brit
ish sea-power. If we have now deliber-
ately consented to the abrogatioD of these
clauses, which, in view of the speedy con-
struction of the Nicaragua Canal, were
undoubtedly the most important of the
Clayton Bulwer treaty, it is because the
existence of a canal across the isthmus
has now become of supreme Importance
TO the trade development of our Canadian
dominion"
The writer goes on TO recount that they
are now confronted with a crisis similar
to that when the Suez Canal was dug,
and that experience should each them to
act more wisely than they did then. Then
their engineers deceived them into the be-
lief that the canal could not be construct
ed, and they let the golden opportunity
pass. But through the bankruptcy of the
Khedive's Government they managed to
secure controlling interest in the stock
Of the canal, and they promptly proceeded
to make their holding upon 1t entirely Sc
cure by occupying Egypt, and getting the
concession Of Cyprus. This makes the
Suez Canal pretty thoroughly British
property.
The writer's plan. if it is found that
the United States is determined to con-
struct the Nicaragua Canal, Is to secure
the Panama Canal concession, and com.
II. 4l,A -