Evening star., 1901-12-19
CANAL R EP0RT
Submitted to House BY Mr.. Hepburn
Today.
NICARAGUAN ROUTE ADVISED
Project Has Been lndorsed by All
Political Parties.
PRESIDENT RESPONSIBLE

Chairman Hepburn of the House commit
tee on interstate and foreign commerce to-
day submitted to the House the report Of
that committee on the Nicaraguan canal
bill House bill No. 3tt0). 0).-
Section / Of this bills the report says,
,''authorizes the President Of the United
States to SECURE from the states of Costa
Rica and Nicaragua, in behalf Of the
United States. control OF such a portion OF
the territory belonging to said states as
may be desirable and necessary, on which
to excayate,. construct and protect a canal
suitable to the wants of modern navigation
and commerce, and approprates such a
sum as may be necessary to secure the
control of said territory. =
Section of the bill authorizes the Presi-
dent, after securing control Of the needed
territ ory, to direct the Secretary of y. ar
to construct such canal from the Caribbean
sea. at point near Greytown in Nicaragua,
by way Of Lake Nicaragua, to a point on
the Pacific ocean near Brifo, and also to
construct proper harbOrS at the termini of
said canal. and to make necessary provi-
sions for the defense of the canal and har-
bors.
Sections and authorize the President
to make such surveys as may be necessary,
and to employ such persons in constructing
the canal as may to him seem wise, and d.
rects that in the construction of the canal
the river San Juan and Lake Nicaragua
shall be used as far as they are available.
Section 5 authorizes the President to
guarantee to the states of Costa Rica and
Nicaragua the use Of the canal and harborS
upon terms to be agreed upon, for all ves-
sells owned by said states and by citizens
thereof.
THE sixth section makes a present ap-
preparation of ten millions of dollars TO
carry on this work, and authorizes the Sec
retary of War to enter into proper con-
tracts for material and work as may be
deemed necessary therefor, and work and
material to be paid for as appropriations
may be made from time to time; and the
section fixes the aggregate cost at one hun
dred and eighty millions, to be drawn from
the treasury on warrants of the President.
Responsibility on the President.
THE purpose of this bill is to concentrate
authority and responsibility for the con-
struction of this great work in the hands
of the President. 1t has been believed by
your committee that this course would be
safer one to be pursued in carrying out
the purposes of the bill, involving the ex-
penditure of so large a sum of money, all
the work and all the expenditures to be made
at a distance so far from the capital, than
any other method that could be devised
We have tried to concentrate authority and
among many persons.
1T Is not the purpose of your committee
to make at this time any argument in ia
yor of the construction Of the Nicaragua
canal For four hundred years navigators
and others interested in oriental trade have
directed their endeavors to securing
shorter passage to the east than around
either the northern Or southern limits of
the American continent. During nearly all
of that period search has been made
through all the narrower parts of the con-
tinent for some waterway that was sup
posed to exist connecting the oceans, or for
some marked depression whereby water
transit could be secured.
For three-quarters of century the
Congress Of the United States and the ex-
ecutive have been making endeavors in this
direction. There are among the files Of the
House of Representatives and in the rec
ords of proceedings, well nigh fifty reports
made by officers of the army and navy, by
commissioners or commissions appointed
for that purpose and by committees Of the
two houses. all of them attesting the feasi-
bilty of the enterprise that this bill pro-
poses to inaugurate. We have upon our
desks an exhaustive report made by the
isthmian commission Of which Admiral
Walker is the head, In which every feature
of this enterprise is fully and at length dis
cussed
mo doubt is expressed by the commits
sion as to the practicability of the enter
prise; on the contrary, they join with q
score. of predecessors in expressing their
belief that the work can be carried to
successful termination within the limits of
reasonable cost and reasonable time. That
report, together with report from this
committee, filed during the first session of
the Flfty-siXth Congress upon a somewhat
similar BILL are printed as appendices, and
reference Is especially made to the valua-
BILE report of the commission.
pa En- C.,,.p