Evening star., 1902-01-29
TO BUf II A CANAL
PROPOSITION TO sBE MADE TO THE
)n 5Rt
GOVERNMENT.
Offer of Chicago Engineers, Who Will
Bond 4hea.s,;elve. in Any
i ! Amount.


either in Nicaragua or in Panama, is the
proposition which will be made to the gov
ernment by number of Chicago contrac-
tors and engineers who built the drainage
canal. Lyman E. Cooley OF Chicago has
been in Washington listening with interest
to the canal debate. He Is Indifferent to
the choice of route, believing both to be
possible to American engineering and con-
structive genius. He and his friends Will
oHer, as soon as it is decided to build the
canal, to take over the job as one contract
IN Whatever amount may be necessary. and
Will oner. to give any required bond to
1ulnil their obligation. Mr.. Cooley believes
tnat the estimates Of the canal commits
sion are liberal. for the unit Of prices
adopted for moving earth and rock and
building cut or a fill are far in excess OF
tnose which have prevailed for several
years past, even under the most difficult
conoitlons Mr.. Cooley believes that this
the outcome Of the Nicaragua enterprise
than with Panama and his reasons are
from purely commercial and industrial
point OF view. His theory is that by build.
ing across Nicaragua and Costa Rica the
United States would practically annex
those countries and that a tremendous in
dustr1al development, would result along the
lne OF the canal which would add greatly
and give us tropical base of operations
which we would absolutely control.
Advantages of Nicaragua.
There is room along the Nicaragua canal
route for 5000 Americans to live and do a
profitable business said Mr.. Cooley to a
representative Of The Star. 1.-THE develop
ment of the coffee, rubber, banana and
other tropical industries has long been
predicted of that part Of Central America.
Ihere are thousands of acres of land won
derfully adapted to coffee and the other
products have mentioned, and 1t would pe
but short time after the canal was begun
before American capital had absorbed the
best of this area. The country is peaceful,
It would be under the control of the United
states and thoroughly policed thereby, the
best transportation facilities in the world
would be at the door; the country is COM
paratively healthy, owing to the constant
circulation of the trade Winds and there
are many industries which could be de-
veloped in the future which as yet have no
beginning.
If Panama Route is Taken.
''1f we build the canal across the Isthmus
of Panama it would merely be highway.
There is no possibility there Of building
towns or developing the country as there
is In Nicaragua. We would get nothing but
the canal, whereas in Nicaragua we would
troll commercially as well as politically and
which would furnish in time enough profit
able business and freight to make very
respectable interest showing on the money
invested in the waterway. There would be
two or three good sized and thoroughly
American towns, ONE on the Pacific one on
the Atlantic and one on Lake Nicaragua,
probably near SAM Carlos at the head of
the San Juan river.s
The Question of Winds.
1.-The Importance eof the prevailing trade
winds across Nicaragua has been estimated
in considering this question Of a canal.
They make it possible for sailing vessels,
a most important feature in our commerce,
to come and go at any time from Greytown
or Brito.
trade winds. 1t Is In the dofdrums But a
few days ago an item was printed in the
papers briefly noting that all transatlantic
steamers had laid outside the harbor Of
Colon for a couple of days, unable to get
in on account of fierce norther which was
blowing.
A Great Factor to Consider.
ALLOWING, however, that the two routes
are every way equal to each other from a
physical political and legal point of view,
which is still a mooted question, think
that the importance of the possible devel-
opment Of Nicaragua and Costa Rica,
under the influences of the canal, is a tre-
mendous factor in favor of the selection of
the latter route. By the building of the
Panama canal we could get nothing but
the waterway that while of enormous
value itself, would not equal the value Of a
waterway which opened up a new empire
to American enterprise and trade