The Savannah morning news., 1902-01-19


When the House passed the Hepburn
bill the other day providing for an
isthmian canal on the Nicaragua route
there did not seem to be any reason
for doubling that the Nicaraguan route
would be chosen, and that before the
winter was over the President would
be letting contracts for the building OF
the canal. The offer of the Panama
Canal Company to accept $40. 900, 900 for
its property has brought a complete
change in the situation. The President
has ordered the Isthmian Canal Com
mission to consider the offer of the
Panama Company, and that prevents
any action by the Senate Committee
on Interoceanic Canals. Naturally
Senator Morgan, the chairman of that
committee, is very much annoyed, and
from all accounts expressed his an
noyance to the President. And he has
good reason to be annoyed. He sees
in this offer of the Panama Company
delay. and delay may mean the defeat
of the canal project. 1t is intimated
that now the Isthmian Canal Commits
sion is disposed to favor the Panama
route, and will make a report to that
effect. In that event there will likely
be a hot fight in Congress over the
question of a route, with the chances
in favor of nothing being done at this
session of Congress.
In the meantime a number OF New
York capitalists and civil engineers of
world regulations have gone to
Washington with a proposition to build
a canal on another route. They pro-
pose to build Underwater canal across
the isthmus of Darien at a point where
the length of the canal would be only
twenty-nine miles. The length of the
Panama route is forty-seven miles and
the Nicaragua 1874 miles.
This new route is called the Man
dingo route. In order to construct
canal of this route, however. it would
be necessary to tunnel a mountain for
a distance of five miles. Tunnelling,
however does not seem to present any
appalling difficulties to engineers these
days. Indeed, they think no more of
cutting a tunnel than digging ditch.
OF course, the proposed tunnel would
have to be an immense affair in order
to accommodate the great steamers of
the present day, but Notwithstanding
that fact it is asserted that the Man
dingo canal could be constructed for
$50, 1000, 900 less than it would cost to
construct either the Nicaragua or the
Panama canal.
1t must be admitted that If all that
is claimed for the Mandingo route is
true there ought to be no hesitation in
accepting it, but is it true? That ques-
tion can only be settled, in all prob
ability, by an investigation. An in
vestigation by new commission means
a delay for year or more, and delay
is what the opponents OF any isthmian
canal want. The scheme of the pro-
moters of the Mandingo route is an at
tractive one. They propose to make
the tunnel as light as day and to rush
ships through the entire canal at a
high speed by means of electricity.
They propose to do so much that they
excite suspicion that they are not GER
tain that they can do any of the
things they insist they can.
1t begins to look as if Senator Nor
gan, who has set his heart on round
ing out his public career by legislation
that will assure the construction of an
isthmian canal, will not see his hopes
realized. He is rs years Of age, and the
opponents of an isthmian canal seem
to have wonderful ability to delay
the beginning of that great und 9rtak-
ing