Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-07-09

zation and Is now moving to the head
of the column. The removal Of the 18TH
mian barrier clears the way, and the
remainder Of the movement will be
triumphal procession in which all ma
tions will gladly join under the banners
Of peace.
The basis of the calculation as to the
net earnings of the isthmian canal is
we'll established in the history of the fl
nancial operations Of the Suez canal.
That canal Is 100 miles long, and cost
$3.50, ,Oo0. 900. including the enlargements.
It's net earnings are distributed on the
basis of the par value Of the original
stock, about $1OO,0OO,000. For twenty
years the net earnings have been from
15 to 1S per cent.
The wealth Of the area that supplies
this income to the Suez canal Is not
one-half of that which is tributary to
the American isthmian canal. The log
ical deduction is that we can earn more
money at 81 per ton for tolls on ship
ping than the Suez canal can earn at
the of s1.5O per ton, and the result Is
saving to the world Of SO per cent. OF
the canal tolls on the great equatorial
belt Of commerce.
This would be enough, but we are
not constructing this canal for profit on
an investment.
| loft rates
of transportation by land and sea, and
in that way is to enrich our people by
protecting their productions and earn
ings against the blight of monopoly.
This is the purpose Of congress, and
this is the first occasion when 1t has
had practical expression. To reach this
result has been long and arduous, and
the difficulties have been immense.
The transcontinental railroads and the
lines of ocean steamers, with the re-
pressive efforts Of the Suez canal, have
at last failed to defeat the will Of the
people of the United States, and their
day Of obstruction is ended, never to
dawn again.
The clouds passed by when the Clay
ton -Bulwer treaty was abrogated, and
the new embarrassments presented by
the Panama canal project will either
be speedily settled, or we will turn To
the certain and clear ground Of the
Nicaragua route, as to which there was
never any doubt, either as to the engi-
neering, the freedom Of the title from
all defects, the healthfulness Of the
country, or its advantages as to the
length of the voyages, or its usefulness
for sailing ships and the consequent
competition with the transcontinental
railroads.
So the situation is assured, and every
power Is reserved to congress to pre-
vent mistakes or to correct any error
into which we may fall.
A vigilant people will see to it that no
stain is left upon the honor of the re-
public in dealing with this great sub
ject. The Sault Ste Marie canal Is the
best example of the benefits Of free
waterway, and stands as conspicuous
monument to American skill and enter
prise. It passes through its locks &c.
OO0, 900 tons of shipping in eight months
of the open season, and the freights
that support this vast fleet are drawn
from a country that has three conf
petitive lines Of railroads. 1t is a re-
gion that is not more productive, and
but little more extensive than Nicara-
qua and Costa Rica. Such a canal,
backed by the commerce Of the North
Pacific with the North Atlantic will
surely pass 100000 tons Of shipping
through it's gates annually, and that
amount, at 81 per ton, will leave at
least s4,OOO,0OO net profit annually.
The Chicago drainage canal Is the
proudest of American efforts in canal
construction, and the most honorable to
its projectors and to the men who have
CONSTRUCTED it without the assistance of
any government. 1t Is thirty miles
long, cut through solid rock for great
part Of it's length, and cost $3O,OO0,OOO.
With such examples, all doubts dis
appear as to the construction Of the
! iSthmian canal.
The reasons for the opposition Of the
transcontinental railroads to the con-
struction of any 'isthmian canal are
shown in the following extracts from a
paper recently published in a Costa
Rica newspaper (translation from Pa
Presna Libre, daily newspaper Of San
Jose Costa Rica, dated June 16, 1902:
United States Slavery Of Maritime
Traffic.
| NEW YORK, 13.
1.-The Pacific Mail Steamship Co. has
just concluded an agreement with the
railroad company Of the Isthmus of
Panama, by which the latter agrees to
deliver to the Pacific Mail, exclusively,
all the cargo coming from North Amer
lea that is destined for ports north of
the Isthmus on the western littoral of
Central America" North American
Pacific ports also included).
Such monopolistic arrangements have
existed for more than twenty years, and
have cost the people of the Pacific
states nearly the whole net profit of
their agricultural productions.
This chain is broken, never to be re-
instated, and our people are free from
that incubus. If the Nicaragua route
is selected, their freedom is absolute.