The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-01-07
DEBATE OPENS.
House Takes Up Consideration
of Isthmian Canal.
Mr.. Hepburn Speaks in Support
of His Bill.

Washington, Jan. There was fair
ly large attendance in the galleries of
the house today in anticipation of the
debate upon the Nicaraguan canal bill,
which had been made a special order
for today. By the terms of the oroef
the bill will continue before the house
until disposed of.
without preliminary business, the
house went into committee of the whole
(A1r. Grosvenor of Ohio in the cEair) for
the consideration of the canal bill and
Mr.. Hepburn of Iowa, the chairman of
the committee on interstate and foreign
comm cree, which reported the bill, took
the floor to open the debate. He said
the subject of a waterway across the
isthmus connecting the Atlantic and
Pacific oceans had been in the minds of
the people of the world for more than
400 years.
In the United States thirty
states had instructed their congression-
al delegations to support a bill for an
interoceanic waterway; all political
parties had aligned themselves in favor
of it and the subject had been discussed
in congress, scientific societies, the
newspapers and on the hustings until
there was now a volume of literature on
the subject never before devoted to a
single project.
Walker commission gave careful con-
sideration to every feature of the work.
The bill submitted by his committee
proposed to concentrate all authority
in the hands of the president 1t open
ed no opportunity for defunct states
men or the pensioning of persons who
had been passed in the race of life. 1t
gave the United States the authority to
protect, defend and operate the canal.
In view of all of the reports submitted
Mr.. Hepburn said there could nov be
no question in the minds of any we'll in
formed man of the feaoibility and prac-
ticability of an interoceanic canal
Referring to the efforts of the Pan
anna Canal company to build canal
H. ,41. !.
their efforts follows:
THE company raised $256 000, 900 by
the sale of $435, 100000 of bonds and af-
ter eight years the managers of TIE
company found themselves with the
work less than one-fourth completed.
pennilness and bankrupt in money and
character"
The disaster to this company, he said,
proved conclusively that the work
should be undertaken by governmental
agency.
There was not an atom of work in
general engineering, said he, yet to be
done. In favor of the feasibility and
racticability no enterprise that had
ever received the attention of man had
been so conclusively proved. If the
pending bill became a law the work
could begin at once and should be COM
pleted in eight years.
Mr.. Hepburn said that as a COM
mercial venture the, commissions fig
ures of 1000, 600 tons could be safely ia
ken. At the latter figure the total rev
enue at the Suez rate would be STA
900, 900. enough to meet the cost of
maintenance ($3. 500. 000) and leave over
$4,000 900 to meet interest charges if
there were such.
In concluding Mr.. Hepburn said there
might be some interests in the United
States which believed they would be
harmed by the rivalry of this canal and
there were gentlemen of honest purpose
who thought that the tine was not
ripe for the building of canal or that
q
not be undertaken. They were perhaps
terrified by the spectre of scandal.
But" he continued, 1 insist that the
American people have made their de-
cree that the canal shall be built and
that now is the time to build it." Gap
pIause.l