Arizona republican., 1903-03-24
The Canal Assured, and the Best
 Route Selected.

The Canal Assured, and the Best
 Route Selected.
 The senate's ratification of the canal treaty practically assures the construc- tion of the Panama canal by the United States. There is little cause to doubt that the convention will be ratified by the republic of Colombia. notwithstand- ing Senator Morgan's predictions to the contrary. With the exception of the Alabama Senator, everybody is con- vinced that the best route has been selected. Prior to 1S40 no other site than the Isthmus of Panama was seriously considered by anybody In connection with the establishment of a means of communication between the two oceans. A cut through this neck of land was the idea in mind of all canal izers from the time of the Spanish con- quistadors down. A few years previous to 1850 the advantages of the Nicaragua route were disclosed by an American naval officer. In tht era of compara-
 
 of sails. these advantages were sub stantial. Greytown was then consid cred a good harbor; trade winds blew off the coasts of Nicaragua, while Pan- river was ready-made canal, cover ing the greater part of the route and | requiring only some excavation of it's course here and there to be converted then contemplated. From the point of view of the men of that age the Me aragua route was doubtless the better, shorter and more economical.
 It was thus that the Nicaragua route came to be regarded as peculiarly American; and the Clayton Bulwer treaty had particular reference to a ca nal on this line. The enthusiasm for the enterprise soon cooled, and was not revived until after the success of M. de Lesseps at Suez caused that great en- gineer and idealist to turn his attention to Panama. The entry of the French upon the scene was regarded as an in- vasion of our preserves and was re- sented as an impertinence Persons who had meanwhile become financially | interested in the rival route lost no op- ment, and they were greatly aided in the effort of creating natural prej- udice against Panama by the disaster which overlook de Lesseps and the scandals attending his downfall. It has taken years of discussion to overcome l this prejudice and to convince the SUD- porters of the American" project Gas which the Nicaragua canal had become identified) that the latter was no longer the preferable one because the condi- tions of 1S45 which made 1t so, had ceased to exist
 To prove that the requirements of this age of colossal steam propelled ships could be most advantageously met on the Isthmus of Panama was only part of the task imposed upon the | champions of this undertaking. The
  hold was almost as hard to combat as the infatuation for the Nicaraguan scheme. Before the Oregon made her trip around the Horn nobody had thought of an interoceanic waterway otherwise than as a highway of con- merce.
 This famous voyage suddenly aroused a feeling that naval fortress, com. manding the transit of the isthmus was of immeasurably greater importance than a mere canal. The argumen. l that the forticati tion plan would involve the conquest of a part of Central America and the suppression of the local sovereignties failed for a long | time to produce the slightest impress sion. Common sense and the sense of fairness have finally prevailed, and the | three state papers which contain the public law on the subject of the inter- oceanic canal (namely, the Hay Pauncefote treaty the Hepburn | Spooner canal act and the treaty with Noloiiipid) nave prouBnt the canal prop lem down from the clouds to terra | frma.
 Notwithstanding a few inconsistent cies. these documents constitute a har- monious whole and provide for the ere ation of a means of interoceanic com | munication, substantially like the Suez l canal, in that it shall be primarily an