The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-13

The First Work on Nicaraguan
 Canal.
 In 1ss7 the Nicaraguan Government granted a concession for 100 years (con- frmed by Costa Rica, to the Nicaragua Canal Association of New fork' by which company 1t was trans ferred to the Maritime Canal Com pany of Nicaragua. which was organized May 4. 1889. under a charter granted py the United States by an act of Congress approved Feb. 20. 1888.
 The construction of the canal, for the Maritime Canal Company. was undertak- en by the Nicaragua Construction Com pany. organized under the laws of Colo rado, June 10, 1887. for that purpose. The latter company purchased part of the plant which had been used on the Panama Canal and actual work was commenced at San Juan, June 3, 1889. A great part of the necessary railroad was built and Improvements of the harbor of San Juan ; (said to have been unsuccessful were made. Work practically ceased from lack of funds in December, 1892, and In lSss August 30) the Nicaragua Construction Company went into the hands of re- ceiver.
 bIl was introduced in the United States Senate by MT. John Sherman in 1891 (DecembereO to amend the act Of Congress incorporating the Maritime Company. which provided for the taking over by the government of the affairs of tbat company. The Maritime Company were required by it to call in and cancel all bonds which had been issued by 1t, and all outstanding liabilities were to be satisfied. In order to enable the Maritime Company to perform the part required of 1t, the bill authorized the issue of $lOO,00 . 900 stock. The United States were to be- come the owners of 80, ,5O00 900 of this stock without cost; $12.0o0.0O0 of 1t was to be retained by the Maritime Company to re- imburee it for the amount claimed to have been paid for the concessions made by Nicaragua and Costa Rica. It also authorized the issue by the Maritime Company of $100000.Ooo of its bonds of which the United States were to become an endorser.
 It will be seen that the United States by this bill practically became the owners, at least. the controllers of the company. The outlays and outstanding liabilities of the Colorado Construction Company were to be adjusted for which. 1t will be seen, there remained 0.500 900 of the stock. Of course 1t will be under stood that the $100.000.000 cash was to be raised upon the credit of the United States, which was loaned by their en- dorsement of the bonds of the Maritime Company. This bill failed of passage during the Fifty-second Congress. A sim liar bill was introduced into the Fifty third and Fffty-fourth Congresses, but failure of passage was the result in both.
 Investigation of Cost and Route of the Canal.
 Congress, however, made provision by a clause of the sundry civil appropriation act of 1895 (March 9 for ascertaining the feasibility, permanence and cost of the construction and completion of the canal contemplated by the act incorporating the Maritime Canal Company, for which purpose 1t constituted a board of three engineers to make the survey and ex- animation necessary for such ascertain ment, the board to be selected and ap- pointed by the President of the United States, one member from the Corps of Engineers of the army; one from the Engineers of the Navy and one from civil life, the board to report on or before November 1, 1895.
 Again, Congress by a clause in the sun dry civil act of June 1, 1S97 in order to continue the examination, authorized the President to appoint commission to con-
 
 from the corps of army engineers, one from the engineers of the navy and one from civil life who were to make com plete plans or the construction of the proposed canal.
 Further, by a clause in the Rivers and Harbors act of March 8. 1899, the Presi- dent was empowered to make a full and complete investigation of the Isthmus of Panama with a view to the constructiJ Jn AA wnN kxa.A
 the same to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The President was au. thorized ito make investigation of all practicable routes for a canal across said Isthmus'' and particularly to in- vestigate the two routes known respe.- lively as the Nicaragua route and the Panama route with view of determin- ing the most practicable and feas. be route for such canal. together with the proximate and probable cost of construc- ting canal at each of the two or more routes" The President was further au- thorized to investigate and ascertain what rights. privileges and franchises, if any may be held and owned by any corpora tons. associations or individuals, and what work, If any, had been done in the construction of canal at either or any Of said routes,> and particularly at the Nicaragua and Panama routes respective ly; and the cost of purchasing all of the rights, etc., owned by them in any or all of such routes, particularly the Nicaragua and Panama routes, and the probable cost of construction and maintaining a harbor at each of the termini of each route. And generally, the President was authorized to make complete investigation so az to determine the most feasible route the cost of constructing the canal and placing 1t under the control management and ownership of the United States" For this purpose. the President was authorized to employ engineers of the army and navy and from civil life and any other per- sons. There was an appropriation of $1,- 0 0,OOO made for the purpose.
 It would be perhaps tiresome for me to enter into any exposition of the character of reports made by the commissioners ap- pointed by the President under these sev- eral acts. My purpose mainly Is to sh W not what has been attempted in Congress during the long, most interesting but sometimes tedious consideration of the question of constructing an Isthmian ca- nal, but what has been actually accom- plished in the way of legislation.
 Preliminary Report of the Isthmian
 Canal Committee.
 The commission. known as the 18th milan Canal Commission" made its pre- liminary report to the President Noven- Der 30, l9O which the President trans- mitted to Congress. December 1. 190O The comparison of the two routes is summed up as follows:
 l. The estimated cost of build ing the Nicaragua canal is about S5S coo GOO more than that of completing the Panama canal. leaving out the cost of acquiring the latter property. This mi a fha fn hn SJ,