The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-08-30
The Purpose OF the Isthmian Canal.

Tho Purpose OF the Isthmian Canal.
In letter printed elsewhere cor
respondent takes US to task In the matter
Of our recent comment on the article
on Panama in the Booklopers Magazine,
written by Mr.. HAROLD BoLCE. He
charges us with having read the article
carelessly, and intimates injustice to
Mr.. BoLcE in our statement that his
view of tho canal question is a narrow
one.
A reviewui the article in question
confirms our earlier opinion that it's
consideration Of the canal question was
confined almost exclusively to the value
Of the ditch a. a factor in the trade Of
this country with the west coast Of
South America. Our correspondent
says that he and 'many other constant
readers Of THE Sun would be keenly
interested to know what additional ends
THE SUN thinks will be served by the
construction OF the canal Mr.. BoLcE
argues that even II South America were
reversed 30 that the larger trade and
trade area were ON the west instead Of
on the east coast, the cutting Of the canal
would not be warranted by present
trade conditions.
We have always supposed, and we
still suppose, that the trade Of South
America, whether on the eastern coast
or on the western coast, to which Mr..
BoLcR gives such special prominence
in his article, is no more than an incident
in tho isthmian canal project. We
have supposed that tho project in
volved certain questions in naval STRAIT
egg, and that the canal would open
n"n and important highway to our own
ppalac cos%t, to Australia, China and
i,,Mg., as well as to the west coast Of
south America. Unless we are grossly
in error, the primary and major purpose
of the isthnian canal Is the opening Of q
shorter and less expensive trade route
to a large part Of that great Far East
where lies, 80 we are told, the great
market of the future.
Presumably the trade Of the teeming
millions of that area, rather than the
trade of the single million or so Of resi-
dents on the west coast of South America,
is the great object in the digging of the
canal. Any view in which the horizon
is bounded by that coast or its trade, or
in which all except that area is dim and
obscure, seems to US marrow" and
inadequate.
Replying to our correspondence ques-
lions regarding the Tehuantepec route,
we are unable at this moment to give
him the date of the award Of the contract
to Messrs. s. WEETMAN PEARSON h Co.,
the English contractors, for the compile
ton of the line and for the harbor works
at its terminals. The route has been
for q number Of years favorite project
of President DIAz. We believe that the
Pearson contract for the line and the
harbor works called for about $40, 0OO, 900.
The road, well built and equipped, is
practically completed, and the harbor
works soon will be. The efficiency Of
it's operation and its place as factor
in interoceanic traffic have not yet
been determined.
We do not know, but we presume
that the Vera Cruel Pacific route project,
as an interoceanic route, has been aban-
doned in favor of the shorter and cheaper
Tehuantepeo line. By a line running
from Cordoba, on the Vera Cruz-Pacific,
to Santa Lucretia, where 1t joins the
Tehuantepeo, connection is now made
between Vera Cruz and Salina Cruz,
on the Pacific, by route little, II any,
longer than would be an air line between
Vera Cruz and Acapulco, although
much longer than the main Tehuantepec
line. Before many years . line from
MGx2Oo city. now ConnACt0d With VArn