El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-06-08

closer to the Atlantic ports of the
United States No one who has heard
an Australian complain of the long
delays and the excessive freights that
intervene between him and his Ameri-
can shoes can doubt that the closer
proximity to American markets will
be welcomed in that faraway land I'M
der the Southern Cross
The Volume Of Trade.
How much trade ultimately viii 90
through the canal no one NAV guess
The Suez canal started out with half a
million tons in 1870, reaching 10000
600 tons in a quarter.of a century and
doubling that in the following score Of
years The dividends have been huge.
averaging IS percent a year Tolls
have to be reduced constantly to keep
down the profits, and now the com
pany IS considering the ACCESSIBILITY Of
charging the canal or constructing
another parallel TO II.
The transcontinenta1 tonnage now
handled by the railroads. which ulti-
nately will go by the canal. is heavy.
Likewise the amount of commerce
which now goes around Cape Horn or
through the straits OF Mageilen Is very
large. Add to this tonnage that viii.
under g readJusted. commercial map.
Pc-So lAAR064 1IOLl europe ana ASIA
and it will aggregate an amount prob
ably IN excess Of any other canals
highest record But even then there Is
other tonnage to be considered When
the South and Central American repub-
lies are given stable governments. by
one process or another, capital VIII
flow into them IN vast golden streams.
and the result viii be a new tonnage
OF proportions probably equalling that
now existing. Built on a scale that
viii accommodate total OF so, e00, 900
tons. It we'll may be assumed that It
VIII be many a long year before addi-
tons will be needed at Panama. but il
the history OF canal operation repeats
itself, it is probable that such time
may come earlier than men think II
It does come. however with an $50, 00O,-
eco a year income from its operation,
Uncle Sam would scarcely object to
making any additional engagements
commerce may demand
VIII Create Two Cities.
The canal probably viii bring into
being two important commercial cit
les at its two ends and although they
will bear the old names OF Colon and
Panama, they viii be in fact new cit
les The chief business Of these towns
will be to cater TO the needs OF the
shipping lHdt VIII seek the pdSSd Eo
Of the canal, and their present cosmo-
polftan character will be intensified
Unfortunately. the immediate future
of these towns Is gloomy. The i'm
mense amount Of money expended here
for construction work has brought
about boom prices for everything
When the construction work Is fin
ished. and IN the years before the
business Of the canal has so adjusted
itself TO support other lines OF trade.
one wonders what the people OF Pana-
ma and Colon viii do to stave off bank
ruptcy.
Cuts Off 11,0OO Miles.
The chief interest in the canal to the
American citizen attaches to the fact
that it will reduce the distance by
water route from Atlantic to Pacific
ports by about II. 200 miles. A vessel
Of the speed OF the battleship Oregon
to whose wonderful trip around Cape
Horn the Panama canal is a monument.
can make the trip from ocean TO ocean
in 19 days when the canal is open,
Continued on next DaEe.1