Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-12-29


side of the canal and is going a lonl
way on the other, will be only a part
and probably the lesser part Of th'
trade at Panama. The Panama cana
is going TO open up a new country, 1
country Of great and virgin richness
and its titular city will reap the bene
fits. Moreover you must not forge
the coming Pan-American railroad
Port Said is not, as Panama will be
the meeting point Of an interocean ca
nal, and the greatest intercontinenta
railroad In the world.
! Since we are building the canal tha
is going to make Panama what 1t will
be, It is only natural that we should
expect the lions share Of the profits
But are we going to get It? From
present appearances we are not. Oi
all the nations Of the world at present
in evidence on the isthmus we Amer.
leans are the only ones who apparent
ly have not realized what Is going to
happen there when we are through
and are not quietly and energetically
busy taking steps to secure share OF
the profits thereof. The explanation
has already been given. We are toe
busy with the actual work The canal
which. big as 1t Is, is only means to
an end. has grown in our eyes until
1t hides everything behind 1t. And
4. x.thn N n
have our eyes In the cut where we are
making the dirt fly" and those Of us
who are only helping to pay for 1t are
busy congratulating ourselves on our
own achievements. foreign gentlemen
are quietly. unobstrusively gathering
In real estate. water power and min
Ing and timber concessions by the
Indred thousand acres.
There Is of course the canal zone.
There are some 500 square miles in
the zone. and it Is Of course the best
location on the isthmus, lying right
along the canal from end to end. 1t
Is securely in the grasp Of Uncle Sam.
But of what use Is it to Uncle Sam II
his own people do not take possession
of 1t? II you follow the line Of the
canal from end to end you will see
little but the scattering wretched huts
of the native squatters here and there
In the jungle. Why Is this? The
Isthmian Commission certainly wishes
for immigration from home and is do
ing all in it's power to encourage 1t.
Has the pioneer died out in America
I do not believe so. There has been
so far no immigration from the states
into the canal zone for several rea-
sons. The long standing bad reputa-
ton of a tropical climate, which
could be far worse than It Is and still
be an improvement over that OF any
OF our big cities. has probably been
one of these. but the chief reason has
been the policy of our own govern
ment.
It was decreed at the beginning that
the fee simple of the land Of the canal
zone shall vest in the government for
ever and that the land shall be divided
and leased in twenty-five year periods
to the individual settler. There Is no
doubt that this Is in accord with the
modern theory on the subject Of land
control but as method OF opening
new land for settlement 1t has proved
a miserable failure. Perhaps 1t would
.ttt, In
more crowded country, but our peo-
pie have not yet felt the real pinch Of
land starvation. The dream that has
always drawn and will draw the pio-
neer is that of one day possessing a
freehold Of his own.
The ideal Of land naturalization Is
still too high for him. What he wants
is land over which he can have undis-
puted mastery, answerable to no land
lord, not even the government-to no
one but God. Who could ever expect
to go to a far country and wrestle
with conditions utterly strange and
new under alien skies, with no better
prospect than twenty-five years lease
Of the land that he might win from
the Jungle? The land nearer home
may not be one-half so rich, but it is
the kind Of land he knows something
about and once he has it not even the
government can take 1t from him.
There are. Of course, hopeful ones
who look to congress to amend the
law and throw the zone open to set
tiers, but we know congress Of old.
Congress has inherited and faithfully
preserved from the parliament or
George ILL.,. the habit of legislating for
our lands across the sea less according
to the needs of the political situation
at home. We can hardly hope for
congressional relief.
OF all nations in the world. we have
the best right from every point of view
to profit by the new canal and Its
awakening effect on Central America.
or all nations we are the most favor
ably placed strategically to secure that
profit. But our chances are slowly
melting away, and with yet a little
folding of the hands i'm sleep they will
be irrevocably gone.-Harper's Week
ly.