Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-07-27

our statesmen. ..-..-. -. .
In 1852. when the Panama railroad
was being built. captain OF a com.
pany In the Fourth regiment Of In
fantry. Ulysses S. Grant, crossed the
isthmus at Panama on his way TO the
new California post An epidemic Of
cholera broke out. costing the lives Of
eighty men. and the general hard
ships of the transit deeply impressed
Captain Grant with the need of bet
ter passage.
Several American exploring parties
had been on the isthmus, and in 1854
/ Lieutenant Arthur Strain. with TWEEN.
ty-seven companions. attempted to
penetrate the jungle. They got lost,
and after ninety days OF living death
Strain and two or three of his men
reached Panama
President Lincoln in 1868. when he
was freeing the negro slaves, cast his
eyes upon the Chiriqui province of Pan
anna as a suitable place for colonlZing
the negroes of the south after the civil
war. but his untimely death prevented
the opportunity to work out the idea.
That Captain Grant who had cross
ed the iSthmus in 1872 became presi-
dent in 1850. and the very same year
he directed General Stephen A. Hurl-
but to negotiate treaty with. Colour
bia for Panama canal. N knew
from experience how advantageous 1t
would be TO his country. Such a
treaty was signed at Bogota on Ian.
26. 1870. but the United States senate
did not ratify it. and the senate OF Co
lombia mutilated It..
President Grant then sent Admiral
Ammen TO Nicaragua to investigate
that route. more In a pique mt colonl-
bia than from belief In its available
| ity. Colombia returned the feeling by
turning to the French and giving a
concession. At the instance of I'resi-
dent Grant the Panama route again
was surveyed by Commanders +. r..
Lull and T. o. Selfridge. in 1915. but
J from this time onward the French had
the center of the stage.
Their spread eagle operations served
to make the world and the Americans
think that canal was white ele-
plant proposition. The Spanish-Amer-
lean war. however. suddenly brought
the American people to n realization OF
the vital necessity, from a military
viewpoint alone. Of an interOceanic
canal
Day by day as the battleshlp Oregon
steamed around Cape Horn this lesson
was impressed upon the people. A
10000 mile journey could have been
saved by Panama canal. The war
over and peace allowing the country
and the government to consider other
things. President Mckinley reorgan-
lied the isthmian canal commission
which he had appointed In 1897 with
| the following personnel:
Admiral John q. Walker chairman:
Samuel Paseo. George $. Morrison.
Lieutenant Colonel Oswald Fl. Ernst.
i q. s. A.: Colonel +. c. Hams. U. $. A.:
Lewis 81. Haupt. Alfred Noble. VIII
liam H. Burr and Professor Emory r.
| Johnson.
This commission was appointed IN
March. 1899. with instructions to in
vestigate all Central American routes
The Walker commission nnofficially
asked the French company what its
property might be bought for. and
when quoted price OF $i0iI41.500
promptly decided that Nicaragua look
ed better. The report made on Nov.
is. 1901. by the commission frankly
stated that the Panama route was pref
erabIe. hut the price asked by the
French company was prohibitivel The
commission dropped the remark that
$40. 0OO. 900 was about what the French
holdings were worth to the United
States
When It had agreed to the COM
missions valuation the report to the
president promptly was revised In IA
vor of the Panama route.
! Theodore Roosevelt upon assuming
the Office of president promised to car
~ out the policies Of President Nc
Kinley. and. so far as the canal policy
Is concerned. be succeeded so eminent.
" that deliberate Judgment. formed
fIom perspective view of the whole
undertaking. warrants the assertion
that his energy. decision and sound
judgment made an interoceanic canal
possible in this generation.
The moment his dynamic personality
got behind the idea 1t received an i'm
petus. and he bucked the line Of OBJ
stacles that arose In the path of the
project until he retired In 1909. when
the enterprise was advanced beyond
the possibility of failure
1t was TO President Roosevelt that
the Walker commission reported in No
vember. 1901. His first message -
congress arged iUmedlate action. and
after good deal OF wrangiing over
the Hepburn act in favor of Nicaragua
the Spooner act was passed on June
2S. 1902.
The Spooner act. written by Senator
John C. Spooner of Wisconsin. proyid-
ed for an isthmian canal commission
of sayon nomhora and attthnri7ad The