Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-29
Capital Sidelights
BY Will il. KENNEDY.

Hoover, world. famed engineer, the ricl
Of the American engineering profession
both military and civilian, are carry.
ing forward a project Of vital nationa
defense and political as we'll as eco.
homie importance. For more than foul
centuries the maritime nations Of thu
world have sought short passage t.
Far Cathay and the tabled wealth Of
the East across that narrow strip Of
land joining North and South America
and separating the Atlantic and Pacific
oceans. In consequence, the name Of
Nicaragua has been written large or
some of the most colortul pages Of
history.
When the intrepid pioneer de Balboa
In 1913 had seen the Pacific Ocean he
ardently sought for a natural passage
between the two oceans, and at the
very outset his idea was to utilize the
course Of the wide rivers Of the Isthmus
of Darien. Under his driving determi-
nation four narKentines were carried ir
pieces. despite untold hardships and
labor, from sea to sea. over mountain
heights, before he was charged with
treason and beheaded in 1877, thus first
marking o line Of trcEsit ScroSs tbs
isthmus and demonstrating its practi-
capility.
After de Balboa's death, tn Is2o. Dor
Angel Saayedra, interpreting his Views
proposed to Charles v to construct q
canal through that isthmus.
A few years later Herman Cortez
then master of Mexico, desired to die
maritime canal through the Isthmus
OF Tehuantepec, and In his letters %
Charles V he laid great stress upon the
necessity of accomplishing that project
Then in 1850 the Portuguese navi-
gator Antonio Galvao published a book
designed to show that 1t was possible
to construct ship canal through the
isthmuses of Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama
and Southern Darien.
Thus at the close of the sixteenth
century ths four principal routes for
an tnteroceani6 canal were known
Meanwhile yAsGS De Cana ana Ferd-
inand Magellan HAD made their pioneer
voyages by the longer circuitous routes
around the Cape Of Good Hope and
Cape Horn.
England toward the close of the
CAhAVGC4Ae4A NVAAtnAy 1btACAIC0 W k4EC
interoceanic waterway question its
full political and commercial impor-
lance, and this was the cause of Nelson's
unfortunate expedition against Mica
ragua in 1778.
Thus We find the greatest minds Of
their day and the pioneer voyagers and
geographers focusing their attention on
this proposal to make q short cut be-
tween the two great oceans during the
succeeding centuries.
1t Is of very timely interest to note
that in 1902, or more than q quarter Of
q century ago, after an extensive sur
vey OF both the proposed Panama and
Nicaraguan routes for an tnteroceaniC
commission Of eminent Navy and Army
engineers reported to Congress that
the most practicable and feasible
route" for an tsthmian canal to be
under the control. management and
ownership Of the United States Is that
known as the Nicaragua route"
There Was long and bitter fight in
Congress as to which route should be
chosen. with the redoubtahle Senator
Morgan fighting valiantly for the
Nicaraguan route, but with the vigorous
Roosevelt dominating. The result Is the
Panama Canal now in operation with
0lS pAOSpSSt s2ids ~ VIII SOon VIC III"
adequate for the commerce between the
two oceans.
In the last Congress q resolution was
put through, fathered by Senator Wal
ter Z. Edge Of New Jersey, and appro-
priation Of $4,000 made available to
pay the costs Of q new engineering
study to bring the Nicaraguan route
survey up to date. President Hoover,
fully cognizant Of the Importance Of an
other interoceanic canal, as of military
value as well as Of commercial and
economic desirability. acted prompt
ly on this authority from Congress and
has ordered q picked regiment Of en-
and civilian-to make
the study. report on which is required
by Congress in two years time.
Under a treaty with Nicaragua the
United States has the right to develop
this additional waterway to join the Pa
cific and Atlantic Oceans and this coun-
try would not countenance any other
nation building this canal.
Here, then, is project with q ro-
mantle background for centuries, and
of epochal importance in this new day
of American supremacy in commerce,
in which the people Of the United
States-from the Atlantic to the Pacific
are vitality interested. Thus do We
see the history Of our day growing out
of the history Of the past.
y y
With the growing complaint against
the laws delay" throughout OUT land.
comes q new prophet in the person Of
George 3. Farnum, Assistant Attorney
General, who points out that this coun-
try could relieve its court procedure
from much of the incumbering and
beclouding irrelevant testimony, and,
at the same time, bring the legal pro-
fession to more specialized standing.
by taking lesson from the English
procedure.
His views were expressed In q talk on
the English Inns of Court before the
FEDERAL Bar Association, composed Of
lawyers engaged in the multifarious
branches Of the Federal service In
Washington. He drew q comparison
between the organization Of the English
and American bars, based on personal
experience, as he has just returned from
trying an extremely important case for
the United States Government In Lon
don.
Farnum said the division Of English
lawyers into barristers and solicitors
leads to the development among the
barristers Of Q high degree Of skin and
eXpeFlenCc III 0lo GAoA "! COuAS S1SCs.
That, of course, is the natural result Of
a BODY Of men who specialize In the
handling of litigation. While In Amer
lea there has been Of recent years some
tendency toward some specialization
between court and office practice, the
average office lawyer Is free to take o
hand in court proceedings when he SO
desires, and he does so not infrequently.
The result Is that the majority Of cases
in America are tried by men who are
not peculiarly trained as advocates and
who have never had experiences enough
with the result that trials are grossly
overprotracted in many cases. time is
spent wrangling over the admissibility Of
testimony by lawyers who have no ade-
Quate knowledge of laws Of evidence, q
great mass OF immaterial matter is
brought into the trial, clouding the real