Year: 1869

StesH, Hei Around shc World.


For more than forty centuries the world has


been reaching towards Asia. Eastward or


westward has made but little difference the


great commercial and maritime problem has


been to shorten the distance in the direction


of the countless millions of India and absorb


their trade In the attempt to solve this


problem Portugal doubled the Cape OF Good


Hope and Spain launched her pinnaces west


ward into the unknown sea which lay beyond


the dreaded portals of Hercules. The Portu-


guese effort gave a tremendous impulse to


Western Europe and infused such civiza-


ton into its Atlantic coast that no commercial
enterprise was too daring and no geographical
exploration too difficult to be undertaken.
Man learned what the world was. and set
about the task to make it bend to his energies.
Barrier after barrier went down before the
sturdy pioneer. Those nations which led in
the conquest became the most powerful in
Europe. Portugal and Spain foated their
flags over more than a third part of the hab-
table globe. England followed, and the
rckety kingdoms of India, rotten with wealth,
went down at the touch of her sword. Half
of the New World came under the shadow of
the English Cross of st. George and the
FSear de Lis Of France. Those were grand
Glibustering days. and under their action the
world ceased TO he fiat.


The worlds mania to reach India has
constantly increased. The Continent which
Columbus found between Spain and China has
been subdued, populated. bound together with


iron bands and finally bridged. Over three
thousand three hundred miles of continuous
rails link the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific
To-day New York and China are connected by
steam on nearly straight line.


Under the grand Asiatic movement France,
as well as ourselves, has undertaken gigantic
work-in an engineering point of view far greater
than our Pacific Railroad. 1t has been pushed
forward with an energy which in no respect
is Inferior to that which has characterized our
own movements. As here, so there, capital
has been lavishly expended. The object has
been to complete the connection of the Medi-
terranean and the Red Sea at the earliest
moment. 1t is now supposed that the canal
the present year. In this immediate opening
we see something more than the mere desire
to reach India. Were 1t to be completed ten
years hence it would perhaps fail to meet the
full measure of its object. It would scarcely
answer for Europe to give us ten years
the start, commercially or politically,
on short route to India. The
two hundred millions of dollars foreign COM
merce Of China and the growing Importance
of the trade of other Indian countries demand
that Europe should cling fast to what she has.
Young America threatens to give the Old
World rough race for empire. Bone, sinew
and energy are the competitors against wealth
and established power.


The Suez Canal was undertaken upon foreign
territory by France. It has none of those
great local national advantages attached to it
that our Pacific Railroad has. No great unde-
veloped territory lies upon its tanks nothing
but desert sands. Our great trade artery sets
in active development not less than million of
square miles of territory unsurpassed for fer
tility of soil and mineral wealth. The Suez
Canal, however, is to the Mediterranean ma
tions what the discovery of the Cape of Good
Hope route to India was to Western Europe
1t will give them extraordinary vigor and
new commercial existence which will place the
European Latins more upon an equality with
the great Saxon-English element which has
rolled so irresistiby westward. We are dis
posed to believe that the great idea of France
in the cutting of the canal was the same that
we found underlying the invasion of Mexico and
the oft-repeated attempts to gain control of
South America-that is, the development of
the Latin race, and the consequent building
up of all those nations of Europe whose cradle
feel the movement Of the French dredges in
the Suez Canal. Venice, alone, has raised
very large sum of money to repair her docks.
The whole of Italy must take bound forward.
Marseilles and Toulon must become the Indian
and Chinese ports of France. The first ship of
fifteen hundred tons that passes the canal will
be the signal of victory greater than any
that France ever yet achieved. At the same
the European Latin races will double
their strength. The whole world will gain, for
it will be the completion of steam belt around
the world on the shortest practicable route,
but little longer than the equatorial circumfer-
ence Of the earth.


The construction of the Suez Canal will cost
about half the money that our Pacific Railroad
Naturally in these ssreat UNDER
takings one Of the great moving forces is ind-
vidual profit. We have no doubt that upon
examination it will be found that
certain individuals have made vast sums
out OF the Suez Canal enterprise.
We have heretofore demonstrated what gigan-
tic swindling schemes have attended the con-
struction of the Pacific road Our great
4 IL.