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The Commoner.
8
THE WORK AND REPORT OF THE CANAL COMMISSION.
,.,, .,irpn in iitvo constructed rho Tarn at I Nicaragua route is nearly
Tho work done by the Isthmian
canal commission was authorized by
tho rivor and harbor act passed March
3, 1899. In this law, congress em
powered tho president to mako a full
investigation of all practicable loca
tions for a canal across tho American
isthmus, and to "determino tho most
feasible and practical routo across said
isthmus for a canal, together with the
cost of constructing and placing tho
samo undor tho control, management
and ownership of the United States."
Tho task intrusted to tho president
was ono of great magnitude, requir
ing tho conduct of oxtonsivo surveys
in Nicaragua and Costa Itica, on tho
isthmus between tho cities of Colon
and Panama, and at several points
along the Isthmus of Darlen between
. tho city of Panama and' tho mainland
of South Amorica. In general, tho
president was requested to oxamino
all the facts bearing upon the location
and choice of a routo and "to report
to congress tho results of such investi
gations, togothor with his recommen
dations in tho premises."
To sccuro tho Information desired
by oongress, tho president, after hold
ing tho matter under consideration for
three months, selected, without refer
onco to political affiliations, a com
mission of nine oxperts. Tho navy was
represented by Roar Admiral John Q.
Walker, whom tho commission made
its president; from tho army were
detailed Col. Peter OHnln's and Lieut.
y . Col. Oswald gEVnst, and from among
thoj&lvff engineers of the country Were
Gnbson Georgo S. Morison and "William
H. Burr of New York, Alfred Noble of
Chicago, and Lewis M. Haupt of Phil
adelphia. A lawyer, ex-Senator Sam
uol Pasco, of Florida, was selected
with reforonce to tho study of "rights,
privileges and franchises' and the
writer of this article was placed on
tho commission to assist in investigat
ing and reporting on tho industrial,
commercial and financial aspects of
tho canal,
Tho commission met for organiza
tion on Juno 15, 1899, and established
permanent offices in Washington. To
facilitate the prosecution of its several
Hues of Inquiry, five committees were
appointed, each committee consisting
of three men besides tho president of
tho commission, who was ex-officlo a
fourth member of all committees.
There wero three engineering com
mitteesone on the Nicaragua route.
ono on tho Panama route, and ono on .
additional or Darlen routes. In addi
tion to these engineering committees,
inoro was one on "rights, privileges
and franchises," and anothor on "the
industrial, commercial and military
value of the canal." These several
committees prosecuted their several
lines of investigation, and laid before
the full commission both the results
of their work and tho data upon
which all their conclusions were
based. The work of each committee
was carefully gone over in detail by
tho full commission. Tho committees
wero merely auxiliaries to tho com
mission, and not substitutes.
Much of the, work of tho commission
had necessarily to be done directly by
tho full body. Soon after organization,
It decided that a trip to Paris was
necessary, because the records and
data collected by the Panama Canal
company during the past twenty years
wore in the archives of the company
in its Paris offices. This trip took
between six. and seven weeks of the
commission's time in the summer and
- rlyautujnupflsgQ. '
n t .. n ionn tim nnmmlsslon
sailed from Now York for Greytown,
Nicaragua, which point was reached
on tho 19th of the month. Five weeks
wore spent in Nicaragua, during -which
tlmo tho harbor problems wore studied,
all tho camps of engineers wero vis
ited, additional instructions wero giv
on tho division engineers in charge,
and a careful study was made of tho
work being done by tho engineers in
charge of tho hydrographlc work and
tho borings. Ten days wero spent by
tho commission at tho capital of NIcar- i
agua, where interviews were had witn
tho president and higher officials con
corning tho question of concessions.
From Nicaragua the commission
wont by steamer to Panama. It made
its headquarters at Colon, and during
tho fifteen days of Its stay on the
isthmus every important detail of the
project was given a careful personal
examination. When tho commission
left Colon, tho chairman of tho com
mltteo on tho Darlen routes proceeded
along tho Caribbean shore on the
United States auxiliary cruiser Scor
pion, which had some months previous
been placed at tho disposal of the com
mission. This trip was taken for tho
purpose of visiting tho engineering
parties engaged In tho surveys heing
conducted on that part of tho Isthmus
of Darlen. Tho other members of tho
commission went to Port Limon, Costa
Rica, and thence to tho capital of the
country, San Jose, where six days were
spent In conference with the president
and higher officials. No prev
ious engineering work with reference
to tho location of a canal route has
beon done with thoroughness compar
able with that insisted upon by the
present commission. Among the dis
tinctive features of this phase of the
commission's work should bo men-,
tioned Its examination of the: Isthmus
of Darlen between tho mainland of
South America and the Panama canal
location. The narrowest portion of the
Isthmus lies in the Darlen region, and
several men of high authority have
long claimed that tho most practica
ble route for tho canal was to be
found on tho Darien portion of the
isthmus, either in the neighborhood of
tho Atrato river or along what are
known as tho Caledonia bay route or
tho San Bias location. The informa
tion obtained by means of tho Darien
surveys showed that tho Atrato route
was entirely out of the question, and
established the fact that the Caledonia
and San Bias routes are the only pos
sible ones for a canal across the isth
mus of Darien, and that in the case of
both of these locations the construc
tion .of a long tunnel would be neces
sary. The enormous cost of a tunnel, i
and the practical impossibility of so;
ventilating it as to make it
a feasible passageway for ships or
large dimensions, eliminated the Dar
ien routes from consideration.
The choice lay between the Panama
ana tne Nicaragua locations, and the
aetanea stuuy of. these two routes has
shown that the engineering problems
on the Nicaragua route are less diffi
cult and less expensive than they had
previously been supposed to be. The
most difficult engineering feature of
either of the two lines Is the con
struction of tho Bohio dam on tho
Panama location, the commission hav
ing been unable to find a rock founda
tion for that structure that does not
involve masonry work at a depth or
128 feet below the level of tho sea'
No foundation has yet been sunk to
that depth. The commission believes
however, that the Bohio dam could be
constructed without serious difficulty
u uaujusivq oonngs in Nicaragua
resulted in finding a new locaUon n
few miles irom Boca San Carlo?, nt
ConnbudK, for the large dam across tho
San Juan river. The dam on this site
can b.. cxnstructed in about Iouc veais'
af-ec woiV is begun, or in" .'ess than.
&v'LlH;d!, Mhe.ttnm,lt-4wan!d Oiave-
laiien w uevu www vu .- - --Bo.-a
San Carlos. The locks on both
,n,, Untm linotl 1nrflfPf1 Oil COOd TOCK
foundations, and every Important en
gineering problem has been satisfac
torily solved. There will be no en
gineering works of such difficulty or
magnitude in Nicaragua as the con
struction of tho Bohio dam and the
excavation of the Culebra cut on the
Panama line. Tho excavation of this
cut would require 'about eight years,
while it is believed that there is no
single piece of work on the Nicaragua
route which could not, under favoring
conditions, be completed within four
after work is actually unaer
years
way.
An examination of the two routes
from the engineering standpoint shows
that neither one possesses very de
cided advantages over the other.
The differences of the two routes are
most pronounced in the matter of ccta
cesslons. In the case of the Nicaragua
line, there are no private corporations
holding any concessions at present
valid, and the United States is free to.
treat directly with Nicaragua and
Cost Rica. The Panama
Canal company controls absolutely the
situation at Panama. It has a con
cession certainly valid until 1904, and
which the company considers to be
valid until 1910. Furthermore, the
Panama railroad is owned by the Pa
nama Canal company, and the con
cession under which this road was
constructed has over fifty years to
run. By its terms, no canal can be
built in tho neighborhood of the mil
road without arrangements being
made "with the owners of the conces
sion. It thus becomes necessary for
the United -States to buy out the Pa
nama Canal company before negotia.
tions with the Colombian government
can be consummated-
Whether the United - States should
adopt the Panama route or the ono
across Nicaragua and Costa Rica is a
question to be decided by considera
tions of cost of construction and ac
quisition, expenses of maintenance and
operation, and of the usefulness of the I
routes to tne commerce of the united
State and foreign countries.
The expenses of operation and
maintenance are in favor of
the Panama location. A study of. this
question by the commission indicates
that these expenses would be about
$2,000,000 a year for the Panama line
and about $3,350,000 for the Nicaragua .
canal. Against this difference in ex
penses of operating and maintaining
are to be placed the greater advant
ages of the Nicaragua route as a higli-.
way for the commerce of the- United i
States.
The Panama canal, being 40.09 miles
in length, and the Nicaragua canal
183.6G miles long, a ship would be able
to pass through the former canal In,
less time than it would take to steam i
from Greytown to Brito. As stated
in the final report of the commission.
"The estimated time for a deep
draught vessel to pass through is 12
hours for Panama and thirty-three
hours for Nicaragua. . . . Except
for the items of risks and delays"
(that are liable to liappen to a vessel
passing through a restricted channel),
"the time required to make the transit
through the canals needs to be taken
Into account only as an element in the
time taken by tho vessels to make
their passage between terminal ports.
Compared on this basis, the Nicaragua
route is the more advantageous for all
trans-isthmian commerce except that
originating or ending on the west
coast or youth America. For the com
merce in which the United States is
most interested, that between our Pa
cific ports and Atlantic ports, Eu
ropean and American, the Nicaragua
route is shorter by about one day. The
same advantage exists between our
Atlantic porta ancf the "orient For.
,ouc.',gulf; Ports, ayantae of,.thef
two dav.s.
For tho commerce between North At
lantic ports and the west coast of.
South America, tlie Panama route is
shorter by about two days. Between
gulf ports and the west coast of South.
America the saving is. about one day.
Special efforts were made to ascer
tain the effect which the canal wonld
have upon the traffic of American rail
ways. Numerous conferences were had
with railway officials, nnd information
was obtained by correspondence "both
with railway officials and with ship
pers. As to the business of the rail
way systems in the territory between
Chicago and New York, and of those
In the southern states, the evidence is
practically unanimous that the canal
will be beneficial. As regards the ef
fect of tho new water route upon tho.
railroads west of the Mississippi xiver,
the testimony is divided. That the
canal will be a rate-controlling factor
of wide-reaching importance is. gener
ally admitted, nnd, naturally enough,
is feared by those railway officials
who do not think the waterway will
brine: much new and compensating
business to the railroads. Here is the
crux of this question will the canal
make business for the transcontinen
tal railroads? Some of the transcon
tinental officials say yes, and some,
say no; but the experience of history
has always been that the improve
ments in facilities for water trans
portation have resulted in the diversi
fication and distribution of industry
and added to the volume of business
done. Some of the railway officials
with whom I have conferred believe
that this experience will be repeated,
by the opening of the isthmian water
way. A toll considerably higher than one
dollar per ton net register would. prpb;
ably yield a,-larger- maximum, revenue
thfln wnnM-3 tnllrnf-nnfir flnnarr- Kiif In
"fixing the charjgegor thseboin
jaLLLLLuau uuuui, uwueu uxiu. uperaieu
by the United States, government, the
principle of maximum revenue could
not wisely be followed. The function
of the canal as a toll-gate will be a
minor nme as compared with its ser
vice in promoting the industrial and
commercial nroKress and general wel-
j fare of the United States. The language
of the final report of the commission
on this point is that "An annual traffic
of 7,000,000 tons at one dollar per ton
will produce a revenue of $7,000,000.
The expenses of operating and main
taining the Panama canal are esti
mated at about $2,000,000 per annum,
and those of the Nicaragua canal at
about $3,350,000. Upon this basiB, the
net revenue by either route would not
be sufficient, at the opening of the ca
nal, to pay interest upon the capital in
Vested and compensate a private cor
poration for the risks involved. It is
the .Opinion. Qf the commission, how"?
ever, that there are other considera
tions more important than revenue.
It may even be expedient for the
United States to reduce the tolls to an
amount which will barely cover the
expenses of operation and mainte
nance. A large, increase of traffic in
the future is prohable, and the revenue
producing value of tho canal would
then be proportionately greater."
The commission's unanimous con
clusion, as the result Of its entire in
vestigation, was that "After consider
ing all the facts developed by the in
vestigations made by the commission,
and the actual situation as it now
stands, and having in view the terms
offered by the new Panama Canal com
pany, this commission is of the opinion
that the mqst practicable and feas
ible route for an isthmian canal, to
be 'under the control, management
and ownership of the United States
Is that known as the Nicaragua route."
Emory R. Johnson, member of tho
Isthmian Canal Commission, in. Re
view of Reviews; .and' reprinted." by
ourtejftpf the.Review of -Beviews
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