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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Panama Canal, by J. Saxon Mills
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Panama Canal
+       A history and description of the enterprise
+
+Author: J. Saxon Mills
+
+Release Date: October 24, 2010 [EBook #34124]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PANAMA CANAL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Barbara Kosker and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ THE PANAMA CANAL
+
+  [Illustration: _Clinedinst--Washington, D.C._
+  COL. GEORGE W. GOETHALS, U.S.A.,
+  Chairman and Chief Engineer Isthmian Canal Commission.]
+
+
+
+
+ THE PANAMA CANAL
+
+ A HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE ENTERPRISE
+
+
+
+
+ BY
+
+ J. SAXON MILLS, M.A.
+
+ BARRISTER-AT-LAW
+
+
+
+
+ WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+
+
+ THOMAS NELSON AND SONS
+
+ LONDON, EDINBURGH, DUBLIN, MANCHESTER, LEEDS
+ PARIS, LEIPZIG, MELBOURNE, AND NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+The literature on the subject of the Panama Canal is rather dispersed. A
+full and entertaining history of the project will be found in Mr. W. F.
+Johnson's "Four Centuries of the Panama Canal" (Cassell and Co., 1907),
+a work to which I am greatly indebted. Dr. Vaughan Cornish has given the
+results of much research and several visits to the canal in "The Panama
+Canal and its Makers" (T. Fisher Unwin, 1909), and in several lectures,
+especially one before the Royal Colonial Institute, June 11, 1912. An
+inexhaustible mine of information will be found in Mr. Emory R.
+Johnson's Official Report on Panama Canal Traffic and Tolls (Washington,
+1912). The Report on the Trade and Commerce of the Republic of Panama
+for the year 1911, by Mr. H. O. Chalkley, Acting British Consul at
+Colon, contains useful information. A valuable series of articles on
+the Panama Canal appeared in _The Times_ of 1912. The _National
+Geographic Magazine_ of February 1911 contains an authoritative article
+by Colonel G. W. Goethals, Chief Engineer of the Canal, and the number
+for February 1912 an interesting appreciation by Mr. W. J. Showalter. In
+_Scribner's Magazine_ for February 1913, Mr. J. B. Bishop, Secretary of
+the Isthmian Canal Commission, writes a very useful paper on the
+Sanitation of the Isthmus. In his recent work on South America Mr. Bryce
+devotes one of his delightful chapters to the Isthmus of Panama. A
+chapter on the Panama Canal will be found in Mr. A. E. Aspinall's "The
+British West Indies," and many references in Mr. C. G. Murray's "A
+United West Indies." I must thank Mr. G. E. Lewin, the Librarian of the
+Royal Colonial Institute, for his unfailing help and courtesy.
+
+BUSHEY, 1913.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+        PREFACE                                                    5
+
+        DATE HISTORY OF THE CANAL                                 11
+
+     I. THE SECRET OF THE STRAIT                                  15
+
+    II. CANAL PROJECTS                                            23
+
+   III. THE CLAYTON-BULWER TREATY AND THE SUEZ CANAL              42
+
+    IV. THE FRENCH FAILURE                                        52
+
+     V. THE HAY-PAUNCEFOTE TREATY                                 64
+
+    VI. THE UNITED STATES AND COLOMBIA                            77
+
+   VII. A MINIATURE REVOLUTION                                    88
+
+  VIII. THE BATTLE OF THE LEVELS                                 112
+
+    IX. MAN AND THE GNAT                                         129
+
+     X. LIFE AT THE ISTHMUS                                      153
+
+    XI. THE PROBLEM OF CONSTRUCTION                              172
+
+   XII. THE CULEBRA CUT                                          186
+
+  XIII. THE LOCKS                                                195
+
+   XIV. THE COMPLETED CANAL                                      207
+
+    XV. PANAMA AND THE ISTHMUS                                   226
+
+   XVI. THE NEW OCEAN HIGHWAYS                                   242
+
+  XVII. THE CANAL AND THE AMERICAS                               265
+
+ XVIII. THE CANAL AND THE BRITISH EMPIRE                         284
+
+   XIX. THE NEW PACIFIC                                          316
+
+ APPENDIX   I.--HAY-PAUNCEFOTE TREATY                            323
+
+ APPENDIX  II.--PANAMA DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE               327
+
+ APPENDIX III.--HAY-BUNAU-VARILLA TREATY CLAUSES 1-9 AND 23      332
+
+ APPENDIX  IV.--PROCLAMATION AS TO CANAL TOLL RATES              343
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+
+ Col. George W. Goethals, U.S.A.                        _Frontispiece_
+ Chairman and Chief Engineer Isthmian Canal Commission.
+
+ Col. William C. Gorgas                                            144
+ Medical Department, U.S. Army, Head of the Department
+   of Sanitation, Ancon.
+
+ Culebra Cut, from West Bank                                       192
+
+ Gatun Locks, looking South-West                                   201
+
+ Gatun Upper Lock, looking North                                   208
+
+ Gatun Upper Lock--West Chamber                                    216
+
+ Pedro Miguel Locks                                                224
+
+
+
+
+DATE HISTORY OF THE CANAL.
+
+
+ Conquest of Constantinople by Turks                                1453
+
+ Columbus's First Voyage                                            1492
+
+ Columbus discovers Bay of Limon                                    1497
+
+ Rodrigo de Bastidas, Balboa, and La Cosa reach the Isthmus         1500
+
+ Columbus's Fourth Voyage, vainly seeks the strait                  1502
+
+ Balboa sights the Pacific                                Sept. 25, 1513
+
+ Pedrarias founds the old town of Panama                            1519
+
+ Magellan discovers the straits that bear his name               1519-21
+
+ Gonzalez de Avila discovers Lake Nicaragua                         1522
+
+ The quest of Isthmian Strait given up as hopeless          _circa_ 1532
+
+ Gomara appeals to Charles V. to construct canal                    1551
+
+ Drake sights the Pacific                                           1573
+
+ Philip III. directs surveys for Darien Canal                       1616
+
+ English seize Jamaica                                              1655
+
+ Henry Morgan destroys old Panama                                   1671
+
+ Paterson's settlement at Panama                                    1698
+
+ Spanish surveys of Tehuantepec and Nicaragua              1771 and 1779
+
+ Von Humboldt's residence in Central America                   1799-1804
+
+ Panama declares its independence and joins New Granada             1822
+
+ Overtures made by Central America to United States for canal       1825
+
+ Goethe's prophecies                                                1827
+
+ Dutch canal concession from Nicaraguan Government                  1829
+                                         abandoned                  1830
+
+ British Honduras annexed by Great Britain                          1835
+
+ United States Treaty with New Granada                              1846
+
+ Clayton-Bulwer Treaty                                              1850
+
+ Panama Railway opened to traffic                                   1855
+
+ Dickinson-Ayon Treaty between United States and Nicaragua          1868
+
+ President Grant recommends canal under United States control       1869
+
+ Appoints Interoceanic Canal Commission                             1869
+
+ Suez Canal opened                                                  1869
+
+ La Soci�t� Civile Internationale du Canal Interoc�anique founded   1876
+
+ Grant's Commission reports in favour of Nicaraguan route           1876
+
+ The De Lesseps Company formed                                      1878
+
+ Company starts work                                                1881
+
+ Bankruptcy of French company                                       1889
+
+ New Panama Company formed                                          1889
+
+ Construction work at Nicaragua                                   1890-3
+
+ Ferdinand de Lesseps died                                          1894
+
+ Hay-Pauncefote Treaty                                              1901
+
+ Spooner Act                                                        1902
+
+ Panama revolts from Colombia                                       1903
+
+ Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty                                           1904
+
+ American occupation of Isthmus begins                              1904
+
+ Completion of canal                                                1914
+
+ Formal opening                                                     1915
+
+
+
+
+THE PANAMA CANAL.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE SECRET OF THE STRAIT.
+
+
+It was either very careless or very astute of Nature to leave the entire
+length of the American continent without a central passage from ocean to
+ocean, or, having provided such a passage at Nicaragua, to allow it to
+be obstructed again by volcanic action. This imperviousness of the long
+American barrier had, as we shall see, important economic and political
+results, and the eventual opening of a waterway will have results
+scarcely less important. The Panama Canal will achieve, after more than
+four centuries, the object with which Columbus spread his sails
+westwards from the port of Palos--the provision of a sea-route westwards
+to China and the Indies. The capture of Constantinople in 1453 by the
+Turks interrupted the ancient trade routes between East and West.
+Brigands held up the caravans which plodded across the desert sands from
+the Euphrates and the Indus, and pirates swarmed in the Mediterranean
+and Red Sea, intercepting the precious cargoes of silks and jewels and
+spices consigned to the merchants of Italy. The eyes of all Europe were
+turned to the Atlantic, and an ocean route westwards to India and the
+Orient, the existence of which had been fabled from the days of
+Aristotle, became an economic necessity.
+
+Columbus, as every one knows, died in the belief that he had discovered
+this route, and that the lands he had visited were fringes and islands
+of the Eastern Asiatic continent. The geographers of those days greatly
+exaggerated the eastern extension of Asia, with the result that the
+distance from Europe to China and India was underestimated by at least
+one-half. This was a fortunate mistake, for it is improbable that if
+Columbus had known that Cathay and Cipangu (Japan) were a good 12,000
+miles westwards from the coast of Spain he would have ventured upon a
+continuous voyage of that length in the vessels of his time.
+
+It was in his fourth voyage (1502) that Columbus first reached and
+explored the coastline of the isthmus and Central America. He was
+apparently not the first to land on the isthmus. That distinction
+belongs either to Alfonso Ojeda, who is said to have reached "Terra
+Firma" earlier in 1502, or to Rodrigo de Bastidas, who, we are told, set
+sail from Cadiz with La Cosa in 1500, and, reached the isthmus somewhere
+near Porto Bello. About the doings of Columbus on the mainland we get
+some detailed information from the Portuguese historian and explorer of
+the sixteenth century, Galvano. It is interesting to read that the great
+navigator visited the exact spot where the newly-constructed canal
+starts from the Caribbean coast. From the Rio Grande, we read, Columbus
+"went to the River of Crocodiles which is now called Rio de Chagres,
+which hath its springs near the South Sea, within four leagues of
+Panama, and runneth into the North Sea." It was this same river, as we
+shall see, that became the feeder of the canal when the high-level
+scheme was adopted. So far out of his reckoning was Columbus that at
+Panama he imagined himself to be ten days' journey from the mouth of the
+Ganges! One of his objects, as we know from his own journal, was to
+convert the Great Khan of Tartary to the Christian faith, and this
+entanglement in what he called "the islands of the Indian Sea" was a
+sore hindrance to that and all his other purposes. He began that search
+for the strait which engaged the attention and tried the temper of
+Spanish, Portuguese, and English navigators for the next thirty years.
+He had heard from the natives of the coast of "a narrow place between
+two seas." They probably meant a narrow strip of land as at Panama. But
+Columbus understood them to mean a narrow waterway, and rumours of such
+a passage no doubt existed then, as they still do among the isthmian
+tribes. He must also have heard accounts of the great ocean only thirty
+miles away, and it is rather surprising he should not have made a dash
+across and anticipated Balboa and Drake. In May 1503, however, he
+quitted the "Terra Firma" without solving the great secret, and he never
+returned to the mainland. He died in 1506, still in complete ignorance
+of the nature of his discovery. He knew nothing of the continent of
+America or of that seventy million square miles of ocean beyond, to
+which Magellan gave the name of "Pacific."
+
+The Holy Grail itself was not pursued with more persistence and devotion
+than this mythical, elusive strait by the navigators of the early years
+of the sixteenth century. The isthmian governor sent out from Spain went
+with urgent instructions to solve the "secret of the strait." In 1513
+Balboa set himself to the great enterprise. If he could not discover a
+waterway he would at least see what lay beyond the narrow land barrier.
+From Coibo on the Gulf of Darien he struck inland on September 6 with a
+hundred Indian guides and bearers. It is eloquent of the difficulties of
+the country which he had to traverse that it was not until September 26
+that he won, first of European men, his distant view of the nameless and
+mysterious ocean.[1] It was he, and not Cort�z, who "with eagle eyes,
+stared at the Pacific."
+
+              "And all his men
+    Looked at each other with a wild surmise,
+    Silent upon a peak in Darien."
+
+Cort�z was himself a persistent searcher for the mythical strait. He
+wrote home to the King of Spain saying, "If the strait is found, I shall
+hold it to be the greatest service I have yet rendered. It would make
+the King of Spain master of so many lands that he might call himself the
+lord of the whole world."
+
+These vain attempts had very important results. They led incidentally to
+the exploration of the whole coastline of the American continent. For
+example, Jacques Cartier, who was sent out by the King of France about
+this time to find "the shorter route to Cathay," searched the coast
+northwards as far as Labrador and thus prepared the way for the planting
+of a French colony in Canada. At last, in 1520, a sea-passage from the
+Atlantic to the Pacific was actually discovered by the first great
+circumnavigator, Magellan, but it was far away from the narrow lands
+between North and South America. Through the perilous straits that have
+ever since borne his name at the southern extremity of the continent,
+Magellan pushed his venturous way into the great ocean beyond. But even
+Magellan had no idea that a few miles south of his strait the land ended
+and Atlantic and Pacific mingled their waters in one great flood. That
+truth was accidentally discovered by the English Drake more than fifty
+years afterwards (1579). Drake had been driven southward by stormy
+weather when he made the discovery which almost eclipsed in its
+importance even Magellan's exploit. In his exultation, we are told, he
+landed on the farthest island, and walking alone with his instruments to
+its extremity threw himself down, and with his arms embraced the
+southernmost point of the known world. From that point Drake sailed up
+the western coast of South America, engaged mainly in his favourite
+pursuit of "singeing the King of Spain's beard"--capturing, that is, the
+treasure-ships bound to Panama. But he did not forget the more
+scientific duty of searching for the strait. Far northward he held his
+course, past the future California, till he must have been off the
+coastline of what is now British Columbia, ever hoping to find the
+Pacific outlet of the famous North-West Passage. But always the coast
+trended to the north-west, and Drake, giving up the quest, turned his
+prow westward and continued his voyage of circumnavigation.
+
+But we are over-running our dates and must return to events at the
+isthmus. It was about the year 1530 that the non-existence of a natural
+waterway became recognized. And no sooner was this fact accepted than
+projects for an artificial canal began to be put forward. It was clear
+to the geographers and traders of those days that an isthmian route
+westward offered great advantages to the routes _via_ the Cape of Good
+Hope, Magellan Straits, or the problematical North-West Passage.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] The eminence known as "Balboa Hill" in the American canal zone is
+certainly not that from which Balboa first sighted the Pacific, though
+very likely a tradition to that effect will now gradually be
+established.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+CANAL PROJECTS.
+
+
+It appears that the honour of first conceiving and proposing the project
+of an artificial waterway through the isthmus belongs to �lvaro de
+Saavedra Cer�n, a cousin of Cort�z, who had been with Balboa at Panama.
+Cer�n had been for twelve years engaged in the search for the strait,
+and had finally begun to doubt its existence. His thoughts turned to the
+isthmus at Panama, where the narrowness and low elevation of the land
+seemed to offer the likeliest chance of an artificial canal. We learn
+from the old historian Galvano that Cer�n prepared plans for the
+construction of a waterway there--almost precisely along the route
+chosen for the American canal nearly four hundred years later. Cer�n's
+death, however, put an end to this early project.
+
+It is interesting to find the Portuguese historian Galvano, who
+flourished in the middle of the sixteenth century, mentioning four
+possible routes for the canal--namely, Darien, Panama, Nicaragua, and
+Tehuantepec. The choice, however, quickly confined itself to the Panama
+and Nicaraguan lines. The reader may feel some surprise that at such an
+early date as this an engineering project should be seriously considered
+which was only accomplished in the end by the wealth and mechanical
+resources of one of the greatest of modern Powers. The explanation is
+that the tiny vessels of the early sixteenth century could have taken
+advantage of the natural rivers and lakes in the isthmus, especially
+those on the Nicaraguan route, and that far less artificial construction
+would have been necessary than in these days of the mammoth liner and
+warship.
+
+Charles V., King of Spain, seems to have been quite alive to the
+importance of these canal projects. In 1534 he directed the Governor of
+Costa Firme, the old name for the Panama district, to survey the valley
+of the Chagres, the river which supplies the water for the upper reaches
+of the American canal. This gentleman, however, seems scarcely to have
+shared the royal enthusiasm. He may be supposed to have known the
+isthmus at these points very well, and his scepticism about the prospect
+of canal construction there in those days was not wholly groundless. The
+Spanish historian Gomara, who wrote a history of the Indies in 1551 and
+dedicated it to Charles V., declared a canal to be quite feasible along
+any of the four routes mentioned by Galvano. It is true he recognized
+obstacles. "There are mountains," he wrote, "but there are also hands.
+If determination is not lacking, means will not fail; the Indies, to
+which the way is to be made, will furnish them. To a king of Spain,
+seeking the wealth of Indian commerce, that which is possible is also
+easy."
+
+But Charles V. died without making any practical advance in this
+enterprise, and a rather remarkable reaction took place under his
+successor, Philip II. It should be noted that by this time a permanent
+roadway had been established across the isthmus from Panama to Porto
+Bello, along which the Spanish treasure-convoys passed from sea to sea
+without much interruption. The rapidly growing power of the English at
+sea made Philip fear that, if a canal were built, he would be unable to
+control it, and would probably lose his existing monopoly of isthmian
+transit. So he issued a veto against all projects of canal construction.
+He even persuaded himself that it would be contrary to the Divine
+purpose to link together two great oceans which God had set asunder, and
+that any such attempt would be visited by a terrible nemesis.[2] So his
+Majesty not only forbade all such schemes but declared the penalty of
+death against any one who should attempt to make a better route across
+Central America than the land-route between Panama and Porto Bello.
+
+In course of time the king's beard was so horribly singed by English
+navigators and adventurers in the Caribbean Sea that the Atlantic end of
+the overland trail became almost useless, and the Spanish argosies were
+compelled to sail homewards round the far Magellan Straits. But in 1579,
+as we have seen, Sir Francis Drake ("El Draque" as he was called by the
+terrified Spaniards) had suddenly attacked, captured, and scattered the
+Spanish ships off the Pacific coast of South America. So the isthmian
+land-route was once more resumed, and it took the Spaniard all his time
+to hold that open.
+
+For many years no progress was made with the idea of an isthmian canal.
+War between England and Spain was the natural order of things in these
+Central American regions. In 1655 the English seized Jamaica, and soon
+afterwards established themselves on the coast of Honduras and
+Nicaragua. The old city of Panama, of which only a picturesque
+church-tower remains to-day, had been founded by a Spanish governor
+named Pedrarias in 1519. In 1671 the city was destroyed by that wicked
+Welsh buccaneer, Sir Henry Morgan. The town was rebuilt two years later
+by Alonzo Mercado de Villacorta, five miles west of the old site.
+
+The project of a canal across the isthmus was never allowed entirely to
+disappear. In 1694 a very determined attempt was made to plant a
+British colony on the isthmus at Darien, a little east of the Panama
+route. The pioneer was William Paterson, a Scotsman, who founded "the
+Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies." Sir Walter Scott,
+in his "Tales of a Grandfather," thus describes the project:--
+
+      The produce of China, Japan, the Spice Islands, and Eastern
+      India, brought to the Bay of Panama, were to be transferred
+      across the isthmus to the new settlement, and exchanged for
+      the commodities of Europe. In Paterson's enthusiastic words,
+      "This door of the seas and key of the universe will enable
+      its possessors to become the legislators of both worlds and
+      the arbitrators of commerce. The settlers at Darien will
+      acquire a nobler empire than Alexander or C�sar, without
+      fatigue, expense, or danger, as well as without incurring
+      the guilt and bloodshed of conquerors."
+
+So 1,200 settlers set sail from Leith in July 1698, no doubt with a high
+hope and courage. In November the expedition arrived and established
+itself at a point of the coast still called Puerto Escoces, or Scotch
+Port, in Caledonian Bay, also named from the same event. "New Edinburgh"
+and "New St. Andrews" were founded, but the settlers soon got into
+difficulties. The climate was intolerable, and the project was opposed
+from the outset by the English and Dutch East India Companies, who were
+alarmed on the score of their own exclusive rights, while Spaniards and
+Indians were a perpetual menace. Broken down by these adversities the
+original settlers left the place, but were succeeded at once by another
+company which, after some successful fighting with the Spaniards, were
+compelled by the superior forces of the enemy to evacuate the
+settlements in the year 1700. It is possible that if this attempt at
+colonization had been made after and not before the Union of Scotland
+and Ireland it would have met with much less opposition in England,
+perhaps would have received government sympathy and support. In that
+case the isthmus would have been added to the British dominions, and a
+waterway might have been constructed under the British flag. It should
+be added that Paterson, who had personally surveyed the isthmus,
+positively declared that the construction of a canal was a feasible
+undertaking.
+
+During the eighteenth century, though surveying was carried out in many
+parts of the isthmus by European engineers, the project of a canal was
+never seriously taken up. It may be remembered that in 1780 our own
+Nelson was at Nicaragua, annexing the lake and getting control of the
+interoceanic route in this region, but doing little more than injuring
+his own health. With the nineteenth century, however, events began to
+move at the isthmus. The great scientist, Alexander von Humboldt, spent
+the first few years of the new century in Mexico and Central America. In
+his "Political Essay on New Spain" he described the impervious isthmus,
+"the barrier against the waves of the Atlantic," as for ages "the
+bulwark of the independence of China and Japan."
+
+The absence of any water communication at the isthmus between the two
+oceans has indeed had highly important political and economic results.
+It kept East and West far asunder. It removed the west coast of North
+America from the colonizing rivalries of the Old World. England and the
+United States seemed for long ages only semiconscious of their
+territories on the Pacific which were awaiting colonization. Even in
+recent times very few emigrants from Europe, who went out with the
+intention of going far west, penetrated much further than Chicago or
+Manitoba. Population and industrial enterprise were concentrated in the
+east of Canada and the United States, and have only begun within modern
+times to move effectually westwards. England was indeed so indifferent
+about her territories along a far coast, which could be reached only
+round the Horn or by an almost impossible land-transit, that in the
+settlement of the Oregon boundary in the middle of last century she
+accepted a Canadian frontier-line much further north than would
+otherwise have contented her. She had at least as good a right to
+California and the territories to the northwards as the descendants of
+her revolted colonists. The absence of a waterway at the narrow lands
+secured to the United States and to England their expansion westwards,
+but imposed on the westward movement a very slow and gradual pace. One
+result of the new canal will be a very rapid development of these
+Pacific slopes, especially those of British Columbia.
+
+The effect on South America of this complete severance of East and West
+has also been very important. The republics on the Pacific have been
+sheltered as much as possible from European influences. Immigration has
+been naturally restricted, the population, especially that of Chile,
+kept free from negro admixture, and the development of the countries
+effectually checked. The opening of the canal will, of course, have a
+contrary effect all along these lines.
+
+But, to return from this digression, Humboldt described six routes in
+Central America where a canal would be practicable, including that which
+was afterwards adopted at Panama. He investigated and discussed many
+physiographical questions in connection with the subject. There had
+arisen a general belief that the level of the Pacific was much higher
+than that of the Atlantic, and that a sea-level canal would therefore be
+impossible. Humboldt declared against this theory. But it is curious to
+find him favouring the idea that the construction of a tide-level canal
+might have the effect of diverting the Gulf Stream from our shores, and
+thus making the climate of our British islands much more rigorous and
+inhospitable.
+
+The researches of Humboldt in the West Indies and Central America much
+interested the scientist's great fellow-countryman, Goethe. A passage
+from Goethe's "Conversations with Eckermann" is worth quoting as an
+example of prophecy wonderfully fulfilled:--
+
+      Humboldt [said Goethe] has with great practical knowledge
+      mentioned other points where, by utilizing some of the
+      rivers which flow into the Gulf of Mexico, the end could
+      perhaps be more advantageously attained than at Panama.
+      Well, all this is reserved for the future, and for a great
+      spirit of enterprise. But so much is certain: if a project
+      of the kind succeeded in making it possible for ships of
+      whatever lading or size to go through such a canal from the
+      Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean, quite incalculable
+      results would ensue for the whole of civilized and
+      uncivilized humanity. I should be surprised, however, if
+      the United States were to let the opportunity escape them of
+      getting such an achievement into their own hands. We may
+      expect this youthful Power, with its decided tendency
+      westwards, in thirty or forty years to have also occupied
+      and peopled the extensive tracts of land beyond the Rocky
+      Mountains. We may further expect that along the whole
+      Pacific coast, where Nature has already formed the largest
+      and safest harbours, commercial cities of the utmost
+      importance will gradually arise, to be the medium of trade
+      between China, together with the East Indies, and the United
+      States. Were this to happen, it would be not alone desirable
+      but even almost necessary that merchantmen as well as
+      men-of-war should maintain a more rapid connection between
+      the west and east coasts of North America than has
+      previously been possible by the wearisome, disagreeable, and
+      costly voyage round Cape Horn. I repeat, then: it is
+      absolutely indispensable for the United States to effect a
+      way through from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean,
+      and I am certain they will compass it. This I should like to
+      live to see, but I shall not. Secondly, I should like to
+      live to see a connection established between the Danube and
+      the Rhine. But this, too, is an undertaking so gigantic that
+      I doubt its being accomplished, especially when I consider
+      our German means. Thirdly and lastly, I should like to see
+      the English in possession of a Suez Canal. These three great
+      things I should like to live to see, and it would almost be
+      worth while for their sakes to hold out for some fifty
+      years.
+
+Many projects for canal construction, chiefly by the Nicaraguan route,
+were started and failed during the first half of the nineteenth century.
+The second decade of that century witnessed the revolt one by one of all
+the Spanish provinces in Central and South America. The Colombian
+Confederation, comprising Venezuela, Ecuador, and New Granada, achieved
+their independence in 1821. Panama quickly followed, and allied itself
+with New Granada (now Colombia). In 1825 the Central American envoy to
+the United States urged the American government to co-operate in the
+canal enterprise with the states he represented. The result was that
+Henry Clay, the American Secretary of State, ordered an official survey
+at Nicaragua, and scheme followed scheme in quick succession. In 1829
+the King of Holland was granted a canal concession by the Nicaraguan
+government. This enterprise was frustrated by the outbreak of the
+revolution in the Netherlands and Belgium. It would be tedious to
+enumerate the many projects started during the following years. But it
+is worth recalling that Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, who was then a
+prisoner in the fortress of Ham, became interested in the subject, and
+while still a captive obtained a concession and franchise for a canal
+company from the Nicaraguan government. He published a pamphlet on the
+Isthmian Canal question which aroused a good deal of attention, though
+its author's interest was soon diverted to political events nearer home.
+A passage from his little book is interesting for its strong advocacy of
+the Nicaraguan route by the San Juan River and the lakes:--
+
+      The geographical position of Constantinople rendered her the
+      queen of the ancient world. Occupying, as she does, the
+      central point between Europe, Asia, and Africa, she could
+      become the entrepot of the commerce of all these countries,
+      and obtain over them immense preponderance; for in politics,
+      as in strategy, a central position always commands the
+      circumference. This is what the proud city of Constantine
+      could be, but it is what she is not, because, as Montesquieu
+      says, "God permitted that the Turks should exist on earth,
+      as a people most fit to possess uselessly a great empire."
+      There exists in the New World a state as admirably situated
+      as Constantinople, and we must say, up to this time, as
+      uselessly occupied. We allude to the State of Nicaragua. As
+      Constantinople is the centre of the Ancient World, so is the
+      town of Leon the centre of the New, and if the tongue of
+      land which separates its two lakes from the Pacific Ocean
+      were cut through, she would command by virtue of her central
+      position the entire coast of North and South America. The
+      State of Nicaragua can become, better than Constantinople,
+      the necessary route of the great commerce of the world, and
+      is destined to attain an extraordinary degree of prosperity
+      and grandeur. France, England, and Holland have a great
+      commercial interest in the establishment of a communication
+      between the two oceans, but England has more than the other
+      Powers--a political interest in the execution of this
+      project. England will see with pleasure Central America
+      becoming a powerful and flourishing state, which will
+      establish a balance of power by creating in Spanish America
+      a new centre of active enterprise, powerful enough to give
+      rise to a feeling of nationality, and to prevent, by backing
+      Mexico, any further encroachments from the north.
+
+The idea of a trans-isthmian canal seemed likely in the 'fifties of last
+century to prove a cause of discord, if not of war, between England and
+the United States. Under the rather "pushful" foreign policy of Lord
+Palmerston, England rapidly increased her influence and possessions in
+Central America. In 1835 "British Honduras" was practically constituted
+a British colony, and British influence was subsequently extended into
+Nicaragua and Mosquitia, thus covering the favourite route for an
+isthmian waterway. The United States were establishing themselves on the
+Pacific through their encroachments on Mexico. In 1846 they acquired the
+states of California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico, and naturally
+began to attach more importance to the canal project and to feel more
+sensitive as regards rival ambitions in Central America. Soon after they
+had acquired these Pacific territories, began the great rush for gold to
+California, and some shorter way from east to west became necessary than
+the sea-trail round the Horn or the weary wagon-trek over the broad
+North American continent. Already in 1846, before the Mexican War and
+the discovery of gold in California, the United States had made a treaty
+with New Granada, by which the former secured rights of transit over the
+isthmus "upon any modes of communication that now exist or may hereafter
+be constructed," and by which they guaranteed the sovereignty of New
+Granada over all the territories at the isthmus.
+
+It was under this treaty that the Panama Railway was constructed which
+brought the town of Colon (formerly Aspinwall) into existence, and was
+subsequently taken over by the United States government. This railroad
+made the isthmus for the first time a highway of world-traffic. It had a
+monopoly of isthmian transportation, and was able to make any charges it
+pleased. Steamship services to the southern and northern coasts of
+America from Panama were developed, and the railway succeeded so well
+that it paid down to 1895 an average dividend of 15 per cent. It was
+bought by the first French Panama Company for the outrageously high sum
+of �5,100,000. The existence of the railway really determined De
+Lesseps' choice of the Panama route, and the immense amount of
+excavation done by the French had a great deal to do in turn with the
+American choice of the same route, so that the construction of the
+Panama Railway was a highly important event at the isthmus. The United
+States took over the railroad from the French with the unfinished
+canal, together with a steamship service from Colon to New York, owned
+by the railroad.
+
+The rivalry between England and the United States along the Nicaraguan
+route became so acute and dangerous that a very important treaty was
+concluded between the two countries in 1850, when we may say that the
+Panama Canal question entered the domain of modern politics. The
+Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, so-called from Mr. John M. Clayton, the American
+Secretary of State, and Sir Henry Bulwer, British Minister at
+Washington, who negotiated it, held the field for fifty years, and
+became the subject of endless discussion between England and the United
+States.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[2] Herodotus tells a story how the people of Knidos were forbidden by
+the Delphic oracle to make a canal through the isthmus, along which
+their Persian enemies could advance by land to attack them. The oracle
+said that if Zeus had wished the place to be an island he would have
+made it one. There is a curious resemblance between this story and that
+related in the text.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE CLAYTON-BULWER TREATY AND THE SUEZ CANAL.
+
+
+The treaty of 1850 was concerned primarily with a canal along the
+Nicaraguan route--that is, as the preamble expresses it, a canal
+"between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by way of the river San Juan de
+Nicaragua and either or both of the lakes of Nicaragua or Managua to any
+port or place on the Pacific Ocean." But as Article VIII. says, it
+established "a general principle" relating to any waterway across the
+isthmus between North and South America. The two contracting parties
+undertook in the treaty that neither should "obtain or maintain for
+itself any exclusive control over the said canal," or "maintain any
+fortifications commanding the same, or in the vicinity thereof," or
+"occupy, or fortify, or colonize, or assume, or exercise any dominion
+over Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito Coast, or any part of Central
+America." This agreement, as I said, subsisted for fifty years, but it
+was scarcely concluded when it was found inconsistent with the growing
+importance and ambition of the United States, where a demand quickly
+arose for an American-owned canal.
+
+Again there followed a series of schemes for canal construction at
+various points of the isthmus. For example, Dr. Edgar Cullen created
+some excitement in England in the early Victorian days by giving a very
+favourable account of the Caledonian route across the isthmus at Darien,
+in a lecture to the Royal Geographical Society. The doctor was received
+by the young queen and the Prince Consort, a corporation was formed, and
+an engineer sent out to make surveys from Caledonian Bay. A British and
+a French man-of-war were dispatched to the isthmus to make
+investigations. But the surveyor was driven from Caledonian Bay by local
+tribes, and so went on to Panama, giving a favourable report of that
+route on his return to England. But nothing came of these incidents,
+and the American Civil War in the early 'sixties diverted the attention
+of the United States from isthmian affairs. At the end of the war
+American interest revived, and public opinion set more and more against
+the idea of sharing a canal with any other Power. In 1869 President
+Grant gave the first public expression to the demand for an American
+canal under American control. "I regard it," he said, "as of vast
+political importance to this country that no European government should
+hold such a work." Later, in an article in the _North American Review_,
+he said, "I commend an American canal, on American soil, to the American
+people."
+
+Just before the President's declaration of policy the United States had
+concluded an important treaty, known as the "Dickinson-Ayon Treaty,"
+with Nicaragua, securing a right of way for a canal over the Nicaraguan
+route; and, just afterwards, President Grant appointed an Interoceanic
+Canal Commission which investigated four routes for a canal, and
+finally, in 1875, reported unanimously in favour of the Nicaraguan route
+from Grey town to the San Juan River, to Lake Nicaragua, through the Rio
+del Medio and Rio Grande valleys, to Brito on the Pacific coast.
+
+In 1869 an event occurred which was to have a very decisive effect on
+isthmian affairs--the opening for traffic of the Suez Canal. These two
+isthmuses in the eastern and western hemispheres have some obvious
+features in common. They both link two vast continents and form a
+barrier between two oceans or oceanic systems. They are fairly equal in
+breadth--Suez, sixty miles, and Panama about fifty-four. The shortest
+line across each runs almost exactly north and south. And they were both
+until recent times uninhabited country. But there are many
+dissimilarities. The isthmus at Suez is a flat and sterile desert; that
+at Panama is hilly and covered with an almost impenetrable jungle of
+tropical vegetation. Again, Suez is a healthy district, whereas Panama
+was, until recent years, a pest-house as deadly as Sierra Leone or the
+Guinea coast.
+
+Mr. Bryce in his charming book on "South America" compares these two
+inter-continental causeways from a more historical point of view. He
+writes:--
+
+      A still more remarkable contrast, between these two necks of
+      land, lies in the part they have respectively played in
+      human affairs. The isthmus of Panama in far-off prehistoric
+      days has been the highway along which those wandering tribes
+      whose forefathers had passed in their canoes from
+      North-eastern Asia along the Aleutian Isles into Alaska
+      found their way, after many centuries, into the vast spaces
+      of South America. But its place in the annals of mankind,
+      during the four centuries that have elapsed since Balboa
+      gazed from a mountain top rising out of the forest upon the
+      far-off waters of the South Sea, has been small indeed
+      compared to that which the isthmus of Suez has held from the
+      beginning of history. It echoed to the tread of the armies
+      of Thothmes and Rameses marching forth on their invasions of
+      Western Asia. Along the edge of it Israel fled forth before
+      the hosts of Pharaoh. First the Assyrian and afterwards the
+      Persian hosts poured across it to conquer Egypt; and over
+      its sands Bonaparte led his regiments to Palestine in that
+      bold adventure which was stopped at St. Jean d'Acre. It has
+      been one of the great highways for armies for forty
+      centuries, as the canal cut through it is now one of the
+      great highways for commerce.
+
+      The turn of the isthmus of Panama is now come, and,
+      curiously enough, it is the isthmus of Suez that brought
+      that turn, for it was the digging of a ship canal from the
+      Mediterranean to the Red Sea, and the vast expansion of
+      Eastern trade which followed, that led to the revival of the
+      old designs, mooted as far back as Philip II. of Spain, of
+      piercing the American isthmus. Thus the comparison of the
+      two isthmuses becomes now more interesting than ever, for
+      our generation will watch to see whether the commerce and
+      politics of the Western World will be affected by this new
+      route which is now being opened, as those of the Old World
+      have been affected by the achievement of Ferdinand de
+      Lesseps.
+
+It will be seen from this quotation how the completion of the Suez Canal
+affected the Panama project. Lesseps, fresh from his success at Suez
+and not contented with his great achievement there, was easily attracted
+by the schemes which were afoot for constructing a ship canal at another
+land-barrier which, like the isthmus at Suez, had obstructed the
+quickest lines of communication between East and West. In 1876 a
+corporation was established, called "La Soci�t� Civile Internationale du
+Canal Interoc�anique," for the purpose of promoting canal schemes on the
+lower isthmus. Its head was Lieutenant Lucien Napoleon Bonaparte Wyse,
+who easily obtained a canal concession at Bogot� from the Colombian
+government. In 1879 an International Engineering Congress was assembled
+at Paris by Lesseps, whose partisans compelled a decision in favour of
+the Panama route.
+
+But the United States, determined by this time to construct a canal for
+themselves without any joint control or international guarantee of
+neutrality, opposed the French scheme from the outset. No amount of
+bluff from the French promoters affected this opposition. The American
+people had indeed some right to complain. The Colombian concession to
+the French was quite inconsistent with the treaty of 1846 between this
+South American republic and the United States. This treaty Lesseps tried
+to induce Colombia to abrogate, and every effort, fair and foul, was
+employed to overcome the American objection to the scheme. In 1880
+Lesseps was f�ted at a public banquet at New York, but even the personal
+presence of the great man failed to have the desired effect. President
+Hayes addressed a strong message to the Senate on the subject, a few
+passages of which are interesting as showing the very decided views now
+held by the American government and people:--
+
+      An interoceanic canal across the American isthmus will
+      essentially change the geographical relations between the
+      Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States, and
+      between the United States and the rest of the world. It will
+      be the great ocean thoroughfare between our Atlantic and our
+      Pacific shores, and virtually a part of the coastline of the
+      United States. Our mere commercial interest in it is larger
+      than that of all other countries, while its relation to our
+      power and prosperity as a nation, to our means of defence,
+      our unity, peace, and safety, are matters of paramount
+      concern to the people of the United States. No other great
+      Power would, under similar circumstances, fail to assert a
+      rightful control over a work so closely and vitally
+      affecting its interests and welfare.
+
+      Without urging further the grounds of my opinion, I repeat,
+      in conclusion, that it is the right and the duty of the
+      United States to assert and maintain such supervision and
+      authority over any interoceanic canal across the isthmus
+      that connects North and South America as will protect our
+      national interests. This, I am quite sure, will be found not
+      only compatible with, but promotive of, the widest and most
+      permanent advantage to commerce and civilization.
+
+The reader will see that all this is inconsistent with the
+Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, under which the United States had actually
+undertaken to claim no such exclusive control as was now desired.
+Lengthy negotiations were now set on foot with England for the
+abrogation of a treaty which forbade the United States to build a canal
+of their own and prevented them from effectually opposing the French
+scheme. Lord Granville, however, saw no reason why England should
+abandon the treaty solely in the interests of the United States, and the
+negotiations were fruitless.
+
+Meantime the French persisted in their undertaking. Their canal was to
+be tide-level, twenty-eight feet deep, costing �26,400,000. A
+corporation entitled the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interoc�anique
+de Panama was formed in 1881, and in the same year the work of
+construction was begun. So it looked as though the Americans were to
+lose all chance of constructing an isthmian canal under their own
+control. Events, however, were to decide otherwise.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE FRENCH FAILURE.
+
+
+The French company began work on the isthmus in February, and such a
+rake's progress set in as the world has seldom seen. The name of
+Ferdinand de Lesseps inspired such confidence that plenty of money was
+forthcoming from the French people. A great deal of it was subscribed by
+small investors who could ill afford to lose their savings, and no fewer
+than 16,000 women took shares in their own names. The beginning of the
+excavations was celebrated with a "gala" performance in the little
+theatre at Panama, among the artistes being Sarah Bernhardt. Then began
+a drama or a melodrama of extravagance and profligacy lasting seven
+years. Money was poured out like the torrential flood-waters down the
+river Chagres. I have mentioned the exorbitant sum which the company
+paid for the Panama Railway. All the expenditure was on the same scale.
+Princely salaries were paid to the managers and directors, and elegant
+mansions erected for their accommodation. Building operations--warehouses,
+hospitals, hotels, etc.--were carried on "regardless." Mr. W. F. Johnson
+tells of a man who owned thirty acres of land useful mainly as a
+breeding-place for mosquitoes, but lying right across the route of the
+canal. It was worth perhaps 300 dollars. The man demanded just a
+thousand times that sum; the Colombian courts awarded it, and the French
+paid it. For one great mistake the French made was that they failed to
+secure a canal zone in which they would have exercised full powers of
+administration. They began to build their canal on Colombian territory,
+under Colombian control, and the consequence was that they were fleeced
+on every side. Probably this mistake was inevitable, as the United
+States would have vetoed any territorial concession by Colombia to
+France as a transgression of the Monroe doctrine.
+
+The isthmus rapidly degenerated into a moral as well as a climatic
+pest-house. Froude described the condition of things at Panama in one
+terrible sentence: "In all the world there is perhaps not now
+concentrated in any single spot so much swindling and villainy, so much
+foul disease, such a hideous dung-heap of moral and physical
+abomination." In fairness, however, it must be said that Lesseps himself
+cannot be held directly responsible for this state of affairs. He lived
+in Paris, and had probably little notion of what was happening at
+Panama. He furnished an example of the proverbial effects of too much
+success and prosperity. He seems to have become a superstitious believer
+in his own star, and to have thought that nothing could fail with which
+he was associated. Still less can the French nation be blamed for the
+wild doings of their representatives at the isthmus. And there is at
+least one redeeming feature in the conduct of this enterprise. In the
+midst of the moral and physical abominations that infested the isthmus
+during the French occupation, the engineering work went on steadily and
+conscientiously. Much of the French work was available for the Americans
+when they took over the task, and the engineers of the United States
+have always testified generously to the excellence of the French
+excavation and construction along the Canal route.
+
+It must be carefully noted that the French canal was to be sea-level
+like the Suez, Corinth, and Kiel Canals. The construction of such a
+waterway differed in many important ways from that of the high-level
+lock canal which the United States have completed. To understand this we
+must consider briefly the character of the country which lies between
+Panama and Colon. The dominant and decisive features of the isthmus at
+this point are the Chagres River and the Culebra Mountains. The Chagres
+enters the Caribbean a little west of Colon. Its valley runs right
+across the isthmus south-south-eastwardly towards Panama for about
+twenty-six miles, then, at a place called Bas Opisbo, suddenly swerves
+away to the north-east into the trackless and jungle-clad hill country.
+This valley is the only transverse trench which the isthmus affords at
+this stretch, and it has always fixed the attention of surveyors looking
+out for a canal site. If the isthmus had been a rainless desert like
+that of Suez, a canal could have been constructed by a further
+preparation of this river valley and some heavy excavations along the
+nine-mile reach from Obispo to the Pacific. The sea would then have been
+admitted, the ebb and flow of the Pacific (the Atlantic shore is almost
+tideless) being regulated by a tidal lock. But the problem is not nearly
+so simple. The isthmus is one of the rainiest places in the world,
+enjoying on the Atlantic side 140 inches of rain a year. At Panama the
+rate is much smaller, not more than 60 inches. In the central hills the
+rainfall averages 90 to 95 inches. The average number of rainy days in
+the year is 246 at Bohio (inland on the Atlantic side), 196 at Colon,
+and 141 at Panama. The reader must not imagine a perpetual downpour or
+drizzle. The rain comes down in thundering tropical cataracts, leaving
+spaces of fine weather between the storms. Still, the isthmus is
+undoubtedly rainy and damp, and it is this humidity which makes the
+climate so trying, though the variations of the thermometer are by no
+means extreme and the average air temperature not particularly high. For
+example, the average temperature at Panama ranges from 81.6 Fahrenheit
+in November to 86.1 in March--that is, during the hottest time of the
+day, from two to four o'clock p.m. The coolest time is from six to seven
+a.m., when the average temperature ranges between 74.0 in January to
+76.6 in June. The yearly average daily temperature is 79.6. The
+thermometer seems never to have recorded 100 degrees Fahrenheit at
+Panama, whereas 104 has been touched even at Washington.
+
+But to return to the Chagres River. The tropical rains convert this
+stream very quickly into a raging torrent. The Chagres is capable of
+rising over forty feet in twenty-four hours. If the Chagres valley was
+to be the site of the canal, as was obviously necessary, how did the
+French propose to "care for" this tremendous and capricious flow of
+water? Mr. Johnson remarks that "those who have seen the antics of the
+Chagres under the stress of a characteristic isthmian rain must be
+pardoned if they regard the harnessing of the Chagres to the canal as
+something much like the harnessing of a mad elephant to a family
+carriage." The only course open to the French with their sea-level
+project was to divert the Chagres with its twenty-six tributaries,
+chief of which are the Gatun and the Trinidad, from its old valley into
+another channel, along which it could rage as it pleased on its short
+journey to the Caribbean. This would have been a tremendous, though
+probably not an impossible, task. The New Panama Company, which took the
+French work from the Lesseps Company in 1893, dropped the tide-level in
+favour of a lock or high-level canal, and adopted the plan of a dam
+across the river valley at Bohio, creating a lake above this point and
+discharging the flood waters to the level below by means of a spillway
+in the adjacent hills. We shall see later how the Americans adopted the
+same principle but modified it in practice.
+
+So much at present for the Chagres problem. The other main feature of
+the isthmus is met with about the point where the river suddenly changes
+its direction--that is at Bas Obispo, or Gamboa, about nine miles from
+the Pacific outlet. Here are the hills, the backbone or "continental
+divide," averaging over 300 feet high but rising to much higher points,
+which connects the Cordilleras of South with the Sierras of North
+America. For eight or nine miles the canal must run through this
+central barrier on its way to the Pacific. The earliest French notion
+was for a ship tunnel--a project perhaps never seriously contemplated.
+The only other course was to cut right down through this hilly country.
+That was a tremendous undertaking, which required, even for its
+inception, a good deal of the faith which is said to be able to "remove
+mountains." We shall look more closely at the famous "Culebra Cut" when
+we come to the American canal. Most of the work of the French companies
+consisted of the dredging of the sea-level channels at the Atlantic and
+Pacific ends. But they drove a pretty deep furrow as well through the
+Culebra Mountains, excavating in all about 22,600,000 cubic yards.
+
+With their sea-level scheme the French had, of course, a bigger
+proposition before them at the hills than their American successors.
+They would have had to cut right down below sea-level, whereas the
+bottom of the cut in the American lock-canal is forty feet above that
+level. Considering the difficulty the United States engineers have had
+with "slides" and "breaks" along the sides of their cutting, one
+suspects that the much deeper and narrower channel of the French would
+have proved impracticable. The French scheme gave a width to the channel
+at this point of only 74 feet, while the bottom width of the American
+canal is 300 feet. The French work at the "Cut" was all utilizable by
+the Americans, who, though with different machinery, adopted the same
+general method of excavation.
+
+In 1888 the French company suspended payments and went into bankruptcy.
+The canal was completed to the extent of about two-fifths, and had
+already cost nearly �80,000,000. It was said at the time that about
+one-third of this sum was spent on the canal, one-third wasted, and
+one-third stolen. The original capital with the eight subscription lists
+between 1882 and 1888 produced nominally �78,701,020, but actually only
+�40,309,348, the loss in discounts, etc., amounting to �38,391,672. The
+collapse of the company was followed by investigations and trials in
+France. Ten senators and deputies, together with the directors, were
+brought to trial. Ferdinand and his son Charles de Lesseps were, among
+others, condemned to fines and imprisonment, but the sentences upon the
+Lesseps were never carried out. Neither the son nor the father was
+probably responsible for the iniquities which had marked the history of
+the company. The genius who had created the Suez Canal was indeed
+completely broken down by the tragical conclusion of his second venture,
+and died in 1894 in a condition of mental and physical collapse.
+
+But financial profligacy was not the only cause of the French failure.
+Disease and death fought against the enterprise from the first. Yellow
+fever and malaria caused as much mortality among the French employees as
+would suffice for a great military campaign. Sir Ronald Ross, the great
+expert in tropical diseases, was told in 1904, when at the isthmus, that
+the French attempt cost at least 50,000 lives. This may have been an
+over-estimate, but there is no doubt that the mortality was terrible,
+and would probably have brought the French operations to an end even if
+greater economy and honesty had prevailed in the administration. It must
+not be supposed that the French made no provision for the victims of
+these endemic diseases. Excellent hospitals were built at Ancon, near
+Panama, at a cost of over a million of money; while those at Colon cost
+more than a quarter of a million--in both cases about three times a fair
+and honest price. At the time of the French occupation of the isthmus
+nothing was known of the real nature and cause of yellow fever and
+malaria, of the manner in which they are transmitted, and the only
+effective means of prevention. All the recent and marvellous advance in
+scientific knowledge of these diseases was available when the Americans
+began their work, and was applied with the greatest efficiency and
+success. Medical science, quite as much as engineering skill, made a
+Panama canal possible, and we shall have a good deal more to say on this
+subject when we come to describe the American operations.
+
+Let us not forget, then, that despite their failure the French did a
+great deal of good work, which they passed on many years afterwards to
+their American successors. A quantity of the French machinery, tools,
+and hardware was also available. It is true that among this was included
+a large consignment of snow-shovels (for use at sea-level less than 10
+degrees from the Equator!), and a quantity of petroleum torches for the
+festivities which were one day to celebrate the completion of the canal.
+But a great deal of the plant was in good condition. The extravagance
+and corruption which prevailed at the isthmus during the first French
+company were almost incredible. But it may be doubted whether any other
+nation could have succeeded in the 'eighties of last century where the
+French failed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE HAY-PAUNCEFOTE TREATY.
+
+
+In 1893 a new corporation, known as the New Panama Canal Company, took
+over all the assets of the De Lesseps Company, including the railway,
+and the work of construction was continued, or at least not wholly
+interrupted. Meanwhile the people of the United States were not greatly
+displeased at the collapse of the great French enterprise. They became
+more and more determined to construct an American canal under American
+control. The Nicaraguan route was still favoured by many as compared
+with that at Panama. In 1887 a surveying party was sent to Nicaragua,
+and the next year the Maritime Canal Company was established to promote
+the building of a canal there. It is important to notice this particular
+scheme, for under it work was actually begun. Wharves, warehouses, and
+a breakwater were constructed at Greytown, a railway was built, and
+some progress made with the canal itself. Outside the Panama route this
+was the only actual work of canal construction performed in Isthmian and
+Central America. The project failed owing to the great depression of
+trade which occurred in 1893 and the impossibility of getting more
+capital. It should be noticed that these projects of constructing an
+American canal at Nicaragua quite independently of Great Britain were
+right in the teeth of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850, which still
+remained in force. Most sensible persons saw that the first preliminary
+to an American canal was to get this treaty abrogated or modified. But
+this purpose and canal schemes in general were delayed by the outbreak
+in 1898 of the Spanish-American War.
+
+This was a naval war, and the United States were to feel the
+inconvenience and danger of having no sea communication between their
+eastern and western coasts except _via_ the far southern extremity of
+the continent. United fleet action over the whole theatre of the war was
+rendered impossible. An event soon occurred which finally completed the
+conviction of the American people that, in the words of President Grant,
+"an American canal on American soil" was a national necessity. At the
+beginning of the war the battleship _Oregon_, one of the finest ships in
+the United States navy, lay off San Francisco. She was not wanted there,
+but she was very badly wanted at the West Indies, the main scene of the
+naval struggle. To get there the _Oregon_ had to sail 13,400 miles round
+Cape Horn instead of 4,600 miles _via_ a Panama canal, if there had been
+one. Everybody in the United States knew that the precious warship was
+making that perilous journey exposed all the way to the attack of the
+enemy. If she had been lost, the course of the war might have been very
+different, and even the delay of this long passage was a serious
+consideration at so critical a time. However, the vessel arrived safely
+and in a record time off Florida, and the suspense and anxiety of the
+American people were changed into jubilation. But "never again" was the
+moral they drew from this painful and exciting experience.
+
+At the end of the war a fresh canal campaign broke out in Congress, the
+claims of Nicaragua and Panama being urged by their respective
+champions. The outcome of this rivalry was the appointment of a
+commission, the third of the kind, to go to the isthmus and investigate
+both Nicaragua and Panama. We shall have something to say about the
+report of this commission, which was issued in December 1900. But
+already, before that appeared, negotiations had been set on foot between
+the United States and Great Britain with regard to the Clayton-Bulwer
+Treaty. Allusions to the subject by Mr. M'Kinley in his second message
+to Congress had brought the question prominently before the people of
+both countries. The president had spoken thus:--
+
+      That the construction of such a maritime highway is now more
+      than ever indispensable to that intimate and ready
+      communication between our eastern and western seaboards
+      demanded by the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands and the
+      prospective expansion of our influence and commerce in the
+      Pacific, and that our national policy now more imperatively
+      than ever calls for its control by this government, are
+      propositions which I doubt not the Congress will duly
+      appreciate and wisely act upon.
+
+It is obvious that the annexation by the United States of Hawaii and the
+Philippines, the beginnings of an American oversea empire, had greatly
+strengthened the case for a canal owned and controlled by the United
+States, and bringing the eastern coasts, the governmental centre of the
+States, into far more direct communication with these new acquisitions
+in the west.
+
+Mr. M'Kinley's pronouncement was soon followed by conversations between
+Mr. John Hay, the American Secretary of State, and Lord Pauncefote,
+British Ambassador at Washington. The result was a treaty which was laid
+before the Senate in February 1900. This first attempt, however, was
+unsuccessful. The American people were annoyed to find that it did not
+abrogate the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, but left the United States with
+something very short of that independent control which they desired.
+Amendments were introduced, and, so altered, the treaty was ratified by
+the Senate on December 20, 1900. But in this new shape it proved
+unacceptable to the British government, and it was permitted to lapse;
+Lord Lansdowne, however, suggesting that another attempt at agreement
+should be made.
+
+It may be asked why Great Britain, who had hitherto taken the view that
+it had nothing to gain, and perhaps much to lose, from the
+reconsideration of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, should now have been so
+willing to bring it under review. There was a variety of reasons. The
+government of the United States had protested for nearly fifty years
+against the agreement, and this pertinacity, together with the changed
+conditions since the Spanish-American War, may have weighed with the
+British government. Then the Alaskan boundary question was at that time
+still under discussion between the two countries, and a settlement was
+proving difficult. An obstinate resistance to the United States over the
+canal question might have continued that deadlock indefinitely. At this
+time, too, England was at the beginning of the Boer War, and finding
+that business a good deal more intricate than she had expected. The
+sentiment of Anglo-American friendship had also grown much warmer since
+the days when Lord Granville had repulsed the advances of Mr. Blaine.
+
+In November 1901 a new treaty made its appearance. This was ratified by
+the Senate without amendment, and was ultimately concluded between the
+two Powers, being known as the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty.[3]
+
+It is very important to note the provisions of this treaty, because it
+establishes what is known as the political "status" of the new canal.
+The Hay-Pauncefote expressly supersedes the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty and
+provides for the construction of a canal (mentioning no particular
+route) "under the auspices of the government of the United States,"
+which country is "to have and enjoy all the rights incident to such
+construction, as well as the exclusive right of providing for the
+regulation and management of the canal." It adopts the principles of
+"neutralization" which were embodied in the Treaty of Constantinople of
+1888 in connection with the Suez Canal. Both treaties provide for:--
+
+1. Freedom of transit in time of peace or war for the vessels of all
+nations.
+
+2. Freedom of the canal and its terminals from blockade.
+
+3. A code of procedure for war-vessels entering or leaving the canal.
+
+No special reference is made to the question of fortification, but the
+United States are to be at liberty to maintain such military police
+along the canal as may be necessary to protect it against lawlessness
+and disorder. A treaty, however, subsequently concluded between the
+United States and the Republic of Panama (known as the Hay-Bunau-Varilla
+Treaty) contains the following provision:--
+
+      If it should become necessary at any time to employ armed
+      forces for the safety and protection of the canal, or of the
+      ships that make use of the same, or the railways and
+      auxiliary works, the United States shall have the right, at
+      all times and in its discretion, to use its police and its
+      land and naval forces or to establish fortifications for
+      these purposes.
+
+But the most important provision of all related to the question of the
+charges and other conditions of traffic through the canal. The meaning
+of the section seems plain enough, though it became a subject of rather
+acute controversy:--
+
+      The canal shall be free and open to the vessels of commerce
+      and war of all nations observing these rules, on terms of
+      entire equality; so that there shall be no discrimination
+      against any such nation, or its citizens or subjects, in
+      respect of the conditions and charges of traffic, or
+      otherwise. Such conditions and charges of traffic shall be
+      just and equitable.
+
+This provision is reaffirmed in Article XVIII. of the Hay-Bunau-Varilla
+Treaty. There is no doubt that the British government regarded this
+promise of equal treatment as some compensation for the surrender of
+those rights of joint construction and control which Great Britain
+enjoyed under the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. In fact, Mr. Hay, in a
+memorandum he sent to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations,
+described the treaty as a sort of contract between Great Britain and
+the United States by which the former gave up those rights just
+mentioned in return for the "rules and principles" included in the new
+treaty, the chief among these being, of course, the provision about
+equality of treatment for all nations.
+
+It was, therefore, a surprise when the United States government decided
+that the expression "all nations" did not include the United States
+themselves, and that it was quite open to them to give preferential
+treatment to their "coastwise" traffic. Under the term "coastwise" the
+United States include the sea-traffic not only between ports along a
+continuous coast, but between such points as San Francisco or Washington
+and the Philippine Islands. As a matter of fact, an amendment proposed
+by Mr. Burd in the Senate, reserving to the United States the right of
+favouring its "coastwise" traffic, had been defeated, when the new
+treaty was under discussion.
+
+But, leaving these controversial questions, the most important thing for
+us to notice is that the Panama Canal has what is known as an
+"international status." It is not quite the sole and absolute property
+of the United States in the sense in which the Kiel Canal belongs to
+Germany, the Corinth Canal to Greece, and the Amsterdam or North Sea
+Canal to the Netherlands. Its status is governed by treaties which
+impose certain obligations and restrictions upon the United States and
+lay down certain rules of administration. It was intended at first to
+make the status of the Panama and the Suez Canal identical. But there
+are considerable differences. The "neutrality" of the Suez Canal is
+guaranteed by all the Powers of Europe, that of the Panama Canal by two
+only, England and the United States, and it is safeguarded and
+maintained by the United States alone. Then the Suez Canal is and must
+remain unfortified, while the Panama Canal will be strongly fortified by
+the United States.
+
+The reader may wonder what precisely is meant by the word "neutral" as
+applied to the new waterway. The position will be as nearly as possible
+that indicated by Dr. Vaughan Cornish in the following passage:--
+
+      If there be a war in which the United States is not a party,
+      the canal will be used by belligerents in exactly the same
+      way as was the Suez Canal--for example, in the
+      Russo-Japanese War--and the government of the United States
+      has pledged itself to see that such neutrality is preserved.
+      But if there be a war in which the United States is a party,
+      the circumstances of fortification and operation by the
+      United States in fact render it impossible for the other
+      belligerent to use the canal, and are intended to have that
+      effect. This being so, the United States is preparing to
+      defend the canal from attack. Thus it is important to the
+      proper understanding of the undertaking on which the United
+      States government has embarked that we should clearly
+      realize that the canal is only neutral in a restricted
+      sense.[4]
+
+As a matter of fact the status of the Panama Canal lies somewhere
+between neutralization and American control. The Hay-Pauncefote Treaty
+also lays down the rules which are to be observed by the ships of war
+of a belligerent using the canal and the waters adjacent to the
+canal--that is, within three marine miles of either end. They are
+similar to those in force at Suez, and need not be repeated here.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[3] Appendix i.
+
+[4] "The Panama Canal and its Makers," pp. 42, 43.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE UNITED STATES AND COLOMBIA.
+
+
+Those citizens of the United States who thought that with the
+disappearance of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty all the difficulties in the
+way of obtaining a canal of their own had also disappeared were doomed
+to a severe disappointment. They had not reckoned with a South American
+republic on the verge of bankruptcy and suddenly presented with a
+glorious opportunity to fill its empty treasury. Two preliminaries were
+necessary before the United States could settle down at the isthmus of
+Panama to the work of canal construction. They had to purchase the
+concession, the unfinished works and the other assets of the New Panama
+Company, at as reasonable a price as they could obtain; and, secondly,
+it was necessary to conclude a treaty with Colombia, securing to the
+United States on satisfactory terms the perpetual control of a strip of
+territory on the isthmus from sea to sea within which the canal could be
+constructed.
+
+The first of these undertakings presented, as it turned out, no great
+difficulty. The New Panama Company had begun to despair of its own
+ability to get a canal finished across the isthmus, and to realize that
+their best course was to transfer the whole business to the United
+States. This disposition had been greatly strengthened by the Report of
+the Third Canal Commission, issued in December 1900. Probably the
+members of the commission were convinced of the advantages of the Panama
+route and the desirability of continuing the work of the French
+engineers. But they were shrewd people. They dwelt in their report on
+the improbability that the New Panama Company would sell its property to
+the United States, and on the difficulty of getting the Colombian
+concession transferred. They decided, therefore, that "the most
+practicable and feasible route for an isthmian canal to be under the
+control, management, and ownership of the United States is that known as
+the Nicaraguan route."
+
+The commission probably foresaw the effect such a decision was likely to
+have on the directors and shareholders of the New Panama Company. If an
+American canal were constructed at Nicaragua, all the property and work
+of the company at Panama would be thrown on the scrap-heap. The company
+estimated the value of its property at $109,141,500, a price which the
+commission, representing the American government, declined to look at.
+The commission thought $40,000,000 quite enough for the property, and so
+completely were the Americans master of the situation that that price
+was agreed upon in January 1902. The commission thereupon issued a
+supplementary report, which reversed the former decision and recommended
+the Panama route and the purchase of the French property.
+
+Then arose in the Congress of the United States a tremendous conflict
+between the Nicaraguans and the Panamanians, the champions of the two
+routes which had so long been in rivalry. The former party insisted that
+Panama was farther from the United States than Nicaragua, and therefore
+the journey from the eastern to the western seaboard of the States
+would be longer. They argued that Panama was unfavourable to sailing
+vessels on account of the prevailing calms on that coast; that it would
+be easier to deal with Costa Rica and Nicaragua than with Colombia; and
+that Nicaragua was "the traditional American route" as compared with the
+Frenchified Panama. The claims of the old Darien route were also
+advanced. This was probably done by American railway people who were
+against any canal, for the Darien route would have involved a rock
+tunnel five miles long and three hundred feet broad, the attempt to
+achieve which would probably have ended all canal adventures at the
+isthmus.
+
+From these discussions emerged the celebrated "Spooner Bill," under
+which the Panama Canal has been constructed. It empowered the American
+government to secure the rights and property of the Panama Company for
+not more than $40,000,000; to obtain from Colombia the perpetual control
+of a strip of land, not less than six miles wide, in which the canal
+should run; and then to proceed with the work. But if it should prove
+impossible to come to terms with Colombia and the New Panama Company,
+then the Nicaraguan project was to be revived. We shall see how, in the
+sequel, this latter proviso came very near fulfilment. But, as a matter
+of fact, the Spooner Bill marks the end of the great battle of the
+routes which had lasted for four centuries.
+
+The purchase price of the New Panama Company's property was happily
+settled, but the purchase was of course conditional on the conclusion of
+a satisfactory agreement between the United States and Colombia. It was
+no use for the United States to acquire unfinished canal-works if they
+were to be prevented from continuing and completing them. The situation
+was interesting. The Republic of Colombia was extremely "hard up." Its
+currency was debased, its treasury empty, its debt rapidly increasing
+through a large annual deficit. The government, if one may so express
+it, of the Colombian Republic was therefore not likely to overlook the
+chance of "making a bit" out of the necessities of the bigger and richer
+republic farther north. The United States wished to get their concession
+as cheaply as possible; Colombia wished to sell as dearly as possible.
+This is not infrequently the case with buyers and sellers; but Colombia
+pushed her haggling a little too far, and in the end very badly
+overreached herself.
+
+The United States began by proposing terms on which they might obtain
+the desired strip of territory. The conditions were carefully laid down.
+The territory was to remain under Colombian sovereignty, but to be
+administered by the United States. Sanitary and police services were to
+be maintained by both governments jointly. Colombia was to police the
+zone, with the help of the United States if necessary. But the business
+terms were chiefly interesting to Colombia. The United States were to
+pay Colombia a bonus of $7,000,000 in cash, and after fourteen years an
+annuity of $250,000. These terms, which were not ungenerous, the
+Colombian minister at Washington declined to accept.
+
+A brilliant idea had, indeed, struck the statesmen of the Colombian
+Republic. They had remembered that the concession to the Panama Company
+lapsed in October 1904, and that all its property that could not be
+carried away would revert to the Colombian government. Only defer any
+agreement with the United States till then, and the $40,000,000 to be
+paid to the New Panama Canal Company by the United States would drop
+like a golden nest-egg into the empty exchequer of the Colombian
+Republic. It was a brilliant idea, but the Colombian method of pursuing
+it was rather too crude and obvious.
+
+In order to meet the Colombian government the United States improved
+their offer, considerably increasing the bonus and making other changes.
+An agreement, known as the Hay-Herran Treaty, was actually arranged
+between the United States and Colombia, the latter represented by her
+minister at Washington, Dr. Tomas Herran. This treaty, before it became
+operative, had to be ratified by the Congress of Colombia, and the
+president of that state took care that a congress should be elected
+which would do no such thing. Meantime all kinds of influences, secret
+and open, were at work. The German "colonial party" had become
+interested in the question, and had conceived the possibility of
+Germany, rather than the United States, succeeding to the French
+concession. It is quite certain that the United States would have
+resisted any such proceeding, if necessary by actual war. There is
+little doubt, also, that the party in the United States which had
+supported the Nicaraguan scheme were throwing every obstruction in the
+way of a satisfactory agreement between the big and the little republic.
+
+The reader may guess what was the anxiety of the New Panama Canal
+Company during all this diplomacy and intrigue. They knew that the
+completion of the sale of its property to the United States depended on
+an agreement being concluded between that country and Colombia; and they
+also knew that unless they sold before October 1904, they would have
+practically nothing to sell, because the franchise and possessions of
+the company would be forfeited to the Colombian government at that date.
+It would be better to sell on the best terms they could obtain to
+Germany or anybody else before the fatal day arrived. Meantime the
+United States brought every force of argument and menace to bear on the
+Colombian government. Secretary Hay sent urgent dispatches to the
+American minister at Bogot�. He reminded Colombia that the decision to
+adopt the Panama route was not irrevocable. The Spooner law authorized
+the American president to await only "a reasonable time" for an
+agreement with Colombia. Having waited so long, he was able and indeed
+bound to resume the Nicaraguan project.
+
+When the Colombian Congress duly rejected the Hay-Herran Treaty in
+August 1903, the New Panama Company became very seriously alarmed. Other
+offers of purchase were renewed, and the situation became critical for
+the United States. The American counsel for the company, Mr. William
+Nelson Cromwell, who had done his utmost to promote the agreement, had
+the utmost difficulty in keeping his clients to their compact with the
+United States. He made a hurried trip to Paris, where he said something
+which had the desired effect. There is no reason to believe that Mr.
+Cromwell took any part in the surprising events which were soon to alter
+the entire situation. But he had heard the proverbial "little bird," and
+the tidings he passed on brought the New Panama directors to the desired
+mood of patience and expectancy.
+
+Colombia meanwhile kept on marking time. She suggested that a new treaty
+should be negotiated between the United States and Colombia, to be
+ratified by the Colombian Senate some time in 1904. That would have put
+the clock forward splendidly, but the device was duly understood at
+Washington. In October a committee of the Colombian Senate reported to
+the Senate a recommendation that no agreement should be concluded with
+the United States until the French concession had lapsed. This
+recommendation was not acted upon by the Colombian Senate, nor yet were
+any steps taken towards the negotiation of a new treaty. The American
+government gave a generous interpretation to the "reasonable time"
+specified in the Spooner Bill, and kept on waiting in the hope that the
+Colombian Congress would still change its mind and ratify the Hay-Herran
+Treaty, whose terms, as we have seen, were liberal to the Colombian
+Republic. But when the congressional session at Bogot� came to an end on
+October 31, 1903, without any further action over the Hay-Herran Treaty,
+the Americans concluded that the whole business was over so far as
+negotiations with Colombia on the Panama question were concerned.
+Obviously the only course was to turn to the Nicaraguan alternative.
+And the Colombian government no doubt thought it had won the day by
+sheer force of astute statesmanship.
+
+Then came a coincidence more astonishing than any since the day when Mr.
+Weller, senior, upset the Eatanswill outvoters (purely by accident) into
+another canal. The Panama revolution broke out, and the United States
+suddenly and without further difficulty obtained all they wanted of the
+isthmus. And Colombia? She lost every stick and stone of the canal which
+was to have been hers in October 1904, never made a farthing on a Panama
+deal, got no thanks from Germany or anybody else, and lost a whole
+province into the bargain. Such were the results of very astute
+statesmanship at Bogot�.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+A MINIATURE REVOLUTION.
+
+
+It was not to be expected that Panama, one of the constituent provinces
+of the United States of Colombia, would be very enthusiastic about all
+this haggling and intriguing at Bogot�. Panama asked for nothing better
+than that a rich and powerful country like the United States should
+continue the French enterprise and carry it through. The canal would run
+right through the province, and would bring it into the main stream of
+the world's traffic and commerce. No doubt the central government at
+Bogot� would skim off as much as possible of this new wealth and
+prosperity at the isthmus; but even so, Panama would reap a great
+advantage from the running of this new and much-frequented highway of
+communication between east and west through its territory. The dealings
+of the central government with the United States had roused a growing
+disgust and resentment at the isthmus.
+
+The relations between the province of Panama with New Granada and its
+successor Colombia had been very chequered ever since the revolt of the
+Spanish colonies in Central and South America in the early years of last
+century. Panama declared her independence in 1821, and allied herself at
+once with New Granada. But troubles began forthwith. Again and again the
+isthmian province seceded from New Granada or Colombia, and was induced
+to return by promises of more favourable terms of union, these always
+remaining unfulfilled. In his annual message to Congress in 1903,
+President Roosevelt enumerated some fifty-three "revolutions,
+rebellions, insurrections, riots, and other outbreaks" that had occurred
+at the isthmus in fifty-seven years. Not long before these difficulties
+between the United States and Colombia, Panama had received a new
+constitution which was far from satisfactory to the people of the
+province. There was in truth little to be gained by a continued
+allegiance to the government at Bogot�. Some idea of the depths to
+which Colombia had sunk through a long course of bad administration and
+corruption may be gathered from a passage in the official address of Dr.
+Marroquin on his becoming vice-president of Colombia in 1898. He said:--
+
+      Hatred, envy, and ambition are elements of discord; in the
+      political arena the battle rages fiercely, not so much with
+      the idea of securing the triumph of principles as with that
+      of humbling, and elevating persons and parties; public
+      tranquillity, indispensable to every citizen for the free
+      enjoyment of what he possesses either by luck or as the
+      fruit of his labour, is gradually getting unknown; we live
+      in a sickly atmosphere; crisis is our normal state; commerce
+      and all other industries are in urgent need of perfect
+      calmness for their development and progress; poverty invades
+      every home. The notion of mother country is mistaken or
+      obliterated, owing to our political disturbances. The
+      conception of mother country is so intimately associated
+      with that of political disorders, and with the afflictions
+      and distrust which they engender, that it is not unusual to
+      hear from one of our countrymen what could not be heard from
+      a native of any other country: "I wish I had been born
+      somewhere else." Could many be found among us who would feel
+      proud when exclaiming, "I am a Colombian," in the same way
+      as a Frenchman does when exclaiming, "I am a Frenchman"?
+
+This was a cheerful pronouncement for a people to hear from the lips of
+a man who was just assuming high office in their midst. It suggests some
+further reasons why the Panamanians should have so readily asserted
+their independence once more when the negotiations between Colombia and
+the United States fell through.
+
+Long before that happened, before the Colombian Congress which was to
+deal with the Hay-Herran Treaty had assembled, a much-respected citizen
+of Panama, Dr. Manuel Amador (Guerrero), had written to the Colombian
+president warning him that serious consequences would follow at Panama
+if that treaty were not ratified. For answer the central government
+foisted on Panama a candidate for Congress who was well known as an
+enemy of the United States and of the isthmian canal scheme.
+Representations to the government at Bogot� were useless, and Panama saw
+the prospect of a canal being constructed through her territory fading
+into distance.
+
+Then it was that an eminent Panamanian, Jos� Agustin Arango, a senator
+at the Colombian Congress of 1903, who had vainly urged the ratification
+of the Hay-Herran Treaty, conceived the idea that Panama might declare
+her independence and then make her own treaty with the United States
+regarding a trans-isthmian canal. It soon turned out that the same idea
+had struck many others, and a junta of zealous conspirators was quickly
+formed. Se�or Arango chanced to meet Dr. Amador one day at the offices
+of the Panama Railroad, and unfolded his revolutionary design to that
+gentleman. The doctor proved highly sympathetic. There was indeed no
+difficulty in finding adherents. Se�or Arango, Dr. Amador, and C. C.
+Arosemena undertook the conduct of the movement, and among the other
+leaders were Se�or Arango's sons and sons-in-law, Nicanor A. de Obarrio,
+Federico Boyd, Tomas and Ricardo Arias, and Manuel Espinosa. A very
+important person, General Esteban Huertas, commander of the troops in
+Panama, was easily enrolled, as were also alcaldes, chiefs of police,
+and other important officials.
+
+The first thing to do was to sound official opinion in Washington as to
+what treatment the revolted province might expect from the American
+government. Moreover, revolutions cost money, and supplies must be
+obtained from somewhere. So Dr. Amador and Ricardo Arias were deputed to
+go to the United States. There they called on Mr. Cromwell, the counsel
+of the New Panama Company, who gave them very little encouragement.
+Moreover, they were carefully "shadowed" by Colombian agents, so that
+they were able to cable to their expectant friends at the isthmus only
+the single depressing word, "desanimado" (disappointed).
+
+Then Dr. Amador called at the office of a Panamanian friend and
+sympathizer, Joshua Lindo, and asked for counsel in his difficulties.
+Mr. Lindo at once suggested that the likeliest person to help was Mr.
+Bunau-Varilla, who had been chief engineer under the French Canal
+Company. It is interesting to know that this gentleman had been a
+fellow-student of Alfred Dreyfus, and had given effective help in the
+campaign which ended in that officer's liberation from the island prison
+not so very far from the isthmus of Panama. Unfortunately, said Mr.
+Lindo, Mr. Bunau-Varilla was in Paris; but even as the friends deplored
+his absence the telephone rang, Mr. Lindo answered the call, and lo! Mr.
+Bunau-Varilla announced his return to New York. Such a coincidence might
+well seem providential, for Mr. Varilla proved a friend in need and in
+deed. He promised the necessary funds as well as other practical help,
+and asked for only one return--that he might be appointed minister of
+the reconstituted Panama to the United States for just so long a time as
+was necessary for the arrangement of the new treaty between the two
+countries for the construction of the isthmian canal.
+
+It is not surprising, therefore, that the next telegram sent home by the
+revolutionary agents was more cheerful. It consisted of the single word
+"esperanzas" (hopes). Dr. Amador now made some efforts to ascertain the
+sentiment and intentions of the United States government. He called on
+Mr. Hay, the Secretary of State, at the state department. Now it is
+obvious that when a gentleman calls at a foreign office and announces
+himself as a conspirator against a government with which that office has
+friendly relations, the visitor cannot expect much practical help and
+sympathy. But the authorities at Washington, whose nerves were raw from
+the prolonged struggle with Colombia, would scarcely have been human if
+they had not felt a secret joy at a movement which promised such an
+ample retribution on Colombia and so easy a settlement of the Panama
+problem. Dr. Amador was politely informed that he must pay no more calls
+at the department. But he had seen and heard enough to assure him that
+the United States would at least remain neutral, and, if the revolution
+succeeded, would conclude a canal treaty with the new republic. He felt
+that there were two very important conditions to be fulfilled. Firstly,
+the revolution must be effected without bloodshed, for public sympathy
+in the United States would be alienated by any fighting or violent
+disturbance. The conspirators were also not without a certain natural
+solicitude for their own skins. Secondly, there must be a brand-new
+government ready to take the place of the Colombian administration so
+soon as this was abolished.
+
+The scene now changes to the isthmus. The conspirators were inclined at
+first to be sceptical about Dr. Amador's report of the probable attitude
+of the United States, but on November 2, 1903, the arrival of the
+American gunboat _Nashville_ at Colon reassured them. The _Nashville_
+had come, as American men-of-war had frequently come in the past to
+Colon or Panama, not to take sides with any party in a scrimmage, but
+calmly and impartially to maintain order and keep transit open at the
+isthmus, in accordance with treaty obligations. The orders to the
+_Nashville_, as subsequently to the _Boston_ and the _Dixie_, were
+these:--
+
+      Maintain free and uninterrupted transit. If interruption
+      threatened by armed force, occupy line of railroad. Prevent
+      landing of any armed force with hostile intent, either
+      government or insurgent, either at Colon, Porto Bello, or
+      other point.[5]
+
+A similar order was sent to Rear-Admiral Glass at Acapulco, who was to
+proceed to Panama with the same object.
+
+But the coming _coup d'�tat_ was known at Bogot� as well as at
+Washington. The date fixed for the outbreak was November 4. General
+Huertas was to be ready with his troops, and the signal to be given by
+the blowing of bugles by the firemen. But the Colombian government at
+last decided to act, and on November 3 the steamer _Carthagena_ arrived
+at Colon, having on board General Tovar with a force of about four
+hundred and fifty men. The commander with three other resplendent
+warriors, Generals Castro, Alban, and Amaya, at once took train for
+Panama; while their troops, many of whom had brought their wives, camped
+out in the streets of Colon. These events were duly telephoned to
+Panama. The news reached Dr. Amador and his friends at ten o'clock,
+just an hour before the arrival of the Colombian officers. It was "a
+crowded hour of glorious life" for the conspirators, some of whom found
+the excitement too much for their nerves, disappeared from the scene,
+and gave up the conspiracy business altogether. But the leaders were of
+better mettle, and while the trans-isthmian train was rapidly bringing
+the representatives of the established government to Panama a good many
+plans were discussed. The desperate nature of the occasion may be
+gathered from the fact that one of the proposals was to drug the
+Colombian officers, and when thus disabled convey them to durance vile.
+In great perplexity Dr. Amador sought General Huertas; but he had put on
+his dress uniform and gone to the station to meet his superiors. So
+matters were to be allowed to take their own course.
+
+At eleven o'clock a gush of glittering uniforms, fifteen in all,
+counting the generals and the staffs, descended upon the Panama
+platform. One might almost have expected them to advance to the
+footlights and announce their arrival and intentions in a four-part
+chorus. Here obviously were the properties, the stage scenery, and the
+artistes, principals and chorus, of a first-rate comic opera. In the
+harbour lay three Colombian gunboats whose political views were not
+fully ascertained, though it was thought the commanders had been won
+over to the revolutionary cause. The new arrivals were welcomed by
+General Huertas and conducted to headquarters, while the conspirators,
+no doubt with quickened pulses, awaited subsequent events from a
+distance.
+
+The Colombian officers wished to be conducted forthwith to the
+fortifications and the sea-wall. Now this was precisely what General
+Huertas, whose heart beat loyally under his official gold braid to the
+cause of freedom and independence, wished to avoid, and for two reasons:
+firstly, it would have been easy for the federal generals to signal to
+the gunboats in the harbour and thus get command of the entire
+situation; secondly, on that same sea-wall there were some modern
+quick-firing guns, behind which even fifteen men might quickly get the
+whole city at their mercy. So General Huertas determined that on the
+whole he would conduct his guests anywhere but to the sea-wall. He
+suggested that there were better ways of spending the hot hours of the
+day than in going round fortifications in stiff and sweltering uniforms.
+After luncheon, followed by a little siesta behind sun-shutters, would
+be a better time for the business of inspection. The generals were
+probably both hot and hungry, and they allowed themselves to be
+persuaded.
+
+But even as they lunched their suspicions seemed to have awakened. Some
+one, it is said, warned them of the trap into which they had walked. And
+moreover, why did the Bogot� troops not arrive from Colon? What exactly
+happened is not recorded, but it is a fact that the generals suddenly
+insisted on the Panama troops being paraded and themselves being
+conducted to the fortifications.
+
+General Huertas made some excuse for leaving the luncheon room, and
+outside the door found Dr. Amador, the respectable physician of Panama,
+now an arch-conspirator, though without the black mantle and stiletto.
+"The contrast between these two men," writes Mr. Johnson, "was most
+striking. The one was advanced in years, venerable and stately in
+aspect, and yet impetuous as youth. The other was only a boy in stature
+and scarcely more than a boy in years, yet at the time deliberate and
+dilatory. The latter, however, quickly responded to the zealous
+initiative of the former. 'Do it,' exhorted Dr. Amador in an impassioned
+whisper, 'do it now.'"
+
+The business was soon over. Huertas ordered out his soldiers, who knew
+well enough what was going to happen. Then, as the military swells from
+Bogot� came on the ground, the little general gave the order, the rifles
+were levelled on the Colombians, and they were walked off to police
+headquarters and safely locked up. Then Governor Obaldia was also
+arrested and taken to prison, but this was only a formality. He was an
+ardent conspirator, but as he represented the central government, it was
+thought desirable to perform the symbolical act of arresting and
+deposing him. He was at once released.
+
+There was now no going back. The next step was to announce the fact of
+the revolution to the gunboats, in the harbour, which were still a
+doubtful factor. Two of them, the _Padilla_ and the _Chucuito_,
+remained silent; but the third, the _Bogot�_, sent word that if the
+generals were not released by ten o'clock it would turn its guns on to
+the city. The generals were, of course, not released, so at ten o'clock
+the _Bogot�_ launched three shells into the city. One of these killed an
+unfortunate and innocent Chinese coolie near the barracks, and that was
+the only casualty that occurred during the whole course of the great
+Panama revolution. Then the _Bogot�_, that deed of slaughter
+accomplished, steamed out of the harbour.
+
+The next morning the gunboat _Padilla_, which had been considering the
+situation during the night, suddenly made up its mind, steamed in to a
+snug anchorage under the fortified sea-wall, and hoisted the flag of
+free and independent Panama. The _Padilla_ might have been called upon
+to make good its new allegiance, for a report was spread that the
+terrible _Bogot�_ was returning to bombard, this time to good purpose.
+So a letter was drawn up by the consuls of the United States, Great
+Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Holland, Ecuador, Guatemala,
+Salvador, Denmark, Belgium, Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, Honduras, and Peru,
+protesting against the bombardment of a defenceless city without due
+notice to the consular corps as contrary to the rights and practices of
+civilized nations. What answer the justly enraged commander of the
+_Bogot�_ would have returned to this rather representative address
+cannot be known, for the _Bogot�_, no doubt unnerved by the sensation of
+casting three live shells into a live town, never returned to witness
+the devastation it had wrought.
+
+What in the meantime was occurring at Colon? Why had the 450 Colombian
+soldiers not flown to the rescue and vengeance of their captured
+officers? The explanation is simple, though perhaps unexpected--they
+could not pay their railway fares! After the departure of the generals
+for Panama on November 3, Colonel Torres, who had been left in charge of
+the government troops, demanded a "special" to take them across the
+isthmus. The superintendent of the line intimated that specials were
+procurable, but that fares must be paid. And the fares of 450 persons
+ran into money, in fact nearly $2,000 in gold, or quite a little
+wheelbarrowful of the depreciated Colombian silver. Anywhere but in
+Panama or Ruretania the plea of state necessity, which in presence of
+the 450 needed no demonstration, would have procured some concession
+from the railway authorities. But the railway rules provided for no such
+emergencies. No fare, no journey--that was the immutable railway law,
+and Colonel Torres had to lead his men back to their street encampments.
+It is one of the many remarkable coincidences at this juncture that the
+telegraphic and telephonic system also broke down, the wires refusing to
+transmit any messages from Colon to the officers at Panama.
+
+At last, on November 4, Colon received the news of the revolution and
+the impounding of the Colombian officers. Some little impatience then
+appeared among the Colombian troops. They actually threatened to seize
+the railway and go across in spite of regulations. Also it was rumoured
+that Colonel Torres, losing for a moment his self-command, threatened to
+kill every American citizen in Colon unless his fellow-officers were at
+once liberated. At any rate, that rumour was duly reported to the
+commander of the _Nashville_, who, on the strength of it, at once
+landed fifty bluejackets to preserve the peace of the town. The
+commander also wrote to the alcalde of Colon and the chief of the
+police, giving the gist of an official order he had received from
+Washington. The order pointed out that to allow the passage of Colombian
+troops from Colon to Panama would excite a conflict between the forces
+of the two parties, and would thus interrupt the free and open transit
+of the isthmus which the United States was bound to maintain. The
+commander had therefore instructed the superintendent of the railways to
+afford carriage to the troops of neither party. Never was officer so
+outrageously impeded in the performance of his obvious duty as Colonel
+Torres. And right in the middle of the situation thus created the
+_Carthagena_, which had brought the Colombian troops to Colon, sailed
+demurely home.
+
+In a few days there assembled some nine or ten vessels of the United
+States navy at Colon or Panama. On November 4 it was announced that the
+United States would permit the landing of no forces hostile to Panama
+within fifty miles of the city of Panama or anywhere at all on the
+Caribbean coast. Was not the United States government compelled by
+treaty obligations to preserve peace, the paying of fares, and "free and
+uninterrupted transit" at the isthmus? How unreasonable to suggest that
+the great and grown-up republic was protecting and taking the side of
+the little baby republic which had just been born at Panama!
+
+But the 450 soldiers encamped with their wives in the streets of Colon
+were becoming an inconvenience, and it was highly desirable to remove
+this substantial lump of grit from the machinery of revolution. The
+commander of these troops himself helped to effect that object. He, in
+fact, offered to take his little army away in return for a satisfactory
+honorarium. The Panama treasury fortunately contained at that time a sum
+of $140,000 in debased Colombian coinage, worth about $56,000 in gold. A
+little of this might well be expended on clearing the country of the
+Colombian troops. The commander accepted $8,000 in gold, and quickly
+bundled the loyal troops and their spouses on board the Royal Mail
+steamship _Orinoco_ for passage homewards. He himself did not propose
+to return home and report himself. His scheme was to go to Jamaica and
+spend his suddenly acquired wealth in "that loveliest of the Antilles."
+Then a cruel thing happened. The 450 got wind of the bargain their
+commander had made with the Panama government, and by a swift logical
+process concluded that the $8,000 which had been paid for their
+departure belonged to themselves as well as to their commander. So they
+laid hands on the hapless officer and took all the money from him. We
+may imagine the annoyance of the gentleman who had betrayed his country,
+dishonoured his name, and then lost the "tip" which had made it all
+worth while. His subsequent proceedings are nowhere recorded.
+
+Just after the Colombian troops had set sail homewards a special train
+arrived at Colon bringing the captive generals, who had promised to go
+home without further fuss. They left Colon on November 12, so that they
+had plenty of time to contemplate the beginnings of the new r�gime in
+Panama. All kinds of reports began to arrive about the intentions of the
+government at Bogot�. A naval expedition was said to be on the way from
+Buenaventura, but the United States navy had instructions to take care
+of any experiments of that sort. Then the news came that a land
+expedition was approaching along the isthmus. That would have implied a
+real triumph of original exploration. It would have meant clearing a
+road for troops through impenetrable jungle, through which it is hard to
+cut the narrowest track by means of the machete or the long Spanish
+cutlass. The untamed San Blas Indians, who permit no white man to spend
+a single night in their territory, would have mobilized against the
+invasion, and so would the wild cats and anacondas and monkeys, who
+share with the Indians the sovereignty of that tangled wilderness.
+
+The revolution was an accomplished fact, and Colombia could do nothing
+but accept the inevitable and reflect on the disappointment of her
+golden dreams. The revolutionists had been ready with their
+constitutional arrangements. The municipal council of Panama had met
+immediately after the _coup d'�tat_. It was unanimously voted that
+Panama should be a free and independent republic, and a provisional
+ministry was at once appointed. These proceedings were ratified the
+same afternoon at a mass meeting of the people of Panama held in the
+cathedral square. A formal manifesto was also issued, constituting a
+declaration of independence and a justification of the revolt. It opens
+magniloquently: "The transcendental act that by a spontaneous movement
+the inhabitants of the isthmus of Panama have just executed is the
+inevitable consequence of a situation which has become graver daily." It
+goes on to set forth the grievances of Panama under the Colombian
+connection and the events which had led to the revolution. It ends in an
+almost pathetic note:--
+
+      At separating from our brothers of Colombia we do it without
+      hatred and without any joy. Just as a son withdraws from his
+      paternal roof, the isthmian people in adopting the lot it
+      has chosen have done it with grief, but in compliance with
+      the supreme and inevitable duty it owes to itself--that of
+      its own preservation and of working for its own welfare. We
+      therefore begin to form a part among the free nations of the
+      world, considering Colombia as a sister nation, with which
+      we shall be whenever circumstances may require it, and for
+      whose prosperity we have the most fervent and sincere
+      wishes.[6]
+
+By November 7 the new government had settled down so steadily to its
+work, and so obviously commanded the adherence of the whole people, that
+it received formal recognition from the United States in these words:--
+
+      As it appears that the people of Panama have, by unanimous
+      movement, dissolved their political connection with the
+      Republic of Colombia and resumed their independence, and as
+      there is no opposition to the provisional government in the
+      state of Panama, I have to inform you that the provisional
+      government will be held responsible for the protection of
+      the persons and property of citizens of the United States,
+      as well as to keep the isthmian transit free, in accordance
+      with the obligations of existing treaties relative to the
+      isthmian territory.
+
+We need not dwell upon the desperate efforts made by the Colombian
+government to retrieve the situation. A respected Colombian, General
+Reyes, was sent to Washington to offer to revive the old Hay-Herran
+Treaty, with modifications greatly in the American interest, if the
+United States would help to restore Colombian sovereignty at the
+isthmus. But all was in vain. Colombia must lie on the bed she had made,
+and before the end of the year the new republic had been recognized by
+all the leading Powers of the world. The new government was true to the
+undertaking on the strength of which Mr. Bunau-Varilla had given his
+help and support to the movement. On November 7 he was appointed
+minister of Panama to the United States, and on November 18 the
+Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty[7] was signed at Washington, which finally
+placed the United States in a position to begin the work of canal
+construction at the isthmus.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[5] See "Four Centuries of the Panama Canal," p. 188 (W. F. Johnson).
+
+[6] For full text of declaration see Appendix ii.
+
+[7] Appendix iii.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE BATTLE OF THE LEVELS.
+
+
+By the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty the United States guaranteed and
+undertook to maintain the independence of the Republic of Panama. The
+new republic granted to the United States in perpetuity the use,
+occupation, and control of a strip ten miles wide and extending three
+nautical miles into the sea at either terminal, with all lands lying
+outside of the zone necessary for the construction of the canal, and
+with the islands in the Bay of Panama. The cities of Panama and Colon
+were not embraced in the canal zone, but the United States assumed their
+sanitation and, in case of need, the maintenance of order therein. All
+railway and canal property rights belonging to Panama and needed for the
+canal passed to the United States, including any property of the railway
+and canal companies in the cities of Panama and Colon. The works,
+property, and personnel of the canal and railways were exempted from
+taxation in the cities of Colon and Panama as well as in the actual
+canal zone. Free immigration of the workers and free importation of
+supplies for the construction and operation of the canal were granted.
+Provision was made for the use of military force and the building of
+fortifications by the United States for the protection of the transit.
+The United States were to pay $10,000,000 down on exchange of
+ratifications and an annuity of $250,000, beginning nine years from the
+same date. It will be noticed that the United States enjoyed in the
+canal zone all the rights, though not the name and title, of
+sovereignty.
+
+The treaty was finally ratified on February 26, 1904, and four days
+later the first Isthmian Canal Commission, consisting of seven members,
+was appointed by President Roosevelt to arrange for the conduct of the
+great enterprise. Careful instructions were given to the commission. The
+Isthmian Canal Commission were authorized and directed:--
+
+      First.--To make all needful rules and regulations for the
+      government of the zone, and for the correct administration
+      of the military, civil, and judicial affairs of its
+      possessions until the close of the fifty-eighth session of
+      Congress. Second.--To establish a civil service for the
+      government of the strip and construction of the canal,
+      appointments to which shall be secured as nearly as
+      practicable by merit system. Third.--To make, or cause to be
+      made, all needful surveys, borings, designs, plans, and
+      specifications of the engineering, hydraulic, and sanitary
+      works required, and to supervise the execution of the same.
+      Fourth.--To make, and cause to be executed after due
+      advertisement, all necessary contracts for any and all kinds
+      of engineering and construction works. Fifth.--To acquire by
+      purchase or through proper and uniform expropriation
+      proceedings, to be prescribed by the commission, any private
+      lands or other real property whose ownership by the United
+      States is essential to the excavation and completion of the
+      canal. Sixth.--To make all needful rules and regulations
+      respecting an economical and correct disbursement and an
+      accounting for all funds that may be appropriated by
+      Congress for the construction of the canal, its auxiliary
+      works, and the government of the canal zone; and to
+      establish a proper and comprehensive system of bookkeeping
+      showing the state of the work, the expenditures by classes,
+      and the amounts still available. Seventh.--To make
+      requisition on the Secretary of War for funds needed from
+      time to time in the proper prosecution of the work, and to
+      designate the disbursing officers authorized to receipt for
+      the same.
+
+The work of this commission was not wholly satisfactory, and in April
+1905 another was appointed, which was ordered to meet at Panama
+quarterly, the first commission having conducted its operations from
+Washington.
+
+The first two and a half years of the American occupation were spent
+mainly in preparing for the great task. One very important question had
+now to be finally decided. The battle of the routes was over, and now
+began the battle of the levels. We have seen that the French began with
+the idea of a tide-level canal. The New Panama Canal Company had changed
+to the lock or high-level plan, but the French had not advanced in their
+work to the point when the one or the other scheme must be definitively
+adopted. The excavation they had carried out was all available for
+either type of canal. But the Americans had now to come to a decision.
+
+A few more words about the main physical features of the isthmus are
+necessary for the reader to understand the nature of the problem. The
+two most important factors in the problem, as we have seen, are,
+firstly, the river Chagres with its tributaries, the Trinidad, Gatun,
+and twenty others; and, secondly, the range of low hills on the Pacific
+side through which any canal from Colon to Panama must pass. The river
+Chagres is a great mountain torrent which enters the Caribbean Sea a
+little west of Colon. The canal follows its course inland for about 26
+miles, when the river valley turns sharply north-east and the canal
+continues straight on to the Pacific. The Chagres is not a river to be
+despised. The rainfall on the isthmus is very heavy, especially on the
+Atlantic side, where 140 inches per annum have been recorded. The
+isthmian rivers are all liable to quickly-swelling floods, the Chagres
+at Gamboa having been known to rise 35-� feet in twenty-four hours.
+The two different types of canal involve equally different methods of
+dealing with this formidable stream. It must either be harnessed to the
+work or firmly and finally shut off from any interference with the
+canal. De Lesseps, who had chosen the tide-level scheme, proposed to
+turn the Chagres and other rivers into diversion channels, so that they
+could get safely to the sea without crossing the line of the canal or
+having any connection with it. This would have involved a work of
+excavation and construction scarcely less gigantic than the building of
+the canal itself.
+
+On the other plan, the Chagres and its tributaries would be made the
+feeders of the upper reaches of the canal. So far from being politely
+shown off the premises, the question rather was whether they would be
+able to supply sufficient water all the year round for the needs of the
+canal. Then this harnessing of the Chagres meant the taming of its
+waters in a huge artificial lake, in which the impetuous current would
+be quenched and through which the dredged channel of the waterway would
+run. The New Panama Company had recommended the construction of a huge
+dam for this purpose at Bohio towards the Atlantic end of the canal, and
+this plan had been adopted by the first American Isthmian Commission,
+which issued its report in 1901. I may add that the Spooner Act, which
+authorized the construction of a canal, also contemplated a lock or
+high-level waterway. As we shall see, Bohio was not in the end adopted
+as the site of the big dam, but Gatun, where it is now constructed, with
+its concrete spillway carrying away the overflow waters of the lake down
+the old Chagres channel to the near Atlantic. I need not say that these
+were two very different ways of "caring for" the Chagres and its
+affluents. The tide-level canal would also, of course, be supplied with
+sea-water, while the high-level will be a fresh-water canal. Colonel
+Goethals, the chief engineer of the canal, anticipates rather a curious
+result from this latter circumstance. He thinks the bed of the upper
+reaches of the canal will in course of time be quite paved with the
+barnacles washed by the fresh-water from the bottoms of the great
+ocean-going vessels passing through the canal.
+
+The second physical feature is the hill country or the "Continental
+Divide" which the canal enters near the point where the Chagres River
+crosses its course. Here runs the famous Culebra Cut, the nine-mile-long
+artificial canyon, the biggest excavation in the world. Now the highest
+elevation of these hills along the centre line of the canal was 312 feet
+above sea-level. The bottom of the canal at the cutting is 40 feet, so
+that the vertical depth of the cut on the centre line is 272 feet. The
+engineers of the tide-level scheme would have had not only to excavate
+85 feet deeper--that is, to 45 feet below sea-level--but to make the
+cutting immensely wider in order to avoid the danger of disastrous
+landslides. This would have meant an enormous amount of additional work,
+as well as expense. Nevertheless, the controversy between the two
+principles was very warmly and equally sustained. It may be mentioned
+that Mr. Bunau-Varilla was an especially ardent advocate of the
+tide-level scheme. In fact, he was not for calling the waterway a canal
+at all; he would have christened it "the Straits of Panama."
+
+However, a decision was necessary, and in 1905 a board of consulting or
+advisory engineers was appointed, mainly to consider whether the canal
+should be constructed at high-level or sea-level. Five members were
+appointed by European governments, and the president was Major-General
+George W. Davis, formerly of the United States army. The instructions
+given to this board by President Roosevelt will afford a very clear idea
+of the problem it had to solve:--
+
+      There are two or three considerations which I trust you will
+      steadily keep before your minds in coming to a conclusion as
+      to the proper type of canal. I hope that ultimately it will
+      prove possible to build a sea-level canal. Such a canal
+      would undoubtedly be best in the end, if feasible; and I
+      feel that one of the chief advantages of the Panama route
+      is that ultimately a sea-level canal will be a possibility.
+      But while paying due heed to the ideal perfectibility of the
+      scheme from an engineer's standpoint, remember the need of
+      having a plan which shall provide for the immediate building
+      of a canal on the safest terms and in the shortest possible
+      time. If to build a sea-level canal will but slightly
+      increase the risk, then, of course, it is preferable. But if
+      to adopt the plan of a sea-level canal means to incur a
+      hazard, and to insure indefinite delay, then it is not
+      preferable. If the advantages and disadvantages are closely
+      balanced, I expect you to say so. I desire also to know
+      whether, if you recommend a high-level multi-lock canal, it
+      will be possible, after it is completed, to turn it into or
+      substitute for it, in time, a sea-level canal without
+      interrupting the traffic upon it. Two of the prime
+      considerations to be kept steadily in mind are:
+
+      First.--The utmost practicable speed of construction.
+      Second.--Practical certainty that the plan proposed will be
+      feasible; that it can be carried out with the minimum risk.
+
+      The quantity of work and the amount of work should be
+      minimized as far as possible.
+
+      There may be good reason why the delay incident to the
+      adoption of a plan for an ideal canal should be incurred;
+      but if there is not, then I hope to see the canal
+      constructed on a system which will bring to the nearest
+      possible date in the future the time when it is practicable
+      to take the first ship across the isthmus--that is, which
+      will in the shortest time possible secure a Panama waterway
+      between the oceans of such a character as to guarantee
+      permanent and ample communication for the greatest ships of
+      our navy and for the larger steamers on either the Atlantic
+      or the Pacific. The delay in transit of the vessels owing to
+      additional locks would be of small consequence when compared
+      with shortening the time for the construction of the canal
+      or diminishing the risks in its construction.
+
+      In short, I desire your best judgment on all the various
+      questions to be considered in choosing among the various
+      plans for a comparatively high-level multi-lock canal; for a
+      lower level, with fewer locks; and for a sea-level canal.
+      Finally, I urge upon you the necessity of as great
+      expedition in coming to a decision as is compatible with
+      thoroughness in considering the conditions.
+
+The board went to the isthmus and investigated the subject with great
+care. In January 1906 they issued three reports. A majority of eight to
+five pronounced in favour of the sea-level scheme "as the only one
+giving reasonable assurance of safe and uninterrupted navigation." "Such
+a canal," it said, "can be constructed in twelve or thirteen years'
+time; the cost will be less than $250,000,000; it will endure for all
+time."
+
+The minority were just as confidently in favour of a high-level canal.
+They concluded:--
+
+      In view of the unquestioned fact that the lock canal herein
+      advocated will cost about $100,000,000 less than the
+      proposed sea-level canal; believing that it can be built in
+      much less time; that it will afford a better navigation;
+      that it will be adequate for all its uses for a longer time,
+      and can be enlarged, if need should arise, with greater
+      facility and less cost, we recommend the lock canal at
+      elevation 85 for adoption by the United States.
+
+The third report was made by the chief engineer, Mr. Stevens, who, quite
+apart from all considerations of expense, was strongly in favour of the
+high-level plan.
+
+The three reports were considered by the canal commissioners, a majority
+of whom ultimately agreed with the minority of the advisory board. They
+admitted that a sea-level canal was ideally the best, but considered
+that the cost of making such a canal sufficiently wide would be
+prohibitive. They declared therefore for a lock canal at an elevation of
+85 feet above sea-level. They gave their decision thus:--
+
+      It appears that the canal proposed by the minority of the
+      board of consulting engineers can be built in half the time
+      and at a little more than half the cost of the canal
+      proposed by the majority of the board, and that when
+      completed it will be a better canal, for the following
+      reasons:
+
+      1. It provides greater safety for ships and less danger of
+      interruption to traffic by reason of its wider and deeper
+      channels.
+
+      2. It provides quicker passage across the isthmus for large
+      ships or a large traffic.
+
+      3. It is in much less danger of damage to itself or of
+      delays to ships from the flood-waters of the Chagres and
+      other streams.
+
+      4. Its cost of operation and maintenance, including fixed
+      charges, will be less by some $2,000,000 or more per annum.
+
+      5. It can be enlarged hereafter much more easily and cheaply
+      than can a sea-level canal.
+
+      6. Its military defence can be effected with as little or
+      perhaps less difficulty than the sea-level canal.
+
+      7. It is our opinion that the plan proposed by the minority
+      of the board of consulting engineers is a most satisfactory
+      solution of an isthmian canal, and therefore we recommend
+      that the plan of the minority be adopted.
+
+In February 1906 the president referred the question for final decision
+to Congress. In his message on the subject he spoke thus:--
+
+      It must be borne in mind that there is no question of
+      building what has been picturesquely termed "the Straits of
+      Panama"--that is, a waterway through which the largest
+      vessels could go with safety at uninterrupted high speed.
+      Both the sea-level canal and the proposed lock canal would
+      be too narrow and shallow to be called with any truthfulness
+      a strait, or to have any of the properties of a wide, deep
+      water strip. Both of them would be canals, pure and simple.
+      Each type has certain disadvantages and certain advantages.
+      But, in my judgment, the disadvantages are fewer and the
+      advantages very much greater in the case of a lock canal
+      substantially as proposed in the papers forwarded herewith;
+      and a careful study of the reports seems to establish a
+      strong probability that the following are the facts: The
+      sea-level canal would be slightly less exposed to damage in
+      the event of war; the running expenses, apart from the
+      heavy cost of interest on the amount employed to build it,
+      would be less; and for small ships the time of transit would
+      probably be less. On the other hand, the lock canal, at a
+      level of 80 feet or thereabouts, would not cost much more
+      than half as much to build, and could be built in about half
+      the time, while there would be very much less risk connected
+      with building it, and for large ships the transit would be
+      quicker; while, taking into account the interest on the
+      amount saved in building, the actual cost of maintenance
+      would be less. After being built, it would be easier to
+      enlarge the lock canal than the sea-level canal.
+
+      The law now on our statute books seems to contemplate a lock
+      canal. In my judgment a lock canal as herein recommended is
+      advisable. If the Congress directs that a sea-level canal be
+      constructed, its direction will, of course, be carried out.
+      Otherwise, the canal will be built on substantially the plan
+      for a lock canal outlined in the accompanying papers, such
+      changes being made, of course, as may be found actually
+      necessary.
+
+In June 1906 Congress finally decided for a high-level canal, and the
+controversy was officially closed. But the friends of the sea-level
+scheme were by no means silenced. Whenever any serious difficulty
+occurred in the construction of the canal on the lock principle their
+voices were heard again. In fact, the conflict cannot be said to have
+ended until 1909, and even then it is not certain that the sea-levellers
+modified their convictions.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+MAN AND THE GNAT.
+
+
+Almost at the beginning of their great task the Americans were faced
+with a problem which involved the success or failure of the whole
+enterprise. I have said something about the climate and health
+conditions at the isthmus. It is fairly certain that yellow fever and
+malaria would have wrecked the French undertaking even if there had been
+no other obstacles to its success. It is not less probable that if the
+Americans had been in no better a position to wage war with these
+plagues, their work at the isthmus would also have been in vain. The
+French had built excellent hospitals and provided efficiently for the
+comfort and recovery of those who were stricken with these diseases. But
+being totally ignorant of the sources and method of transmission of
+malaria and yellow fever, they could do nothing effectual in the way of
+prevention and eradication. They could only take the individual victim
+when they found him and do their best to cure him. They still believed
+that malaria was produced by climatic conditions, by marshy emanations,
+mists, and so forth. The fleecy clouds which gather round the isthmian
+hills in the rainy season were given the very undeserved title of "the
+white death" by the French workers at the isthmus. Yellow fever, again,
+was just as mistakenly attributed to the climate, and especially to
+filthy ways of living. It is not surprising that, with these
+misconceptions, medical skill should have been almost useless during the
+French occupation, and that the employees at the isthmus should have
+died in their thousands.
+
+But since the days of the Lesseps company, science had thrown a flood of
+light on the nature of these tropical scourges and the secret of their
+transmission. As these medical and scientific pioneers made a Panama
+Canal possible, though their names are not directly linked with its
+construction, we may look back for a few moments at their triumphs of
+discovery. The credit for first discovering that malaria is not due to
+poisonous emanations or contagion but is carried from people infected
+with the disease by the _anopheles_ mosquito belongs to Major (now Sir)
+Ronald Ross, formerly of the Indian Medical Service, who devoted himself
+to this subject during the last years of the 19th century. By a series
+of experiments he proved that malaria is due to the presence in the
+human blood of an organism which is conveyed from person to person by
+this mosquito, and that the mosquito is harmless unless it has become
+infected with the germ by biting a person who has caught malaria. The
+value of this discovery was soon shown by practical applications. Major
+Ross was engaged by the Suez Canal Company to deal with the malaria
+which had become firmly established at Ismailia, a little town of 10,000
+inhabitants on that canal. No fewer than 2,500 cases had been supplied
+in one year by this small population. The new methods founded on the new
+discovery proved so effectual that in three years the disease was
+stamped out, and there has been no relapse ever since. The same results
+were achieved at Port Said.
+
+Now, if malaria is thus caused by mosquito bite, there was some _�
+priori_ reason for thinking that yellow fever might be transmitted in
+the same way. At any rate the insect was again laid under a very grave
+suspicion. The opportunity for studying this further question was
+afforded during the Spanish-American war, when a serious outbreak
+occurred among the troops occupying Havana, in Cuba. The doctors were
+quite unable to deal with this most terrible of all diseases. Knowing
+nothing whatever of its cause, their treatment of it could be only
+experimental and casual. So a board of inquiry was formed consisting of
+four army surgeons serving in Cuba--Walter Reed, James Carroll, Jesse W.
+Lazear, and Aristides Agramonte. The experiments were begun in June
+1900, and continued into the next year. Of these four, Dr. Agramonte was
+not liable to the disease, and Dr. Reed was called away on duty to
+Washington. The other two determined to experiment on their own persons
+rather than risk the lives of other people.
+
+Dr. Carroll first allowed himself to be bitten by the mosquitoes, not
+the _anopheles_ but another variety known as the _stegomyia_. He fell
+ill with a bad attack of yellow fever, which very nearly cost him his
+life. Later, in the yellow fever hospital, Dr. Lazear deliberately
+allowed a mosquito to feed on his hand. In four days he was down with
+the disease in so acute a form that he died of it--a true martyr, if
+ever there was, to the cause of science and the welfare of mankind.
+These and other experiments proved conclusively that yellow fever, like
+malaria, is transmitted by mosquito bites, but it was still uncertain
+how soon after biting an infected person the mosquito becomes itself
+harmful and how soon a person stricken with malaria is able to infect a
+healthy mosquito. So further experiments were necessary, and volunteers
+were invited to offer themselves for this service. Everybody in the army
+knew what had happened to Doctors Carroll and Lazear, but in spite of
+this plenty of willing martyrs appeared. The first to present themselves
+were two young soldiers from Ohio, John R. Kissinger and John J. Moran.
+Dr. Reed talked the matter over with them, explaining fully the danger
+and suffering involved, and stating the money consideration offered by
+General Wood. Both young men declared that they were prepared to
+undergo the experiment, but only on condition that they should receive
+no pecuniary reward. When he heard this declaration, Dr. Reed touched
+his hat with profound respect, saying, "Gentlemen, I salute you!"[8]
+Kissinger took the disease from the mosquito bites, and recovered. A
+room was prepared for Moran, a sort of mosquito den into which fifteen
+gnats, all suffering from yellow fever, had been admitted. Major Reed
+describes what happened:--
+
+      At noon on the same day, five minutes after the mosquitoes
+      had been placed therein, a plucky Ohio boy, Moran by name,
+      clad only in his night-shirt and fresh from a bath, entered
+      the room containing the mosquitoes, where he lay down for a
+      period of thirty minutes. Within two minutes of Moran's
+      entrance he was being bitten about the face and hands by the
+      insects, that had promptly settled down upon him. Seven, in
+      all, bit him at this visit. At 4.30 p.m. the same day, he
+      again entered and remained twenty minutes, during which time
+      five others bit him. The following day, at 4.30 p.m., he
+      again entered and remained fifteen minutes, during which
+      time three insects bit him; making the number fifteen that
+      had fed at these three visits. On Christmas morning, at 11
+      a.m., this brave lad was stricken with yellow fever, and had
+      a sharp attack, which he bore without a murmur.
+
+But still the demonstration was not complete. It was necessary to prove
+by equally undeniable evidence that yellow fever is not conveyed by
+contagion with the clothes and persons of infected people. These
+experiments were even more trying and heroic than those which preceded.
+A small wooden hut, 14 by 20 feet, was prepared, and into this was
+stored a large amount of bedding and clothes which had been used and
+worn by persons suffering from the fever. The building was carefully
+guarded against the intrusion of mosquitoes, and a temperature of
+seventy-six degrees, with a sufficient moisture, maintained. For twenty
+consecutive days Dr. Clarke and his men went into this room, handled,
+wore, and slept in the contaminated clothing, although the stench was so
+offensive as to be almost appalling. They emerged from the ordeal in
+perfect health, proving beyond possibility of dispute that the disease
+was not contagious, and that the mosquito was the sole method of
+transmission.
+
+When distributing the credit for the new channel of world-traffic
+through the isthmus of Panama, let us not forget Dr. Lazear who
+sacrificed his life and the many others who cheerfully risked their
+lives to establish truths and facts without which the construction and
+continued operation of the canal would almost certainly have been
+impossible.
+
+One mosquito may look very much like another, but the _stegomyia_ and
+the _anopheles_ differ in many important respects. The latter finds its
+most favourable breeding-places in stagnant pools of fresh water, such
+as are left by the heavy rains of the isthmus. It is essentially a gnat
+of the country-side. The _stegomyia_, on the other hand, inclines to a
+more frivolous town life. Cisterns and tanks and other receptacles for
+storing water are his favourite haunts. In length of life and power of
+flight the species also differ, though these details are not yet fully
+ascertained. The _stegomyia_ is said to live three months. Dr. Cornish
+states that it becomes dangerous only by attacking man during the first
+three days of yellow fever, and that, even then, twelve days elapse
+before its bite is infectious. Six days after a man has been bitten by
+an infected _stegomyia_ he falls ill with yellow fever, and for the next
+three days he is capable of transmitting it to the healthy mosquito. Mr.
+Bishop informs us that if there is no fresh case of yellow fever within
+a period of sixty days after the latest one in an epidemic, it is a safe
+conclusion that the disease has been stamped out, because there is no
+mosquito alive to carry the parasite. After a period of ninety days all
+doubt on the subject is removed.[9] If a community, therefore, which has
+thus got rid of its last case of yellow fever could be completely
+isolated, yellow fever could never possibly return. It could only be
+reintroduced from outside. It should be possible, with a proper system
+of sanitation and quarantine, to free any district entirely from this
+awful scourge.
+
+The case of the _anopheles_ and his little contribution to human
+suffering is very different. Whereas the victim of yellow fever either
+dies or gets better and quickly ceases to be a source of infection to
+the mosquito, the victim of malaria seldom dies of the disease, but he
+remains infectious to the _anopheles_ for three years. The disease does
+not simply attack new-comers or white people. Natives of the isthmus and
+the West Indies are subject to it, and, indeed, seem to be in a
+chronically malarious condition. It is said that 50 per cent. of the
+population of the isthmus were found in 1904-5 to have the parasite of
+malaria in their systems. It is difficult to estimate or imagine the
+part played by this widespread malady on conditions of life and
+civilization within the tropics.
+
+Sir Ronald Ross, the greatest living authority on the subject, made some
+interesting remarks in an address at the Royal Colonial Institute in
+January of this year. He said:--
+
+      Nothing has been more carefully studied of recent years than
+      the existence of malaria amongst indigenous populations. It
+      often affects every one of the children, probably kills a
+      large proportion of the new-born infants, and renders the
+      survivors ill for years; only a partial immunity in adult
+      life relieves them of the incessant sickness. Here in Europe
+      nearly all our children suffer from certain
+      diseases--measles, scarlatina, and so on. But these maladies
+      are short and slight compared with the enduring infection of
+      malaria. When I was studying malaria in Greece in 1906, I
+      was struck with the impossibility of conceiving that the
+      people who are now intensely afflicted with malaria could be
+      like the ancient Greeks who did so much for the world; and I
+      therefore suggested the hypothesis that malaria could only
+      have entered Greece at about the time of the great Persian
+      wars. One can scarcely imagine that the physically fine race
+      and the magnificent athletes figured in Greek sculpture
+      could ever have spent a malarious and splenomegalous
+      childhood. And, conversely, it is difficult to imagine that
+      many of the malarious natives in the tropics will ever rise
+      to any great height of civilization while that disease
+      endures amongst them. I am aware that Africa has produced
+      some magnificent races, such as those of the Zulus and
+      Masai, but I have heard that the countries inhabited by them
+      are not nearly so disease-ridden as many of the larger
+      tracts. At all events, whatever may be the effect of a
+      malarious childhood upon the physique of adult life, its
+      effects on the mental development must certainly be very
+      bad, while the disease always paralyzes the material
+      prosperity of the country where it exists in an intense
+      form.
+
+The isthmus of Panama was beautifully adapted to the breeding of the
+_anopheles_ and the widest dissemination of malaria. In fact, the canal
+zone taken over by the Americans was perhaps the most malarial strip of
+territory in the world. The heavy rains leave the country covered with
+those marshes and pools from which these little ghostly insects are
+always rising in swarms, ready to carry the germs of disease from the
+sick to the healthy and thus perpetuate and extend the domain of this
+distressing malady. The reader will notice that, as the yellow fever
+victim is only infectious to the mosquito for three days, while the
+malarial person can convey the poison for three years, it is a much more
+practical problem to eradicate yellow fever than to stamp out malaria.
+It is true the causes of malaria are now fully known and the only
+effective methods of propagation ascertained. If one could isolate all
+malarial patients, including all who are capable of transmitting the
+disease, in buildings screened with fine copper-gauze to keep out the
+mosquitoes and thus gradually diminish the area of infection to
+vanishing point, it would not be necessary to deal with the
+breeding-places of the mosquitoes, and man and the gnat might live
+together in perfect amity. But with fifty and even seventy per cent. of
+the people malarially infected, such a heroic course is obviously
+impossible, and one can hope only to diminish to a considerable degree
+the prevalence of the disease.
+
+The first two and a half years of the American occupation of the isthmus
+was spent in looking round and preparing for the great work. It soon
+became evident that the most pressing and immediate task was one of
+cleaning up and sanitation. In July 1904, Colonel W. C. Gorgas, whose
+name will always be associated with the triumphs won over disease at the
+isthmus, became the head of the department of sanitation under the Canal
+Commission. He quickly recognized that everything depended on the
+efficiency and success of his own department. "The experience of our
+predecessors," he wrote, "was ample to convince us that unless we could
+protect our force against yellow fever and malaria we would be unable to
+accomplish the work."[10] When the Americans took over, yellow fever,
+though present, was quiescent, but the figures began almost at once to
+mount up. In December 1904 there were six cases on the isthmus and one
+death. In January 1905 there were nineteen cases and eight deaths, seven
+and one respectively among the canal employees. In May there were
+thirty-three cases, twenty-two on the canal, with seven deaths in all,
+including three employees. In June there was an alarming advance.
+Sixty-two cases occurred on the isthmus, thirty-four of them among the
+employees. There were nineteen deaths, six on the canal. Something like
+a panic then set in among the Americans engaged on the canal works. Many
+threw up their positions, and the homeward-bound steamers were filled
+with employees fleeing from this real "yellow peril." In the annual
+report of the Commission for 1905 we read:--
+
+      A feeling of alarm, almost amounting to panic, spread among
+      the Americans on the isthmus. Many resigned their positions
+      to return to the United States, while those who remained
+      became possessed with a feeling of lethargy or fatalism,
+      resulting from a conviction that no remedy existed for the
+      peril. There was a disposition to partly ignore or openly
+      condemn all preventive measures. The gravity of the crisis
+      was apparent to all.
+
+This loss of moral tone was the most dangerous symptom of all. A feeling
+of "let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die" gained possession of
+the canal workers, and in the indifference of despair many tore down the
+nettings over the windows of the canal building and began to neglect all
+the sanitary precautions enjoined on them by the department. Evidently a
+calamity was in prospect which would have brought to an end, perhaps for
+ever, American canal ambitions at the isthmus. The restoration of public
+confidence and sense of responsibility seems to have been due largely to
+Mr. Charles E. Magoon, governor of the canal zone. He set himself to
+rebuke and remove the morbid bravado then prevailing. "He began by
+frankly and publicly declaring that he, personally, was afraid of the
+fever, and that in his opinion all non-immunes who professed not to be
+afraid were 'talking rot!' Then he ordered all the window-screens to be
+repaired and kept in place, and announced that if any man was caught
+leaving them open or tearing holes in them, something uncommonly
+unpleasant would happen to him. Now when a man of Judge Magoon's mental
+and physical stature admits that he is afraid, any lesser man is a fool
+to say he isn't; and when a man of Judge Magoon's resolution gives an
+order and prescribes a penalty for its violation, that order is very
+likely to be obeyed."[11]
+
+  [Illustration: _Clinedinst--Washington, D.C._
+  COL. WILLIAM C. GORGAS,
+  Medical Dept., U.S. Army, Head of the Department of Sanitation,
+  Ancon.]
+
+Governor Magoon arrived at the isthmus in May 1905, just as the yellow
+fever epidemic was reaching its climax. From that moment he and Colonel
+Gorgas, to whom he gave the most complete support, set themselves to
+fight the fever. The first thing to do was to get all the patients
+within screened buildings, whether the hospital or their own homes, so
+that no _stegomyia_ mosquitoes could saunter in and take the poison.
+Then the towns of Colon and Panama were handed over to a campaign of
+spring-cleaning such as the world has never witnessed. Then the canal
+building was thoroughly fumigated with pyrethrum powder or sulphur, and
+not simply the official building but every single house in the city of
+Panama was similarly disinfected. Dust and refuse were everywhere burnt.
+A very efficient system of inspection was adopted, and a rigid
+quarantine enforced against all foreign places whence the yellow plague
+could be imported into the zone.
+
+But more important than the immediate expedients were the more
+permanent sanitary improvements carried out in Colon and Panama. These
+towns were repaired with brick or cement, and provided with what they
+had never yet enjoyed, a proper system of drainage. Waterworks were also
+constructed outside the towns, and a supply of pure water made available
+for every household. Hitherto water had had to be stored during the dry
+season in tanks and cisterns, in which the _stegomyia_ mosquito revelled
+exceedingly. These were now no longer necessary, and stagnant water,
+wherever it collected in the town, was drained away. In order to
+expedite these splendid reforms, Governor Magoon withdrew the workers
+from the canal and concentrated all efforts on the sewers and
+waterworks. So speedily was the work carried forward that the water was
+turned on for public use from the main in the Cathedral Plaza on July 4.
+
+The results of this drastic campaign were soon apparent in the dwindling
+of the yellow fever returns. In July there were still forty-two cases
+and thirteen deaths on the isthmus, with twenty-seven cases and ten
+deaths among the employees. August showed a great improvement, with
+twenty-seven cases and nine deaths on the isthmus, and twelve cases and
+only one death on the canal. The improvement continued through
+September, October, November, and in December only one case was reported
+on the isthmus and one on the canal. Three months having elapsed since
+the last case, and, therefore, every _stegomyia_ which could possibly be
+infected with malaria having departed this life, the epidemic was
+entirely past and over. As I have pointed out, there cannot possibly be
+any return of it under these conditions unless the infection is brought
+from without. And if any new cases are at once isolated and screened
+from afternoon calls of the mosquito, the outbreak may be easily and
+infallibly suppressed. We may say, therefore, that the yellow spectre at
+the isthmus has been shorn of all its terrors.
+
+Malaria is, however, a very different proposition. A corresponding
+crusade has been carried on for six years against the little _anopheles_
+gnat, the little criminal who carries the malarial poison. His happy
+breeding-grounds are in open country marshes and pools, and there is no
+lack of these in the canal zone. It was impossible to deal with the
+entire three-quarters of a million acres of that territory, but wherever
+the canal workers were settled determined war was waged against the
+mosquitoes. It should be remembered that the _anopheles_ can fly only
+about a hundred or two hundred yards. The jungle was therefore cleared
+away for a few hundred yards round each village and settlement, marshes
+and pools in this area were drained off, and into all the ditches where
+stagnant water had collected oil was poured, which so effectually turns
+the mosquito's stomach that it never recovers. Some 1,200 acres of the
+zone were thus treated, and of course the regulations as to
+house-screening applied to malaria no less than to yellow fever. The
+employees were also supplied freely and generously with quinine.
+
+The result has been not the eradication of malaria, but the reduction of
+the cases to about one-third the number at which they stood in 1906. Yet
+even so, among the 40,000 employees on the canal during the year ending
+June 30, 1912, there were 7,000 malaria cases in the hospitals, with 32
+deaths, 22 of these being white people. The heavy rainfalls at the
+isthmus will probably prevent the complete sanitation of the country in
+this respect, for the simple reason that the destruction of the
+_anopheles_ mosquito or the eradication of the malarial germ can never
+be complete. There will always be people going about with the malarial
+organism in their blood, and always _anopheles_ mosquitoes ready to
+become infected with it and to carry the infection about. But, as we
+have seen, much can be done by the means described to reduce the ravages
+of the disease. In 1906, out of a working force of 26,000, there were
+21,739 cases of malaria. We have seen how this figure had been brought
+down in 1912. In 1906 it was almost certain that any white person coming
+to reside at the isthmus would catch malaria. Now it is quite possible
+to live there in perfect health, quite free from any malarial infection.
+
+It may be useful to mention that the entire death-roll among the
+employees on the Panama Canal and railway from the American occupation
+down to June 30, 1912--that is, about eight years--was 5,141, of whom
+284 were Americans. Of this total, 4,119 died of disease and 1,022 from
+violence or accident. During the same period 49 American women and 87
+American children died.[12] Sir Ronald Ross, as I have said, was told by
+the British Consul at Panama in 1904 that the French lost in the nine
+years of their occupancy some 50,000 lives, principally from malaria and
+yellow fever. This may be an over-estimate, but there is no doubt that
+the American figure shows an enormous improvement on the French.
+
+It is easy to conclude that what has been done in sanitation at the
+isthmus of Panama may be done anywhere else in the tropics, where
+malaria and yellow fever prevail. That may be true, but we must also
+remember that the work of Panama had behind it all the wealth and
+resources of a mighty republic of 90,000,000 citizens. The expenditure
+on these hygienic purposes at the isthmus has been enormous, though not
+a penny has been wasted. Down to the end of December, 1912, the total
+outlay of the Department of Sanitation was $15,500,000. Waterworks,
+sewers, etc., accounted for another $2,500,000, so that we get a grand
+total expenditure on sanitation of $18,000,000. This will certainly rise
+to $20,000,000 before the canal is finished, so that for the ten and a
+half years of its construction there will have been an annual
+expenditure for all health purposes of $1,900,000. It is not likely that
+there will be many tropical areas of this kind with so large a sum
+available for the luxury of scientific sanitation. Again, it must be
+noticed that the administration had special advantages at the isthmus.
+It exercised something like military authority. It had absolute powers
+of deportation, and could enforce its regulations as it pleased. And in
+considering the statistics it must also be borne in mind that not only
+the physical but the moral and mental health of the work-people at the
+isthmus was promoted in every way. We shall look into the life of the
+Panama construction camps in the next chapter. The social interest and
+amusement provided for the employee must have counted for something
+beside the sewering and screening and mosquito-hunting. All the same,
+the success achieved at Panama is full of hope and promise for tropical
+life in the future. Colonel Gorgas writes encouragingly:--
+
+      I think the sanitarian can now show that any population
+      coming into the tropics can protect itself against these two
+      diseases (malaria and yellow fever) by measures that are
+      both simple and inexpensive; that with these two diseases
+      eliminated life in the tropics for the Anglo-Saxon will be
+      more healthful than in the temperate zones; that gradually,
+      within the next two or three centuries, tropical countries,
+      which offer a much greater return for man's labour than do
+      the temperate zones, will be settled up by the white races,
+      and that again the centres of wealth, civilization, and
+      population will be in the tropics, as they were in the dawn
+      of man's history, rather than in the temperate zone, as at
+      present.
+
+Apart from the question of disease, it is far from certain that the
+white man can ever remain as "fit," as capable of bodily labour, in
+equatorial regions as in his native temperate conditions, or that his
+descendants will also maintain the same standard of health and strength.
+Ordinary non-professional opinion would perhaps discount Colonel
+Gorgas's forecast as a little too optimistic.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[8] "Sanitation of the Isthmus." Mr. J. B. Bishop in _Scribner's
+Monthly_, February 1913.
+
+[9] _Scribner's Monthly_, February 1913, p. 248.
+
+[10] _Journal American Medical Association_, July 6, 1907.
+
+[11] "Four Centuries of the Panama Canal."
+
+[12] See _Scribner's Magazine_, February 1913, p. 251.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+LIFE AT THE ISTHMUS.
+
+
+Before we go on to describe the canal and its method of construction, we
+must look at the sort of social life and civil administration which has
+prevailed since the Americans arrived. Construction camps in tropical
+climes are not usually distinguished for order and good morals. The
+Americans determined to make an exception at Panama. They had a
+perfectly free hand and the enjoyment of all sovereign rights at the
+isthmus, and were able to construct a brand-new little state on the most
+approved and ideal principles. We have seen what instructions were given
+by President Roosevelt to the first commission. An entire administrative
+system had to be established within this little plot 10 miles wide and
+50 long. Laws had to be framed and civil government established, with
+all the needful accessories of judicial courts, police force,
+fire-brigades, customs and revenue service, post-offices, public works
+and financial department. The administration carried what is known as
+"paternalism" to all lengths. That is, it did all the catering and
+providing itself, and left little or nothing to private companies. Of
+course, everything had to be imported, for the little territory itself
+produced nothing. Whole villages and settlements with all the
+accessories of social life had to be built along the line of works. Over
+2,000 structures, including offices, hospitals, hotels, messes,
+kitchens, shops, storehouses, and living quarters, were constructed, and
+more than 1,500 buildings taken over from the French, which were made
+available by necessary repairs.
+
+Colonel Goethals gives us a brief insight into the work of the
+Commissary Department of the Panama Railroad:--
+
+      The Commissary Department of the Panama Railroad Company was
+      enlarged until it is now [1911] a great department store,
+      supplying to the employees whatever may be necessary for
+      their comfort and convenience. Manufacturing, cold-storage,
+      and laundry plants were established, and turn out each day
+      about 90 tons of ice, 14,000 loaves of bread, 2,400 rolls,
+      250 gallons of ice-cream, 1,000 pounds of roasted coffee,
+      and 7,500 pieces of laundry. Four or five refrigerator cars,
+      loaded with meats, vegetables, and such fruits as can be
+      obtained, are sent out on the night freight to distant
+      points, and every morning a supply train of about 16 cars,
+      of which number six to eight are refrigerator cars, leaves
+      Cristobal at 4.30 to distribute foodstuffs and laundry to
+      the local commissaries along the line, where the employees
+      make their purchases, and where the hotels, messes, and
+      kitchens secure their supplies for the day.
+
+A graphic and representative picture of one of the construction
+settlements along the canal was given by the correspondent of _The
+Times_ at Panama.[13] He chose "Emperador," or "Empire," as the typical
+village. This is the headquarters of the central division of the
+construction work, and is situated about halfway along the great
+Culebra Cut. The correspondent writes:--
+
+      According to the census just completed, it contains 7,152
+      inhabitants, of whom 1,757 are whites, 3,701 negroes, 1,569
+      mestizos, 101 Chinese, and 24 East Indians. North of the
+      main street is a section called the "native town,"
+      apparently because it is inhabited by natives of other
+      countries than Panama, but really because here was situated
+      the native hamlet alongside which the French built their
+      construction camp in 1881. It is occupied by the part of the
+      population not employed by the government, and here are the
+      American saloons, the Spanish _cantinas_ and restaurants,
+      Chinese shops, East Indian fancy-work shops, and negro
+      tailoring and shoemaking places. On the south side of the
+      American settlement are the labour "camps," consisting of
+      barracks and eating-places. All the buildings are of wood,
+      constructed to last not over ten years; and none are large,
+      excepting the administration buildings and the club-house.
+      On three sides of the village are the huts of the labourers
+      who prefer the half-jungle life with its freedom; and here,
+      with discomfort and squalor and liberty, is the only
+      picturesque part of the settlement; all else is orderly, of
+      one pattern, almost smug. On the fourth side the village is
+      limited by the canal itself.
+
+      In the centre of the village is the commissariat, where the
+      canal and railroad workers buy their food and clothing. Here
+      congregate every morning the housewives of the village to do
+      their shopping, and at night, after work, the men, to
+      complete the family purchases. There is a similar store in
+      each canal village--eighteen in all. The commissariat does
+      away with the middleman's profit and buys in such large
+      quantities, and for cash, that it obtains the lowest prices,
+      while the many ways in which the materials purchased can be
+      used prevent waste. If there is cause for complaint on the
+      part of any class in the canal workers, that class is the
+      bachelors, for they are discriminated against in the matter
+      of quarters. But good provision is made for their meals, at
+      the so-called "hotels" for the white employees, and the
+      messes and kitchens for Spanish and negro labourers.
+
+Another remarkable evidence of how the canal administration stands _in
+loco parentis_ to all its work-people is that it has provided twenty-six
+churches and maintains fifteen ministers of religion. This is
+interesting because it shows how the state, when conducted on
+common-sense principles, may provide for religious instruction without
+causing any offence or inflicting any injustice. The administration
+treated all denominations with perfect impartiality. Of the fifteen
+ministers it supported, four were Episcopalian, four Baptist, three
+Roman Catholic, one Wesleyan, and one Presbyterian. But this was not the
+entire provision of churches and chapels on the isthmus. There were
+fourteen other churches not under direct government control, but
+assisted by the government in many ways. Of the forty in all, thirteen
+were Episcopalian, seven Baptist, seven Roman Catholic, two Wesleyan,
+and eight undenominational.
+
+As I have pointed out, the moral sanitation of the isthmus was cared for
+as well as the physical. For example, in September 1905, a man living in
+the canal zone was charged with running a roulette table. He pleaded
+that he owned a concession from the Republic of Panama. That excuse was
+not allowed, and he was sentenced to fine and imprisonment for
+transgressing one of the canal zone laws. Gambling, which had always
+been one of the Panamanian vices, was quite forbidden within the zone.
+Remembering the descriptions given of the state of morals at the isthmus
+during the French occupation, one cannot help being struck with the
+contrast afforded by the American regime. Criticisms of the canal
+scheme, of climatic and social conditions in the zone, appeared in the
+early days from time to time. Mr. Johnson quotes an example which is so
+amusing as to bear repetition:--
+
+      A land as feverish to the imagination as to the body is
+      Panama. It is a land making a fitting environment to the
+      deeds of conspiracy, piracy, loot, cruelty, and blood that
+      have principally made its history for centuries. This
+      gloomy, God-forsaken isthmus is a nightmare region. One
+      descriptive writer has truly said of it that it is a land
+      where the flowers have no odour, the birds no song; where
+      the men are without honour and the women without virtue. He
+      is not far wrong. The birds, brilliant as is their plumage,
+      have no musical notes. The dense forests teem with
+      bright-hued parrots, parroquets, and other birds, which
+      squeak and scream but do not sing. There are beautiful
+      orchids to be found in the swamps and jungles--fair to look
+      upon, but they have no odour. The oranges have green skins
+      instead of golden, the plantains must be fried to make them
+      fit to eat, the reptiles and insects are often venomous, and
+      myriads of parasites are ever ready to invade the human body
+      and bring disease and death. In the atmosphere itself is
+      something suggestive of the days of the old pirates and
+      their fiendish cruelties and orgies. There is no life in the
+      air; it is depressing, damp, miasmatic, and intensely hot.
+      For a great part of the year thunder-showers succeed each
+      other all day long and half the night, with sheet lightning
+      all around the horizon after dark. There is practically no
+      twilight, day passing almost instantly into night. It is no
+      wonder that this uncanny land has made its residents
+      degenerate into plotters, revolutionists, murderers, and
+      thieves. Its aspect is one of darkness, treachery, and
+      curse.
+
+President Roosevelt had something to say on these recurring criticisms
+in a message to Congress in January 1906. He wrote:--
+
+      From time to time various publications have been made, and
+      from time to time in the future various similar
+      publications, doubtless, will be made, purporting to give an
+      account of jobbing or immorality or inefficiency or misery
+      as obtaining on the isthmus. I have carefully examined into
+      each of these accusations which seemed worthy of attention.
+      In every instance the accusations have proved to be without
+      foundation in any shape or form. They spring from several
+      sources. Sometimes they take the shape of statements by
+      irresponsible investigators of a sensational habit of mind,
+      incapable of observing or repeating with accuracy what they
+      see, and desirous of obtaining notoriety by widespread
+      slander. More often they originate with or are given
+      currency by individuals with a personal grievance. The
+      sensation mongers, both those who stay at home and those who
+      visit the isthmus, may ground their accusations on false
+      statements by some engineer who, having applied for service
+      on the commission and been refused such service, now
+      endeavours to discredit his successful competitors, or by
+      some lessee or owner of real estate who has sought action or
+      inaction by the commission to increase the value of his
+      lots, and is bitter because the commission cannot be used
+      for such purposes, or on the tales of disappointed bidders
+      for contracts, or of office-holders who have proved
+      incompetent, or who have been suspected of corruption and
+      dismissed, or who have been overcome by panic and have fled
+      from the isthmus. Every specific charge relating to jobbery,
+      to immorality, or to inefficiency, from whatever source it
+      has come, has been immediately investigated, and in no
+      single instance have the statements of these sensation
+      mongers and the interested complainants behind them proved
+      true. The only discredit adhering to these false accusations
+      is to those who originate and give them currency, and who,
+      to the extent of their abilities, thereby hamper and
+      obstruct the completion of the great work in which both the
+      honour and the interest of America are so deeply involved.
+      It matters not whether those guilty of these false
+      accusations utter them in mere wanton recklessness and
+      folly, or in a spirit of sinister malice to gratify some
+      personal or political grudge.
+
+The soundness and purity of the canal zone administration has long ago
+been established beyond all question and cavil. The Americans have given
+an example to the world how a great work of this kind, involving the
+gathering together of a large multitude of workers from many races and
+nations, may be carried on without those moral and physical evils which
+have marked too many enterprises of the kind. In fact, the way in which
+the Americans have arranged and controlled the life of the canal zone
+stands quite as much to their credit as the skill and determination they
+have shown in the actual construction of the canal.
+
+But we have said nothing yet about the workers themselves on the canal.
+The Americans, on taking over the work from the French, found about 700
+West Indian negroes engaged in excavating the Culebra Cut. From this
+contingent as a nucleus a much larger army of workers was built up. The
+numbers rapidly grew. In December 1905 there were 5,000 employees; in
+1906, 24,000; in 1908, 31,000; the highest figure being reached in 1910,
+when there were 50,000 workers available for duty. Of the employees,
+speaking roughly, one-seventh have been white Americans, all, of course,
+skilled workers, one-seventh European labourers, and five-sevenths West
+Indian negroes. The British West Indies, especially Barbados, have
+continued to be the main source of labour supply. But the West Indian at
+the outset left a great deal to be desired in his work and efficiency.
+In 1905 complaints were made on the subject by the chairman of the
+canal commission to the President of the United States. In 1906 the
+chief engineer reported:--
+
+      The criticisms of the character of the common labour which
+      were made in last year's report still hold good. Our labour
+      consists almost entirely of West Indian negroes, and their
+      efficiency is very low, although we have a few of this class
+      who are fairly steady workers--by this it is meant that they
+      average to work all the time, but the great body of them do
+      not. The majority work just long enough to get money to
+      supply their actual bodily necessities, with the result
+      that, while we are quartering and caring for twenty odd
+      thousand of these people, our daily effective force is many
+      thousands less. Preliminary steps have been taken toward
+      securing a large number of Spanish labourers direct from the
+      north-west provinces of Spain, also for the securing of a
+      trial shipment of Cantonese Chinese, as it is believed that
+      the introduction of labourers of different nationalities
+      will be beneficial.
+
+The Chinese project was frustrated through the influence of trade unions
+in the United States, backed up by representations from the Pacific
+coast states. The West Indian labourer quickly began to earn a better
+report. It was found that his inefficiency was largely due to
+insufficient and improper food. He speedily improved when turned on to
+the generous and nourishing diet provided in the zone. In order to be
+certain that he had the full advantage of the provided meals, the price
+of them was very wisely deducted from his wages. Moreover, the American
+foremen soon began to learn that the men from Barbados, Trinidad, and
+elsewhere were British subjects and could not be treated as though they
+were southern state "coons." With a better understanding and more
+sympathetic treatment of the black employees, much more work was got out
+of them, and a good deal of the credit for the building of the Panama
+Canal is due to the 30,000 workers[14] who have been recruited mainly
+from the British islands in the West Indies.
+
+But the southern European contingent has been found to be excellent
+material. It was thought that the work-people of Spain, Italy, and
+Greece would take more easily to navvying work in the tropics than
+people from more northerly regions of the temperate zone. The results
+were, on the whole, satisfactory. The Greeks were, it is true, not equal
+to the Italians or the Spaniards, and very few of them were recruited
+for canal work. The Italians, also, though several thousands of them
+were engaged, proved rather hard to handle. They were bitten with
+collectivist ideas, and inclined to act on trade union lines. The
+Spaniard was, in every way, the most satisfactory workman introduced
+from Europe. He was taken in an unsophisticated state directly from his
+village in Galicia or Castile. He was tractable and orderly, and quick
+and ready to learn. Hard labour under the tropical sun and in the hot
+damp of the isthmus seemed to have no exhausting or enervating influence
+whatever upon him. The Spaniard shows no sign of settling down on the
+isthmus. He either goes home with his savings or on to railway work in
+Brazil. Some 9,000 have been directly recruited, but this number does
+not include all the Spanish labourers whose muscle has helped to the
+completion of this great work.
+
+A word or two should be said about the wages earned on the canal. The
+West Indian recruit was offered 6-�d. an hour for common labour and an
+eight-hour day, in addition to free quarters, medical care, and
+repatriation. Meals were supplied to him at the rate of 1s. 2-�d. per
+day. Later the pay of all not under contract was reduced to 5d. per
+hour, and the price of the three meals to 1s. 1-�d. Negro artisans,
+such as carpenters, masons, blacksmiths and others, of whom there were
+some 5,000 employed in connection with the canal works, received pay
+varying from 8d. to 22d. per hour. There were in 1912 4,400 negro
+artisans receiving 8d. an hour or more, while 400 received 1s. an hour,
+and the work was constant.
+
+The European labourer, in addition to free quarters, received $1.60 per
+eight-hour day, and more for overtime work. He was charged 40 cents a
+day for his three meals, which left him a minimum net wage per day of
+$1.20, or a little less than thirty shillings a week. Many, however,
+received more, and a good number of Spanish work-people must have gone
+home with a nice little nest-egg in their pockets.
+
+The skilled labour was done almost entirely by United States employees,
+though the "gold roll," as it was called, included at first some
+Europeans. The pay was excellent, the social life, with its gymnasia,
+billiard-rooms, concerts and so forth, attractive, and the commissariat,
+with its three good meals at a fixed charge, quite up to the standard of
+a good hotel. The billets on the isthmus were therefore popular, and
+about 7,000 Americans on an average have been in employment there.
+
+As I have pointed out, the responsibility for the construction of the
+canal was vested in the President of the United States, who acted
+through an executive commission resident in the canal zone. The work was
+organized in a large number of departments, each responsible for a big
+task. These were excavation and dredging; locks and dams; machinery and
+buildings (also responsible for paving and other improvements in Colon
+and Panama); labour, subsistence, and quarters; material and supplies;
+sanitation (responsible also for hygiene in Panama and Colon, which
+towns are technically outside the zone); civil administration; the
+Panama railroad. There were also some smaller divisions, such as
+accounts and an office of a purchasing officer in Washington, nearly all
+the supplies for the canal being obtained in the United States. It
+should be added that the Republic of Panama is responsible for the
+policing of the two big towns, but the department of civil
+administration of the Panama Canal Commission employed 200 police, 88 of
+which were native West Indians.
+
+This busy hive of labour will soon present a very different aspect. With
+the approach of the canal to completion the numbers of the workmen will
+gradually be reduced. A drastic process of sifting and selection will be
+carried out among the Americans employed on the works. Only about 2,500
+men will be necessary to operate the canal, when it is in full working
+order. These will be established at the locks and other important
+points. In fact, the canal authorities recommend a complete depopulation
+of the isthmus except, of course, the terminal cities and the operating
+stations on the canal. Otherwise, they think, a large expense for
+sanitation will be necessary which might thus be avoided. But the
+question of defence must not be forgotten. It will certainly be found
+advisable to maintain a pretty large American garrison at the isthmus,
+and to the population we have mentioned perhaps even 8,000 American
+troops must be added. The busy scenes still prevailing in the canal zone
+will now soon have disappeared like a dream, and the future traveller
+who looks from the ship-rail over the shining waters of Gatun Lake or
+beyond to the vast and silent tropical forest will have difficulty in
+reconstructing the spectacle which the narrow lands presented during the
+ten strenuous years of construction.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[13] _The Times_, September 26, 1912.
+
+[14] This is the figure of official recruiting. Very many more came to
+the isthmus of their own accord.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE PROBLEM OF CONSTRUCTION.
+
+
+We may now begin to consider the canal itself, the problems which its
+designers had to solve, the methods of construction, and the features of
+the completed work. As we have seen, the first two and a half years were
+a time mainly of preparation for the titanic enterprise of excavation
+and construction. In fact, it might have been better if the work during
+that period had been entirely restricted to scavenging, sewering, and so
+forth. The labourers were hurried a little too fast to the isthmus,
+before the isthmus was properly cleaned up to receive them. Hence the
+yellow fever panic and difficulties which might have been avoided. The
+people of the United States were responsible for this over-haste at the
+start. The great thing, they cried, is to "make the dirt fly." They
+wanted evidence that the steam-navvies were actually at work in the bed
+of the canal and that the task was well in hand. In fact, the public at
+home took an interest in the canal operations which was sometimes
+embarrassing. Some newspaper man at the isthmus would report an accident
+or unforeseen difficulty, probably with a good deal of exaggeration, an
+anxious excitement sprang up among the people, and special commissions
+had to go to the isthmus in order to investigate the true state of
+affairs and if possible restore confidence at home.
+
+As the reader knows, the Americans had no clean slate on which to write
+at Panama. They succeeded two French companies which had been at work
+for twenty years. True, the New Panama Canal Company which succeeded the
+Lesseps Company had not greatly perspired over the undertaking. It had
+kept a certain amount of work going, chiefly in order to maintain its
+concession. All the same, the French had ploughed a pretty deep furrow
+between Colon and Panama, and much of the work they had done was
+fortunately available whichever type of canal should be adopted,
+high-level or tide-level. They had carried out a good deal of dredging
+for the channel through the tidal flats at either end of the canal, and
+they had made a very visible impression on the "continental divide" at
+what is known as the Culebra Cut. Altogether the French companies
+excavated 81,548,000 cubic yards. The Americans inherited from their
+predecessors a large amount of machinery and tools, in addition to a
+great deal of work well done. Much of the machinery, even of the Lesseps
+Company, was found to be in serviceable condition, and operations could
+be continued with it, though the extent and efficiency of the plant was,
+of course, as time went on, greatly increased.
+
+The main problem which the American engineers had to solve was how to
+deal with the Chagres River. On the tide-level scheme, that violent and
+capricious stream, which in the rainy season was navigable for half its
+length of 100 miles, would have had to be diverted into another channel
+or ponded back in its upper waters by a high dam at Gamboa, some of the
+overflow of which might perhaps have been permitted to pass into the
+canal. But, as we have seen, the Chagres would have to be utilized and
+at the same time controlled if the high-level plan was adopted. A river
+which is capable of rising 35-� feet in twenty-four hours needed a
+great deal of regulation and discipline before it could be used as the
+feeder of the upper reaches of a lock canal. The only way to do this was
+to diffuse its waters over a vast artificial lake which it would keep
+full, but in which its floods and current would be effectually tamed.
+This could only be done by a huge dam intercepting the course of the
+river in its lower reaches, at some point before it entered the
+Caribbean Sea. When the New Panama Canal Company changed its plans and
+decided for an elevated waterway, it was intended to construct such a
+barrier at Bohio, a point much higher up stream than Gatun, the site
+ultimately chosen by the American engineers. The Isthmian Canal
+Commission which reported in 1901, also arranged for a dam at Bohio to
+control the Chagres River. On this plan the river would have been
+intercepted much higher up, and the artificial lake would have been much
+smaller. But when the Americans finally decided on the high-level type
+in 1906, the site of the proposed dam was shifted from Bohio to Gatun,
+nearer the river's mouth, which involved the inundation of a much vaster
+area of country. This position for the dam was first suggested by a
+French engineer, Godin de L�pinay, who, in a paper read before the
+congress of engineers in Paris in 1879, advocated a lock canal with a
+dam controlling the Chagres River at Gatun. This, then, was the biggest
+problem peculiar to the high-level scheme, for the cutting through the
+"continental divide," though an even more titanic labour, would have had
+to be accomplished whatever type of canal had been adopted.
+
+No feature of the construction has been subject to so much criticism and
+anxious solicitude as this Gatun dyke. On it depends the maintenance of
+Gatun Lake and the supply of water for the canal. If the dam fails,
+everything fails. The real cause of the difficulty was the foundation
+upon which this big artificial hill had to be laid. The great dam at
+Assouan in Egypt is based upon the eternal granite, upon which masonry
+of natural stone is built. It is, therefore, part and parcel of the
+solid framework of our planet, and will probably last as long. The Gatun
+dam is, however, founded upon the alluvial deposits of the Chagres
+River. This alluvium consists of gravel firmly cemented with mud and
+clay, and is unquestionably water-tight. These deposits go down in
+places to a depth of 280 feet before the solid rock is reached. The dam
+had, therefore, to be laid down on the top of them.
+
+Now this foundation, though water-tight, is soft. It would have been
+impossible to place upon it a massive structure of rock or concrete. The
+deposits would have given way under its weight. The only plan was to
+dump down in the valley an earthen dam, making it very broad so as to
+distribute the weight over as large a space as possible of the alluvium
+underneath. A steep slope would have been impossible, for the weight of
+the central portion would have pushed the clay and gravel outwards, and
+the whole mass would have subsided. The earth-dam was to block the
+valley through which the Chagres had hitherto flowed uninterruptedly to
+the sea. This valley is a mile and a half wide, and this is, therefore,
+the length of the dam. Its base is 2,100 feet wide. It is 398 feet
+through at the surface of the water, 100 feet wide at the top, and was
+to be 115 feet above sea-level. The last figure has, it seems, been
+brought down to 104 feet, which will be an advantage, as the weight upon
+the foundations will be proportionately less.
+
+In the middle of the dam the level of the lake is controlled by a
+channel called the "spillway," with walls and floor of concrete, by
+which the surplus waters will be sluiced off into the old bed of the
+Chagres River and so passed on to the sea. The entrance to this channel
+is closed with falling gates or doors. This safety-valve will no doubt
+be capable of dealing with the biggest and quickest rise of the
+lake-level that is ever likely to take place. It can pass off 137,000
+cubic feet of water a second, the water issuing at a speed of 35 feet a
+second. But, to complete the security, the big culverts of the mighty
+Gatun locks close by can be turned open, and 170,000 cubic feet a second
+carried off there. Indeed, as regards the Gatun Lake the anxiety, if
+there be any, is that the water-supply will be insufficient rather than
+dangerously excessive.
+
+The level of the lake is to be kept at 85 feet above mean
+sea-level--that is, the dam, or a considerable length of it, will be
+exposed to what is called a "head" of water of 85 feet. The lake itself
+will be 164 square miles in extent. There have been many rational
+anxieties on the sufficiency of the dam. A certain American senator,
+however, who visited the works during the construction, worried himself
+rather unnecessarily on this last figure. Colonel Goethals was showing a
+congressional delegation round the works, and in the course of the
+survey they came to the dam with the broad expanse of water behind it.
+"Colonel," he said, "how is it that so small a body of earth as the
+Gatun dam can hold in check such a tremendous body of water as the Gatun
+Lake?" The chief engineer explained that the pressure of a body of water
+is determined by its height and not by its volume. The inquirer seems
+not to have been satisfied with the statement of this hydrostatic law.
+Senator Knox, afterwards Secretary of State, then came to his aid.
+"Senator," he said, "if your theory were true, how could the dykes of
+Holland hold in check the Atlantic Ocean?" This was a clincher, and the
+sceptic joined in the laugh at his own expense.
+
+All the same, the Gatun dam has two extremely responsible and heavy
+duties to perform. It has to withstand the horizontal thrust of a head
+of 85 feet of water so as not to be carried bodily down the Chagres bed
+into the Atlantic. And it has to block up the valley so effectually that
+the water of the lake shall not percolate through at any point. There is
+every reason to believe that, in spite of all alarums and excursions
+during its construction, it will fulfil both these requirements. Its
+composition and construction may be briefly described. Two bulwarks of
+big rocky fragments were built up on either outer line or "toe" of the
+structure. This rough material was obtained from the lock site, or
+Mindi, or the Culebra Cut twenty-six miles away. The area between these
+piles is filled with silt, and water pumped into it by hydraulic dredges
+from the Chagres valley. The surplus water is carried off through pipes.
+The sodden silt remains and is packed down and consolidated by
+atmospheric pressure. Such a "hydraulic fill" is impervious to water,
+the thrust or "head" of which is very quickly lost in the minute
+interstices or pores of the material. It will be seen how such a
+structure differs from a dam of concrete or stone masonry. It is
+porous, while at the same time impervious to water.
+
+The future traveller through the Panama Canal will probably never guess
+the immensity of the labour that has gone to the building of the Gatun
+dam. Already, indeed, it looks so much like a part of the natural
+landscape that it might well escape special observation altogether. Yet
+nothing less than 21,145,931 cubic yards of material were laid
+down--enough to make a wall of earth three feet high and three feet
+thick reaching nearly halfway round the world. The spillway itself
+contains 225,485 cubic yards of concrete.
+
+It will be noticed that in the dam proper there is no core of masonry or
+puddled chalk or clay whatever. It was at one time intended that there
+should be. I have alluded to the alarmist rumours that were raised again
+and again at Panama and created much uneasiness in the United States.
+These were especially concerned with the great dam, and that word must
+have frequently been on the lips of the engineers in more than one
+significance. Every possible test was applied to determine the exact
+character of the underlying materials, to ascertain whether there was
+any connection between the swamp areas to the north and south through
+the deposits in the gorges which the earthwork was to bridge, to prove
+the ability of the material below to support the structure, and to find
+out whether suitable material for the dam could be found in its
+neighbourhood. "As the result of all these investigations," wrote
+Colonel Goethals,[15] "it may be briefly stated that the underlying
+material is impervious to water; that it possesses ample strength to
+uphold the structure that will be placed upon it, and, the subsoil being
+impervious, that there is no connection between the swamps above and the
+sea below."
+
+In order to make assurance doubly sure, Colonel Goethals planned the dam
+so as to include triple interlocking steel sheet-piling across the
+valley, driven down to bedrock, and decided to carry the dam to a height
+of 135 feet. Even so, the news of a collapse was wired home, and this so
+impressed President Roosevelt that he sent a commission of engineers to
+the isthmus accompanied by President-elect Taft. The investigations had
+a different result from what had been expected. Instead of being
+dissatisfied with the size and strength of the dam, the engineers
+declared that it was being built too high and that the steel piling was
+unnecessary. It must be admitted, therefore, that the efficiency of the
+Gatun dam has been subjected to the most rigorous tests, and that no
+further anxiety on the subject need be felt.
+
+With the blocking of the Chagres outlet at Gatun, the waters of the lake
+have gradually accumulated until they cover an area of 164 square miles.
+Not only the Chagres itself but its tributaries, the Trinidad and
+others, are thus ponded back. The reservoir extends up a number of long
+and winding arms, and is thus very irregular in shape. The bed of the
+channel itself was cleared of brushwood and trees, but the rest of the
+valley was thickly overgrown. As the waters rose, therefore, and
+gradually submerged this primeval forest, a rather dismal spectacle was
+presented of decay and destruction. The lake has, indeed, completely
+altered the aspect of the country. Villages and even small towns, whose
+names had come down from the days of the old navigators, lie buried for
+ever beneath the waters of Lake Gatun. Even now the great expanse of
+water with its wooded islands looks like a natural feature of the
+landscape rather than yesterday's creation of engineering enterprise.
+The vessels in transit will, of course, keep to the dredged and buoyed
+channel, but the channel will itself be invisible, and the traveller,
+after tossing on the restless Caribbean Sea, will enjoy the full
+sensation of a cruise over a landlocked fjord or lake. Lake Gatun is
+indeed twice the size of Lago Maggiore and four-fifths the size of Lake
+Geneva. The journey from Gatun to Bas Obispo, where the waterway again
+assumes the appearance of a canal and enters the Culebra gorge, is 22
+miles, but the same 85-foot level is maintained right to the locks at
+Pedro Miguel, where the waters of Lake Gatun are again retained by a dam
+connecting the walls of the lock with a hill to the west. The rest of
+the lake is held in by the natural configuration of the country, the
+only outlets being at the Gatun spillway and, of course, through the
+locks.
+
+But we must not overlook the main purpose of the lake, which is to
+supply the water for the canal and the lockages. For this purpose
+everything, of course, depends on the rainfall at the isthmus, and the
+question arises whether this may be relied upon to replenish the canal
+with the needful water-supply. Colonel Goethals estimates that in an
+average dry season 58 "lockages," or transits of the canal, per day
+would be possible, which is a greater number than the twenty-four hours
+of the day would permit, allowing vessels to follow each other at
+intervals of one hour. Happily, a resource is still left if the supply
+of water should show signs of proving insufficient. At Alhajuela, on the
+Chagres River, some nine or ten miles above Obispo, there is an
+excellent site for a dam, forming a reservoir where some of the surplus
+water of the rainy season could be stored and supplied to the canal as
+required in the dry months. Details of the construction of such a dam
+were prepared in connection with a former canal-scheme, and would be
+available in case of need.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[15] _The National Geographic Magazine_, February 1911.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE CULEBRA CUT.
+
+
+The most famous section of work on the canal has been that at the
+vertebra or "continental divide," which runs along the isthmus on the
+Pacific side and had to be pierced through by any canal running from
+Colon to Panama. This tremendous work, known as the "Culebra Cut," from
+the name of one of the hills, extends for nine miles from Bas Obispo to
+Pedro Miguel. Mr. Bryce has truly said, referring to this section, that
+"never before on our planet have so much labour, so much scientific
+knowledge, and so much executive skill been concentrated on a work
+designed to bring the nations nearer to one another and serve the
+interests of all mankind."[16] The bottom of the canal in the cut, as in
+the channel through Lake Gatun, is 40 feet above sea-level. The highest
+elevation of the original surface of the ground above the centre line of
+the canal was 312 feet above sea-level, so that the total excavation
+along this saddle was 312 minus 40, or 272 feet. This was, however, not
+actually the highest point of excavation. Gold Hill, close to the canal
+line, is 534 feet above sea-level, and from the top of this hill a new
+and steeper slope had to be made. The surface of the water is 85 feet
+above sea-level, and so is 227 feet below the original saddle at its
+highest elevation. We have already noticed that a tide-level canal would
+have involved an excavation 85 feet deeper, and the width of the cutting
+would have had to be immensely wider. The slides and breaks which have
+rendered the American excavation so much more difficult lead one to
+suppose that the tide-level cutting might have proved impracticable.
+
+All the work at Culebra performed by the French was available for their
+successors. The French companies accounted for 18,646,000 cubic yards of
+material on this section. They had already cut down 152 feet below the
+original surface at its highest elevation, and the cliff they had cut
+in the face of Gold Hill was 374 feet in vertical height. It is well to
+mention such figures, as some people imagine that the French wasted all
+their time and resources at Panama. It may be added that the bottom
+width of the channel adopted by the French engineers was 74 feet,
+whereas that of the American canal will be 300 feet.
+
+Many descriptions have been given by visitors of the spectacle presented
+in this long and deep gash through the mountains during the progress of
+the excavations. From these and the numerous photographs taken at that
+stage the traveller will be able to reconstruct the scene--the two
+hundred miles of railroad construction track, laid down tier above tier
+at different levels; the thousands of men busily at work; the roar and
+smoke of the dynamite tearing the rock into fragments; the mighty
+steam-shovels like great dragons burying their iron teeth in the surface
+of the bank, engulfing a huge mouthful, then swinging round and belching
+it all into the dirt trucks, to be carried off to the dumping-ground at
+Gatun near the Atlantic or Balboa at the Pacific end of the canal. At
+Culebra, Colonel Goethals made the "dirt fly" to the full satisfaction
+of public opinion in the United States. All sorts of devices and
+machinery were employed to hasten and economize the process. For
+example, there was the Ledgerwood Unloader. Railway trucks provided with
+flaps were used, these flaps making a single platform of the whole
+train. At the rear of the train was a plough which could be drawn by a
+wire rope attached to a drum carried on a special car in the fore part
+of the train. When the train arrived at the dumping-ground the drum was
+started, and the plough, advancing from the rear, swept the 320 cubic
+yards and rock from the sixteen cars in seven minutes. Then there was a
+"track-shifter," invented by an employee on the isthmus, which lifted
+and relaid the railway lines as the spoil-tracks had to be shifted. This
+powerful engine raised the track and ties clear of the ground and
+deposited them from three to nine feet sideways.
+
+The "spoil trains" were treated with all the respect which is accorded
+to the fastest mail trains of the day on an English main line. They
+followed one another from the cutting at intervals of three minutes, and
+any delay, of course, balked the mammoth steam-shovel of its gluttonous
+meal on the stones and rubble of the mountain-side. Any cause of delay
+was at once reported by telephone to the superintendent of
+transportation at Empire, and the obstruction was immediately dealt
+with. By this persistent concentration on the main object the dirt has
+been made to fly not only more speedily but more cheaply.
+
+One of the most serious causes of anxiety and difficulty along the canal
+line were the "slides" and "breaks" which kept occurring in the Culebra
+Cut. To use a condensed Americanism, the sides would not "stay put."
+Large masses of material would slide or move from the banks into the
+excavated area, closing off the drainage, upsetting the steam-shovels,
+and tearing up the tracks. A very unpleasant phenomenon was the lifting
+of the shovels in the bottom of the canal due to the bulgings of the
+earth there. It is not necessary to enter into the distinction between
+"slides" and "breaks," or into the learned disquisitions that have been
+written about them. It is sufficient for us to note that they added
+immensely to the amount of material which had to be got out of the
+Culebra gorge. Colonel Goethals tells us that of the 14,325,876 cubic
+yards removed during the year 1909, 884,530 cubic yards, or 6 per cent.,
+were due to slides; that in 1910 of 14,921,750 cubic yards removed,
+2,649,000, or 18 per cent., came from slides or breaks that had
+previously existed or that had developed during the year.
+
+It might have been imagined that these discouraging additions to the
+work would have seriously delayed progress on the canal and put forward
+the date of its completion. But able and economic organization triumphed
+over all these lets and hindrances. At the beginning of the American
+excavations the engineers estimated that 103 million cubic yards of
+"dirt" had still to be removed, and that this work would take nine years
+to accomplish. But that estimate of material proved to be greatly below
+the mark. Enlargements of the canal and the unforeseen collapses in the
+Culebra Cut brought up the total to 195 million cubic yards. It is a
+remarkable evidence of the efficiency and economy of the American
+organization that this immense task will have been completed in about
+six years of actual full-swing work.
+
+Some idea of the way in which Colonel Goethals made the dirt fly may be
+gathered from the fact that in the first five years of his directorship,
+down to April 1912, he removed 160 million cubic yards of material. "If
+all this material," writes Mr. Showalter, "could be placed in a solid
+shaft of the shape of the Washington Monument, with a base as large as
+an average city block, it would tower more than six miles skyward,
+overtopping the earth's loftiest mountain peak by more than a mile.
+Again, if it were to be loaded on to the big Lidgerwood dirt cars used
+on the canal, it would make a string of them reaching over two and a
+half times around the earth, and requiring a string of engines reaching
+from New York to Sac Francisco to move them." It is indeed a remarkable
+achievement that, while the amount of material to be removed was
+increased by about 90 per cent., the time of removal was cut down by 30
+per cent. Nor has the increase of the work added to the estimate of
+cost. The total cost of the completed canal was fixed in 1908 at 375
+million dollars. Yet, in spite of the increased excavations, enough of
+this sum, it is calculated, will be left over to build a new
+breakwater, and perhaps a big storage reservoir at Alhajuela on the
+upper reaches of the Chagres River. In the Culebra Cut, despite the
+landslides, the cost of excavation has actually been reduced by more
+than one-third.
+
+  [Illustration: Culebra Cut, from West Bank, showing Shovels at Work.]
+
+The pessimists have of course been busy with these landslides in the
+"Cut." They predicted that the canal along this section would always be
+exposed to danger from that source. But here, too, every precaution has
+been taken. The engineers have given a much lower slope to the sides of
+the canal, which is therefore wider at the top than had been originally
+planned. The slopes will also be sown with creeping grasses and other
+plants, which will bind down the surface soil. When the forty-five feet
+of water are in the canal, the bottom will be held down by the weight,
+and the bulgings no longer take place. Moreover, any earth that, in
+spite of all precautions, still manages to slide into the canal should
+be easily dealt with by the big 20-inch suction dredges, which can be
+brought up through the locks and set to work. So we need not trouble
+much about the stability of things along this nine-mile section through
+the Culebra Mountains.
+
+Here as elsewhere it is possible to give only a very general idea of the
+difficulties which were encountered and overcome in the course of
+construction. The drainage of the "Cut" during the work was in itself a
+heavy and important task. It was necessary to keep out the water of the
+surrounding country and to rid the excavated area of water collecting in
+it. A system of diversion channels, carrying off the Obispo River and
+its tributaries, effected the first object, and the second problem was
+solved by gravity drains and pumps. On the whole, this mighty trench
+through the isthmian hills is not only the biggest thing to the credit
+of a nation which delights in bigness, but the greatest achievement of
+its kind the world has ever seen.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[16] "South America," p. 26.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE LOCKS.
+
+
+The Panama Canal belongs to the "age of concrete." All other vast works
+of construction, such as the Pyramids of antiquity and the Assouan Dam
+of to-day, have been built of live natural rock. At Panama
+everything--locks, wharves, piers, breakwaters--has been constructed of
+concrete. The Americans have not only built these incomparable piles of
+masonry; they have manufactured the material out of which they are
+built. This circumstance makes the rapid completion of the canal all the
+more wonderful. Not less than four and a half million cubic yards of
+artificial stone have been produced for the built portions of the canal
+and its accessories. This amount of concrete, we are informed, would
+make an ordinary sidewalk nine feet wide by six inches thick reaching
+more than twice round the earth.
+
+The broken stone which is one of the ingredients of concrete was
+quarried and transported from Porto Bello--a name famous in the annals
+of West Indian romance--20 miles to the east of Colon; while the sand
+came mostly from Nombre de Dios, also a celebrated place 20 miles
+further to the east, the Atlantic terminal of the old paved
+trans-isthmian road along which the Spanish mule convoys brought the
+silver of the Incas from Panama. Millions of yards of stone came from
+Porto Bello. Hundreds of bargeloads of sand came from Nombre de Dios and
+from islands in the Atlantic and Pacific. Myriads of barrels of cement
+were shipped from the United States to Cristobal, an outskirt of Colon,
+thence carried by barges to Gatun or by railway to the Pedro Miguel and
+Miraflores lock sites. Dozens of mighty "mixers" were ready to receive
+these diverse materials. Each of these could accommodate ten tons of
+sand, cement, crushed stones, and water. This indigestible mixture the
+machine would toss and churn round for a minute or so in its interior
+and then belch it all out in the shape of unhardened artificial stone.
+
+The belief in concrete among the builders of the Panama Canal has been
+almost a superstition. They invented a sort of cement gun to shoot sand
+and water against the sides of the Culebra Cut, so as to form a coating
+of solid artificial rock, but the experiment rather deserved than
+achieved success. Of course all such structures as lighthouses were
+built wholly of concrete, and it is reported that even barges were
+constructed of this adaptable material. As regards concrete and its
+nature and behaviour nothing was taken for granted. Every means was
+taken of testing such important matters as the effect of sea-water on
+this material, the time it takes for these huge masses of artificial
+stone to settle, and many other questions on the answer to which the
+permanence and stability of the locks and the entire waterway would
+depend. The Panama Canal, writes Mr. Showalter, is "the greatest effort
+man ever has made, and perhaps ever will make, to simulate the processes
+of geologic ages, and do in days what Nature required unreckoned years
+to accomplish."
+
+These remarks about concrete naturally lead us to the subject of the
+Panama locks, the magnificent stairway at Gatun, the single-step locks
+at Pedro Miguel (or, as the worker quickly Anglicized it, Peter Magill),
+and the double-step flight at Miraflores. The most impressive of these
+is the colossal duplicated three-step flight at Gatun, up which the
+vessel in transit is lifted from the end of the sea-level
+seven-mile-long entrance channel through Limon Bay to Gatun up to the
+surface of Gatun Lake, 85 feet above the level of the sea. This giant
+staircase has been constructed in a cutting through the hill which
+retains at this end the waters of the artificial lake. A tremendous
+amount of excavation, upwards of 5,000,000 cubic yards, was necessary,
+and the locks, which are constructed entirely of concrete, contain about
+2,046,100 cubic yards of that material. The chambers of all the locks in
+the canal will have a usable length of 1,000 feet and a width of 110
+feet. These dimensions should prove large enough for the largest ships
+not only existing but likely to be constructed for many years to come.
+They satisfy the requirement of the Spooner Act that the canal shall be
+"of sufficient capacity and depth to afford convenient passage for
+vessels of the largest tonnage and greatest draft now in use, and such
+as may reasonably be expected." More than 95 per cent. of the ships now
+afloat are less than 600 feet in length, so that a good margin is
+allowed. We may be certain that the American government has given the
+closest attention to the question of the length and breadth of the
+lock-chambers, for the canal, we must remember, is primarily a military
+passage for the purpose of transferring, if need be, the entire American
+fleet from the Atlantic to the Pacific seaboard. The locks of the Kiel
+Canal, it may be added for purposes of comparison, have an available
+length of 492 feet and a width of 82 feet.
+
+The vessel, then, in order to gain the level of Gatun Lake from the
+Atlantic entrance, has to pass through a flight of three successive
+locks. The maximum lift is 32 feet, or about four feet higher than at
+any other locks now in use. All the locks along the Panama Canal are
+duplicated--that is, there are two parallel sets with a common
+centre-wall--so that two ships could be simultaneously put through both
+flights in the same or in opposite directions. This "double-tracking"
+is in itself one of the many precautions taken against accidents at the
+locks. There are no locks in the world where these precautions are so
+minute and numerous. It is all of course in the interests of the owners
+to inspire the maximum of confidence in maritime circles. Complete
+efficiency in the operation of the canal, absolute safety for the
+vessels and cargoes entrusted for ten or twelve hours to its keeping,
+are the elementary conditions of success. Each lock through which the
+vessel passes is equipped with two pairs of mitre gates--that is, double
+swinging doors--the biggest lock-gates in the world; but in all cases
+the uppermost locks have a second pair of gates, so that if some unruly
+vessel were to ram open one set of gates there would still be another
+set ready to receive it. But even this is not all. Heavy chains are
+stretched across the channel with the ends attached to hydraulic
+paying-out machinery. These chains and their attachments are capable of
+bringing to a dead stop a vessel of 10,000 tons moving at the rate of
+five miles an hour. And still the precautionary devices are not
+exhausted. Let us suppose that all these barriers were broken down,
+though such a disaster is almost beyond the bounds of things possible.
+At the head of each flight of locks there are provided great cantilever
+swing-bridges which can be thrown across the channel in case of
+accident. From these bridges a series of nickel-steel wicket girders
+could be let down. The lower ends of these girders would drop into a
+sort of sill at the bottom of the rushing waters. The girders would then
+act as small perpendicular runways, down which large steel sheets on
+rollers would be let down, gradually damming back the escaping waters.
+
+And lastly, in order to avoid all recourse to these emergency
+contrivances, it is ordained that no vessel shall enter any chamber of
+any locks under its own steam. Nearly all the accidents that happen in
+locks are due to the vessels being worked independently of the lock
+authorities when passing through. Captains may be as anxious as possible
+to avoid mistakes, but there is many a slip possible between an order
+and its fulfilment. So the lock operators are not going to be
+responsible for the safety of a vessel which is not entirely under their
+own control. None will be allowed to negotiate the locks under its own
+motive-power. A series of electric towing-stations will be set up on the
+side walls of the locks. When a vessel approaches it will be brought to
+a standstill outside the locks. Then four of these towing engines will
+be fastened to it by means of hawsers--two at the stem, in order to draw
+the vessel into the locks, and two at the stern, to check its speed and
+bring it to a standstill when necessary. And this control will of course
+be exercised all through its passage to the upper or lower levels. We
+should certainly not hear of any accidents in the lock-chambers of the
+Panama Canal.
+
+  [Illustration: Gatun Locks, looking South-West, showing North End of
+  the Locks.]
+
+It is expected that a vessel will be passed through the three locks at
+Gatun in about fifty minutes, though some delay may be caused in the
+approach. On the Atlantic side the water of the canal will be smooth,
+and the ship will be in some degree sheltered from the winds, so that
+there should be no difficulty in the approach from that direction.
+Coming from Lake Gatun to the locks the vessel may experience a little
+rough water, though there is seldom a great force of wind there, and the
+lake will be free from currents. As regards the Pacific side, the ocean
+there fully corresponds with its name. It is always calm, and not the
+slightest difficulty may be anticipated from either winds or waves or
+currents.
+
+Over thirty miles away at the southern extremity of the Culebra Cut the
+vessel in transit will be lowered from the high-level lake 30 feet down
+to the surface of another artificial lake much smaller in content, held
+at a surface-height of 55 feet above sea-level. These are the
+single-step duplicate locks known as the Pedro Miguel or "Peter Magill."
+The construction of these locks required 770,000 cubic yards of cement.
+On the west side of these locks is the other dam which, with the mighty
+Gatun dam at the other end, holds up the waters of Lake Gatun. This
+smaller dam is also of earth, and is about 1,400 feet long and 40 feet
+wide at the top. It is subjected to a maximum "head" of water of 40
+feet, but the average is from 25 to 30 feet. The length of the lake,
+which is known by the pretty name of "Miraflores," between the Peter
+Magill and the next set of locks, is about 2,000 yards, and the lake
+itself covers about 1,200 acres. Its waters are held up at 55 feet
+above sea-level by two dams at the Miraflores locks.
+
+These are the third and last set of locks for a ship proceeding from the
+Atlantic to the Pacific. They are in two steps, or, to use the more
+technical expression, "two in flight," and they drop the vessel from the
+Miraflores Lake at 55 feet elevation down to sea-level. It must be
+noticed, however, that the fluctuations in the tide of the Pacific end
+are about 20 feet, and that the height of the lake is given for mean
+tide. In other words low water during "spring" tides is 10 feet below
+the average sea-level. The maximum lift for these locks therefore will
+be 65 feet. There are two dams holding up the waters of the Miraflores
+Lake, one to the west of earth, and one to the east of concrete. The
+former is 2,300 feet long and 40 feet wide at the top. The average
+"head" to which it is subjected is 30 feet, the maximum 40. Its
+construction is similar to that at Gatun. The concrete dam is about 500
+feet long, and is provided with regulating works similar to and of the
+same dimensions as those at Gatun, the crest in this instance being 39
+feet above mean tide-level, with seven openings, allowing a discharge
+of 7,500 cubic feet per second. The locks themselves will require
+1,312,000 cubic feet of concrete. I should add that these dams at Pedro
+Miguel and Miraflores are, unlike their big brother at Gatun, founded
+upon the solid bedrock. There has, therefore, been no question as to
+their permanence and stability. Moreover, as will have been noticed, the
+pressure of water is only about a half of that at Gatun.
+
+The relaying of most of the old Panama railroad was proceeding _pari
+passu_ with the construction of the canal. Two sections of the old line,
+one from Colon to Mindi at the Atlantic end, the other from Corozal to
+Panama at the Pacific end, could be used for the new. All the rest had
+to be built. The greater portion of the old track was, indeed, submerged
+beneath the waters of Lake Gatun. The line is also being doubled
+throughout almost its entire length. It was originally intended to carry
+the line through the Culebra Cut along a berm 10 feet above the water
+surface, to be left for this purpose during the excavations of the
+channel; but the "slides" interfered with this project, and a new line
+to the east of the Cut was selected. The heavy embankments along the
+railway were among the most useful and convenient "dumps" for the
+material taken out of the Culebra cutting. As a great part of the
+railroad passes through the lake, culverts of reinforced concrete are
+provided to equalize the water on both sides of the embankments. South
+of Miraflores the new railway passes through a tunnel 800 feet long, and
+a striking feature of the canal is a steel bridge across the Chagres
+River near Gamboa, almost a quarter of a mile long. We need not dwell on
+the excavations of the tidal stretches of the canal on the Atlantic and
+Pacific ends or through Lake Gatun. A good deal of the French work was
+available at the tidal levels, but a vast amount of excavation had still
+to be done by steam-shovels as well as dredges, rocky elevations being
+found in both channels. Below the Miraflores locks a million and a half
+cubic yards of rock had to be removed. There will be some tidal current
+at the Pacific end, but as the sea-level section here will be 500 feet
+wide, the current will never run faster than about one foot per second.
+The sea is practically tideless at the Atlantic terminal, the variation
+being only 2.5 as a maximum, whereas at the Pacific it is 21.1.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE COMPLETED CANAL.
+
+
+We may now begin to consider the canal as a whole and in its completed
+state. From deep water in Limon Bay, 41-foot depth at mean tide, to deep
+water outside Panama, 45-foot depth at mean tide, is just about 50
+miles. The greater part of the canal is at high elevation, only 15 miles
+of it being at sea-level. We shall note the varying depths and widths of
+the channel when we take our imaginary journey along it. Here it is
+enough to say that the minimum width will be 300 feet, the minimum depth
+41 feet, the breadth and depth being, however, for the greater portion
+of its course, greater than these dimensions. Its highest point above
+sea-level, as the reader already knows, is 85 feet--that is, 85 feet at
+the surface of the water, and 40 feet at the canal bottom. The depth
+along this stretch is therefore 45 feet. The Panama Canal, though not
+so long as the Kiel and Suez Canals, is very much broader and deeper.
+Suez is 108 feet wide and 31 feet deep as _minima_; Kiel, 72 feet and
+29-� feet. The Manchester Ship Canal is 120 feet by 26 feet. In length
+Panama, with its 50 miles, comes third, Suez being 90, Kiel 61, and
+Manchester 35-� miles long.
+
+During the building of the canal the department of construction and
+engineering was arranged in three divisions--the Atlantic, embracing the
+engineering construction from deep water in the Caribbean Sea to include
+the Gatun locks and dam; the central division, extending from Gatun to
+Pedro Miguel; and the Pacific division, from Pedro Miguel to deep water
+in the Pacific Ocean. For the ordinary student, however, the channel
+divides naturally into four sections, the Atlantic level, the lake, the
+cutting, and the Pacific section (in two levels separated by locks).
+
+The invisible channel of the waterway begins at the mouth of Limon Bay,
+about eight miles from Gatun locks. Limon, also known as Colon or Navy
+Bay, is about three miles wide and three and a half miles long from
+north to south. It is shallow, from three to seven fathoms deep, and
+seems to be steadily growing shallower. This is not surprising, as it is
+fully exposed to the "northers," which blow with terrific force from the
+Caribbean, and no doubt carry into the bay a good deal of detritus from
+the bottom of the sea. The heavy rains of the isthmus must also scour
+the land perpetually down into the bay. On the east side of the bay is
+the flat Manzanillo Island, a mile long by three-quarters broad, on
+which stands the city of Colon. This town, which was once known as
+Aspinwall, owes its existence to the Panama Railway, of which it is the
+northern or Caribbean terminus. Its position on the railway gave it an
+advantage over the old town of Chagres, a little distance along the
+coast to the west, which, though once a flourishing port, has now fallen
+on evil days. Near Colon is Cristobal, the new Atlantic terminal of the
+canal.
+
+  [Illustration: Gatun Upper Lock, looking North from Lighthouse.]
+
+Without some protection the entrance to the canal would have been
+exposed to the extremely violent storms which occur in the Caribbean
+during the winter months. During these storms vessels cannot lie safely
+in Colon harbour, and could not safely enter or issue from the canal.
+So a breakwater two miles long has been run out from Toro point in an
+easterly direction, covering the extremity of the canal. A glance at the
+map will suggest a thought that this barrier will not provide sufficient
+protection, and that another breakwater will have to be run out from the
+eastern shore. Such a further protection will be provided if the need
+should arise.
+
+At this point then, west of Colon and at the mouth of Limon Bay, our
+vessel enters the buoyed submarine channel of the canal and speeds
+onwards along the first section of the waterway, 500 feet in
+bottom-width and 41 feet deep, towards the locks at Gatun. But the locks
+are not yet visible. It is not until the fifth mile--that is, at
+Mindi--that a bend of the canal opens that gigantic structure to view,
+and by that time the vessel has left the broad waters and is enclosed
+within banks. The experience which awaits the traveller who has looked
+forward with some excitement to see the world's greatest wonder of
+to-day has been vividly imagined by Mr. Bryce. Our late American
+Ambassador writes:--
+
+      The voyager of the future, in the ten or twelve hours of his
+      passage from ocean to ocean, will have much variety. The
+      level light of the fiery tropic dawn will fall on the houses
+      of Colon as he approaches it in the morning, when vessels
+      usually arrive. When his ship has mounted the majestic
+      staircase of the three Gatun locks from the Atlantic level,
+      he will glide slowly and softly along the waters of a broad
+      lake which gradually narrows toward its head--a lake
+      enclosed by rich forests of that velvety softness one sees
+      in the tropics, with vistas of forest-girt islets stretching
+      far off to right and left among the hills; a welcome change
+      from the restless Caribbean Sea which he has left. Then the
+      mountains will close in upon him, steep slopes of grass or
+      brushwood rising two hundred feet above him as he passes
+      through the great Cut. From the level of the Miguel lock he
+      will look southward down the broad vale that opens on the
+      ocean flooded with the light of the declining sun, and see
+      the rocky islets rising, between which in the twilight his
+      course will lie out into the vast Pacific. At Suez the
+      passage from sea to sea is through a dreary and monotonous
+      waste of shifting sand and barren clay. Here one is for a
+      few hours in the centre of a verdant continent, floating on
+      smooth waters, shut off from sight of the ocean behind and
+      the ocean before--a short sweet present of tranquillity
+      between a stormy past and a stormy future.
+
+The Gatun locks, each chamber of which is a sort of "canyon of cement,"
+will almost oppress the imagination with the sense of immensity. At the
+foot of the locks the vessel will surrender its own volition and entrust
+itself wholly to the canal operators. It will be attached to the
+electric apparatus ashore and gently towed into the lock-chambers. In
+less than an hour it should have climbed the three gigantic steps and be
+afloat on the surface of the lake, 85 feet above sea-level. The
+traveller might fail even to notice of himself the great dam which abuts
+on the locks to the west. He may be surprised to hear that the whole
+being of the canal depends upon that earthwork, and that with the
+Culebra Cut it absorbed the greater part of the labour and skill and
+solicitude of the canal-builders. The Gatun dam has indeed been so
+adopted and transfigured by Nature that it appears only a part, and not
+a very conspicuous part, of the landscape. Nor would our traveller,
+without previous information, guess the history of the great expanse of
+water which stretches to right and left up many a distant arm or loch
+and round many a picturesque island, and over which his vessel, once
+more resuming its own power and control, begins to advance. The buoys
+alone indicate that the channel, the true and well-wrought link between
+the two oceans, still holds its course through the bed of the lake. Mr.
+Bryce has pointed out what a pleasant interlude in a long ocean journey
+will be afforded by this placid glide of 22 miles over the inland lake
+from Gatun to Gamboa. The bottom widths through the lake are 1,000 feet
+for 16 miles, 800 feet for 4 miles, and 500 feet for about 3 miles.
+
+At Gamboa the vessel enters the eight-mile section of the Culebra Cut.
+Here again, though the traveller in future days will need no reminding
+of the enterprise represented by this tremendous trench driven through
+the backbone of the isthmus, he will have to imagine the busy scene
+during the days of construction which will then have disappeared. He
+must try to reproduce what was little less than a manufacturing town at
+Gorgona, just near the entrance to the Cut, where stood the machine
+shops, boiler shops, smith shops, car shops, pattern shops, where
+repairs of all kinds were made and machines of all sorts and sizes
+constructed. He should think of that model residential town to the west
+of the Cut where the chief engineer and his assistants lived, surrounded
+by the quarters of the men, each dwelling protected with its fine wire
+netting to exclude the mosquitoes, the whole settlement scrupulously
+clean and bright with well-kept lawns and flowerbeds. All this will have
+passed away with the crowds of workers who interrupted for a dozen years
+the stillness of the primeval forest. Nature and silence will in a large
+degree have resumed their sway, but the world will not forget the debt
+it owes to that conquering industrial army which divided the land here
+in order to unite the nations.
+
+Through the cutting the bottom width of the canal is 300 feet. Having
+accomplished the eight or nine mile passage through the deep gorge, the
+vessel reaches the end of the high-level section at the Pedro Miguel
+locks. Here she is gently lowered 30 feet down to the bosom of little
+Miraflores Lake, held at 55 feet above sea-level. The length of this
+subsection is about a mile and a half, and it ends at the Miraflores
+locks, where the ship is lowered by two steps to the level of the
+Pacific. Then follows the last stage of this eventful transit--the
+eight-mile tidal section along which the vessel glides between low
+swamps to her own element of deep sea-water beyond the new port of
+Balboa, west of Panama, whose wharves are being constructed from the
+waste material of the inland excavations. The new breakwater which runs
+out from Balboa to Naos Island suggests wind and storm. But eternal calm
+reigns along these shores, and the object of the breakwater is to
+protect the line of the canal, not from heavy seas, but from the
+silt-bearing currents from the east which set at right angles to the
+channel. Constant dredging was necessary to prevent the bed of the canal
+becoming filled with this sediment. The dyke has proved very effectual
+for this purpose.
+
+Such is the Panama Canal which has for so many centuries been the desire
+of the nations, and which is now one of the permanent geographical
+features of the globe. It is so well and truly constructed that nothing
+short of an earthquake could ever seriously damage it. The question
+naturally arises whether this ultimate danger needs to be seriously
+considered. Panama is rather suspiciously close to a region where
+geological conditions are not remarkable for stability. The earthquake
+at Kingston a few years ago was as destructive a calamity as those of
+Messina and San Francisco. Costa Rica, too, almost an isthmian country,
+enjoys a very bad reputation for this kind of friskiness. Panama,
+however, seems happily to lie outside the zone of such disturbances.
+Slight earthquake shocks have been felt, probably only the reflections
+of severer shocks elsewhere. But there is no record or tradition of a
+really serious convulsion. There is, indeed, one visible and reassuring
+evidence of the self-possession of the earth's surface in this region.
+To the east of the modern city of Panama is the site of old Panama, of
+which the lofty tower of the old cathedral--a pathetic and picturesque
+object--is still standing. This shows that there has been no serious
+earthquake here for the greater part of four centuries. Still, the
+danger--great or small--does exist, and it threatens a high-level canal,
+with its elaborate lock-machinery and masonry, far more than it would
+have affected a canal at sea-level. No very severe convulsion might be
+necessary to throw one of these locks out of gear, and the entire canal,
+therefore, out of operation for a considerable time. But against such
+perils there is no guarding, and every precaution having been taken
+against foreseeable and preventable dangers, all else must be left to
+the disposal of that Providence "which by his strength setteth fast the
+mountains," "who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not
+be removed for ever."
+
+  [Illustration: Gatun Upper Lock--West Chamber.]
+
+It seems incredible that the canal should ever be in danger of injury or
+destruction from the attack of any civilized Power, because all nations
+are apparently interested in its preservation. What, then, is the
+meaning of these slopes which are being prepared for forts and batteries
+at either end of the canal? "With the two great forts at the two ends
+of the canal," writes Mr. Showalter, "fitted with four 14-inch guns, six
+6-inch guns, and twelve 12-inch mortars, with twelve companies of coast
+artillery, one battery of field artillery, four regiments of infantry,
+and one squad of cavalry, there is not likely to arise a time when these
+fortifications, backed up by the American navy, will fail to command a
+proper and wholesome respect from other nations." Yet if the object were
+simply to maintain the neutrality of the canal, the best course would
+seem to have been to leave the canal entirely unfortified, as is the
+case at Suez, and trust to the moral influence of the great Powers and
+their common interest in keeping the canal free and open to the world's
+traffic. Obviously the idea of making the canal zone a big military camp
+and arsenal is not so much to "police" the passage as a great
+international waterway, but to defend it and the zone as a position of
+immense strategic importance to the United States. President Hayes, in a
+message to the Senate in 1880, spoke of the canal as "the great ocean
+thoroughfare between our Atlantic and Pacific ports, and _virtually a
+part of the coastline of the United States_." The words I have
+italicized seem to show that the United States regard the new passage
+rather as wholly proprietary, like those of Kiel and Corinth, than as
+international in status, like the Suez Canal.
+
+In the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty there is no specific reference to
+fortification. The only allusion to the defence of the canal occurs in
+the second subsection of the third clause: "The United States shall be
+at liberty to maintain such military police along the canal as may be
+necessary to protect it against lawlessness and disorder." The
+Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty is rather more specific in its provisions on
+this subject, though even that instrument seems scarcely to have
+contemplated an armament and garrison on the large and permanent scale
+intended at the isthmus.[17]
+
+England has, however, acquiesced in the proposed fortification. The
+decision is not likely to be challenged in any other quarter. The United
+States have built the canal with their own money and enterprise. They
+are more closely and immediately interested in the passage than any
+other Power, and so long as they fulfil their undertaking to afford
+equal treatment in tolls and other respects to the commerce of all
+nations, nobody is likely to protest against the presence of American
+men and guns at the isthmus.
+
+Indeed, there is some force in the plea that the complete neutralization
+of the canal would be inconsistent with American control and operation.
+In time of war the Americans would have had either to refrain from using
+the canal for their warships (an unthinkable proposition) or to permit
+their enemy or enemies to use it on equal terms. This would have meant a
+rather painful experience for the American engineers, managers, workmen,
+and others on the isthmus. They would have been obliged to put the
+enemy's vessels through the canal, and thus commit a sort of legalized
+treason against their own government by giving "aid and comfort" to the
+enemy. So it comes to this--that the canal will be neutral at all times
+except when the United States are themselves a belligerent. Then it will
+become part and parcel of the sovereign dominions of the great American
+Republic.
+
+But the United States will have to stand all the ulterior possibilities
+of this position. If they were at war the canal would be at once liable
+to attack. In fact it would invite attack as a very vulnerable point in
+their armour. It has been truly said that the canal zone will have all
+the disadvantages, without any of the advantages, of an island. It will
+be entirely dependent on imported supplies and isolated from the centre
+of American power. If the American fleet lost the command of the sea
+even for a short time, the enemy could land troops at any part of the
+isthmus, march them against any point of the extended canal line and
+inflict on the United States a wound in a very sensitive, if not a vital
+region. So that instead of simply doubling the efficiency of the
+existing American fleet, by enabling it to be transferred swiftly and
+bodily from the western to the eastern coast, it may rather add to the
+naval responsibilities of the States and compel a considerable increase
+in their sea-power. To Englishmen, however, this development of the
+power and resources of the United States ought to bring no feelings but
+those of pleasure and satisfaction. In view of the great secular
+struggle between East and West for supremacy in the Pacific, which some
+people think will fill the pages of future world history, anything that
+strengthens the position and prestige of Anglo-Saxondom as the main
+guardian of Western ideas and principles should be welcome to all the
+members of that race.
+
+It is estimated that the fortification of the canal will cost about
+$12,000,000. This added to the $375,000,000, the estimated cost of
+construction, will bring the entire bill up to the round and goodly sum
+of $400,000,000 or �80,000,000. This puts all other expenditure on
+artificial water-channels into the shade, as the Suez Canal cost only
+�19,000,000, the Manchester Ship Canal �15,000,000, and the Kiel Canal
+�8,000,000. As regards this expense and the possibilities of revenue
+returns, Colonel Goethals has written an interesting passage:--
+
+      Much has been said and predicted as to the commercial value
+      of the canal to the United States. In this connection it
+      must be remembered that the commercial shipping of this
+      country never required the canal. The trip of the _Oregon_
+      in 1898 settled the question of the advisability of
+      constructing an isthmian canal, and had the canal been built
+      at that time, thereby saving that trip around the Horn,
+      there is no question that it would have been agreed
+      generally that the canal, even at an expenditure of
+      $375,000,000, was worth while.
+
+      In whatever light the Panama Canal is viewed, it will have
+      paid for itself if in time of war or threatened war a
+      concentration of the fleet is effected without that long,
+      tedious, uncertain route followed by the _Oregon_.
+
+      It will practically double the efficiency of that fleet,
+      and, notwithstanding the fact that we are a peaceful nation,
+      our outlying possessions make the Panama Canal a military
+      necessity, and it must be so recognized. From this point of
+      view the debt should be charged to the account which
+      necessitated its construction, and whatever revenues are
+      derived from other sources are so much to the good. The
+      traffic that will utilize the canal depends upon the tolls
+      that will be charged, and the President has asked the
+      Congress for legislation which will enable the establishment
+      of rates.
+
+      There is another policy which, if adopted, will have a
+      material bearing on the revenues of the enterprise. Through
+      the Panama railroad a large expenditure of money has been
+      made for providing the present working forces with supplies
+      of all kinds. Though the railroad has been reimbursed for
+      this plant through fixed charges on sales, it should not be
+      abandoned, but utilized for furnishing shipping with its
+      needed supplies. Suitable coaling plants should be erected
+      for the sale of coal to vessels touching at or passing
+      through the canal. In addition, since oil is now used on a
+      number of ships plying in the Pacific, such fuel should also
+      be on hand for sale by the canal authorities.
+
+      The extensive machine shops now located at Gorgona must be
+      moved before the completion of the canal, and they should be
+      established in connection with a dry dock that will be
+      needed for commercial purposes, and utilized as a revenue
+      producer for the canal. This policy also needs
+      Congressional action.
+
+      With properly regulated tolls, and with facilities for fully
+      equipping, supplying, and repairing ships, the Panama route
+      would offer many advantages and bring to it a sufficiently
+      remunerative return to pay, not only the operating expenses,
+      but to gradually absorb the debt which the United States has
+      incurred by its construction.
+
+We shall return to the question of tolls in a later chapter.
+
+  [Illustration: Pedro Miguel Locks, from Hill on East Bank.]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[17] See _ante_, page 71.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+PANAMA AND THE ISTHMUS.
+
+
+It may be convenient to deal here with a few detached questions before
+inquiring into the commercial and maritime changes likely to be produced
+by the canal. The reader understands the position of the United States
+at the isthmus. They control a zone of territory ten miles wide running
+across from Panama to Colon. These two towns are, however, not included
+politically, though they are geographically, within the zone. This
+narrow strip of territory with its precious canal runs right through a
+foreign country in which the social and political conditions existing
+must be a matter of importance to the canal-owners. One cannot help
+wondering how long this state of things is likely to continue. Panama,
+the youngest of the South and Central American republics, is no better
+than the rest in its governmental principles. Indeed, the republic had
+scarcely got into being when it was threatened with a military
+revolution. A pompous and polysyllabic self-importance, coupled with a
+levantine standard of business and financial ethics, scarcely promises a
+long continuance of the present political relations with a great
+republic which is not likely to see its achievement at the isthmus in
+the smallest degree prejudiced or endangered.
+
+Some interesting little details of Panamanian manners have been
+reported. For example, Chinese immigration is forbidden by law, yet,
+strange to say, most of the retail trade of the isthmus is in Celestial
+hands. This is because the law against immigration gave the opportunity
+for the formation of a syndicate with the collusion of the authorities,
+by which Chinese were introduced at a rate of $200 entrance fee. The
+judicial standards which prevail in this little Bumbledom may be
+gathered from another story. The mate of a British ship was recently
+sentenced to twelve years' hard labour for manslaughter, because he was
+held responsible on no evidence whatever for the loss of a ship and the
+lives of several relatives of _those serving on the jury_.
+
+It is scarcely to be expected that a people for whom ideals and
+standards of this kind are good enough will take much trouble to develop
+their country. An efficient and responsible administration might make a
+good deal of these narrow lands between the two oceans, a territory of
+33,000 square miles, larger, that is, than Scotland or Ireland. It is
+perhaps as well that the construction of the canal has not made many
+Panamanian fortunes or produced any great boom in trade. Otherwise the
+withdrawal of the industrial army from the zone might have had the
+effect produced when the French canal works were shut down. A grievous
+famine desolated the whole country. This is not likely to happen again.
+The zone has been largely an independent and detached enclave, such as
+never existed during the French occupation, when the Panamanians became
+dependent for work and wage on the industrial invaders. The American
+canal employees have done very little shopping in Panama and Colon,
+because they could buy every necessity and luxury duty-free in the
+United States government stores. Some trade may be lost owing to the
+departure of the workers, but it is hoped that this will be more than
+replaced by the growing stream of tourists who will come to visit the
+"big ditch," and increased business brought by the shipping which will
+pass through the canal.
+
+With a little thrift and enterprise the Panamanians might have profited
+much more from the long period of construction. They might have supplied
+the zone with a good many more articles. As it was, the only
+contribution the country made to the zone or to the towns was about
+28,000 head of cattle killed annually. The country is almost entirely
+dependent on imported supplies, only a small fraction of which it pays
+for by exports. Here is a little instructive table of the Panamanian
+commerce:--
+
+          Imports.      Exports.
+ 1908    �1,561,362    �365,410
+ 1909    �1,751,261    �300,495
+ 1910    �2,008,679    �353,866
+ 1911    �1,980,488    �179,941[18]
+
+The excess of imports over exports looks rather alarming, but it is
+adequately explained by the British Consul at Colon as "a measure of the
+commercial value to Panama of its transit trade and of the trade with
+canal employees and tourists." The great bulk of the imports is consumed
+in the two towns of Panama and Colon, for, as in most of the South
+American republics, the interior is undeveloped and therefore
+self-supporting, being still in the "pack-mule" stage of civilization.
+
+In 1911 the imports into Panama from the United States amounted to
+�1,024,589, from the United Kingdom to �454,541, and from Germany to
+�223,845. France, Italy, and Spain exported to Panama smaller
+quantities. The exports from Panama to the United States amounted in
+1910 to �301,684 (1911, first six months, �150,990); to the United
+Kingdom, to �33,055 (1911, first six months, �15,921), with smaller
+values to Germany and France. The reader will be interested to learn
+what sort of things Panama exports. Here, then, is a list of the
+principal exports for 1910, the last full year available:--
+
+                            1910.                       �
+ Bananas                   Bunches     3,643,900     184,257
+ Cacao                      Kilos         18,021         940
+ Cocoanuts                    "        6,305,238      31,534
+ Cocobolo                     "        1,203,522       7,132
+ Gold                         "            2,748      26,995
+ Hides                        "          567,454      16,973
+ Horns                        "            6,893       1,410
+ Ivory Nuts                   "        2,102,743      26,527
+ Mother-of-pearl shell        "          625,008      10,183
+ Rubber                       "        6,305,238      31,534
+ Sarsaparilla                 "           32,553       2,099
+ Skins                        "          257,740       4,750
+ Tortoise shell               "            3,829       3,334
+
+The United Fruit Company has now, in the province of Bocas del Toro,
+32,000 acres of bananas under cultivation and 1,000 acres planted in
+cacao, with about 165,000 trees; the bananas being exported to the
+United States, and the chocolate to the United States and Europe. There
+should be a considerable increase in rubber production during the next
+few years, as 150,000 rubber trees have been recently planted in this
+province, and these will soon be ready for tapping. Nearly all the
+rubber exported at present is taken from the wild trees growing in the
+virgin forests of this province. A curious article of exportation is the
+ivory nut, or _tagua_, which in value now comes next after bananas.
+These nuts are collected by Indians on the Caribbean coast, brought to
+Colon, and there bought by merchants and shipped to New York and
+Hamburg. They are used to make the big buttons which are now so
+fashionable, and probably a good many English girls who are wearing
+coats "made in Germany," are carrying about a number of these ivory nuts
+which not long ago were lying on the tropical shores of the Caribbean.
+The timber exports from Panama would grow rapidly with proper
+exploitation. Exports of mahogany, cedar, and cocobolo have already
+begun.
+
+The gold exports come mainly from the mines of the Darien Company, a
+French company which has been working for years. The whole isthmus is
+strongly under suspicion of gold. All the streams show evidence of it,
+and prospectors are always searching the Darien country and the
+provinces of Los Santos and Veraguas for the saint-seducing metal. No
+other minerals are worked in the isthmus. There are "coal-deposits" of a
+sort in the canal zone, but the coal is of no commercial value.
+
+The only railway at present existing in the republic is that between
+Colon and Panama, the entire stock of which is owned by the United
+States government, and is worked as a company under the laws of the
+state of New York. This line, which has had to be largely reconstructed
+owing to the course of the new canal, was opened in 1855. It is rather
+surprising that it should not have been more extensively employed for
+traffic between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of America. As a matter
+of fact, it was the main highway of transcontinental traffic until 1869,
+when the Missouri River was first linked up with the Pacific coast by
+the Union and Central Pacific Railroads, and the first continuous line
+across the States came into existence. After that date the traffic fell
+off very rapidly. The causes of this decline are various. To begin with,
+the great trunk-lines across the States competed ruthlessly with the old
+isthmian route, getting control of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company,
+which was for long the only regular line between the west coasts of the
+United States and Panama. Then the French and American construction work
+has seriously interfered with the route by limiting the amount of
+commercial freight that could be handled across the isthmus.
+
+Another cause of depression has been the opening of the Tehuantepec
+route in South Mexico. In 1906 the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company
+made an agreement with the Tehuantepec National Railway, which runs
+across the isthmus, and withdrew its vessels from the old Magellan
+route, establishing regular services between New York and Puerto Mexico
+on the Atlantic side, and on the Pacific between Salina Cruz, the
+Pacific terminal of the canal, and the west coast ports of the United
+States and Hawaii. The route so organized was opened in 1907, and has
+proved very successful, chiefly owing to the enormous increase in the
+sugar exports from Hawaii. The intercoastal traffic by Tehuantepec from
+New York to Pacific ports advanced from 114,900 tons in 1906 to 295,800
+tons in 1911, and from Pacific ports to New York from 32,000 tons in
+1906 to 162,500 in 1911.
+
+All this competition hit the Panama route very badly. The Atlantic to
+Pacific traffic by that railroad rose from 25,914 tons in 1906 to 46,394
+tons in 1910, and the Pacific to Atlantic from 24,937 tons to 32,482
+tons between the same years. But in 1911 there came a sudden expansion
+to 96,420 tons (Atlantic to Pacific), and to 115,508 tons (Pacific to
+Atlantic), owing largely to the development of shipping services on both
+isthmian terminals. In fact, the commercial freight has had to be
+seriously held up and restricted in the interests of canal construction
+and the shipment of canal material.
+
+The reader will perhaps ask whether the Tehuantepec route is likely to
+compete seriously in the future with the Panama Canal. The distance from
+New York to San Francisco is 1,016 nautical miles less _via_ Tehuantepec
+than _via_ Panama, and from New Orleans 1,573 miles less. The difference
+to Honolulu in favour of the Tehuantepec transit is almost exactly the
+same. But the difference in time will be a good deal less than these
+figures indicate. The cargo has to be transferred from shipboard to
+railroad on one side of the isthmus of Tehuantepec and retransferred on
+the other. This means on the average about four days' delay. At Panama,
+a vessel can pass through the canal in half a day, or, reckoning other
+causes of detention, coaling, etc., the total isthmian transit should
+not take more than one day. Then there is the question of expense. The
+cost of transferring freight at Tehuantepec could not be less than $2.50
+per cargo ton. A Panama toll of $1.20 per vessel ton, net register,
+would be equivalent to about $0.60 per cargo ton, giving Panama an
+advantage of $2 over Tehuantepec. And the inconvenience and damage
+resulting from transhipment, from which a through service through the
+canal is free, will also be a considerable point in favour of the
+waterway. It is not likely, however, that Tehuantepec will be ruined by
+the opening of the canal. Considerable short-distance coasting trade is
+sure to continue along that route, and it will share in the general
+benefit of the developments which await Isthmian and Central America.
+
+Has Panama any danger to fear from its old rival the Nicaraguan canal
+project? The United States seems to have forestalled this possible
+challenge of Panama's monopoly of water transit over the isthmus. Just
+as I write comes the news of a new treaty between the United States and
+Nicaragua, securing to the former, for the payment of $3,000,000, the
+exclusive rights to construct a canal through Nicaraguan territory. The
+United States are reported also to have obtained under the treaty
+possession of Fonseca Bay, one of the few places on the west coast of
+Central America affording ample deep water facilities.
+
+Moreover, the Colombian Charg� d'Affaires in London recently made the
+following communication to the press:--
+
+      I have received from my government the following information
+      respecting certain propositions made to Colombia by the
+      government of the United States, which the government of
+      Colombia has not accepted. The American propositions were as
+      follows:
+
+      1. That Colombia should grant the United States an option
+      for the construction of an interoceanic canal, starting from
+      the Gulf of Uraba on the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean,
+      through the region of the Atrato River.
+
+      2. That Colombia should give to the American government the
+      right to establish coaling stations in the islands of San
+      Andres and Providencia, which are located in the Caribbean
+      Sea.
+
+      3. In consideration of the above, the United States to pay
+      to Colombia $10,000,000 and to use their good influence for
+      the settlement of pending differences between Colombia and
+      Panama. Also to grant Colombia preferential rights for the
+      use of the canal and the settlement by arbitration of the
+      claims of Colombia against the Panama Railroad Company.
+
+      The government of Colombia declined to accept the above
+      proposals, insisting, at the same time, that all questions
+      pending between Colombia and the United States should be
+      settled by arbitration.
+
+It is evident that the United States are not going to permit any
+competitive canal scheme in Central America if they can help it.
+
+What will be the effect of the opening of the canal on Panamanian
+prosperity? The local merchants fear that the system of state-supply,
+which has prevailed in the zone during the constructional period, will
+be continued after completion and extended to the shipping which will
+pass through the canal, and that coal and ship-chandlery will become
+American government monopolies. Much depends on whether the Panamanian
+merchant will be allowed to import freely through Colon and compete in
+the supplying of the ships in transit.
+
+No serious development can be expected in Panama until the country is
+better provided with railways. The only other line in contemplation is
+one from Empire, on the Culebra Cut, to David, a town close to the
+Pacific near the far western frontier, in the province of Chiriqui. This
+line would be 289 miles in length, and branches from it are proposed to
+Anton, 5 miles, and to Los Santos, about 67 miles.
+
+It is pretty safe to prophesy that the blue streak through the isthmus
+of Panama will have a gradual but sure effect on the politics of Central
+America. The need to protect the canal, and to surround it with orderly
+conditions, social and political, will compel a good many states to put
+themselves to amendment or force the big republic responsible for the
+canal to provide them with good government whether they like it or not.
+If the United States had to intervene in Cuba in order to put down
+anarchy or misrule, they may be persuaded by an even stronger necessity
+to intervene in the affairs of Central America in the defence of the
+Panama Canal. It would be no surprise, especially after recent events in
+Mexico, if the south-western frontier of the States gradually advanced
+down the broad and narrow isthmus until it reached and passed the line
+of the canal. This would be quite in accordance with the law which makes
+it almost inevitable that a great and well-governed Power should absorb
+weaker states along its borders, especially when these are unable to
+keep their houses in order.
+
+There is always the danger that foreign Powers will intervene in the
+affairs of these republics in the interests of their bondholders, and
+this would compel in turn the intervention of the United States in order
+to make good the Monroe doctrine, which is directed against any such
+foreign interference in American affairs. In order to avoid these
+complications Mr. Taft actually proposed not long ago to refund the
+debts of Honduras and Nicaragua, placing the custom-houses under the
+control of American officials. The object was partly to secure loans
+advanced by American bankers, but partly also to satisfy European
+bondholders and to make the politics of these republics more stable.
+Nothing came of this significant project. But I should not care to
+ensure, except at a very high premium, the permanence of the political
+arrangements now existing in these regions when the Panama Canal is in
+working order and becomes more and more essential to the safety and
+prosperity of the great republic. The canal may in the long run be not
+"virtually" but actually "a part of the coastline of the United States."
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[18] Six months.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE NEW OCEAN HIGHWAYS.
+
+
+I have already mentioned that England and Europe gained much more from
+the opening of the Suez Canal than the United States. Before the Suez
+Canal was opened, the voyage both from Liverpool and from New York to
+Asia and Australia was made _via_ the Cape of Good Hope. Liverpool had
+then an advantage over New York of 480 miles in the journey to all
+Asiatic and Australian as well as East African ports. When the Suez
+Canal was opened the route to Asia was _via_ the Mediterranean and Red
+Seas for both Liverpool and New York. But New York is 3,207 miles from
+Gibraltar, while Liverpool is only 1,283, so that Liverpool has had an
+advantage of 1,924 miles instead of 480, as formerly, on the voyage to
+Asiatic ports. In other words, Liverpool gained a competitive benefit
+of 1,444 miles from the opening of the Suez Canal.
+
+Now let us take the voyage to Australia from New York and Liverpool.
+From New York the journey is still made _via_ the Cape of Good Hope, but
+from Liverpool chiefly _via_ Suez. Liverpool is 1,622 miles nearer than
+New York to Australia _via_ Suez, but only 480 miles nearer round the
+Cape. Liverpool therefore has owed a competitive "pull" of 1,142 miles
+over New York to the Suez Canal.
+
+Let us remember, therefore, that the Suez Canal has largely diminished
+the advantage which the western route sought by Columbus and his
+successors would once have conferred upon England and Europe in the
+voyage to the Far East. The opening of the Panama Canal will readjust
+the balance which was tilted against the United States when the Suez
+Canal was opened in 1869. The United States will gain far more than the
+western ports of Europe from the new highway through the American
+isthmus. Speaking broadly, Suez was a British, Panama is an American
+proposition.
+
+There are so many facts and figures in connection with the changes in
+distances and sea-routes as the result of the construction of the Panama
+Canal that it may save the reader's attention to lay down a few more
+obvious effects in succession. We can then go on to look at the subject
+in closer detail.
+
+1. The canal reduces the distance between New York on the eastern and
+all ports on the western seaboard of America _north of Panama_ by 8,415
+geographical miles. The saving from New Orleans is much greater.
+
+2. Liverpool is brought 6,046 miles nearer to all ports on the western
+seaboard of America (of course including Canada) north of Panama.
+
+3. The saving between New York and the Pacific ports of America _south
+of Panama_ depends how far south those ports are. But on the average the
+shortening of distance is 4,709 miles. The saving varies from 8,415
+miles at Panama to about 1,004 miles at Punta Arenas, the strange little
+town on the Straits of Magellan. New Orleans and the Gulf ports benefit
+still more.
+
+  [Illustration: OCEAN ROUTES]
+
+4. Liverpool is brought on an average about 2,600 miles nearer to
+Pacific ports of America _south of Panama_. The shortening of distance
+varies from 6,046 miles at Panama itself down to zero at a point
+between Punta Arenas and Coronel (the most southerly commercial port of
+Chile).
+
+5. All the Pacific ports of the Americas are, _via_ Panama, 2,759 miles
+nearer to New York than to Liverpool.
+
+6. The Panama Canal will not bring any port in Australia or the East
+Indies, nor any ice-free port in Asia or Asiatic islands, nearer to any
+European port. Of all ports on the western Pacific coasts, only those of
+New Zealand and a few very chilly ones in Siberia will be brought nearer
+to Liverpool.
+
+7. All of Asia and all of Australia, with the exception of New Zealand,
+will be nearer Europe by way of the Suez Canal than by way of the Panama
+route.
+
+8. Nearly all Japan, Shanghai, Hong-kong, the Philippines, New Guinea,
+all Australia (save a far western strip), and all New Zealand are
+brought nearer the Atlantic and Gulf ports of the United States and the
+Atlantic ports of Canada.
+
+9. The relative distances from New York and Liverpool to the Atlantic
+coast of South America (nearly all way down), to Africa, and to Asiatic
+ports south of Hong-kong are unchanged.
+
+10. It is New York and not Liverpool which is now nearer to Yokohama,
+Sydney, and Melbourne. Wellington, in New Zealand, formerly equidistant
+between the two great ports, is now 2,739 miles nearer to New York than
+to Liverpool. Sydney, which was formerly over 1,500 miles nearer
+Liverpool (_via_ Suez) than New York (_via_ Cape of Good Hope), now
+becomes 2,424 miles nearer New York (_via_ Panama) than Liverpool (_via_
+Suez).
+
+11. Nearly the whole of the Atlantic seaboard in the Old World and the
+New is brought nearer to the Pacific ports of the United States and
+Canada.
+
+12. The Panama Canal cannot invade the main traffic field of the Suez
+route--the countries of Southern Asia, East Africa, the Red Sea, and the
+Persian Gulf. The competitive region of the two canals lies east of
+Singapore.
+
+  [Illustration: THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA]
+
+The reader will gather from the last proposition that the scene of the
+new battle of the routes will lie in the Western Pacific, and this
+probably will also be the scene of the main industrial and commercial
+competitions of the future. It is in these regions, Australasia and
+the countries along the Pacific Asiatic coasts, that the traffic zones
+of the Suez and Panama Canals touch or overlap. The positive effect on
+relative distances from American and European ports is of great
+importance to commercial developments in these regions. Let us look at
+the geographical results of the Panama Canal a little more closely. On
+pages 252, 253 are two tables transcribed from the official report of
+1912 on Panama Canal Traffic and Tolls, by Mr. Emory R. Johnson.
+
+The following tables are given by Dr. Vaughan Cornish:--
+
+                                                             Reduction
+                                                               miles
+ New York to--                                                (geog.).
+
+ Yokohama       { by Suez                             13,564 }
+                { by Panama                            9,835 } 3,729
+
+ Shanghai       { by Suez                             12,514 }
+                { by Panama                           10,855 } 1,629
+
+ Sydney         { by Cape of Good Hope                13,658 }
+                { by Panama (_via_ Tahiti)             9,852 } 3,806
+
+ Melbourne      { by Cape of Good Hope                13,083 }
+                { by Panama (_via_ Tahiti)            10,427 } 2,656
+
+ Wellington,    { by Straits of Magellan              11,414 }
+   N.Z.         { by Panama                            8,872 } 2,542
+
+ Hong-kong      { by Suez                             11,655
+                { by Panama                           11,744
+
+ Manila         { by Suez                             11,601 }
+ (Philippines)  { by Panama _via_ San Francisco              }    16
+                {   and Yokohama                      11,585 }
+                { by Panama, Honolulu and Guam        11,729
+
+Comparative distances (in nautical miles) from New York and Liverpool to
+New Zealand, Australia, Philippines, China and Japan, _via_ Suez and
+Panama Canals.
+
+ ----------+--------------------------+-------------------------+----------
+           |      New York _via_      |     Liverpool _via_     |Difference
+           |       Panama Canal.      |       Suez Canal.       |in favour
+    To     +----------------+---------+---------------+---------+of Suez -,
+           | Ports of Call. |Distance.| Ports of Call.|Distance.|Panama +.
+ ----------+----------------+---------+---------------+---------+----------
+ Wellington|Panama and      |   8,851 |Aden, Colombo, |         |
+           | Tahiti         |         |  King George  |         |
+           |                |         |  Sound, and   |         |
+           |                |         |  Melbourne    |  12,889 |  +4,138
+ Sydney    |        "       |   9,811 |Aden, Colombo, |         |
+           |                |         |  King George  |         |
+           |                |         |  Sound,       |         |
+           |                |         |  Adelaide, and|         |
+           |                |         |  Melbourne    |  12,235 |  +2,424
+ Adelaide  |Panama, Tahiti, |  10,904 |Aden, Colombo, |         |
+           |  Sydney, and   |         |  and King     |         |
+           |  Melbourne     |         |  George Sound |  11,142 |  +238
+ Manila    |Panama, San     |  11,548 |Aden, Colombo, |         |
+           |  Francisco, and|         |  and Singapore|   9,701 |  -1,847
+           |  Yokohama      |         |               |         |
+ Hong-kong |        "       |  11,383 |       "       |   9,785 |  -1,598
+ Shanghai  |        "       |  10,839 |Aden, Colombo, |         |
+           |                |         |  Singapore,   |         |
+           |                |         |  and Hong-kong|  10,637 |  -202
+ Tientsin  |        "       |  11,248 |Aden, Colombo, |         |
+           |                |         |  Singapore,   |         |
+           |                |         |  Hong-kong,   |         |
+           |                |         |  and Shanghai |  11,377 |  +129
+ Yokohama  |Panama and San  |   9,798 |       "       |         |
+           |  Francisco     |         |               |  11,678 |  +1,880
+ ----------+----------------+---------+---------------+---------+----------
+
+Distances (in nautical miles) from Liverpool _via_ the Panama and Suez
+routes to Australia, New Zealand, the Philippine Islands, China, and
+Japan.
+
+ ----------+---------------+---------+---------------+---------+----------
+           |               |         |               |         | In favour
+    To     |  Suez Route.  |Distance.| Panama Route. |Distance.|of Suez -,
+           |               |         |               |         | Panama +.
+ ----------+---------------+---------+---------------+---------+----------
+ Adelaide  |Aden, Colombo, |         |Panama, Tahiti,|         |
+           |  and King     |         |  Sydney, and  |         |
+           |  George Sound |  11,142 |  Melbourne    |  13,478 |  -2,336
+ Melbourne |Aden, Colombo, |         |Panama, Tahiti,|         |
+           |  King George  |         |  and Sydney   |  12,966 |  -1,312
+           |  Sound, and   |         |               |         |
+           |  Adelaide     |  11,654 |               |         |
+ Sydney    |Aden, Colombo, |         |Panama and     |         |
+           |  King George  |         |  Tahiti       |  12,385 |  -150
+           |  Sound,       |         |               |         |
+           |  Adelaide, and|         |               |         |
+           |  Melbourne    |  12,235 |               |         |
+ Wellington|Aden, Colombo, |         |      "        |  11,425 |  +1,564
+           |  King George  |         |               |         |
+           |  Sound, and   |         |               |         |
+           |  Melbourne    |  12,989 |               |         |
+ Manila    |Aden, Colombo, |         |Panama, San    |         |
+           |  and Singapore|   9,701 |  Francisco,   |         |
+           |               |         |  and Yokohama |  14,122 |  -4,421
+ Hong-kong |       "       |   9,785 |      "        |  13,957 |  -4,172
+ Tientsin  |Aden, Colombo, |         |      "        |  13,822 |  -2,445
+           |  Singapore,   |         |               |         |
+           |  Hong-kong,   |         |               |         |
+           |  and Shanghai |  11,377 |               |         |
+ Yokohama  |       "       |         |Panama and San |         |
+           |               |  11,678 |  Francisco    |  12,372 |  -694
+ ----------+---------------+---------+---------------+---------+----------
+
+As figures are rather confusing and difficult to retain in the memory,
+let us find a more graphic way of indicating this zone in the Western
+Pacific where the chief conflict of canal and commerce is likely to take
+place in the future. Let us mark out a block of sea and land between the
+lines of latitude 40� north and 40� south and the lines of longitude
+120� east and 160� east of Greenwich. This zone includes Japan and
+Korea, Shanghai and the Philippines, New Guinea, and all Australia
+except the farthest western coastline. New Zealand lies outside it. Now
+along its western margin, the Suez and Panama routes to New York are
+equal in length. Along its eastern margin, which lies outside Japan and
+Australia (_not_ New Zealand), and only traverses the scattered islets
+of the Pacific, the Suez and Panama routes to Liverpool are equal in
+length. Now look down an imaginary line near the centre of the zone but
+running rather west of north and east of south. Along this line all
+places are the same distance from New York and Liverpool by Panama and
+Suez respectively.
+
+Can we, then, roughly forecast the changes in ocean trade-routes which
+will result from this new channel of communication between East and
+West? For this purpose we may divide the world traffic into three
+parts--firstly, that part of it which the canal is almost certain to
+secure; secondly, that for which it will have to fight with competitive
+routes; thirdly, that which it will have no chance of securing.
+
+As regards the first, Panama will almost certainly attract most, if not
+all, the traffic which flows from the eastern American and Gulf ports to
+Hawaii and the west coast of North and South America, and of the traffic
+from the United Kingdom and the west of Europe to the whole western
+seaboard of America. We have already seen the regions where the Panama
+Canal will have to compete with the existing routes. Roughly, they
+comprise Pacific Asia, a part of the East Indies, and Australasia. These
+regions represent an enormous volume of traffic from which Panama will
+have to try to detach as large a share as possible. The third part is
+the main traffic-field of Suez--that is, Southern Asia, East Africa, the
+Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf. No efforts on the part of Panama, no
+reductions of canal tolls, could possibly lure any of this traffic from
+its determination to Suez; the competitive region of the two canals
+lies all east of Singapore, and the greater part of the commerce of that
+region with Western Europe will still continue to move _via_ Suez.
+
+The question of tolls at Panama is, of course, very important in its
+bearing upon the future popularity of the canal. It would certainly not
+have done to make the Panama charges higher than those at Suez. These
+latter have been reduced as from January 1, 1912. They are now 6.25
+francs ($1.206) per net ton for loaded vessels. The passenger tolls are
+10 francs a passenger above twelve years of age, and 5 francs for each
+child from three to twelve years old. If these figures had been exceeded
+at Panama the traffic there would have suffered. On the other hand, the
+attempt to attract traffic by a great reduction on tolls would have
+involved a loss on the assured traffic between the eastern and western
+coasts of America which would have more than counterbalanced the
+probable gain.
+
+Mr. Taft's proclamation fixing the Panama tolls will be found at the end
+of the book. It will be seen that the charge of $1.20 is almost
+identical with the Suez toll. There are, however, to be no passenger
+tolls at Panama. It must not be forgotten that the Suez Canal could very
+well afford to lower its charges to meet the new competition. A dividend
+of 30 per cent. leaves a considerable margin for this purpose.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+And we must remember that tolls, however important, are not by any means
+the only determinants of traffic-routes. All sorts of commercial and
+freight considerations come into play. For example, the shortest way
+from Japan to the eastern coasts of North America will be _via_ Panama.
+Fully loaded vessels will certainly go that way. But the ship that
+leaves the land of the cherry blossom only partly loaded and wanting to
+make up a full freight may choose the route past Asia and through the
+Suez Canal as being more likely to serve that object.
+
+Then the cost of coal is an important point. Other things being equal,
+shipowners will select the routes by which coal is cheapest and the
+coaling stations nearest each other. With plenty of cargo coming along
+and good freight rates it is desirable to reserve as little bunker space
+as possible. I cannot go into this question at any great length, but in
+the competition with the Suez route it will be quite as important to
+have abundant and cheap coal at Colon (the pun is accidental!) and
+Panama as to keep the transit dues moderate.
+
+But we have not yet exhausted the motives which may help to prompt the
+choice of one route rather than another. There is the question of
+climatic conditions--storms and winds and currents. In this respect
+Panama should have a decided advantage over Suez. The Red Sea, as
+everybody knows, is red hot. This is not good for some sorts of cargo,
+and so terrible is the heat at times that the stokers are said to be
+unable to maintain the steam at full pressure. This may involve an
+appreciable delay in the 1,310-mile run from Suez to Aden. Moreover,
+from a temper and character point of view, the North Pacific and
+Caribbean are distinctly superior to the Indian Ocean and the North
+Atlantic. The deliverance which the Panama Canal will afford to many
+vessels and steamship lines from the perils and savageries of "Cape
+Stiff," as the sailors call the Horn, or the reefs and currents of
+Magellan's Straits, is in itself one of the blessings of the new route.
+Travellers tell us that the biggest ocean rollers in the world are found
+on the Pacific coast of America just a little north of the southern
+straits. For these reasons insurance rates _via_ Panama are likely to be
+lower than those round the far south of the American continent.
+
+There is good reason to believe that the Panama Canal will pay its way
+without imposing any new burden on the taxpayers of the United States.
+It will probably not produce the dividends of the Suez Canal. It will
+have cost four times as much, and is unlikely for many years to command
+quite as large a volume of traffic. The increase in the traffic at Suez
+has been enormous during the last fifteen years, owing largely to the
+development of the resources of the Far East with the help of western
+capital. The net tonnage of vessels passing through the canal in 1911
+was 18,324,794, and the total passengers were 275,651. All forecasts of
+the traffic _via_ Panama must, of course, be speculative, but it may be
+mentioned that the net register tonnage of vessels that might have
+advantageously used a Panama Canal in 1910 is officially estimated at
+8,328,029.
+
+Before discussing the more economic and commercial results likely to
+follow from the opening of the canal, there are one or two subsidiary
+questions we may consider. Is the Panama Canal likely to be used by
+sailing vessels? The prevailing idea is that it will be no more
+practicable a route for such craft than the Suez Canal. Winds, tides,
+and currents have much more to say to the sailing vessel than to the
+steamer, and the terminals of the canal, especially on the Pacific end,
+are not always easy of approach to wind-driven ships. One effect of the
+opening of the Panama Canal will be to hasten the decline of these
+old-fashioned and more beautiful craft. It must not be imagined that the
+"windjammer" or "limejuicer," in the sea-going vernacular, has already
+nearly disappeared from the seven seas. A great deal of the world's
+commerce is still carried on in such vessels. They still battle their
+way round the Horn laden with the timber of Oregon or British Columbia
+and the nitrates of Chile. But the unsuitability of the Panama transit
+for sailing vessels will unquestionably lead to their quicker decline.
+It is interesting to see how steam has gradually ousted sail in the
+world's shipping. In 1873-4 the sea-going sail tonnage of the world was
+14,185,836 tons. This declined to 11,636,289 in 1888-9; to 8,693,769 in
+1898-9; and to 6,412,211 in 1910-11; while steam tonnage increased from
+4,328,193 in 1873-4 to 41,061,077 in 1910-11. For many reasons, climatic
+and economic, we may safely assume that the Panama Canal will be
+confined exclusively to "steam circles." Steamers will be substituted
+for the "limejuicers" in every canal-using line, and the snowy canvas
+will be banished to other regions. Hitherto, such freights as coal,
+lumber, grain, nitrate of soda, and sugar have been considered specially
+suited for sail transportation, because they are shipped as full vessel
+cargoes and do not require rapid transportation or delivery. But even
+such cargoes are certain to be largely transferred to the steamship when
+it is realized that the Panama Canal is "no road" for sailing vessels.
+
+Another interesting question is the probable effect of the canal on the
+American mercantile marine. The ocean-going merchantmen of the United
+States engaged in the foreign trade are practically non-existent,
+though the "coasting" trade, which includes the trade of Hawaii and the
+Philippines with the United States, is strictly reserved to American
+vessels, ships flying foreign flags being entirely excluded. But these
+latter, which are in the main British, carry on all the foreign trade of
+the United States with South America, New Zealand, Australia, Northern
+China and Japan. It is almost unbelievable that in 1908 there was not a
+single steamship flying the flag of the United States between the United
+States ports and those of Brazil, the Argentine, Chile, or Peru. The
+mails from New York and the other Atlantic ports of the American
+republic go, or went until quite recently, _via_ Europe, though New York
+is 370 miles nearer Brazil, etc., than the Old World coasts.[19] The
+reasons for this want of a foreign-trade mercantile marine are chiefly
+the greater cost of shipbuilding in the United States and the
+requisitions with regard to wages and food of the American trade-unions.
+The result of the high standards of comfort thus imposed has been that
+the cost in wages and food to run American ships under American
+conditions across the Pacific is double that in European or Japanese
+steamers. It is scarcely to be wondered at, therefore, that some people
+in the United States regard the Panama Canal as a very disinterested
+gift from the United States to humanity at large, especially perhaps to
+Great Britain and Japan--as an example of altruism run mad. But while
+the United States may not be ready to reap the full advantage of the
+canal at the start, it is highly probable that its opening will lead to
+a rapid growth in the United States merchant service. A larger coasting
+fleet will be required with larger vessels, and this will lead to a
+general development of the larger classes of shipbuilding.
+
+At present no vessels are permitted to fly the American flag unless
+American-built. A large number of American-owned vessels are therefore
+registered under the flags of some foreign nation. As the United States
+begins to compete in cheapness and efficiency of shipbuilding with other
+countries, the chief motive for this foreign registration will be
+removed. Great Britain cannot expect to be the chief carrier of United
+States trade for ever. This is indeed one of many directions in which
+the opening of the Panama Canal may tend rather to the disadvantage than
+to the benefit of the United Kingdom. There is no reason why the United
+States should not build up a mercantile marine as swiftly as Germany and
+Japan have done. England will have to consider seriously this and many
+other probable effects of the canal closely touching her most important
+interests.
+
+I will conclude this chapter with an interesting little fact which may
+already have occurred to the reader. From the moment the Panama Canal is
+opened it will be possible for the first time to sail all round the
+world from England wholly in the northern hemisphere and without
+crossing the Equator. Who will be the first circumnavigator along the
+all-northern trail?
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[19] Many persons may have expected these countries to be much nearer
+New York. They do not realize that _nearly all South America lies east
+of North America_. Washington is on the same meridian as Callao on the
+coast of Peru. Antofagasta and Iquique, the chief nitrate ports of
+Chile, have the longitude of Boston. The eastern point of Brazil lies
+2,600 miles east of New York, and is _equidistant from New York Bay and
+the English Channel_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE CANAL AND THE AMERICAS.
+
+
+The likely effects of the Panama Canal on international commerce and the
+development of the world's resources is so big a subject that one can do
+little more than indicate the larger probabilities. The influence of the
+canal on the British Empire must be left to another chapter. Here we
+shall have to consider mainly the case of the United States, the country
+which stands to gain far more than any other from this new link between
+East and West.
+
+The most obvious result of the new event, as it was the main object of
+the canal's construction, must be the immensely quickened all-sea
+communication between the eastern and western coasts of North America.
+The motive for the building of the canal was military rather than
+commercial. It was rendered necessary by painful experience during the
+Spanish-American War of the effects of the 14,000-mile sea journey
+between the two seaboards of the republic. But the commercial results
+will not be the less important because they were not foremost in the
+object and motive of the canal-builders. It is pretty clear that what we
+may call the main developmental effect of the canal will be felt along
+that Pacific coast of the Americas which has been so long shut out from
+the great centres of industrial enterprise in the New World and the Old.
+
+We are so accustomed to regard the United States as a fully developed
+and fully equipped country that we forget how slowly her population and
+industries advanced westward from the Atlantic coasts. Even now it
+cannot be said that the railroad communications between the east and the
+Pacific states beyond the great mountain-divide of the Rockies are fully
+equal to the carriage of the produce which is or should be exchanged
+between east and west. The transcontinental lines have scarcely yet
+furnished a cheap and satisfactory connection between the Pacific coast
+states and their largest and most natural markets. Hitherto the
+railways have had to compete with only three alternative routes: (1) the
+all-sea route round Cape Horn for sailers, and through Magellan Straits
+for steamers; (2) the route _via_ Panama, with railroad transit over the
+isthmus; (3) the route _via_ Tehuantepec, with railroad transit over
+that isthmus from Puerto Mexico on the Gulf to Salina Cruz on the
+Pacific. The new canal will be a much more formidable competitor. It is
+highly important that the industries of the United States should have
+the benefit of this healthy tug-of-war between railroad and canal, and
+the government is perfectly justified in keeping that competition open,
+even to the length of forbidding the use of the canal to ships owned,
+controlled, or operated by railway companies.
+
+There is no fear that the Panama Canal, even if it prospers exceedingly,
+will ruin the transcontinental railroads. The report of the Isthmian
+Canal Commission in 1901 made some interesting remarks on this subject,
+and they are as pertinent to-day:--
+
+      The competition of the canal will affect, first, the volume
+      and rates of the through business of the Pacific railroads,
+      and secondly, the amount of their local traffic. At the
+      beginning of their existence these railways depended almost
+      entirely upon their through traffic; but their chief aim
+      throughout their history has been to increase the local
+      business, which is always more profitable than the through
+      traffic; and although the great stretch of country crossed
+      by them is still in the infancy of its industrial
+      development, the local traffic of some, if not all, of the
+      Pacific roads has already become of chief importance. A
+      vice-president of one of the railway systems states that
+      since 1893 "the increase in business of the transcontinental
+      lines has not come from the seaports, but from the
+      development of the intermediate country." The canal can
+      certainly in no wise check the growth of this local traffic,
+      and the evidence strongly supports the belief entertained by
+      many persons that the canal will assist largely in the
+      industrial expansion of the territory served by the Pacific
+      railways.
+
+      If this be true, the proximate effect of the isthmian canal
+      in compelling a reduction and readjustment of the rates on
+      the share of the transcontinental railway business that will
+      be subject to the competition of the new water route, will
+      be more than offset by the ultimate and not distant
+      expansion of the through and local traffic, that must
+      necessarily be handled by rail. It seems probable that the
+      increase in the population of the country, and the growth in
+      our home and foreign trade, will early demonstrate the need
+      of the transportation service of both the canal and the
+      railways.
+
+The reduction of freight through the use of the canal is sure to give a
+big stimulus to many leading industries of the Pacific states. One of
+the most important is the lumber industry. California and Oregon are
+very rich in forests of pine, spruce, cedar, and redwood, the last being
+much in demand in Atlantic countries. A good deal of this timber is
+exported to Europe and the eastern states, and it has all to be carried
+in sailing ships round Cape Horn. It is calculated that the opening of
+the Panama Canal will reduce the freight by 50 per cent., which means
+that all this Pacific coast timber will be correspondingly increased in
+value. The exports eastwards are sure to advance rapidly with the new
+means of transport. Grain, wine, and fruit will benefit, and the
+manufactured goods from the industrial states of the east will flow
+through the same channel to the western states in an ever-increasing
+volume.
+
+Every staple industry of the United States will feel the new stimulus,
+and England and Europe generally are certain to feel the pressure of
+this new competitive power of the American republic. In cotton and iron
+goods especially the exports from the eastern and southern states are
+bound to forge ahead. Manufactured cotton goods exported from the
+southern states have had to be carried by rail to the western ports, and
+thence by steamer to China and Japan, or else eastward by the Suez
+Canal, sometimes even _via_ England or Germany. We may imagine what a
+boon the Panama Canal will be to this trade, and how conveniently it
+will lie for the Gulf ports and all their raw and manufactured exports.
+American iron and steel will also be immensely strengthened for
+competition with those of England and Europe in the markets of China,
+Japan, British Australasia, and along the coast of South America. We
+need not describe in detail effects which are likely to be felt over the
+entire range of American industry.
+
+The United States appears, indeed, to be on the verge of tremendous
+developments. In a paper read before the Royal Colonial Institute,[20]
+that well-known physical geographer and economist, Dr. F. B. Vrooman,
+gave us a hint of further American enterprises in civil engineering,
+after the Panama Canal is opened:--
+
+      The isthmian canal is but a part of the greater American
+      waterways project. As soon as this is finished it is
+      possible that the United States will start in a large way
+      with the project of the artificial canalization of the
+      Mississippi with its 16,000 miles of already navigable
+      waters and a drainage basis of 1,280,000 square miles. The
+      cutting-through of an ocean-ship canal to the Great Lakes
+      will make seaport towns of the Canadian cities on the Lakes
+      Ontario, Erie, and Superior. The Saskatchewan and the Red
+      River can be canalized for 1,000 miles, and a short haul
+      from Winnipeg will open the whole Saskatchewan valley from
+      near the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains--downstream, but
+      for this short portage--all the way to the Gulf of Mexico,
+      and thence to Panama and the Pacific ports. Every
+      transcontinental freight-rate in Canada and the United
+      States will be reduced, and perhaps some in the middle
+      interior. As this great southern movement starts up the
+      industries of the southern states will receive a new
+      impulse. The Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea will
+      spring into a new life, together with the West Indies and
+      Central America and the vast and fertile interior drained by
+      the Orinoco and the Amazon.
+
+
+CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AMERICA.
+
+But there are no countries which will hear the call of the canal so
+nearly and clearly as those of Central and Southern America. It is
+astonishing how that forty-mile wide land barrier between the two
+oceans has isolated all the western shore of the continent. The Panama
+Canal Railroad has done very little to modify the situation. The Pacific
+coast of America has looked westwards over its waste of waters, and has
+scarcely been reached by the industrial and economic forces at work
+behind it in the Old and New Worlds. Its trade has been carried on
+mostly with Europe, and especially England, in sailing vessels that have
+plodded round the distant Horn. An interesting example of this
+geographical and commercial detachment of the west coast of Central and
+South America is furnished by the port of Mazatlan in Western Mexico.
+From this place there are considerable exports of logwood and mahogany.
+But thirty times as much of this lumber has gone to Europe as to the
+east of the American continent. On the opposite or eastern side of
+Mexico is Tampico, where the returns of trade are just the reverse, the
+United States being the largest customer for its exports. Despite the
+old Spanish paved roads across the isthmus at Panama, by which the
+silver and pearls of Peru and the Pacific were conveyed to Nombre de
+Dios and Porto Bello, for shipment to Spain, despite the sixty years of
+the little Panama Railway, the American continent even in its narrowest
+parts has been something like an impenetrable screen between east and
+west. Four centuries of continued agitation and effort to get the water
+through show how seriously this physical divorce has been felt, and give
+an earnest of the large results which are sure to follow the completion
+of the task.
+
+There have been other reasons for the backward development of western
+South America. To begin with, the Spanish, not a progressive and
+pioneering race, laid their hands on these countries four hundred years
+ago, and have held them politically or racially ever since. This would
+not in itself have kept out the Anglo-Saxon or the German. But these
+countries have not yet been greatly needed as an outlet of the surplus
+populations of Europe. Even the United States is very far from being
+filled up, and Canada is likely to be giving away farms for many years
+to come. The Teutonic race, to which above all others the trusteeship of
+Western civilization is committed, has left these Spanish Americas,
+with their revolutions coming almost as frequently and regularly as the
+seasons, comparatively unvisited. As yet the North European emigration
+to the southern continent has been mainly confined to Argentina and
+Southern Brazil.
+
+In one respect the isthmian breakwater has been profitable to these
+states of the Pacific coast. It has sheltered them largely from the
+negro element which has spread so widely over the West Indies and the
+southern United States. But Japan and China are already there, and the
+yellow will be laid on more and more thickly unless these countries are
+brought quickly within the zone of Western ideas and enterprise. And
+that process is likely to begin with the opening of the canal.
+
+The backwardness of these regions is indeed almost unbelievable. Most
+people think of them as producing mainly nitrates and revolutions. But
+their possible resources and products are illimitable, and are only
+awaiting the organized capital of the West to be made available for
+human service. As yet these Latin republics are in their middle ages of
+development. There are few railways, only one continuous
+transcontinental line having been completed between Valparaiso, through
+Mendoza, to Buenos Aires. Their internal communications are carried on
+mainly by the pack mule, as they have been since the days of Pizarro and
+Valdivia. Each country, of course, has a foreign trade, but the people
+of the interior, the Indians or mixed breeds, live in isolated
+communities which are self-sufficing, raise their own food and make
+their own simple manufactures, knowing little or nothing of the products
+of foreign countries.
+
+The whole coast and its hinterland is engaged almost solely in what are
+known as "extractive" industries--that is, in mining or agriculture. The
+exports consist mainly of foodstuffs and raw materials, nitrate, ores of
+copper, silver, and gold, grain, sugar, cotton, cocoa, coffee, wool,
+hides, rubber, and woods. With these the people pay for their
+manufactured goods, and these come mainly from Europe, and chiefly also
+from the United Kingdom. The mineral wealth of the northern parts,
+especially the Andean plateau, is still enormous, though vast quantities
+have been extracted. For centuries the Andes furnished the civilized
+world with most of the bullion used for its current coinage. Between
+1630 and 1803 Peru alone sent out �250,000,000 worth of silver. Bolivia
+has contributed �800,000,000 worth; the famous mines of Potosi alone
+accounted for �600,000,000 worth of this metal. The nitrate works of
+Chile are in the hands of Englishmen and Germans, and American and other
+foreigners hold the sugar plantations of Peru. But, as I have said, the
+range of production is enormous and only awaits the stimulus of imported
+capital. To give one example of the variety of products, it is said that
+the Aconcagua valley in Chile would alone furnish annually from its
+vineyards 1,000,000 gallons of claret, if the grapes were not used to
+produce a local drink named "chica." There is no sign of the exhaustion
+of any of the natural products of these regions. Even the nitrate of
+soda, that most valuable of fertilizers, though it is being shovelled
+out at a great rate, covers about 220,000 acres, or about 400 miles from
+north to south, and is sufficient to last for a very long time to come.
+
+Nitrate, minerals, wheat, barley, wool, hides--these are the main
+exports of the Pacific west, the returning imports being cotton goods,
+machinery, steel rails, woollens, coal, and all sorts of miscellaneous
+manufactures and supplies. But, as I said, the trade has been almost
+wholly with Europe, England enjoying a very predominant position. The
+United States have competed with Europe at great disadvantages. The
+trade has been mostly carried on in sailing vessels. Now such craft, to
+get from New York to South America, have been obliged to sail eastwards
+almost as far as the Canaries in order to catch the trade winds and
+weather Cape St. Roque on the coast of Brazil. The sailing vessel from
+Europe, on the other hand, sails right past the Canaries, and can give
+the American ship ten days' start in the journey to any part of South
+America south or west of the most easterly point of Brazil. If the
+reader will turn back to the chapter on the new distances he will see
+how the little streak of blue water at Panama will alter all this. Take
+one little fact to illustrate the change. Callao, on the coast of Peru,
+is, before the opening of the canal, farther by steam from New York than
+is the South Pole, but the Panama Canal will bring the city 1,000 miles
+nearer to New York by steam than San Francisco will then be. The canal
+will reduce the distance from New York to the Chilean nitrate port of
+Iquique by 5,139 miles (nautical), to Valparaiso by 3,747, to Coronel
+(farther south) by 3,296, to Valdivia (about 1,000 miles north of
+Magellan's Straits, nearly at the farthest southern limit of the
+commercially important part of western South America) by 2,900. Take
+Iquique, an important North Chilean nitrate port. By Panama this place
+is 4,004 miles from New York, but 6,578 from Liverpool. Their respective
+distances _via_ Magellan were 9,143 and 9,510.
+
+It looks, therefore, as though the United States, with its new
+advantages, which begin when the first vessel is passed through the
+Panama locks, would have a good chance of securing for the future the
+main share of the South American trade. Its cotton, iron and steel
+goods, electrical machinery, etc., will be able to compete on very
+different terms with those of England and Germany. Cotton manufactures
+have reached Chile and the other countries of Pacific South America by a
+rather absurdly roundabout route. The raw cotton has been grown in the
+southern parts of the United States, carried to Europe for manufacture,
+and brought back to South America _via_ the Straits of Magellan. These
+goods will, we may be sure, tend in future to go direct from the
+American factories _via_ New York, Charleston, or New Orleans, without
+trans-shipment, thus saving about 7,000 miles of transportation. A very
+small part of the American trade with these countries has passed by the
+Panama railroad. The rates charged by the steamers which have picked up
+the goods for the west coast at Panama have been kept so high as to be
+practically prohibitive. It has actually been cheaper to send goods from
+the United States by way of England or Germany--that is, a journey of
+14,000 miles--than by way of Panama, a journey of three or four
+thousand. One of the surest results, then, of the Panama Canal opening
+will be a rapid development of the Pacific coasts of America, especially
+of South America, and a great expansion of trade between these countries
+and the United States.
+
+The effect of the canal on the Atlantic coasts and hinterland of South
+America will naturally be less striking. There has never been much
+interchange of trade between the two coasts of the southern continent,
+for the simple reason that their products are not complementary but
+mostly identical. Most of the trade of the eastern coast states is with
+the countries of the North Atlantic. But some trade to the more
+northerly and tropical parts of this coast is certain to flow through
+the canal. Lumber from the Pacific coasts of North America is used in
+Atlantic South America, and a part of this trade, which is likely to
+grow in extent, will be passed through the canal. It should be noticed,
+however, that the temperate reaches of the eastern coast of South
+America farther to the south will be nearer the Pacific coasts of the
+United States and Canada _via_ the Horn and the Straits of Magellan
+owing to the big easterly projection of Brazil.
+
+We must leave the probable effects of the Panama Canal on the British
+possessions in America to another chapter. It has not been possible to
+deal with prospective commercial developments in great detail. Only some
+general idea could be given of the vast changes and developments in
+progress. On the day on which I am writing the Washington correspondent
+of _The Times_ summarizes the meaning and effect of the Panama Canal in
+three rather formidable words. He says it "symbolizes commercial
+Pan-Americanism." The canal is going to help America to keep its trade
+more to itself. It represents in commerce and economics what the Monroe
+doctrine represents in politics. It will immensely assist the United
+States to become the chief industrial supplier of the great continent,
+with the other states mainly as agricultural or mining annexes. One
+incident in the furthering of this ambition was the attempt to conclude
+a treaty of reciprocity with Canada, the effect of which, as Mr. Taft
+admitted, would have been to make Canada such an "annexe" of the
+republic. The Canadian people, however, realizing the ulterior political
+and commercial effects of such a treaty, refused to ratify it. Canada,
+in fact, belongs to another political and economic system. She gives
+valuable trade-preference to the manufactures of the mother-country in
+the Old World, and there is happily no reason to believe that she will
+abandon the Imperial ideals for the objects of continental
+Pan-Americanism. After all, the citizens of Canada and the United States
+are mostly of the same stock, speaking the same language and cherishing
+the same great traditions. The two branches of the Anglo-Saxon family
+ought to be able, while each maintaining its own life and growth, to
+remain happily side by side, sharing in the new prosperity which the
+world owes to this latest achievement of the great republic.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[20] March 19, 1912.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE CANAL AND THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
+
+
+One of the most important results of the Panama Canal, one which is
+likely to have the largest influence on future political history, seems
+scarcely to have been noticed by writers on this subject. I have shown
+how much nearer Australia and New Zealand are brought to New York than
+to Liverpool, owing to the isthmian passage. They are brought of course
+proportionately nearer to the eastern provinces, which are also the
+governmental headquarters of Canada. But the moving away, so to speak,
+of these great countries from England, and their closer approximation to
+the great and growing branches of the Anglo-Saxon stock in America, has
+the effect of locating the centre of gravity of the English-speaking
+races more firmly and permanently than ever in the New World. When
+Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have grown for another quarter of a
+century, and the United States have reaped for so long the advantage in
+wealth and power of the new waterway, the little islands of the United
+Kingdom may begin to appear as a detached and distant fragment, rather
+than as the "heart and hearth," of the British Empire and the
+English-speaking world. In the eighteenth century, when the English
+plantations in America began to develop their manufactures and had
+increased rapidly in population, the question was discussed in England
+how long she could continue to control an oversea empire, likely to be
+in time more populous and prosperous than the home-country itself, from
+these far-away islands of the Old World. It was actually suggested at
+that time that the King of England should carry his crown and throne
+where the most part of his subjects were congregated. That suggestion is
+not likely to be repeated. We have found a way of harmonizing local
+self-government with imperial unity. But the position of England in her
+empire is sure to be greatly modified as time goes on, and the Panama
+Canal, by bringing these vast and undeveloped continents and isles of
+the far south-west so much nearer to North America than to the imperial
+centre, cannot fail to have some influence in this direction. From a
+commercial point of view, its effect will be to increase the value and
+importance of those trade preferences which Australia gives the home
+country in her markets.
+
+Probably no single country in the world, certainly no portion of the
+British Empire, stands to gain so tremendously from the opening of the
+canal as British Columbia. England has not yet realized what enormous
+resources are locked up in this province of the furthest west, which
+looks out from a hundred harbours to the Pacific and across to the
+awakening East. The long haul across the continent, the interminable
+sea-trail round the Horn, twice crossing the equator, kept British
+Columbia, until lately, outside the thought and interest, not only of
+Englishmen, but even of the Canadians of the administrative East. Even
+with the gradual filling of the empty middle and west, geography would
+have continued to be against British Columbia. But the Panama Canal
+makes all the difference. This province will no longer look vaguely and
+dreamily to the western sea-spaces and a still half-slumbering Orient.
+She will suddenly find herself at one end of a sea-route which will
+shorten her distance from New York by 8,415 miles and from Liverpool by
+6,046 miles.
+
+Her timber and other produce will no longer toil wearily in the holds of
+the "windjammer" down the whole length of Northern, Central, and
+Southern America. There at Balboa, less than halfway down, is the
+entrance of the long-desired short-cut to the world-centres of progress
+and enterprise. The electric thrill of this new circuit will be felt not
+only along the havens and fjords of the British Columbian coast, but
+nearly a thousand miles inland. We may say that almost the whole western
+half of Canada, where the golden wheat frontiers are ever advancing,
+will face about and henceforth look west instead of east. All the corn
+and produce of Alberta and Western Saskatchewan will flow, not eastwards
+as heretofore, but to the Pacific shores, there to be shipped for
+transit _via_ the canal to the southern and eastern United States, to
+the north and east of South America, and to the Old World over the
+Atlantic. Even the eastern and western fronts of the Dominion will feel
+the grip of a new link, which may serve important naval and defensive
+interests for Canada.
+
+The new Pacific outlet will have many advantages over the eastern. For
+one thing, it is always ice-free, whereas the eastern route is icebound
+for five months in the year. Even now, I understand, it is appreciably
+cheaper in winter to send wheat from Calgary to Liverpool by Vancouver
+than by St. John's, New Brunswick. The freight-rate between British
+Columbian and United Kingdom ports should be at least halved when the
+canal is in operation. Of all cities in any clime or hemisphere,
+Vancouver seems to stand most surely on the threshold of a new and
+mighty future. She will have "greatness thrust upon her." Her citizens
+are preparing for the spacious days that are about to set in. A "Great
+Vancouver" will probably arise from the nine local municipalities, to
+provide an area and administration worthy of the dawning era. Dr. F. B.
+Vrooman eloquently voiced the sentiment of the great port and of British
+Columbia at a recent luncheon of the Progress Club at Vancouver. He
+said:--
+
+      We are on the verge of nothing less than a revolution of the
+      world's commerce, and industry, and finance, which now, as
+      sure as fate, are destined to be transferred to the lands of
+      the Pacific Ocean. It is not only revolution. It is such a
+      revolution as never has been and never again can be
+      foreordained before chaos primeval for this twentieth
+      century of the Christian era, for there are no more
+      hemispheres to cut in two. There are no more oceans, with
+      half the water area on the world and twenty million square
+      miles more than all the land surface of the globe, to be
+      suddenly transferred into the arena of world trade. There
+      are no more continents with the widest reaches, the richest
+      resources, and the densest populations of the world to be
+      awakened and developed after Asia has achieved its
+      resurrection.
+
+      Therefore I say to you that there has got to be one port at
+      least in the British Empire big enough to be equal to the
+      greatest opportunity the world ever offered any city since
+      time began. And if that city is not destined to be
+      Vancouver, it will be for one, and for only one,
+      reason--because the men of Vancouver have been too timid and
+      feeble, too shortsighted and too little to take hold of what
+      the good God has offered them.
+
+I have already alluded to the question of coal in connection with the
+new canal. All the new routes will have to be cheaply and abundantly
+"coaled," or they will be at a great disadvantage in the competition for
+traffic with Suez. The Isthmian Canal Commission of 1899-1901 pointed
+out that the coaling stations at San Francisco, Seattle, and Vancouver
+will in the future bear about the same relation to the route _via_ the
+Panama Canal to the Orient as the coaling stations at or near the Suez
+Canal bear to the route from Europe _via_ Suez to the Orient. Among the
+Pacific Islands, at Colon and Panama, and among the West Indies coal
+will have to be stored in big quantities for the tramps and liners and
+warships which will soon be drawn along these seaways by the new canal.
+British Columbia has coal illimitable, and this interest alone ought to
+be quickly and mightily developed in the coming years. Happily there are
+men of imagination and public spirit in this great Pacific province of
+the empire who understand what the canal means to it in future wealth
+and welfare, and are preparing its people to take advantage of the new
+opportunities. Let an eloquent British Columbian, Dr. Vrooman again,
+open for us the broad and bright prospect:--
+
+      New markets will be found on the Atlantic for British
+      Columbia lumber and paper. This new large demand will
+      increase the price. But the saving of freight is an enormous
+      item. The present freight-rates from Vancouver to Liverpool
+      are sixteen dollars per 1,000 feet. The canal will give
+      British Columbia a rate of about eight dollars per 1,000
+      feet. This difference per 1,000 will add to the value of
+      British Columbia timber destined for Europe. But it is for
+      more reasons than this that British Columbia is destined to
+      be a vast Imperial industrial workshop. While her
+      agricultural and horticultural possibilities are far beyond
+      what is generally supposed, British Columbia is in natural
+      resources and raw materials of industry one of the richest
+      areas on the globe. But above all is she rich in mechanical
+      power--water-power and coal. These are about to be opened up
+      and developed. Their development soon will be beyond
+      computation, for, roughly speaking, there is not an
+      investment in British Columbia to-day which will not be
+      directly increased in value by the new canal; but also much
+      indirectly in the impetus given to development. This one
+      thing--this canal--costing us nothing--will double,
+      quadruple, and quintuple values out there in a few brief
+      years. With easier access will come new trade, and new
+      demands will create new products, and soon the innumerable
+      water-powers of British Columbia will start the wheels of a
+      thousand new industries. The illimitable resources of the
+      province will be opened up, developed, and utilized at home
+      or shipped abroad. The value of every town lot and of every
+      acre of land of the 395,000 square miles of the province
+      will be greatly enhanced; town sites will be hewed out of
+      the forests, and the forests themselves--every stick of wood
+      of their 182,000,000 acres of forest and woodland--will be
+      increased in value directly, by reason of cheaper shipping
+      alone, to the extent of several dollars per 1,000 feet; and
+      in the items of lumber and wood-pulp alone the Panama Canal
+      will make as a free gift to British Columbia considerably
+      more than the United States is spending on the whole canal.
+
+      The mines of British Columbia, which have already produced
+      over �70,000,000, will leap forward with renewed prosperity.
+      Her fisheries, which have produced �21,000,000, will be more
+      extensively developed and, let us hope, be made again a
+      British asset--since they are wholly in the hands of the
+      Japanese, who not only send their earnings home to Japan,
+      but are criminally wasteful in their methods. The coal
+      deposits of the province, which promise to be the most
+      extensive in the world, will, with immense deposits of iron,
+      be opened to the world's markets. It is said that the
+      coal-fields of one small district in the Kootenay are
+      capable of yielding 10,000,000 tons of coal a year for over
+      seven thousand years, and a new district has been discovered
+      within a twelvemonth which the provincial mineralogist told
+      me on Christmas Eve was the most important economic
+      discovery ever made in British Columbia, where there are
+      known to be 1,000 square miles of the best of anthracite,
+      and which is probably the richest known anthracite district
+      in the New World west of Pennsylvania.[21]
+
+The references to coal are especially interesting in this passage. It is
+an evidence of the public alertness in this matter that the British
+Columbian government has just appointed a special commissioner "to
+investigate and report upon all circumstances and conditions incident to
+the production and sale or other disposition of coal in British
+Columbia."
+
+It may be certain, therefore, that the opening of the canal will be
+followed by a rapid growth of exports from Canadian ports, serving a
+thousand miles of hinterland, many of the vessels returning laden with
+the manufactures of the eastern United States and Europe, both streams
+of traffic flowing through the isthmian canal. But we must not overlook
+the growth in passenger traffic. The sea-passage round by the canal from
+Europe to the Pacific states of North America will be much cheaper and
+to many people more pleasant than the fatiguing transcontinental railway
+journey. Fresh brain and muscle will enter Canada by its western
+portals, new needs will arise, new industries spring up, a new �on of
+progress and enterprise begin on the far Pacific slopes when the first
+vessel mounts and descends the mighty steps of this wonder-working
+isthmian highway.
+
+
+THE WEST INDIES.
+
+But there is another region of the British Empire which will benefit
+only less, if less at all, than the Pacific province of Canada. The West
+Indies will feel at once the throb of a new life and interest when the
+canal is thrown open to the world's traffic. These "pearls of ocean,"
+the oldest of England's oversea possessions, have lain hitherto in what
+the Americans call a "dead end." They are thrown across the entrances to
+a land-girt sea, the Mediterranean of the New World, from which there
+has hitherto been no exit to the west or the south, but only a return by
+the same passages to east and north. A glance at a map will show how
+these islands, the Greater and Lesser Antilles,[22] cluster round the
+Atlantic end of the canal and beset all the possible sea-routes from
+east and north and south-east. Every vessel that makes from the Atlantic
+for the canal entrance or quits the canal for the Atlantic will have to
+pass through this star-thick storied archipelago.
+
+The islands naturally fall into two groups, with the names I have just
+mentioned. The Greater Antilles, lying further to the west and
+north-west, consist of Jamaica, the Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos
+Islands, these last being administered by Jamaica. To this group
+belongs, geographically and historically, the mainland colony of
+British Honduras, a territory rather larger than Wales, whose great
+value England has scarcely begun to appreciate. The Lesser Antilles,
+stretched like a jewelled coronet round the eastern entrance to the
+Caribbean, consist, north to south, of the Virgin Islands, St. Kitts and
+Nevis, Antigua, Montserrat, Dominica (these forming the Leeward Islands
+Confederation), St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Vincent, Grenada, Trinidad, and
+Tobago (the Windward Islands). With this group goes naturally British
+Guiana, on the continent east of the Spanish Main, a territory much
+larger than Great Britain, which should also begin to develop its vast
+resources more adequately when the canal is opened.
+
+These islands, being largely inhabited by black people, cannot be
+entrusted with complete self-government like purely white communities.
+They are under various forms of what is known as crown colony
+government. For example, Trinidad and the Windward Islands are under the
+complete control of the British Colonial Office, while Barbados and
+Jamaica enjoy a large measure of self-rule. But this division into a
+large number of small governments without any connection with each
+other is extremely expensive, and proposals have been made for a
+federation of the British West Indies either in one great system,
+including them all, with British Honduras and Guiana thrown in, or in
+two systems embracing respectively the Greater and the Lesser Antilles.
+
+England, it must be confessed, has treated her splendid West Indian
+empire very badly. In order that she might have sugar "dirt-cheap" at
+home she allowed the great staple product of the isles and mainland,
+cane-sugar, to be brought to the verge of ruin by the competition of
+European bounty-fed beet-sugar. Happily there was a statesman of strong
+imperial sympathies in England, Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, who arranged the
+Brussels Sugar Convention with certain Powers of Europe, all of which
+agreed to suppress their own bounties and to impose countervailing
+duties on bounty-fed sugar imported from countries outside the
+convention. This gave the West Indies a fairer chance of competition,
+and they quickly felt the benefit. But the convention was always opposed
+in England by certain industries in which sugar is used and is therefore
+wanted as cheap as possible, and notice has recently been given,
+despite the protests and alarms of the West Indies, that England intends
+to withdraw from the convention. And this, too, without any sort of
+compensation for the sugar-islands, which had begun to rely upon the
+protection against unfair competition afforded by that instrument.
+
+England has withdrawn her garrisons and, what is still more serious,
+almost her entire navy from the West Indies. When the terrible
+earthquake occurred at Kingston in Jamaica in 1907, there was no English
+ship-of-war anywhere near to render help and to maintain order, and this
+duty had to be performed by vessels of the American fleet. Five days
+after that disaster the correspondent of _The Times_ wrote: "It is
+difficult to describe the sense of humiliation with which an Englishman
+surveys Kingston harbour this evening--two American battleships, three
+German steamers, a Cuban steamer, and one British ship; she leaves
+to-night, and the white ensign and the red ensign will be as absent from
+Kingston harbour as from the military basins of Kiel and Cherbourg." And
+this is what England calls ruling the waves and being mistress of the
+seas! Later in the same year she had another lesson. Rioting broke out
+in St. Lucia, once, but no longer, an important naval base. It was a
+whole week before an English cruiser arrived, though a Dutch man-of-war,
+the _Gelderland_, was anchored in the spacious harbour of Castries, St.
+Lucia's capital.
+
+This, one must allow, is a slovenly way of conducting a great empire. If
+these methods are pursued after the Panama Canal is opened, the results
+will be disastrous. A complete change will have to be made in the
+attitude of England and the Colonial Office to the British West Indian
+Islands. For these islands, instead of being tucked away in a sort of
+cul-de-sac, or inland lake, will henceforth be thrown right across or
+alongside the main highways of the world's ocean-traffic. Look again at
+the map and see how the most direct sea-route from New York, the eastern
+states and Canada to Colon and Cristobal comes down through the Windward
+Passage, between Cuba and Haiti, and then right past the eastern end of
+Jamaica, quite close to the magnificent bay on which Kingston stands.
+
+Look again and see how the routes from Liverpool, Southampton, and the
+Old World pass through the Lesser Antilles, either Leeward or Windward,
+further east. The most direct of these trails passes through the Virgin
+Islands, the most northerly group, and one of these is said to possess a
+harbour of which a good deal might be made. But this is not by any means
+the only line of approach to the entrance of the canal. A more southerly
+route near Barbados or Trinidad might be chosen, and certainly would be
+chosen by vessels intending to call at ports along the old Spanish Main.
+
+Trinidad will indeed lie right across the direct route from ports on the
+Pacific coasts of the United States and Canada, as well as from the Far
+East, to Brazil and the Atlantic coast of South America--a trade which
+may well grow to very large proportions, considering the vast
+undeveloped resources of the Orinoco and Amazon basins. Valuable
+deposits of petroleum have also been discovered in Trinidad, and this
+should add greatly to the wealth and importance of that island as oil
+replaces coal for fuel. Oil-bunkering stations will be wanted at many
+points in the West Indies.
+
+Trinidad and Kingston seem likely to benefit most from the traffic to
+and from Cristobal, the new Atlantic terminal of the canal. Both are
+splendidly equipped by Nature to act as coaling and repairing stations
+as well as centres for the distribution of goods. Kingston has a superb
+harbour, and so also has Port of Spain (the capital of Trinidad) in the
+Gulf of Paria, a natural landlocked harbour in which the fleets of the
+whole world could lie in safety--and, it is important to add, outside
+the hurricane zone. Trinidad lies right athwart the mouths of the
+Orinoco River. The years that are coming will see a tremendous
+development of the resources of these rich tropical basins, and Port of
+Spain is a natural port of exit and entry for the trade of regions where
+Raleigh sought the fabled Manoa or El Dorado.
+
+It is too soon to try to indicate in detail the effects which the Panama
+Canal is likely to have on the trade and production of the islands
+themselves. The sugar industry is reviving under the influence of the
+Treaty of Reciprocity concluded between a large number of the islands
+and the Dominion of Canada. Probably the sugar for the tea-tables and
+apple-tarts of Vancouver, and a good many places far to the north and
+east, will be brought from the West Indies to Vancouver. But the islands
+will benefit more directly and immediately through the immense growth of
+traffic in the Caribbean Sea, the supply of coal and other necessities
+to this increased shipping, and in general through the publicity the
+islands will enjoy, which will mean a growing invasion of
+"globe-trotters," and consequently a big development of agricultural
+resources and an influx of new capital.
+
+An almost certain and immediate result of the new route, I may say in
+passing, will be a large increase of the tourist traffic to England and
+Europe from the western coasts of North and South America. When the
+fares are lowered, and the traveller can do the journey wholly by water,
+without the trouble of changing from railroad to steamer, we may be sure
+that a rapidly growing tide of passengers will set eastwards as well as
+westwards through the canal.
+
+But, to return to the West Indies, every nation is preparing to develop
+or establish in these regions harbours and coaling-stations and other
+facilities for its trade. For example, a Danish company proposes to
+establish connection between Copenhagen and San Francisco through the
+island of St. Thomas, one of the Virgin group. At St. Thomas, by the
+way, is shown the castle of Edward Teach, or "Blackbeard," the very beau
+ideal of a skull and crossbones pirate who, according to "Tom Cringle's
+Log," wore a beard in three plaits a foot long, and a full-dress purple
+velvet coat, under which bristled many pistols and two naked daggers
+over eighteen inches long, and who had generally a lighted match in his
+cocked hat with which he lit his pipe or fired a cannon, as the occasion
+demanded. "One of his favourite amusements when he got half-slewed was
+to adjourn to the hold with his compotators, and, kindling some
+brimstone matches, to dance and roar as if he had been the devil
+himself, until his allies were nearly suffocated. At another time he
+would blow out the candles in the cabin and blaze away with his loaded
+pistols at random right and left.... He was kind to his fourteen wives
+as long as he was sober, and never murdered above three of them." This
+very improper, but picturesque, gentleman was run down at last by H.M.
+frigates the _Lime_ and the _Pearl_ to a creek of North Carolina, where,
+with thirty men in an eight-gun schooner, he made a desperate fight for
+life, killing and wounding more than the number of his own crew, and
+dying where he fell, faint with the loss of blood, overcome by superior
+numbers alone. Whether "Blackbeard" ever inhabited the castle at St.
+Thomas may be questioned, but the island ought to benefit from the
+canal, as it lies right across the main entrance to the Caribbean from
+the Atlantic.
+
+The German steamship lines are awake to the new opportunities, the
+Hamburg-Amerika preparing for the new emigrant traffic between Europe
+and Western America. Germany, it is said, is negotiating for a
+coaling-station in Hayti, which, with its two negro republics, stands to
+profit immensely from the new conditions. No one has troubled much about
+this splendid island of late. It has had a dark and terrible history.
+Discovered by Columbus, who called it _Hispaniola_, it was occupied by
+the Spanish adventurers who found alluvial gold there. Then it became
+the headquarters of the "buccaneers" who succeeded to the gallant and
+courtly sea-rovers of the Elizabethan period and became formidable
+about the year 1630. One of these buccaneers was that Henry Morgan who
+sacked the old town of Panama in 1671, and then became quite a
+respectable character, governor of Jamaica, and dubbed knight by Charles
+II. It was in Hispaniola, or Hayti, that this species of Western viking
+got their name. The island had been depopulated by the Spaniards, but
+the cattle and hogs they had introduced became wild and repopulated the
+land in their own kind. Thus Hispaniola became a splendid provisioning
+base for the ships of the buccaneers. They hunted the cattle and
+preserved the meat, smoke-drying it in the Indian fashion. This industry
+was called _boucanning_, and from it the buccaneers were named.
+
+Hispaniola was the mother colony of the Spanish Empire in the West
+Indies which has now wholly disappeared, very unfortunately for Spain in
+view of the enhanced value these islands will now soon acquire. In 1795
+it was ceded to France, and soon afterwards the emancipated slaves
+gained possession of the island, and after a period of anarchy and
+bloodshed established their independence. It is divided into two negro
+and mulatto republics, Hayti and San Domingo, and, as might have been
+expected, has sunk to the lowest depths of possible human degradation.
+Fetishism, human sacrifice, and even cannibalism prevail in this
+sea-girt Paradise, placed right among the possessions of the most
+civilized Powers of the world and now across the main ocean routes from
+the West to the United States, Canada, and the Old World. Can anybody
+believe that beautiful Hispaniola, an island 30,000 square miles in
+extent, whose economic and strategic value will be increased a
+hundredfold in the years that are coming, will long remain under this
+blighting shadow of ignorance and barbarism? Here certainly the Panama
+Canal will work a beneficent political change.
+
+France, too, is beginning to look up her possessions and opportunities
+in the Caribbean. Here her two islands, Martinique and Guadeloupe, are
+placed most conveniently for her ships coming westwards from Havre,
+Bordeaux, and St. Nazaire, while Tahiti and New Caledonia will pass them
+on over the Pacific to the Far East. M. Gilquin, writing in _La vie
+Maritime_, says:--
+
+      In Martinique, Guadeloupe, New Caledonia, and Tahiti our
+      commerce--that is to say, exports and imports together--was,
+      in the year 1909, ninety millions of francs; this rose to
+      one hundred and twenty-two millions in 1910, and it is
+      probable that when we get the figures for 1911 they will be
+      found to be even more favourable. It is certain that with
+      the opening of the Panama Canal a great increase in traffic
+      will take place, and possessing, as we do, ports so
+      advantageously placed on the principal lines of route, we
+      should benefit extensively by that development of traffic
+      between Europe and the western coasts of both North and
+      South America. In order that we may reap the benefit,
+      however, of the situation of our colonial harbours, it is
+      necessary that these be taken in hand at once and rendered
+      fit for the commerce they will be called upon to handle.
+
+And what is England doing to prepare for the new epoch in these regions
+where she has planted her flag on so many rich and beautiful islands,
+strung like pearls of necklace and tiara over these warm tropical seas?
+We hear of Jamaica providing a new site for coaling and ships' repairs
+near Kingston, of harbour improvements at Port of Spain (Trinidad) and
+St. George (Grenada), of oil-bunkering stations at Barbados and St.
+Lucia. All this is good, but England will have to enter upon a very
+different policy for the future with regard to her West Indian empire.
+She must show that she values her priceless inheritance in and round the
+Caribbean; that she is determined to maintain her position, to promote
+her commerce, and to further the interests of all her subjects in these
+regions.
+
+What the West Indies need in order to be able to take the new
+opportunity by the forelock are organization and combination. Schemes
+have been proposed for federalizing the constitution of the
+islands--placing them, that is, under a strong central government for
+those purposes that are common to them all. There are many difficulties
+in the way of such proposals. The nearest island of the Greater Antilles
+is 1,000 miles away from the nearest of the Lesser, so that Nature seems
+to have pronounced for the present against any federal scheme embracing
+all the islands. But space is always shrinking. Wireless telegraphy and
+aeroplanes may make 1,000 miles an inconsiderable distance for such
+political purposes. The Leeward Islands have already been organized
+under a single federal government, and it ought to be possible to extend
+the system. Moreover, the islands and the colonies on the continent are
+learning the value of common consultation and action in such matters as
+quarantine, and they meet together in annual agricultural conferences.
+
+We need not wait for a formal and complete federal constitution. Some
+central council for consultation on the best means of taking advantage
+of the new opportunities, some central fund for promoting common
+objects, such as advertising the wonderful attractions of the islands
+and preparing for the birds of passage that will soon be coming from
+every civilized country in the Old and New World--all this is possible
+now. It is important, too, that the West Indian colonies should have
+some assembly or council through which they can address the Imperial
+Power with a single voice. England can give these colonies invaluable
+help. She can assist them to develop those steamship and telegraphic
+communications between the islands which are still so inadequate. She
+can indicate the best locations for harbours, coaling and repairing
+stations, and the other facilities which the new traffic will require.
+In view of the certain growth in wealth and prosperity, the colonies
+ought to be able by contributions among themselves to provide a
+substantial fund for objects they can carry out in common for the
+advantage of each and all.
+
+Some valuable information and very practical suggestion will be found in
+the report of the West Indian Commission presided over by Lord Balfour
+of Burleigh which was issued in 1910. Besides recommending a system of
+reciprocal trade preference between Canada and the West Indies, the
+commissioners made important proposals with regard to steamship and
+telegraphic communications. They favoured the public ownership and
+operation of the West Indian cables and possibly of the whole system
+northward to Halifax. They wrote:--
+
+      The single cables now connecting Halifax with Bermuda and
+      Bermuda with Jamaica ought either to be duplicated or
+      supplemented by wireless. A cable should be laid between
+      Bermuda and Barbados, with a branch to Trinidad, and perhaps
+      another to British Guiana. The cables which run from Jamaica
+      to the eastern islands and British Guiana, sometimes single
+      and sometimes duplicate, are very old. The bed of this part
+      of the Caribbean being trying for cables, we believe it
+      would be found advantageous in most cases not to renew them,
+      but to replace them by wireless installations. If these were
+      well arranged, they might form a satisfactory connection
+      between the eastern islands and Jamaica and an alternative
+      route to Bermuda, and render unnecessary duplication of the
+      suggested Bermuda-Barbados cable. While it is desirable to
+      connect British Honduras with Jamaica, we consider that the
+      probable volume of traffic would not warrant the cost of a
+      cable. We therefore recommend the employment of wireless for
+      this purpose. Small installations should also be supplied
+      to the outlying Leeward and Bahamas Islands.
+
+England will have to foster the welfare of her possessions in these
+regions as she has never done before. The Brussels Convention forbade
+her to give any preference to sugar produced in her own dominions. But
+she is about to step out of that agreement, and will be at liberty, if
+she thinks fit, to encourage by preferential favours the one great
+staple for which these colonies can find no substitute. There may be
+differences of opinion on the fiscal question, but surely everybody must
+agree that the naval power and political prestige of the British Empire
+must be represented in the Caribbean Sea by something rather more
+impressive than two small and obsolete cruisers. If England is to
+maintain her position against the severer competition she will now have
+to face, if she is to get her share of the new commerce now in prospect,
+she will have to give her traders, and shippers, and merchants all the
+confidence and encouragement which her flag should inspire. One or two
+well-equipped naval bases, a squadron of up-to-date cruisers for police
+and patrol work in the Caribbean and down the Pacific coasts of America,
+are indispensable. There must be no more earthquakes and destructions of
+British cities with never a British vessel to bring the sorely-needed
+help, no more riots in British islands with only a Dutch warship
+standing helplessly by.
+
+Both British Columbia and the West Indies have complained with reason of
+the absenteeism of the British fleet from their shores. The necessity
+for concentrating all our naval power in the North Sea to meet the
+German menace has no doubt been the cause of these withdrawals from the
+outer sea-marches of the empire. But at any cost this wrong will have to
+be righted in the future. The West Indies and British Columbia are just
+the two portions of the empire which the Panama Canal may benefit most
+and most immediately, and they have a right to expect the support and
+co-operation of the imperial government wherever it can be given. All
+the Powers of the world will be afloat on the Caribbean and along the
+Pacific sea-trails to Balboa. Let the white ensign return to these seas
+and shores as an earnest to all that the same national spirit that won
+for England her political and commercial supremacy avails to maintain it
+now and in the new era which is just dawning.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[21] From the already-quoted paper read before the Royal Colonial
+Institute, March 19, 1912.
+
+[22] Marco Polo, following Aristotle's nomenclature, had given the name
+of "Antilla" to an island off the eastern coast of Asia. The name was
+transferred by Columbus, or Peter Martyr, to the islands of the
+Caribbean.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+THE NEW PACIFIC.
+
+
+Some readers may perhaps think that these forecasts of the results of
+running a canal through the isthmus of Panama are somewhat exaggerated.
+It is sufficient to point out to such a critic how different the course
+of American and world history might have been if Nature had left a
+practicable channel between the two Americas. The effect of erecting an
+artificial passage there in these days may be even greater than at
+present we can imagine. Some of these results will be apparent at once;
+others may take decades or even centuries to materialize. Many of the
+commercial and political results which have followed the construction of
+the Suez Canal were quite unforeseen in 1869. We may be similarly
+mistaken in our forecast with regard to the Panama Canal. Mr. Bryce
+suggests that if a dozen experts were, in 1914, to write out and place
+in the libraries of the British Museum and of Congress their respective
+forecasts bearing on this subject, sealed up and not to be opened till
+A.D. 2000, they might make curious reading in that year. We may
+venture to predict that the results of Panama will be much more profound
+and revolutionary than those of Suez. The Panama Canal, says Mr. Bryce,
+is "the greatest liberty man has ever taken with Nature." It will
+involve a far greater shifting of centres of gravity, political and
+commercial, a more radical readjustment of ideas and points of view than
+the Suez Canal.
+
+As the past four hundred years have belonged to the Atlantic, the
+present century and others to come may belong to the Pacific. That area
+of 70,000,000 square miles may become the main theatre of the
+rivalries--commercial, political, and racial--of the most powerful
+nations of East and West. Some believe that the world is advancing to
+that loud and fateful day when East and West will fight out their long
+difference in some naval and aerial Armageddon on and above this
+miscalled Pacific. Without straining our imaginations to this extent, we
+may well observe that the canal brings Eastern and Western
+civilizations into much closer contact and competition than before. Mr.
+Kipling has informed us that East is East and West is West, and never
+the twain shall meet; and a still earlier author, desiring to give the
+penitent sinner the uttermost consolation, declared that the Lord
+removes his transgressions from him "as far as the east is from the
+west."
+
+The new canal rather diminishes the force of such similitudes. It is not
+simply that the east of Canada and the United States, as representing
+Western civilization, is brought much closer to China and Japan; that
+the passage from West to East which the early navigators vainly sought
+is now thrown open. The important thing is that the Pacific is going to
+be the scene of commercial and political rivalries in which the slowly
+awakening people of China and the already wide-awake people of Japan
+will take part. All the Pacific Ocean westward to 160 degrees of
+longitude east of Greenwich is brought nearer to England and the western
+coasts of Europe. The entire ocean right back to the western extremity
+of Australia is brought closer to the governmental and industrial
+centres of the United States and Canada.
+
+English people have been thinking "Atlantically" up to now. The Pacific,
+held at an unimaginable distance by a broad continent or an abyss of
+ocean, has been known to them chiefly through stories of adventure among
+its coral islands familiar to their childhood. Yet England is the
+greatest Pacific Power in the world. British Columbia alone has a
+Pacific sea-front longer than the United States, and holds 383,000
+square miles, an area as large as France and Spain put together. And yet
+the population of that vast and fertile province is only 134,000. And
+what of the lonely continent that bounds this oceanic abyss in the far
+south-west? Australia, without New Zealand, is about 3,000,000 square
+miles in extent, and has to-day a white population of about 4,600,000,
+or about 4,700,000 people all told. The northern part of this mighty
+island-continent, known as the "Territory," 560 miles wide, 900 miles
+long, and 523,620 square miles in extent, a region of great potential
+wealth, has a total European population of 1,274! And to the north and
+north-west there are a billion (1,000,000,000) brown and yellow people,
+packed together in crowded islands and territories, whose mere
+overspill would quickly fill that delectable island-continent to the
+south where England has done so little to make good her nominal title to
+sovereignty by actual and effective settlement.
+
+Such a possession, an empire in itself, held so precariously and
+offering such a ceaseless temptation to swarming land-hungry hordes, is
+rather a weakness than a strength to England on the threshold of the new
+era. And from all this Pacific region and its adjuncts where she has
+secured all the empty and desirable plots and pegged out so many claims
+for posterity, she has had to withdraw her fleets, as Rome had to draw
+in her legions from the outer provinces to defend the central heart of
+her empire. We may hope that this North Sea danger, so embarrassing and
+disastrous in its strategic needs to a power like England, whose empire
+is scattered over every ocean and continent, may disappear through the
+growth of better relations between the German and Anglo-Saxon branches
+of the Teutonic race. To that stock more than any other is committed the
+defence of Western and Christian ideas, and the great issues of the
+future may compel a Pan-Teutonic alliance, embracing the British and
+German Empires and the United States.
+
+England has two responsibilities in the Pacific--the one to herself and
+her empire, and the other to Christendom and Western civilization. If
+she is true to the former, she cannot well be false to the latter. She
+must bring her fleets back to this great ocean and assert an influence
+in its politics proportionate to her territorial domains and the extent
+of her commerce in those regions. But there are objects more important
+than the interests of any single Power. The entire coast of the Pacific
+from Behring Straits to the Horn, and round south by New Zealand and
+Australia, must be kept "white"--reserved, that is, for the Occidental
+and Christian races. Perhaps the United States may one day so far modify
+the Monroe doctrine as to welcome Germany to a sovereign foothold among
+the unstable politics of South America, in order to strengthen still
+more the outposts of Christian civilization in the Western hemisphere.
+
+It is possible to talk great nonsense about what is called the "yellow
+peril." No sensible person imagines that the nimble Japanese, the
+inscrutable Chinaman, and the subtle Hindoo are suddenly going to rise
+as one man and throw down the gage of challenge to Christianity and the
+West. East, like West, has its own political and religious divisions;
+nevertheless it is impossible to foresee what the results of the
+Oriental resurgence may mean, and England and the United States, and
+perhaps Germany, may some day have a joint responsibility in the Pacific
+compared with which their rivalries among themselves may seem trifling
+and irrational.
+
+But I do not wish to end this little book with presages of future
+discord. We must all hope that the Panama Canal will prove a new and
+powerful influence for peace, that it will bring even East and West
+together, not in strife and suspicion, but in friendship and a better
+mutual understanding. There is surely a human interest and sympathy
+transcending even those racial divisions which may seem most
+insuperable. The great nation which has given this splendid gift to the
+world should ask no better or more selfish reward than that it may
+contribute to the welfare and progress of humanity at large.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX I.
+
+THE ISTHMIAN CANAL CONVENTION (COMMONLY CALLED THE HAY-PAUNCEFOTE
+TREATY), 1901.
+
+
+1. The high contracting parties agree that the present treaty shall
+supersede the aforementioned (Clayton-Bulwer) convention of April 19,
+1850.
+
+2. It is agreed that the canal may be constructed under the auspices of
+the government of the United States either directly at its own cost, or
+by gift or loan of money to individuals or corporations, or through
+subscription to or purchase of stock or shares, and that, subject to the
+provisions of the present treaty, the said government shall have and
+enjoy all the rights incident to such construction, as well as the
+exclusive right of providing for the regulation and management of the
+canal.
+
+3. The United States adopts as the basis of the neutralization of such
+ship canal the following rules substantially as embodied in the
+Convention of Constantinople, signed the 28th October, 1888, for the
+free navigation of the Suez Canal; that is to say:
+
+First.--The canal shall be free and open to the vessels of commerce and
+of war of all nations observing these rules, on terms of entire
+equality, so that there shall be no discrimination against any such
+nation or its citizens or subjects in respect of the conditions or
+charges of traffic, or otherwise. Such conditions and charges of traffic
+shall be just and equitable.
+
+Second.--The canal shall never be blockaded, nor shall any right of war
+be exercised nor any act of hostility be committed within it. The United
+States, however, shall be at liberty to maintain such military police
+along the canal as may be necessary to protect it against lawlessness
+and disorder.
+
+Third.--Vessels of war of a belligerent shall not revictual nor take any
+stores in the canal except so far as may be strictly necessary; and the
+transit of such vessels through the canal shall be effected with the
+least possible delay in accordance with the regulations in force, and
+with only such intermission as may result from the necessities of the
+service. Prizes shall be in all respects subject to the same rules as
+vessels of war of the belligerents.
+
+Fourth.--No belligerent shall embark or disembark troops, munitions of
+war or warlike materials in the canal except in case of accidental
+hindrance of the transit, and in such case the transit shall be resumed
+with all possible despatch.
+
+Fifth.--The provisions of this article shall apply to waters adjacent to
+the canal, within three marine miles of either end. Vessels of war of a
+belligerent shall not remain in such waters longer than twenty-four
+hours at any one time except in case of distress, and in such case shall
+depart as soon as possible, but a vessel of war of one belligerent shall
+not depart within twenty-four hours from the departure of a vessel of
+war of the other belligerent.
+
+Sixth.--The plant, establishment, buildings and all works necessary to
+the construction, maintenance and operation of the canal shall be deemed
+to be parts thereof for the purpose of this treaty, and in time of war,
+as in time of peace, shall enjoy complete immunity from attack or injury
+by belligerents, and from acts calculated to impair their usefulness as
+part of the canal.
+
+4. It is agreed that no change of territorial sovereignty or of
+international relations of the country or countries traversed by the
+before-mentioned canal shall affect the general principle of
+neutralization or the obligation of the high contracting parties under
+the present treaty.
+
+5. The present treaty shall be ratified by the President of the United
+States by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and by
+His Britannic Majesty; and the ratifications shall be exchanged at
+Washington or at London at the earliest possible time within six months
+from the date thereof.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX II.
+
+THE PANAMA DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 1903.
+
+
+The transcendental act that by a spontaneous movement the inhabitants of
+the isthmus of Panama have just executed is the inevitable consequence
+of a situation which has become graver daily.
+
+Long is the recital of the grievances that the inhabitants of the
+isthmus have suffered from their Colombian brothers; but those
+grievances would have been withstood with resignation for the sake of
+harmony and national union had its separation been possible and if we
+could have entertained well-founded hopes of improvement and of
+effective progress under the system to which we were submitted by that
+republic. We have to solemnly declare that we have the sincere and
+profound conviction that all the hopes were futile and useless, all the
+sacrifices on our part.
+
+The isthmus of Panama has been governed by the Republic of Colombia with
+the narrow-mindedness that in past times was applied to their colonies
+by the European nations--the Isthmian people and territory were a source
+of fiscal resources and nothing more. The contracts and negotiations
+regarding the railroad and the Panama Canal and the national taxes
+collected in the isthmus have netted to Colombia tremendous sums which
+we will not detail, not wishing to appear in this exposition which will
+go down to posterity as being moved by a mercenary spirit, which has
+never been nor is our purpose; and of these large sums the isthmus has
+not received the benefit of a bridge for any of its numerous rivers, nor
+the construction of a single road between its towns, nor of any public
+building nor of a single college, and has neither seen any interest
+displayed in advancing her industries, nor has a most infinite part of
+those sums been applied toward her prosperity.
+
+A very recent example of what we have related above is what has occurred
+with the negotiations of the Panama Canal, which, when taken under
+consideration by Congress, was rejected in a summary manner. There were
+a few public men who expressed their adverse opinion, on the ground that
+the isthmus of Panama alone was to be favoured by the opening of the
+canal by virtue of a treaty with the United States, and that the rest of
+Colombia would not receive any direct benefits of any sort by that work,
+as if that way of reasoning, even though it be correct, would justify
+the irreparable and perpetual damage that would be caused to the isthmus
+by the rejection of the treaty in the manner in which it was done, which
+was equivalent to the closing of the doors to future negotiations.
+
+The people of the isthmus, in view of such notorious causes, have
+decided to recover their sovereignty and begin to form a part of the
+society of the free and independent nations, in order to work out its
+own destiny, to insure its future in a stable manner, and discharge the
+duties which it is called on to do by the situation of its territory and
+its immense richness.
+
+To that we, the initiators of the movement effected, aspire and have
+obtained a unanimous approval.
+
+We aspire to the formation of a true republic, where tolerance will
+prevail, where the law shall be the invariable guide of those governing
+and those governed, where effective peace be established, which consists
+in the frequent and harmonious play of all interests and all activities,
+and where, finally, civilization and progress will find perpetual
+stability.
+
+At the commencement of the life of an independent nation we fully
+appreciate the responsibilities that state means, but we have profound
+faith in the good sense and patriotism of the Isthmian people, and we
+possess sufficient energy to open our way by means of labour to a happy
+future without any worry or any danger.
+
+At separating from our brothers of Colombia we do it without hatred and
+without any joy. Just as a son withdraws from his paternal roof, the
+Isthmian people in adopting the lot it has chosen have done it with
+grief, but in compliance with the supreme and inevitable duty it owes to
+itself--that of its own preservation and of working for its own
+welfare.
+
+We therefore begin to form a part among the free nations of the world,
+considering Colombia as a sister nation, with which we shall be whenever
+circumstances may require it, and for whose prosperity we have the most
+fervent and sincere wishes.
+
+ Jos� Agustin Arango,
+ Federico Boyd,
+ Tomas Arias.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX III.
+
+THE PANAMA CANAL CONVENTION (COMMONLY CALLED THE HAY-BUNAU-VARILLA
+TREATY), 1904.
+
+
+The United States of America and the Republic of Panama being desirous
+to insure the construction of a ship-canal across the isthmus of Panama
+to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the Congress of the
+United States of America having passed an Act approved June 28, 1902, in
+furtherance of that object, by which the President of the United States
+is authorized to acquire within a reasonable time the control of the
+necessary territory of the Republic of Colombia, and the sovereignty of
+such territory being actually vested in the Republic of Panama, the high
+contracting parties have resolved for that purpose to conclude a
+convention and have accordingly appointed as their plenipotentiaries--
+
+The President of the United States of America, John Hay, Secretary of
+State, and the government of the Republic of Panama, Philippe
+Bunau-Varilla, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the
+Republic of Panama, thereunto specially empowered by said government,
+who after communicating with each other their respective full powers
+found to be in good and due form, have agreed upon and concluded the
+following articles:
+
+
+Article 1.
+
+The United States guarantees and will maintain the independence of the
+Republic of Panama.
+
+
+Article 2.
+
+The Republic of Panama grants to the United States in perpetuity the
+use, occupation and control of a zone of land and land under water for
+the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation and protection of
+said canal of the width of ten miles extending to the distance of five
+miles on each side of the centre line of the route of the canal to be
+constructed; the said zone beginning in the Caribbean Sea three marine
+miles from mean low water mark, and extending to and across the isthmus
+of Panama into the Pacific Ocean to a distance of three marine miles
+from mean low water mark, with the proviso that the cities of Panama and
+Colon and the harbours adjacent to said cities, which are included
+within the boundaries of the zone above described, shall not be included
+within this grant. The Republic of Panama further grants to the United
+States in perpetuity the use, occupation and control of any other lands
+and waters outside of the zone above described which may be necessary
+and convenient for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation
+and protection of the said canal or of any auxiliary canal or other
+works necessary and convenient for the construction, maintenance,
+operation, sanitation and protection of the said enterprise.
+
+The Republic of Panama further grants in like manner to the United
+States in perpetuity all islands within the limits of the zone above
+described and in addition thereto the group of small islands in the Bay
+of Panama, named Perico, Naos, Culebra, and Flamenco.
+
+
+Article 3.
+
+The Republic of Panama grants to the United States all the rights, power
+and authority within the zone mentioned and described in Article 2 of
+this agreement and within the limits of all auxiliary lands and waters
+mentioned and described in said Article 2 which the United States would
+possess and exercise if it were the sovereign of the territory within
+which said lands and waters are located to the entire exclusion of the
+exercise by the Republic of Panama of any such sovereign rights, power
+or authority.
+
+
+Article 4.
+
+As rights subsidiary to the above grants the Republic of Panama grants
+in perpetuity to the United States the right to use the rivers, streams,
+lakes and other bodies of water within its limits for navigation, the
+supply of water or water-power or other purposes, so far as the use of
+said rivers, streams, lakes and bodies of water and the waters thereof
+may be necessary and convenient for the construction, maintenance,
+operation, sanitation and protection of the said canal.
+
+
+Article 5.
+
+The Republic of Panama grants to the United States in perpetuity a
+monopoly for the construction, maintenance and operation of any system
+of communication by means of canal or railroad across its territory
+between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
+
+
+Article 6.
+
+The grants herein contained shall in no manner invalidate the titles or
+rights of private landholders or owners of private property in the said
+zone or in or to any of the lands or waters granted to the United States
+by the provisions of any Article of this treaty, nor shall they
+interfere with the rights of way over the public roads passing through
+the said zone or over any of the said lands or waters unless said rights
+of way or private rights shall conflict with rights herein granted to
+the United States, in which case the rights of the United States shall
+be superior. All damages caused to the owners of private lands or
+private property of any kind by reason of the grants contained in this
+treaty or by reason of the operations of the United States, its agents
+or employees, or by reason of the construction, maintenance, operation,
+sanitation and protection of the said canal or of the works of
+sanitation and protection herein provided for, shall be appraised and
+settled by a joint commission appointed by the governments of the United
+States and the Republic of Panama, whose decisions as to such damages
+shall be final and whose awards as to such damages shall be paid solely
+by the United States. No part of the work on said canal or the Panama
+railroad or on any auxiliary works relating thereto and authorized by
+the terms of this treaty shall be prevented, delayed or impeded by or
+pending such proceedings to ascertain such damages. The appraisal of the
+said private lands and private property and the assessment of damages to
+them shall be based upon their value before the date of this convention.
+
+
+Article 7.
+
+The Republic of Panama grants to the United States within the limits of
+the cities of Panama and Colon and their adjacent harbours and within
+the territory adjacent thereto the right to acquire by purchase or by
+the exercise of the right of eminent domain, any lands, buildings, water
+rights or other properties necessary and convenient for the
+construction, maintenance, operation and protection of the canal and of
+any works of sanitation, such as the collection and disposition of
+sewage and the distribution of water in the said cities of Panama and
+Colon, which, in the discretion of the United States, may be necessary
+and convenient for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation
+and protection of the said canal and railroad. All such works of
+sanitation, collection and disposition of sewage and distribution of
+water in the cities of Panama and Colon shall be made at the expense of
+the United States, and the government of the United States, its agents
+or nominees shall be authorized to impose and collect water rates and
+sewage rates which shall be sufficient to provide for the payment of
+interest and the amortization of the principal of the cost of said works
+within a period of fifty years, and upon the expiration of said term of
+fifty years the system of sewers and water works shall revert to and
+become the properties of the cities of Panama and Colon respectively;
+and the use of the water shall be free to the inhabitants of Panama and
+Colon, except to the extent that water rates may be necessary for the
+operation and maintenance of said system of sewers and water.
+
+The Republic of Panama agrees that the cities of Panama and Colon shall
+comply in perpetuity with the sanitary ordinances whether of a
+preventive or curative character prescribed by the United States, and in
+case the government of Panama is unable or fails in its duty to enforce
+this compliance by the cities of Panama and Colon with the sanitary
+ordinances of the United States the Republic of Panama grants to the
+United States the right and authority to enforce the same.
+
+The same right and authority are granted to the United States for the
+maintenance of public order in the cities of Panama and Colon and the
+territories and harbours adjacent thereto in case the Republic of Panama
+should not be, in the judgment of the United States, able to maintain
+such order.
+
+
+Article 8.
+
+The Republic of Panama grants to the United States all rights which it
+now has or hereafter may acquire to the property of the New Panama Canal
+Company and the Panama Railroad Company as a result of the transfer of
+sovereignty from the Republic of Colombia to the Republic of Panama over
+the isthmus of Panama, and authorizes the New Panama Canal Company to
+sell and transfer to the United States its rights, privileges,
+properties and concessions, as well as the Panama Railroad and all the
+shares or part of the shares of that company; but the public lands
+situated outside of the zone described in Article 2 of this treaty now
+included in the concessions to both said enterprises and not required in
+the construction or operation of the canal shall revert to the Republic
+of Panama except any property now owned by or in the possession of said
+companies within Panama or Colon or the ports or terminals thereof.
+
+
+Article 9.
+
+The United States agrees that the ports at either entrance of the canal
+and the waters thereof, and the Republic of Panama agrees that the
+towns of Panama and Colon shall be free for all time, so that there
+shall not be imposed or collected custom-house tolls, tonnage,
+anchorage, lighthouse, wharf, pilot, or quarantine dues or any other
+charges or taxes of any kind upon any vessel using or passing through
+the canal or belonging to or employed by the United States, directly or
+indirectly, in connection with the construction, maintenance, operation,
+sanitation and protection of the main canal, or auxiliary works, or upon
+the cargo, officers, crew, or passengers of any such vessels, except
+such tolls and charges as may be imposed by the United States for the
+use of the canal and other works, and except tolls and charges imposed
+by the Republic of Panama upon merchandise destined to be introduced for
+the consumption of the rest of the Republic of Panama, and upon vessels
+touching at the ports of Colon and Panama and which do not cross the
+canal.
+
+The government of the Republic of Panama shall have the right to
+establish in such ports and in the towns of Panama and Colon such houses
+and guards as it may deem necessary to collect duties on importations
+destined to other portions of Panama and to prevent contraband trade.
+The United States shall have the right to make use of the towns and
+harbours of Panama and Colon as places of anchorage, and for making
+repairs, for loading, unloading, depositing, or transshipping cargoes
+either in transit or destined for the service of the canal and for other
+works pertaining to the canal.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+Article 23.
+
+If it should become necessary at any time to employ armed forces for the
+safety or protection of the canal, or of the ships that make use of the
+same, or the railways and auxiliary works, the United States shall have
+the right, at all times and in its discretion, to use its police and its
+land and naval forces or to establish fortifications for these purposes.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX IV.
+
+PANAMA CANAL TOLL RATES.
+
+
+By the President of the United States of America, Washington, November
+14, 1912.
+
+
+A PROCLAMATION.
+
+I, William Howard Taft, President of the United States of America, by
+virtue of the power and authority vested in me by the Act of Congress,
+approved August twenty-fourth, nineteen hundred and twelve, to provide
+for the opening, maintenance, protection and operation of the Panama
+Canal and the sanitation and government of the canal zone, do hereby
+prescribe and proclaim the following rates of toll be paid, by vessels
+using the Panama Canal.
+
+1. On merchant vessels carrying passengers or cargo one dollar and
+twenty cents ($1.20) per net vessel ton--each one hundred (100) cubic
+feet--of actual earning capacity.
+
+2. On vessels in ballast without passengers or cargo forty (40) per
+cent. less than the rate of tolls for vessels with passengers or cargo.
+
+3. Upon naval vessels, other than transports, colliers, hospital ships,
+and supply ships, fifty (50) cents per displacement ton.
+
+4. Upon army and navy transports, colliers, hospital ships and supply
+ships one dollar and twenty cents ($1.20) per net ton, the vessels to be
+measured by the same rules as are employed in determining the net
+tonnage of merchant vessels.
+
+The Secretary of War will prepare and prescribe such rules for the
+measurement of vessels and such regulations as may be necessary and
+proper to carry this proclamation into full force and effect.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Panama Canal, by J. Saxon Mills
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Panama Canal, by J. Saxon Mills
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Panama Canal
+       A history and description of the enterprise
+
+Author: J. Saxon Mills
+
+Release Date: October 24, 2010 [EBook #34124]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PANAMA CANAL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Barbara Kosker and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h1>THE PANAMA CANAL</h1>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<div class="img"><a name="frontis" id="frontis"></a>
+<a href="images/frontis.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/frontis.jpg" width="45%" alt="Col. George W. Goethals, U.S.A." /></a><br />
+<p class="capright" style="margin-top: .2em;">[<i>Clinedinst--Washington, D.C.</i></p>
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;"><span class="smcap">Col. George W. Goethals, U.S.A.,</span><br />
+Chairman and Chief Engineer Isthmian Canal Commission.</p>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+
+<h1> THE PANAMA CANAL</h1>
+
+<h3> A HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE ENTERPRISE</h3>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h4> BY</h4>
+
+<h2> J. SAXON MILLS, M.A.</h2>
+
+<h4> BARRISTER-AT-LAW</h4>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr style="width: 10%;" />
+<h3> WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS</h3>
+<hr style="width: 10%;" />
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h4> THOMAS NELSON AND SONS<br />
+
+LONDON, EDINBURGH, DUBLIN, MANCHESTER, LEEDS<br />
+ PARIS, LEIPZIG, MELBOURNE, AND NEW YORK</h4>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+
+<h2>PREFACE.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></h2>
+
+
+<p>The literature on the subject of the Panama Canal is rather dispersed. A
+full and entertaining history of the project will be found in Mr. W. F.
+Johnson's "Four Centuries of the Panama Canal" (Cassell and Co., 1907),
+a work to which I am greatly indebted. Dr. Vaughan Cornish has given the
+results of much research and several visits to the canal in "The Panama
+Canal and its Makers" (T. Fisher Unwin, 1909), and in several lectures,
+especially one before the Royal Colonial Institute, June 11, 1912. An
+inexhaustible mine of information will be found in Mr. Emory R.
+Johnson's Official Report on Panama Canal Traffic and Tolls (Washington,
+1912). The Report on the Trade and Commerce of the Republic of Panama
+for the year 1911, by Mr. H. O. Chalkley, Acting British Consul at
+Colon, contains useful information. A valuable series of articles on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>
+the Panama Canal appeared in <i>The Times</i> of 1912. The <i>National
+Geographic Magazine</i> of February 1911 contains an authoritative article
+by Colonel G. W. Goethals, Chief Engineer of the Canal, and the number
+for February 1912 an interesting appreciation by Mr. W. J. Showalter. In
+<i>Scribner's Magazine</i> for February 1913, Mr. J. B. Bishop, Secretary of
+the Isthmian Canal Commission, writes a very useful paper on the
+Sanitation of the Isthmus. In his recent work on South America Mr. Bryce
+devotes one of his delightful chapters to the Isthmus of Panama. A
+chapter on the Panama Canal will be found in Mr. A. E. Aspinall's "The
+British West Indies," and many references in Mr. C. G. Murray's "A
+United West Indies." I must thank Mr. G. E. Lewin, the Librarian of the
+Royal Colonial Institute, for his unfailing help and courtesy.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Bushey</span>, 1913.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="10%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap" width="80%">Preface</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="10%"><a href="#Page_5">5</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">Date History of the Canal</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_11">11</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">I.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">The Secret of the Strait</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">II.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">Canal Projects</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">III.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty and the Suez Canal</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_42">42</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">IV.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">The French Failure</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_52">52</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">V.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">The Hay-Pauncefote Treaty</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_64">64</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">VI.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">The United States and Colombia</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">VII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">A Miniature Revolution</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_88">88</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">VIII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">The Battle of the Levels</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">IX.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">Man and the Gnat</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_129">129</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">X.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">Life at the Isthmus</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_153">153</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XI.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">The Problem of Construction</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_172">172</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">The Culebra Cut</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_186">186</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XIII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">The Locks</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_195">195</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XIV.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">The Completed Canal</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_207">207</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XV.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">Panama and the Isthmus</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_226">226</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XVI.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>The
+    New Ocean Highways</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_242">242</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XVII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">The Canal and the Americas</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_265">265</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XVIII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">The Canal and the British Empire</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_284">284</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdrp">XIX.</td>
+  <td class="tdl smcap">The New Pacific</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_316">316</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="2">Appendix &nbsp;&nbsp;I.&mdash;Hay-Pauncefote Treaty</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_323">323</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="2">Appendix &nbsp;II.&mdash;Panama Declaration of Independence</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_327">327</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="2">Appendix III.&mdash;Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty Clauses 1-9 and 23</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_332">332</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="2">Appendix IV.&mdash;Proclamation as to Canal Toll Rates</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_343">343</a></td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Illustrations">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="80%"><a href="#frontis">Col. George W. Goethals, U.S.A.</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="20%"><i>Frontispiece</i></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" style="font-size: 80%;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Chairman and Chief Engineer Isthmian Canal Commission.</td>
+  <td class="tdr">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#imagep144">Col. William C. Gorgas</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">144</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" style="font-size: 80%;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Medical Department, U.S. Army, Head of the Department
+    of Sanitation, Ancon.</td>
+  <td class="tdr">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#imagep192">Culebra Cut, from West Bank</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">192</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#imagep201">Gatun Locks, looking South-West</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">201</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#imagep208">Gatun Upper Lock, looking North</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">208</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#imagep216">Gatun Upper Lock&mdash;West Chamber</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">216</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#imagep224">Pedro Miguel Locks</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">224</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>DATE HISTORY OF THE CANAL.</h2>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="History">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="80%">Conquest of Constantinople by Turks</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="20%">1453</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Columbus discovers Bay of Limon</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1492</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Rodrigo de Bastidas, Balboa, and La Cosa reach the Isthmus</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1500</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Columbus's Fourth Voyage, vainly seeks the strait</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1502</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Balboa sights the Pacific</td>
+  <td class="tdr">Sept. 25, 1513</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Pedrarias founds the old town of Panama</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1519</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Magellan discovers the straits that bear his name</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1519-21</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Gonzalez de Avila discovers Lake Nicaragua</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1522</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">The quest of Isthmian Strait given up as hopeless</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><i>circa</i> 1532</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Gomara appeals to Charles V. to construct canal</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1551</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Drake sights the Pacific</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1573</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Philip III. directs surveys for Darien Canal</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1616</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">English seize Jamaica</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1655</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>Henry
+    Morgan destroys old Panama</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1671</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Paterson's settlement at Panama</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1698</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Spanish surveys of Tehuantepec and Nicaragua</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1771 and 1779</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Von Humboldt's residence in Central America</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1799-1804</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Panama declares its independence and joins New Granada</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1822</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Overtures made by Central America to United States for canal</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1825</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Goethe's prophecies</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1827</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Dutch canal concession from Nicaraguan Government, 1829; abandoned</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">1830</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">British Honduras annexed by Great Britain</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1835</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">United States Treaty with New Granada</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1846</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Clayton-Bulwer Treaty</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1850</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Panama Railway opened to traffic</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1855</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Dickinson-Ayon Treaty between United States and Nicaragua</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1868</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">President Grant recommends canal under United States control</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1869</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Apppoints Interoceanic Canal Commission</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1869</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Suez Canal opened</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1869</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">La Soci&eacute;t&eacute; Civile Internationale du Canal Interoc&eacute;anique founded</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1876</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>Grant's
+    Commission reports in favour of Nicaraguan route</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1876</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">The De Lesseps Company formed</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1878</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Company starts work</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1881</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Bankruptcy of French company</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1889</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">New Panama Company formed</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1889</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Construction work at Nicaragua</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1890-3</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Ferdinand de Lesseps died</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1894</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Hay-Pauncefote Treaty</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1901</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Spooner Act</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1902</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Panama revolts from Colombia</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1903</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1904</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">American occupation of Isthmus begins</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1904</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Completion of canal</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1914</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Formal opening</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1915</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<h2>THE PANAMA CANAL.</h2>
+<hr />
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE SECRET OF THE STRAIT.</h2>
+
+
+<p>It was either very careless or very astute of Nature to leave the entire
+length of the American continent without a central passage from ocean to
+ocean, or, having provided such a passage at Nicaragua, to allow it to
+be obstructed again by volcanic action. This imperviousness of the long
+American barrier had, as we shall see, important economic and political
+results, and the eventual opening of a waterway will have results
+scarcely less important. The Panama Canal will achieve, after more than
+four centuries, the object with which Columbus spread his sails
+westwards from the port of Palos&mdash;the provision of a sea-route westwards
+to China and the Indies. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>The capture of Constantinople in 1453 by the
+Turks interrupted the ancient trade routes between East and West.
+Brigands held up the caravans which plodded across the desert sands from
+the Euphrates and the Indus, and pirates swarmed in the Mediterranean
+and Red Sea, intercepting the precious cargoes of silks and jewels and
+spices consigned to the merchants of Italy. The eyes of all Europe were
+turned to the Atlantic, and an ocean route westwards to India and the
+Orient, the existence of which had been fabled from the days of
+Aristotle, became an economic necessity.</p>
+
+<p>Columbus, as every one knows, died in the belief that he had discovered
+this route, and that the lands he had visited were fringes and islands
+of the Eastern Asiatic continent. The geographers of those days greatly
+exaggerated the eastern extension of Asia, with the result that the
+distance from Europe to China and India was underestimated by at least
+one-half. This was a fortunate mistake, for it is improbable that if
+Columbus had known that Cathay and Cipangu (Japan) were a good 12,000
+miles westwards from the coast of Spain he would have ventured upon <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>a
+continuous voyage of that length in the vessels of his time.</p>
+
+<p>It was in his fourth voyage (1502) that Columbus first reached and
+explored the coastline of the isthmus and Central America. He was
+apparently not the first to land on the isthmus. That distinction
+belongs either to Alfonso Ojeda, who is said to have reached "Terra
+Firma" earlier in 1502, or to Rodrigo de Bastidas, who, we are told, set
+sail from Cadiz with La Cosa in 1500, and, reached the isthmus somewhere
+near Porto Bello. About the doings of Columbus on the mainland we get
+some detailed information from the Portuguese historian and explorer of
+the sixteenth century, Galvano. It is interesting to read that the great
+navigator visited the exact spot where the newly-constructed canal
+starts from the Caribbean coast. From the Rio Grande, we read, Columbus
+"went to the River of Crocodiles which is now called Rio de Chagres,
+which hath its springs near the South Sea, within four leagues of
+Panama, and runneth into the North Sea." It was this same river, as we
+shall see, that became the feeder of the canal when the high-level
+scheme was adopted. So <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>far out of his reckoning was Columbus that at
+Panama he imagined himself to be ten days' journey from the mouth of the
+Ganges! One of his objects, as we know from his own journal, was to
+convert the Great Khan of Tartary to the Christian faith, and this
+entanglement in what he called "the islands of the Indian Sea" was a
+sore hindrance to that and all his other purposes. He began that search
+for the strait which engaged the attention and tried the temper of
+Spanish, Portuguese, and English navigators for the next thirty years.
+He had heard from the natives of the coast of "a narrow place between
+two seas." They probably meant a narrow strip of land as at Panama. But
+Columbus understood them to mean a narrow waterway, and rumours of such
+a passage no doubt existed then, as they still do among the isthmian
+tribes. He must also have heard accounts of the great ocean only thirty
+miles away, and it is rather surprising he should not have made a dash
+across and anticipated Balboa and Drake. In May 1503, however, he
+quitted the "Terra Firma" without solving the great secret, and he never
+returned to the mainland. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>He died in 1506, still in complete ignorance
+of the nature of his discovery. He knew nothing of the continent of
+America or of that seventy million square miles of ocean beyond, to
+which Magellan gave the name of "Pacific."</p>
+
+<p>The Holy Grail itself was not pursued with more persistence and devotion
+than this mythical, elusive strait by the navigators of the early years
+of the sixteenth century. The isthmian governor sent out from Spain went
+with urgent instructions to solve the "secret of the strait." In 1513
+Balboa set himself to the great enterprise. If he could not discover a
+waterway he would at least see what lay beyond the narrow land barrier.
+From Coibo on the Gulf of Darien he struck inland on September 6 with a
+hundred Indian guides and bearers. It is eloquent of the difficulties of
+the country which he had to traverse that it was not until September 26
+that he won, first of European men, his distant view of the nameless and
+mysterious ocean.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> It was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>he, and not Cort&eacute;z, who "with eagle eyes,
+stared at the Pacific."</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i10">"And all his men<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Looked at each other with a wild surmise,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Silent upon a peak in Darien."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Cort&eacute;z was himself a persistent searcher for the mythical strait. He
+wrote home to the King of Spain saying, "If the strait is found, I shall
+hold it to be the greatest service I have yet rendered. It would make
+the King of Spain master of so many lands that he might call himself the
+lord of the whole world."</p>
+
+<p>These vain attempts had very important results. They led incidentally to
+the exploration of the whole coastline of the American continent. For
+example, Jacques Cartier, who was sent out by the King of France about
+this time to find "the shorter route to Cathay," searched the coast
+northwards as far as Labrador and thus prepared the way for the planting
+of a French colony in Canada. At last, in 1520, a sea-passage from the
+Atlantic to the Pacific was actually discovered by the first great
+circumnavigator, Magellan, but it was far away from the narrow lands
+between North and South America. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>Through the perilous straits that have
+ever since borne his name at the southern extremity of the continent,
+Magellan pushed his venturous way into the great ocean beyond. But even
+Magellan had no idea that a few miles south of his strait the land ended
+and Atlantic and Pacific mingled their waters in one great flood. That
+truth was accidentally discovered by the English Drake more than fifty
+years afterwards (1579). Drake had been driven southward by stormy
+weather when he made the discovery which almost eclipsed in its
+importance even Magellan's exploit. In his exultation, we are told, he
+landed on the farthest island, and walking alone with his instruments to
+its extremity threw himself down, and with his arms embraced the
+southernmost point of the known world. From that point Drake sailed up
+the western coast of South America, engaged mainly in his favourite
+pursuit of "singeing the King of Spain's beard"&mdash;capturing, that is, the
+treasure-ships bound to Panama. But he did not forget the more
+scientific duty of searching for the strait. Far northward he held his
+course, past the future California, till he must have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>been off the
+coastline of what is now British Columbia, ever hoping to find the
+Pacific outlet of the famous North-West Passage. But always the coast
+trended to the north-west, and Drake, giving up the quest, turned his
+prow westward and continued his voyage of circumnavigation.</p>
+
+<p>But we are over-running our dates and must return to events at the
+isthmus. It was about the year 1530 that the non-existence of a natural
+waterway became recognized. And no sooner was this fact accepted than
+projects for an artificial canal began to be put forward. It was clear
+to the geographers and traders of those days that an isthmian route
+westward offered great advantages to the routes <i>via</i> the Cape of Good
+Hope, Magellan Straits, or the problematical North-West Passage.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTE:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The eminence known as "Balboa Hill" in the American canal
+zone is certainly not that from which Balboa first sighted the Pacific,
+though very likely a tradition to that effect will now gradually be
+established.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<h2>CANAL PROJECTS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>It appears that the honour of first conceiving and proposing the project
+of an artificial waterway through the isthmus belongs to &Aacute;lvaro de
+Saavedra Cer&oacute;n, a cousin of Cort&eacute;z, who had been with Balboa at Panama.
+Cer&oacute;n had been for twelve years engaged in the search for the strait,
+and had finally begun to doubt its existence. His thoughts turned to the
+isthmus at Panama, where the narrowness and low elevation of the land
+seemed to offer the likeliest chance of an artificial canal. We learn
+from the old historian Galvano that Cer&oacute;n prepared plans for the
+construction of a waterway there&mdash;almost precisely along the route
+chosen for the American canal nearly four hundred years later. Cer&oacute;n's
+death, however, put an end to this early project.</p>
+
+<p>It is interesting to find the Portuguese historian <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>Galvano, who
+flourished in the middle of the sixteenth century, mentioning four
+possible routes for the canal&mdash;namely, Darien, Panama, Nicaragua, and
+Tehuantepec. The choice, however, quickly confined itself to the Panama
+and Nicaraguan lines. The reader may feel some surprise that at such an
+early date as this an engineering project should be seriously considered
+which was only accomplished in the end by the wealth and mechanical
+resources of one of the greatest of modern Powers. The explanation is
+that the tiny vessels of the early sixteenth century could have taken
+advantage of the natural rivers and lakes in the isthmus, especially
+those on the Nicaraguan route, and that far less artificial construction
+would have been necessary than in these days of the mammoth liner and
+warship.</p>
+
+<p>Charles V., King of Spain, seems to have been quite alive to the
+importance of these canal projects. In 1534 he directed the Governor of
+Costa Firme, the old name for the Panama district, to survey the valley
+of the Chagres, the river which supplies the water for the upper reaches
+of the American canal. This gentleman, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>however, seems scarcely to have
+shared the royal enthusiasm. He may be supposed to have known the
+isthmus at these points very well, and his scepticism about the prospect
+of canal construction there in those days was not wholly groundless. The
+Spanish historian Gomara, who wrote a history of the Indies in 1551 and
+dedicated it to Charles V., declared a canal to be quite feasible along
+any of the four routes mentioned by Galvano. It is true he recognized
+obstacles. "There are mountains," he wrote, "but there are also hands.
+If determination is not lacking, means will not fail; the Indies, to
+which the way is to be made, will furnish them. To a king of Spain,
+seeking the wealth of Indian commerce, that which is possible is also
+easy."</p>
+
+<p>But Charles V. died without making any practical advance in this
+enterprise, and a rather remarkable reaction took place under his
+successor, Philip II. It should be noted that by this time a permanent
+roadway had been established across the isthmus from Panama to Porto
+Bello, along which the Spanish treasure-convoys passed from sea to sea
+without much interruption. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>rapidly growing power of the English at
+sea made Philip fear that, if a canal were built, he would be unable to
+control it, and would probably lose his existing monopoly of isthmian
+transit. So he issued a veto against all projects of canal construction.
+He even persuaded himself that it would be contrary to the Divine
+purpose to link together two great oceans which God had set asunder, and
+that any such attempt would be visited by a terrible nemesis.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> So his
+Majesty not only forbade all such schemes but declared the penalty of
+death against any one who should attempt to make a better route across
+Central America than the land-route between Panama and Porto Bello.</p>
+
+<p>In course of time the king's beard was so horribly singed by English
+navigators and adventurers in the Caribbean Sea that the Atlantic end of
+the overland trail became almost <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>useless, and the Spanish argosies were
+compelled to sail homewards round the far Magellan Straits. But in 1579,
+as we have seen, Sir Francis Drake ("El Draque" as he was called by the
+terrified Spaniards) had suddenly attacked, captured, and scattered the
+Spanish ships off the Pacific coast of South America. So the isthmian
+land-route was once more resumed, and it took the Spaniard all his time
+to hold that open.</p>
+
+<p>For many years no progress was made with the idea of an isthmian canal.
+War between England and Spain was the natural order of things in these
+Central American regions. In 1655 the English seized Jamaica, and soon
+afterwards established themselves on the coast of Honduras and
+Nicaragua. The old city of Panama, of which only a picturesque
+church-tower remains to-day, had been founded by a Spanish governor
+named Pedrarias in 1519. In 1671 the city was destroyed by that wicked
+Welsh buccaneer, Sir Henry Morgan. The town was rebuilt two years later
+by Alonzo Mercado de Villacorta, five miles west of the old site.</p>
+
+<p>The project of a canal across the isthmus was never allowed entirely to
+disappear. In <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>1694 a very determined attempt was made to plant a
+British colony on the isthmus at Darien, a little east of the Panama
+route. The pioneer was William Paterson, a Scotsman, who founded "the
+Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies." Sir Walter Scott,
+in his "Tales of a Grandfather," thus describes the project:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The produce of China, Japan, the Spice Islands, and Eastern
+India, brought to the Bay of Panama, were to be transferred
+across the isthmus to the new settlement, and exchanged for
+the commodities of Europe. In Paterson's enthusiastic words,
+"This door of the seas and key of the universe will enable
+its possessors to become the legislators of both worlds and
+the arbitrators of commerce. The settlers at Darien will
+acquire a nobler empire than Alexander or C&aelig;sar, without
+fatigue, expense, or danger, as well as without incurring
+the guilt and bloodshed of conquerors."</p></div>
+
+<p>So 1,200 settlers set sail from Leith in July 1698, no doubt with a high
+hope and courage. In November the expedition arrived and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>established
+itself at a point of the coast still called Puerto Escoces, or Scotch
+Port, in Caledonian Bay, also named from the same event. "New Edinburgh"
+and "New St. Andrews" were founded, but the settlers soon got into
+difficulties. The climate was intolerable, and the project was opposed
+from the outset by the English and Dutch East India Companies, who were
+alarmed on the score of their own exclusive rights, while Spaniards and
+Indians were a perpetual menace. Broken down by these adversities the
+original settlers left the place, but were succeeded at once by another
+company which, after some successful fighting with the Spaniards, were
+compelled by the superior forces of the enemy to evacuate the
+settlements in the year 1700. It is possible that if this attempt at
+colonization had been made after and not before the Union of Scotland
+and Ireland it would have met with much less opposition in England,
+perhaps would have received government sympathy and support. In that
+case the isthmus would have been added to the British dominions, and a
+waterway might have been constructed under the British flag. It should
+be added that Paterson, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>who had personally surveyed the isthmus,
+positively declared that the construction of a canal was a feasible
+undertaking.</p>
+
+<p>During the eighteenth century, though surveying was carried out in many
+parts of the isthmus by European engineers, the project of a canal was
+never seriously taken up. It may be remembered that in 1780 our own
+Nelson was at Nicaragua, annexing the lake and getting control of the
+interoceanic route in this region, but doing little more than injuring
+his own health. With the nineteenth century, however, events began to
+move at the isthmus. The great scientist, Alexander von Humboldt, spent
+the first few years of the new century in Mexico and Central America. In
+his "Political Essay on New Spain" he described the impervious isthmus,
+"the barrier against the waves of the Atlantic," as for ages "the
+bulwark of the independence of China and Japan."</p>
+
+<p>The absence of any water communication at the isthmus between the two
+oceans has indeed had highly important political and economic results.
+It kept East and West far asunder. It removed the west coast of North
+America from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>the colonizing rivalries of the Old World. England and the
+United States seemed for long ages only semiconscious of their
+territories on the Pacific which were awaiting colonization. Even in
+recent times very few emigrants from Europe, who went out with the
+intention of going far west, penetrated much further than Chicago or
+Manitoba. Population and industrial enterprise were concentrated in the
+east of Canada and the United States, and have only begun within modern
+times to move effectually westwards. England was indeed so indifferent
+about her territories along a far coast, which could be reached only
+round the Horn or by an almost impossible land-transit, that in the
+settlement of the Oregon boundary in the middle of last century she
+accepted a Canadian frontier-line much further north than would
+otherwise have contented her. She had at least as good a right to
+California and the territories to the northwards as the descendants of
+her revolted colonists. The absence of a waterway at the narrow lands
+secured to the United States and to England their expansion westwards,
+but imposed on the westward movement a very slow <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>and gradual pace. One
+result of the new canal will be a very rapid development of these
+Pacific slopes, especially those of British Columbia.</p>
+
+<p>The effect on South America of this complete severance of East and West
+has also been very important. The republics on the Pacific have been
+sheltered as much as possible from European influences. Immigration has
+been naturally restricted, the population, especially that of Chile,
+kept free from negro admixture, and the development of the countries
+effectually checked. The opening of the canal will, of course, have a
+contrary effect all along these lines.</p>
+
+<p>But, to return from this digression, Humboldt described six routes in
+Central America where a canal would be practicable, including that which
+was afterwards adopted at Panama. He investigated and discussed many
+physiographical questions in connection with the subject. There had
+arisen a general belief that the level of the Pacific was much higher
+than that of the Atlantic, and that a sea-level canal would therefore be
+impossible. Humboldt declared against this theory. But it is curious to
+find him favouring the idea that the construction of a tide-level <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>canal
+might have the effect of diverting the Gulf Stream from our shores, and
+thus making the climate of our British islands much more rigorous and
+inhospitable.</p>
+
+<p>The researches of Humboldt in the West Indies and Central America much
+interested the scientist's great fellow-countryman, Goethe. A passage
+from Goethe's "Conversations with Eckermann" is worth quoting as an
+example of prophecy wonderfully fulfilled:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Humboldt [said Goethe] has with great practical knowledge
+mentioned other points where, by utilizing some of the
+rivers which flow into the Gulf of Mexico, the end could
+perhaps be more advantageously attained than at Panama.
+Well, all this is reserved for the future, and for a great
+spirit of enterprise. But so much is certain: if a project
+of the kind succeeded in making it possible for ships of
+whatever lading or size to go through such a canal from the
+Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean, quite incalculable
+results would ensue for the whole of civilized and
+uncivilized humanity. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>I should be surprised, however, if
+the United States were to let the opportunity escape them of
+getting such an achievement into their own hands. We may
+expect this youthful Power, with its decided tendency
+westwards, in thirty or forty years to have also occupied
+and peopled the extensive tracts of land beyond the Rocky
+Mountains. We may further expect that along the whole
+Pacific coast, where Nature has already formed the largest
+and safest harbours, commercial cities of the utmost
+importance will gradually arise, to be the medium of trade
+between China, together with the East Indies, and the United
+States. Were this to happen, it would be not alone desirable
+but even almost necessary that merchantmen as well as
+men-of-war should maintain a more rapid connection between
+the west and east coasts of North America than has
+previously been possible by the wearisome, disagreeable, and
+costly voyage round Cape Horn. I repeat, then: it is
+absolutely indispensable for the United States to effect a
+way through from the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean,
+and I am certain they will compass it. This I should like to
+live to see, but I shall not. Secondly, I should like to
+live to see a connection established between the Danube and
+the Rhine. But this, too, is an undertaking so gigantic that
+I doubt its being accomplished, especially when I consider
+our German means. Thirdly and lastly, I should like to see
+the English in possession of a Suez Canal. These three great
+things I should like to live to see, and it would almost be
+worth while for their sakes to hold out for some fifty
+years.</p></div>
+
+<p>Many projects for canal construction, chiefly by the Nicaraguan route,
+were started and failed during the first half of the nineteenth century.
+The second decade of that century witnessed the revolt one by one of all
+the Spanish provinces in Central and South America. The Colombian
+Confederation, comprising Venezuela, Ecuador, and New Granada, achieved
+their independence in 1821. Panama quickly followed, and allied itself
+with New Granada (now <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>Colombia). In 1825 the Central American envoy to
+the United States urged the American government to co-operate in the
+canal enterprise with the states he represented. The result was that
+Henry Clay, the American Secretary of State, ordered an official survey
+at Nicaragua, and scheme followed scheme in quick succession. In 1829
+the King of Holland was granted a canal concession by the Nicaraguan
+government. This enterprise was frustrated by the outbreak of the
+revolution in the Netherlands and Belgium. It would be tedious to
+enumerate the many projects started during the following years. But it
+is worth recalling that Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, who was then a
+prisoner in the fortress of Ham, became interested in the subject, and
+while still a captive obtained a concession and franchise for a canal
+company from the Nicaraguan government. He published a pamphlet on the
+Isthmian Canal question which aroused a good deal of attention, though
+its author's interest was soon diverted to political events nearer home.
+A passage from his little book is interesting for its strong advocacy of
+the Nicaraguan route by the San Juan River and the lakes:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The geographical position of Constantinople rendered her the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>
+queen of the ancient world. Occupying, as she does, the
+central point between Europe, Asia, and Africa, she could
+become the entrepot of the commerce of all these countries,
+and obtain over them immense preponderance; for in politics,
+as in strategy, a central position always commands the
+circumference. This is what the proud city of Constantine
+could be, but it is what she is not, because, as Montesquieu
+says, "God permitted that the Turks should exist on earth,
+as a people most fit to possess uselessly a great empire."
+There exists in the New World a state as admirably situated
+as Constantinople, and we must say, up to this time, as
+uselessly occupied. We allude to the State of Nicaragua. As
+Constantinople is the centre of the Ancient World, so is the
+town of Leon the centre of the New, and if the tongue of
+land which separates its two lakes from the Pacific Ocean
+were cut through, she would command by virtue of her central
+position the entire coast of North and South America. The
+State of Nicaragua <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>can become, better than Constantinople,
+the necessary route of the great commerce of the world, and
+is destined to attain an extraordinary degree of prosperity
+and grandeur. France, England, and Holland have a great
+commercial interest in the establishment of a communication
+between the two oceans, but England has more than the other
+Powers&mdash;a political interest in the execution of this
+project. England will see with pleasure Central America
+becoming a powerful and flourishing state, which will
+establish a balance of power by creating in Spanish America
+a new centre of active enterprise, powerful enough to give
+rise to a feeling of nationality, and to prevent, by backing
+Mexico, any further encroachments from the north.</p></div>
+
+<p>The idea of a trans-isthmian canal seemed likely in the 'fifties of last
+century to prove a cause of discord, if not of war, between England and
+the United States. Under the rather "pushful" foreign policy of Lord
+Palmerston, England rapidly increased her influence and possessions <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>in
+Central America. In 1835 "British Honduras" was practically constituted
+a British colony, and British influence was subsequently extended into
+Nicaragua and Mosquitia, thus covering the favourite route for an
+isthmian waterway. The United States were establishing themselves on the
+Pacific through their encroachments on Mexico. In 1846 they acquired the
+states of California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico, and naturally
+began to attach more importance to the canal project and to feel more
+sensitive as regards rival ambitions in Central America. Soon after they
+had acquired these Pacific territories, began the great rush for gold to
+California, and some shorter way from east to west became necessary than
+the sea-trail round the Horn or the weary wagon-trek over the broad
+North American continent. Already in 1846, before the Mexican War and
+the discovery of gold in California, the United States had made a treaty
+with New Granada, by which the former secured rights of transit over the
+isthmus "upon any modes of communication that now exist or may hereafter
+be constructed," and by which they guaranteed the sovereignty <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>of New
+Granada over all the territories at the isthmus.</p>
+
+<p>It was under this treaty that the Panama Railway was constructed which
+brought the town of Colon (formerly Aspinwall) into existence, and was
+subsequently taken over by the United States government. This railroad
+made the isthmus for the first time a highway of world-traffic. It had a
+monopoly of isthmian transportation, and was able to make any charges it
+pleased. Steamship services to the southern and northern coasts of
+America from Panama were developed, and the railway succeeded so well
+that it paid down to 1895 an average dividend of 15 per cent. It was
+bought by the first French Panama Company for the outrageously high sum
+of &pound;5,100,000. The existence of the railway really determined De
+Lesseps' choice of the Panama route, and the immense amount of
+excavation done by the French had a great deal to do in turn with the
+American choice of the same route, so that the construction of the
+Panama Railway was a highly important event at the isthmus. The United
+States took over the railroad from the French with the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>unfinished
+canal, together with a steamship service from Colon to New York, owned
+by the railroad.</p>
+
+<p>The rivalry between England and the United States along the Nicaraguan
+route became so acute and dangerous that a very important treaty was
+concluded between the two countries in 1850, when we may say that the
+Panama Canal question entered the domain of modern politics. The
+Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, so-called from Mr. John M. Clayton, the American
+Secretary of State, and Sir Henry Bulwer, British Minister at
+Washington, who negotiated it, held the field for fifty years, and
+became the subject of endless discussion between England and the United
+States.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTE:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Herodotus tells a story how the people of Knidos were
+forbidden by the Delphic oracle to make a canal through the isthmus,
+along which their Persian enemies could advance by land to attack them.
+The oracle said that if Zeus had wished the place to be an island he
+would have made it one. There is a curious resemblance between this
+story and that related in the text.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE CLAYTON-BULWER TREATY AND<br /> THE SUEZ CANAL.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The treaty of 1850 was concerned primarily with a canal along the
+Nicaraguan route&mdash;that is, as the preamble expresses it, a canal
+"between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by way of the river San Juan de
+Nicaragua and either or both of the lakes of Nicaragua or Managua to any
+port or place on the Pacific Ocean." But as Article VIII. says, it
+established "a general principle" relating to any waterway across the
+isthmus between North and South America. The two contracting parties
+undertook in the treaty that neither should "obtain or maintain for
+itself any exclusive control over the said canal," or "maintain any
+fortifications commanding the same, or in the vicinity thereof," or
+"occupy, or fortify, or colonize, or assume, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>or exercise any dominion
+over Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito Coast, or any part of Central
+America." This agreement, as I said, subsisted for fifty years, but it
+was scarcely concluded when it was found inconsistent with the growing
+importance and ambition of the United States, where a demand quickly
+arose for an American-owned canal.</p>
+
+<p>Again there followed a series of schemes for canal construction at
+various points of the isthmus. For example, Dr. Edgar Cullen created
+some excitement in England in the early Victorian days by giving a very
+favourable account of the Caledonian route across the isthmus at Darien,
+in a lecture to the Royal Geographical Society. The doctor was received
+by the young queen and the Prince Consort, a corporation was formed, and
+an engineer sent out to make surveys from Caledonian Bay. A British and
+a French man-of-war were dispatched to the isthmus to make
+investigations. But the surveyor was driven from Caledonian Bay by local
+tribes, and so went on to Panama, giving a favourable report of that
+route on his return to England. But nothing came of these incidents,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>and the American Civil War in the early 'sixties diverted the attention
+of the United States from isthmian affairs. At the end of the war
+American interest revived, and public opinion set more and more against
+the idea of sharing a canal with any other Power. In 1869 President
+Grant gave the first public expression to the demand for an American
+canal under American control. "I regard it," he said, "as of vast
+political importance to this country that no European government should
+hold such a work." Later, in an article in the <i>North American Review</i>,
+he said, "I commend an American canal, on American soil, to the American
+people."</p>
+
+<p>Just before the President's declaration of policy the United States had
+concluded an important treaty, known as the "Dickinson-Ayon Treaty,"
+with Nicaragua, securing a right of way for a canal over the Nicaraguan
+route; and, just afterwards, President Grant appointed an Interoceanic
+Canal Commission which investigated four routes for a canal, and
+finally, in 1875, reported unanimously in favour of the Nicaraguan route
+from Grey town to the San Juan River, to Lake Nicaragua, through the Rio
+del <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>Medio and Rio Grande valleys, to Brito on the Pacific coast.</p>
+
+<p>In 1869 an event occurred which was to have a very decisive effect on
+isthmian affairs&mdash;the opening for traffic of the Suez Canal. These two
+isthmuses in the eastern and western hemispheres have some obvious
+features in common. They both link two vast continents and form a
+barrier between two oceans or oceanic systems. They are fairly equal in
+breadth&mdash;Suez, sixty miles, and Panama about fifty-four. The shortest
+line across each runs almost exactly north and south. And they were both
+until recent times uninhabited country. But there are many
+dissimilarities. The isthmus at Suez is a flat and sterile desert; that
+at Panama is hilly and covered with an almost impenetrable jungle of
+tropical vegetation. Again, Suez is a healthy district, whereas Panama
+was, until recent years, a pest-house as deadly as Sierra Leone or the
+Guinea coast.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Bryce in his charming book on "South America" compares these two
+inter-continental causeways from a more historical point of view. He
+writes:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>A still more remarkable contrast, between these two necks of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>
+land, lies in the part they have respectively played in
+human affairs. The isthmus of Panama in far-off prehistoric
+days has been the highway along which those wandering tribes
+whose forefathers had passed in their canoes from
+North-eastern Asia along the Aleutian Isles into Alaska
+found their way, after many centuries, into the vast spaces
+of South America. But its place in the annals of mankind,
+during the four centuries that have elapsed since Balboa
+gazed from a mountain top rising out of the forest upon the
+far-off waters of the South Sea, has been small indeed
+compared to that which the isthmus of Suez has held from the
+beginning of history. It echoed to the tread of the armies
+of Thothmes and Rameses marching forth on their invasions of
+Western Asia. Along the edge of it Israel fled forth before
+the hosts of Pharaoh. First the Assyrian and afterwards the
+Persian hosts poured across it to conquer Egypt; and over
+its sands Bonaparte led his regiments to Palestine <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>in that
+bold adventure which was stopped at St. Jean d'Acre. It has
+been one of the great highways for armies for forty
+centuries, as the canal cut through it is now one of the
+great highways for commerce.</p>
+
+<p>The turn of the isthmus of Panama is now come, and,
+curiously enough, it is the isthmus of Suez that brought
+that turn, for it was the digging of a ship canal from the
+Mediterranean to the Red Sea, and the vast expansion of
+Eastern trade which followed, that led to the revival of the
+old designs, mooted as far back as Philip II. of Spain, of
+piercing the American isthmus. Thus the comparison of the
+two isthmuses becomes now more interesting than ever, for
+our generation will watch to see whether the commerce and
+politics of the Western World will be affected by this new
+route which is now being opened, as those of the Old World
+have been affected by the achievement of Ferdinand de
+Lesseps.</p></div>
+
+<p>It will be seen from this quotation how the completion of the Suez Canal
+affected the Panama <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>project. Lesseps, fresh from his success at Suez
+and not contented with his great achievement there, was easily attracted
+by the schemes which were afoot for constructing a ship canal at another
+land-barrier which, like the isthmus at Suez, had obstructed the
+quickest lines of communication between East and West. In 1876 a
+corporation was established, called "La Soci&eacute;t&eacute; Civile Internationale du
+Canal Interoc&eacute;anique," for the purpose of promoting canal schemes on the
+lower isthmus. Its head was Lieutenant Lucien Napoleon Bonaparte Wyse,
+who easily obtained a canal concession at Bogot&aacute; from the Colombian
+government. In 1879 an International Engineering Congress was assembled
+at Paris by Lesseps, whose partisans compelled a decision in favour of
+the Panama route.</p>
+
+<p>But the United States, determined by this time to construct a canal for
+themselves without any joint control or international guarantee of
+neutrality, opposed the French scheme from the outset. No amount of
+bluff from the French promoters affected this opposition. The American
+people had indeed some right to complain. The Colombian concession to
+the French was quite <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>inconsistent with the treaty of 1846 between this
+South American republic and the United States. This treaty Lesseps tried
+to induce Colombia to abrogate, and every effort, fair and foul, was
+employed to overcome the American objection to the scheme. In 1880
+Lesseps was f&ecirc;ted at a public banquet at New York, but even the personal
+presence of the great man failed to have the desired effect. President
+Hayes addressed a strong message to the Senate on the subject, a few
+passages of which are interesting as showing the very decided views now
+held by the American government and people:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>An interoceanic canal across the American isthmus will
+essentially change the geographical relations between the
+Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States, and
+between the United States and the rest of the world. It will
+be the great ocean thoroughfare between our Atlantic and our
+Pacific shores, and virtually a part of the coastline of the
+United States. Our mere commercial interest in it is larger
+than that of all other countries, while its relation to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>our
+power and prosperity as a nation, to our means of defence,
+our unity, peace, and safety, are matters of paramount
+concern to the people of the United States. No other great
+Power would, under similar circumstances, fail to assert a
+rightful control over a work so closely and vitally
+affecting its interests and welfare.</p>
+
+<p>Without urging further the grounds of my opinion, I repeat,
+in conclusion, that it is the right and the duty of the
+United States to assert and maintain such supervision and
+authority over any interoceanic canal across the isthmus
+that connects North and South America as will protect our
+national interests. This, I am quite sure, will be found not
+only compatible with, but promotive of, the widest and most
+permanent advantage to commerce and civilization.</p></div>
+
+<p>The reader will see that all this is inconsistent with the
+Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, under which the United States had actually
+undertaken to claim no such exclusive control as was now desired.
+Lengthy negotiations were now set <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>on foot with England for the
+abrogation of a treaty which forbade the United States to build a canal
+of their own and prevented them from effectually opposing the French
+scheme. Lord Granville, however, saw no reason why England should
+abandon the treaty solely in the interests of the United States, and the
+negotiations were fruitless.</p>
+
+<p>Meantime the French persisted in their undertaking. Their canal was to
+be tide-level, twenty-eight feet deep, costing &pound;26,400,000. A
+corporation entitled the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interoc&eacute;anique
+de Panama was formed in 1881, and in the same year the work of
+construction was begun. So it looked as though the Americans were to
+lose all chance of constructing an isthmian canal under their own
+control. Events, however, were to decide otherwise.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE FRENCH FAILURE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The French company began work on the isthmus in February, and such a
+rake's progress set in as the world has seldom seen. The name of
+Ferdinand de Lesseps inspired such confidence that plenty of money was
+forthcoming from the French people. A great deal of it was subscribed by
+small investors who could ill afford to lose their savings, and no fewer
+than 16,000 women took shares in their own names. The beginning of the
+excavations was celebrated with a "gala" performance in the little
+theatre at Panama, among the artistes being Sarah Bernhardt. Then began
+a drama or a melodrama of extravagance and profligacy lasting seven
+years. Money was poured out like the torrential flood-waters down the
+river Chagres. I have mentioned the exorbitant sum <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>which the company
+paid for the Panama Railway. All the expenditure was on the same scale.
+Princely salaries were paid to the managers and directors, and elegant
+mansions erected for their accommodation. Building
+operations&mdash;warehouses, hospitals, hotels, etc.&mdash;were carried on
+"regardless." Mr. W. F. Johnson tells of a man who owned thirty acres of
+land useful mainly as a breeding-place for mosquitoes, but lying right
+across the route of the canal. It was worth perhaps 300 dollars. The man
+demanded just a thousand times that sum; the Colombian courts awarded
+it, and the French paid it. For one great mistake the French made was
+that they failed to secure a canal zone in which they would have
+exercised full powers of administration. They began to build their canal
+on Colombian territory, under Colombian control, and the consequence was
+that they were fleeced on every side. Probably this mistake was
+inevitable, as the United States would have vetoed any territorial
+concession by Colombia to France as a transgression of the Monroe
+doctrine.</p>
+
+<p>The isthmus rapidly degenerated into a moral as well as a climatic
+pest-house. Froude described <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>the condition of things at Panama in one
+terrible sentence: "In all the world there is perhaps not now
+concentrated in any single spot so much swindling and villainy, so much
+foul disease, such a hideous dung-heap of moral and physical
+abomination." In fairness, however, it must be said that Lesseps himself
+cannot be held directly responsible for this state of affairs. He lived
+in Paris, and had probably little notion of what was happening at
+Panama. He furnished an example of the proverbial effects of too much
+success and prosperity. He seems to have become a superstitious believer
+in his own star, and to have thought that nothing could fail with which
+he was associated. Still less can the French nation be blamed for the
+wild doings of their representatives at the isthmus. And there is at
+least one redeeming feature in the conduct of this enterprise. In the
+midst of the moral and physical abominations that infested the isthmus
+during the French occupation, the engineering work went on steadily and
+conscientiously. Much of the French work was available for the Americans
+when they took over the task, and the engineers of the United <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>States
+have always testified generously to the excellence of the French
+excavation and construction along the Canal route.</p>
+
+<p>It must be carefully noted that the French canal was to be sea-level
+like the Suez, Corinth, and Kiel Canals. The construction of such a
+waterway differed in many important ways from that of the high-level
+lock canal which the United States have completed. To understand this we
+must consider briefly the character of the country which lies between
+Panama and Colon. The dominant and decisive features of the isthmus at
+this point are the Chagres River and the Culebra Mountains. The Chagres
+enters the Caribbean a little west of Colon. Its valley runs right
+across the isthmus south-south-eastwardly towards Panama for about
+twenty-six miles, then, at a place called Bas Opisbo, suddenly swerves
+away to the north-east into the trackless and jungle-clad hill country.
+This valley is the only transverse trench which the isthmus affords at
+this stretch, and it has always fixed the attention of surveyors looking
+out for a canal site. If the isthmus had been a rainless desert like
+that of Suez, a canal could have been <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>constructed by a further
+preparation of this river valley and some heavy excavations along the
+nine-mile reach from Obispo to the Pacific. The sea would then have been
+admitted, the ebb and flow of the Pacific (the Atlantic shore is almost
+tideless) being regulated by a tidal lock. But the problem is not nearly
+so simple. The isthmus is one of the rainiest places in the world,
+enjoying on the Atlantic side 140 inches of rain a year. At Panama the
+rate is much smaller, not more than 60 inches. In the central hills the
+rainfall averages 90 to 95 inches. The average number of rainy days in
+the year is 246 at Bohio (inland on the Atlantic side), 196 at Colon,
+and 141 at Panama. The reader must not imagine a perpetual downpour or
+drizzle. The rain comes down in thundering tropical cataracts, leaving
+spaces of fine weather between the storms. Still, the isthmus is
+undoubtedly rainy and damp, and it is this humidity which makes the
+climate so trying, though the variations of the thermometer are by no
+means extreme and the average air temperature not particularly high. For
+example, the average temperature at Panama ranges <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>from 81.6 Fahrenheit
+in November to 86.1 in March&mdash;that is, during the hottest time of the
+day, from two to four o'clock p.m. The coolest time is from six to seven
+a.m., when the average temperature ranges between 74.0 in January to
+76.6 in June. The yearly average daily temperature is 79.6. The
+thermometer seems never to have recorded 100 degrees Fahrenheit at
+Panama, whereas 104 has been touched even at Washington.</p>
+
+<p>But to return to the Chagres River. The tropical rains convert this
+stream very quickly into a raging torrent. The Chagres is capable of
+rising over forty feet in twenty-four hours. If the Chagres valley was
+to be the site of the canal, as was obviously necessary, how did the
+French propose to "care for" this tremendous and capricious flow of
+water? Mr. Johnson remarks that "those who have seen the antics of the
+Chagres under the stress of a characteristic isthmian rain must be
+pardoned if they regard the harnessing of the Chagres to the canal as
+something much like the harnessing of a mad elephant to a family
+carriage." The only course open to the French with their sea-level
+project <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>was to divert the Chagres with its twenty-six tributaries,
+chief of which are the Gatun and the Trinidad, from its old valley into
+another channel, along which it could rage as it pleased on its short
+journey to the Caribbean. This would have been a tremendous, though
+probably not an impossible, task. The New Panama Company, which took the
+French work from the Lesseps Company in 1893, dropped the tide-level in
+favour of a lock or high-level canal, and adopted the plan of a dam
+across the river valley at Bohio, creating a lake above this point and
+discharging the flood waters to the level below by means of a spillway
+in the adjacent hills. We shall see later how the Americans adopted the
+same principle but modified it in practice.</p>
+
+<p>So much at present for the Chagres problem. The other main feature of
+the isthmus is met with about the point where the river suddenly changes
+its direction&mdash;that is at Bas Obispo, or Gamboa, about nine miles from
+the Pacific outlet. Here are the hills, the backbone or "continental
+divide," averaging over 300 feet high but rising to much higher points,
+which connects the Cordilleras of South with the Sierras of North
+America. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>For eight or nine miles the canal must run through this
+central barrier on its way to the Pacific. The earliest French notion
+was for a ship tunnel&mdash;a project perhaps never seriously contemplated.
+The only other course was to cut right down through this hilly country.
+That was a tremendous undertaking, which required, even for its
+inception, a good deal of the faith which is said to be able to "remove
+mountains." We shall look more closely at the famous "Culebra Cut" when
+we come to the American canal. Most of the work of the French companies
+consisted of the dredging of the sea-level channels at the Atlantic and
+Pacific ends. But they drove a pretty deep furrow as well through the
+Culebra Mountains, excavating in all about 22,600,000 cubic yards.</p>
+
+<p>With their sea-level scheme the French had, of course, a bigger
+proposition before them at the hills than their American successors.
+They would have had to cut right down below sea-level, whereas the
+bottom of the cut in the American lock-canal is forty feet above that
+level. Considering the difficulty the United States engineers have had
+with "slides" and "breaks" along the sides of their cutting, one
+suspects <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>that the much deeper and narrower channel of the French would
+have proved impracticable. The French scheme gave a width to the channel
+at this point of only 74 feet, while the bottom width of the American
+canal is 300 feet. The French work at the "Cut" was all utilizable by
+the Americans, who, though with different machinery, adopted the same
+general method of excavation.</p>
+
+<p>In 1888 the French company suspended payments and went into bankruptcy.
+The canal was completed to the extent of about two-fifths, and had
+already cost nearly &pound;80,000,000. It was said at the time that about
+one-third of this sum was spent on the canal, one-third wasted, and
+one-third stolen. The original capital with the eight subscription lists
+between 1882 and 1888 produced nominally &pound;78,701,020, but actually only
+&pound;40,309,348, the loss in discounts, etc., amounting to &pound;38,391,672. The
+collapse of the company was followed by investigations and trials in
+France. Ten senators and deputies, together with the directors, were
+brought to trial. Ferdinand and his son Charles de Lesseps were, among
+others, condemned to fines and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>imprisonment, but the sentences upon the
+Lesseps were never carried out. Neither the son nor the father was
+probably responsible for the iniquities which had marked the history of
+the company. The genius who had created the Suez Canal was indeed
+completely broken down by the tragical conclusion of his second venture,
+and died in 1894 in a condition of mental and physical collapse.</p>
+
+<p>But financial profligacy was not the only cause of the French failure.
+Disease and death fought against the enterprise from the first. Yellow
+fever and malaria caused as much mortality among the French employees as
+would suffice for a great military campaign. Sir Ronald Ross, the great
+expert in tropical diseases, was told in 1904, when at the isthmus, that
+the French attempt cost at least 50,000 lives. This may have been an
+over-estimate, but there is no doubt that the mortality was terrible,
+and would probably have brought the French operations to an end even if
+greater economy and honesty had prevailed in the administration. It must
+not be supposed that the French made no provision for the victims of
+these endemic diseases. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>Excellent hospitals were built at Ancon, near
+Panama, at a cost of over a million of money; while those at Colon cost
+more than a quarter of a million&mdash;in both cases about three times a fair
+and honest price. At the time of the French occupation of the isthmus
+nothing was known of the real nature and cause of yellow fever and
+malaria, of the manner in which they are transmitted, and the only
+effective means of prevention. All the recent and marvellous advance in
+scientific knowledge of these diseases was available when the Americans
+began their work, and was applied with the greatest efficiency and
+success. Medical science, quite as much as engineering skill, made a
+Panama canal possible, and we shall have a good deal more to say on this
+subject when we come to describe the American operations.</p>
+
+<p>Let us not forget, then, that despite their failure the French did a
+great deal of good work, which they passed on many years afterwards to
+their American successors. A quantity of the French machinery, tools,
+and hardware was also available. It is true that among this was included
+a large consignment of snow-shovels <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>(for use at sea-level less than 10
+degrees from the Equator!), and a quantity of petroleum torches for the
+festivities which were one day to celebrate the completion of the canal.
+But a great deal of the plant was in good condition. The extravagance
+and corruption which prevailed at the isthmus during the first French
+company were almost incredible. But it may be doubted whether any other
+nation could have succeeded in the 'eighties of last century where the
+French failed.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE HAY-PAUNCEFOTE TREATY.</h2>
+
+
+<p>In 1893 a new corporation, known as the New Panama Canal Company, took
+over all the assets of the De Lesseps Company, including the railway,
+and the work of construction was continued, or at least not wholly
+interrupted. Meanwhile the people of the United States were not greatly
+displeased at the collapse of the great French enterprise. They became
+more and more determined to construct an American canal under American
+control. The Nicaraguan route was still favoured by many as compared
+with that at Panama. In 1887 a surveying party was sent to Nicaragua,
+and the next year the Maritime Canal Company was established to promote
+the building of a canal there. It is important to notice this particular
+scheme, for under it work was actually begun. Wharves, warehouses, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>a breakwater were constructed at Greytown, a railway was built, and
+some progress made with the canal itself. Outside the Panama route this
+was the only actual work of canal construction performed in Isthmian and
+Central America. The project failed owing to the great depression of
+trade which occurred in 1893 and the impossibility of getting more
+capital. It should be noticed that these projects of constructing an
+American canal at Nicaragua quite independently of Great Britain were
+right in the teeth of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850, which still
+remained in force. Most sensible persons saw that the first preliminary
+to an American canal was to get this treaty abrogated or modified. But
+this purpose and canal schemes in general were delayed by the outbreak
+in 1898 of the Spanish-American War.</p>
+
+<p>This was a naval war, and the United States were to feel the
+inconvenience and danger of having no sea communication between their
+eastern and western coasts except <i>via</i> the far southern extremity of
+the continent. United fleet action over the whole theatre of the war was
+rendered impossible. An event soon occurred <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>which finally completed the
+conviction of the American people that, in the words of President Grant,
+"an American canal on American soil" was a national necessity. At the
+beginning of the war the battleship <i>Oregon</i>, one of the finest ships in
+the United States navy, lay off San Francisco. She was not wanted there,
+but she was very badly wanted at the West Indies, the main scene of the
+naval struggle. To get there the <i>Oregon</i> had to sail 13,400 miles round
+Cape Horn instead of 4,600 miles <i>via</i> a Panama canal, if there had been
+one. Everybody in the United States knew that the precious warship was
+making that perilous journey exposed all the way to the attack of the
+enemy. If she had been lost, the course of the war might have been very
+different, and even the delay of this long passage was a serious
+consideration at so critical a time. However, the vessel arrived safely
+and in a record time off Florida, and the suspense and anxiety of the
+American people were changed into jubilation. But "never again" was the
+moral they drew from this painful and exciting experience.</p>
+
+<p>At the end of the war a fresh canal campaign broke out in Congress, the
+claims of Nicaragua <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>and Panama being urged by their respective
+champions. The outcome of this rivalry was the appointment of a
+commission, the third of the kind, to go to the isthmus and investigate
+both Nicaragua and Panama. We shall have something to say about the
+report of this commission, which was issued in December 1900. But
+already, before that appeared, negotiations had been set on foot between
+the United States and Great Britain with regard to the Clayton-Bulwer
+Treaty. Allusions to the subject by Mr. M'Kinley in his second message
+to Congress had brought the question prominently before the people of
+both countries. The president had spoken thus:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>That the construction of such a maritime highway is now more
+than ever indispensable to that intimate and ready
+communication between our eastern and western seaboards
+demanded by the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands and the
+prospective expansion of our influence and commerce in the
+Pacific, and that our national policy now more imperatively
+than ever calls for its control by this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>government, are
+propositions which I doubt not the Congress will duly
+appreciate and wisely act upon.</p></div>
+
+<p>It is obvious that the annexation by the United States of Hawaii and the
+Philippines, the beginnings of an American oversea empire, had greatly
+strengthened the case for a canal owned and controlled by the United
+States, and bringing the eastern coasts, the governmental centre of the
+States, into far more direct communication with these new acquisitions
+in the west.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. M'Kinley's pronouncement was soon followed by conversations between
+Mr. John Hay, the American Secretary of State, and Lord Pauncefote,
+British Ambassador at Washington. The result was a treaty which was laid
+before the Senate in February 1900. This first attempt, however, was
+unsuccessful. The American people were annoyed to find that it did not
+abrogate the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, but left the United States with
+something very short of that independent control which they desired.
+Amendments were introduced, and, so altered, the treaty was ratified by
+the Senate on December 20, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>1900. But in this new shape it proved
+unacceptable to the British government, and it was permitted to lapse;
+Lord Lansdowne, however, suggesting that another attempt at agreement
+should be made.</p>
+
+<p>It may be asked why Great Britain, who had hitherto taken the view that
+it had nothing to gain, and perhaps much to lose, from the
+reconsideration of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, should now have been so
+willing to bring it under review. There was a variety of reasons. The
+government of the United States had protested for nearly fifty years
+against the agreement, and this pertinacity, together with the changed
+conditions since the Spanish-American War, may have weighed with the
+British government. Then the Alaskan boundary question was at that time
+still under discussion between the two countries, and a settlement was
+proving difficult. An obstinate resistance to the United States over the
+canal question might have continued that deadlock indefinitely. At this
+time, too, England was at the beginning of the Boer War, and finding
+that business a good deal more intricate than she had expected. The
+sentiment <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>of Anglo-American friendship had also grown much warmer since
+the days when Lord Granville had repulsed the advances of Mr. Blaine.</p>
+
+<p>In November 1901 a new treaty made its appearance. This was ratified by
+the Senate without amendment, and was ultimately concluded between the
+two Powers, being known as the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p>
+
+<p>It is very important to note the provisions of this treaty, because it
+establishes what is known as the political "status" of the new canal.
+The Hay-Pauncefote expressly supersedes the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty and
+provides for the construction of a canal (mentioning no particular
+route) "under the auspices of the government of the United States,"
+which country is "to have and enjoy all the rights incident to such
+construction, as well as the exclusive right of providing for the
+regulation and management of the canal." It adopts the principles of
+"neutralization" which were embodied in the Treaty of Constantinople of
+1888 in connection with the Suez Canal. Both treaties provide for:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>1. Freedom of transit in time of peace or war for the vessels of all
+nations.</p>
+
+<p>2. Freedom of the canal and its terminals from blockade.</p>
+
+<p>3. A code of procedure for war-vessels entering or leaving the canal.</p>
+
+<p>No special reference is made to the question of fortification, but the
+United States are to be at liberty to maintain such military police
+along the canal as may be necessary to protect it against lawlessness
+and disorder. A treaty, however, subsequently concluded between the
+United States and the Republic of Panama (known as the Hay-Bunau-Varilla
+Treaty) contains the following provision:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>If it should become necessary at any time to employ armed
+forces for the safety and protection of the canal, or of the
+ships that make use of the same, or the railways and
+auxiliary works, the United States shall have the right, at
+all times and in its discretion, to use its police and its
+land and naval forces or to establish fortifications for
+these purposes.</p></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>But the most important provision of all related to the question of the
+charges and other conditions of traffic through the canal. The meaning
+of the section seems plain enough, though it became a subject of rather
+acute controversy:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The canal shall be free and open to the vessels of commerce
+and war of all nations observing these rules, on terms of
+entire equality; so that there shall be no discrimination
+against any such nation, or its citizens or subjects, in
+respect of the conditions and charges of traffic, or
+otherwise. Such conditions and charges of traffic shall be
+just and equitable.</p></div>
+
+<p>This provision is reaffirmed in Article XVIII. of the Hay-Bunau-Varilla
+Treaty. There is no doubt that the British government regarded this
+promise of equal treatment as some compensation for the surrender of
+those rights of joint construction and control which Great Britain
+enjoyed under the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. In fact, Mr. Hay, in a
+memorandum he sent to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations,
+described <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>the treaty as a sort of contract between Great Britain and
+the United States by which the former gave up those rights just
+mentioned in return for the "rules and principles" included in the new
+treaty, the chief among these being, of course, the provision about
+equality of treatment for all nations.</p>
+
+<p>It was, therefore, a surprise when the United States government decided
+that the expression "all nations" did not include the United States
+themselves, and that it was quite open to them to give preferential
+treatment to their "coastwise" traffic. Under the term "coastwise" the
+United States include the sea-traffic not only between ports along a
+continuous coast, but between such points as San Francisco or Washington
+and the Philippine Islands. As a matter of fact, an amendment proposed
+by Mr. Burd in the Senate, reserving to the United States the right of
+favouring its "coastwise" traffic, had been defeated, when the new
+treaty was under discussion.</p>
+
+<p>But, leaving these controversial questions, the most important thing for
+us to notice is that the Panama Canal has what is known as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>an
+"international status." It is not quite the sole and absolute property
+of the United States in the sense in which the Kiel Canal belongs to
+Germany, the Corinth Canal to Greece, and the Amsterdam or North Sea
+Canal to the Netherlands. Its status is governed by treaties which
+impose certain obligations and restrictions upon the United States and
+lay down certain rules of administration. It was intended at first to
+make the status of the Panama and the Suez Canal identical. But there
+are considerable differences. The "neutrality" of the Suez Canal is
+guaranteed by all the Powers of Europe, that of the Panama Canal by two
+only, England and the United States, and it is safeguarded and
+maintained by the United States alone. Then the Suez Canal is and must
+remain unfortified, while the Panama Canal will be strongly fortified by
+the United States.</p>
+
+<p>The reader may wonder what precisely is meant by the word "neutral" as
+applied to the new waterway. The position will be as nearly as possible
+that indicated by Dr. Vaughan Cornish in the following passage:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>If there be a war in which the United States is not a party,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>
+the canal will be used by belligerents in exactly the same
+way as was the Suez Canal&mdash;for example, in the
+Russo-Japanese War&mdash;and the government of the United States
+has pledged itself to see that such neutrality is preserved.
+But if there be a war in which the United States is a party,
+the circumstances of fortification and operation by the
+United States in fact render it impossible for the other
+belligerent to use the canal, and are intended to have that
+effect. This being so, the United States is preparing to
+defend the canal from attack. Thus it is important to the
+proper understanding of the undertaking on which the United
+States government has embarked that we should clearly
+realize that the canal is only neutral in a restricted
+sense.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>As a matter of fact the status of the Panama Canal lies somewhere
+between neutralization and American control. The Hay-Pauncefote Treaty
+also lays down the rules which are to be observed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>by the ships of war
+of a belligerent using the canal and the waters adjacent to the
+canal&mdash;that is, within three marine miles of either end. They are
+similar to those in force at Suez, and need not be repeated here.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Appendix i.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> "The Panama Canal and its Makers," pp. 42, 43.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE UNITED STATES AND COLOMBIA.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Those citizens of the United States who thought that with the
+disappearance of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty all the difficulties in the
+way of obtaining a canal of their own had also disappeared were doomed
+to a severe disappointment. They had not reckoned with a South American
+republic on the verge of bankruptcy and suddenly presented with a
+glorious opportunity to fill its empty treasury. Two preliminaries were
+necessary before the United States could settle down at the isthmus of
+Panama to the work of canal construction. They had to purchase the
+concession, the unfinished works and the other assets of the New Panama
+Company, at as reasonable a price as they could obtain; and, secondly,
+it was necessary to conclude a treaty with Colombia, securing to the
+United <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>States on satisfactory terms the perpetual control of a strip of
+territory on the isthmus from sea to sea within which the canal could be
+constructed.</p>
+
+<p>The first of these undertakings presented, as it turned out, no great
+difficulty. The New Panama Company had begun to despair of its own
+ability to get a canal finished across the isthmus, and to realize that
+their best course was to transfer the whole business to the United
+States. This disposition had been greatly strengthened by the Report of
+the Third Canal Commission, issued in December 1900. Probably the
+members of the commission were convinced of the advantages of the Panama
+route and the desirability of continuing the work of the French
+engineers. But they were shrewd people. They dwelt in their report on
+the improbability that the New Panama Company would sell its property to
+the United States, and on the difficulty of getting the Colombian
+concession transferred. They decided, therefore, that "the most
+practicable and feasible route for an isthmian canal to be under the
+control, management, and ownership of the United States is that known as
+the Nicaraguan route."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>The commission probably foresaw the effect such a decision was likely to
+have on the directors and shareholders of the New Panama Company. If an
+American canal were constructed at Nicaragua, all the property and work
+of the company at Panama would be thrown on the scrap-heap. The company
+estimated the value of its property at $109,141,500, a price which the
+commission, representing the American government, declined to look at.
+The commission thought $40,000,000 quite enough for the property, and so
+completely were the Americans master of the situation that that price
+was agreed upon in January 1902. The commission thereupon issued a
+supplementary report, which reversed the former decision and recommended
+the Panama route and the purchase of the French property.</p>
+
+<p>Then arose in the Congress of the United States a tremendous conflict
+between the Nicaraguans and the Panamanians, the champions of the two
+routes which had so long been in rivalry. The former party insisted that
+Panama was farther from the United States than Nicaragua, and therefore
+the journey from the eastern to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>western seaboard of the States
+would be longer. They argued that Panama was unfavourable to sailing
+vessels on account of the prevailing calms on that coast; that it would
+be easier to deal with Costa Rica and Nicaragua than with Colombia; and
+that Nicaragua was "the traditional American route" as compared with the
+Frenchified Panama. The claims of the old Darien route were also
+advanced. This was probably done by American railway people who were
+against any canal, for the Darien route would have involved a rock
+tunnel five miles long and three hundred feet broad, the attempt to
+achieve which would probably have ended all canal adventures at the
+isthmus.</p>
+
+<p>From these discussions emerged the celebrated "Spooner Bill," under
+which the Panama Canal has been constructed. It empowered the American
+government to secure the rights and property of the Panama Company for
+not more than $40,000,000; to obtain from Colombia the perpetual control
+of a strip of land, not less than six miles wide, in which the canal
+should run; and then to proceed with the work. But if it should prove
+impossible to come to terms with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>Colombia and the New Panama Company,
+then the Nicaraguan project was to be revived. We shall see how, in the
+sequel, this latter proviso came very near fulfilment. But, as a matter
+of fact, the Spooner Bill marks the end of the great battle of the
+routes which had lasted for four centuries.</p>
+
+<p>The purchase price of the New Panama Company's property was happily
+settled, but the purchase was of course conditional on the conclusion of
+a satisfactory agreement between the United States and Colombia. It was
+no use for the United States to acquire unfinished canal-works if they
+were to be prevented from continuing and completing them. The situation
+was interesting. The Republic of Colombia was extremely "hard up." Its
+currency was debased, its treasury empty, its debt rapidly increasing
+through a large annual deficit. The government, if one may so express
+it, of the Colombian Republic was therefore not likely to overlook the
+chance of "making a bit" out of the necessities of the bigger and richer
+republic farther north. The United States wished to get their concession
+as cheaply as possible; Colombia wished to sell as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>dearly as possible.
+This is not infrequently the case with buyers and sellers; but Colombia
+pushed her haggling a little too far, and in the end very badly
+overreached herself.</p>
+
+<p>The United States began by proposing terms on which they might obtain
+the desired strip of territory. The conditions were carefully laid down.
+The territory was to remain under Colombian sovereignty, but to be
+administered by the United States. Sanitary and police services were to
+be maintained by both governments jointly. Colombia was to police the
+zone, with the help of the United States if necessary. But the business
+terms were chiefly interesting to Colombia. The United States were to
+pay Colombia a bonus of $7,000,000 in cash, and after fourteen years an
+annuity of $250,000. These terms, which were not ungenerous, the
+Colombian minister at Washington declined to accept.</p>
+
+<p>A brilliant idea had, indeed, struck the statesmen of the Colombian
+Republic. They had remembered that the concession to the Panama Company
+lapsed in October 1904, and that all its property that could not be
+carried away would revert to the Colombian government. Only defer <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>any
+agreement with the United States till then, and the $40,000,000 to be
+paid to the New Panama Canal Company by the United States would drop
+like a golden nest-egg into the empty exchequer of the Colombian
+Republic. It was a brilliant idea, but the Colombian method of pursuing
+it was rather too crude and obvious.</p>
+
+<p>In order to meet the Colombian government the United States improved
+their offer, considerably increasing the bonus and making other changes.
+An agreement, known as the Hay-Herran Treaty, was actually arranged
+between the United States and Colombia, the latter represented by her
+minister at Washington, Dr. Tomas Herran. This treaty, before it became
+operative, had to be ratified by the Congress of Colombia, and the
+president of that state took care that a congress should be elected
+which would do no such thing. Meantime all kinds of influences, secret
+and open, were at work. The German "colonial party" had become
+interested in the question, and had conceived the possibility of
+Germany, rather than the United States, succeeding to the French
+concession. It is quite certain that the United States would have
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>resisted any such proceeding, if necessary by actual war. There is
+little doubt, also, that the party in the United States which had
+supported the Nicaraguan scheme were throwing every obstruction in the
+way of a satisfactory agreement between the big and the little republic.</p>
+
+<p>The reader may guess what was the anxiety of the New Panama Canal
+Company during all this diplomacy and intrigue. They knew that the
+completion of the sale of its property to the United States depended on
+an agreement being concluded between that country and Colombia; and they
+also knew that unless they sold before October 1904, they would have
+practically nothing to sell, because the franchise and possessions of
+the company would be forfeited to the Colombian government at that date.
+It would be better to sell on the best terms they could obtain to
+Germany or anybody else before the fatal day arrived. Meantime the
+United States brought every force of argument and menace to bear on the
+Colombian government. Secretary Hay sent urgent dispatches to the
+American minister at Bogot&aacute;. He reminded Colombia that the decision to
+adopt the Panama route was not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>irrevocable. The Spooner law authorized
+the American president to await only "a reasonable time" for an
+agreement with Colombia. Having waited so long, he was able and indeed
+bound to resume the Nicaraguan project.</p>
+
+<p>When the Colombian Congress duly rejected the Hay-Herran Treaty in
+August 1903, the New Panama Company became very seriously alarmed. Other
+offers of purchase were renewed, and the situation became critical for
+the United States. The American counsel for the company, Mr. William
+Nelson Cromwell, who had done his utmost to promote the agreement, had
+the utmost difficulty in keeping his clients to their compact with the
+United States. He made a hurried trip to Paris, where he said something
+which had the desired effect. There is no reason to believe that Mr.
+Cromwell took any part in the surprising events which were soon to alter
+the entire situation. But he had heard the proverbial "little bird," and
+the tidings he passed on brought the New Panama directors to the desired
+mood of patience and expectancy.</p>
+
+<p>Colombia meanwhile kept on marking time. She suggested that a new treaty
+should be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>negotiated between the United States and Colombia, to be
+ratified by the Colombian Senate some time in 1904. That would have put
+the clock forward splendidly, but the device was duly understood at
+Washington. In October a committee of the Colombian Senate reported to
+the Senate a recommendation that no agreement should be concluded with
+the United States until the French concession had lapsed. This
+recommendation was not acted upon by the Colombian Senate, nor yet were
+any steps taken towards the negotiation of a new treaty. The American
+government gave a generous interpretation to the "reasonable time"
+specified in the Spooner Bill, and kept on waiting in the hope that the
+Colombian Congress would still change its mind and ratify the Hay-Herran
+Treaty, whose terms, as we have seen, were liberal to the Colombian
+Republic. But when the congressional session at Bogot&aacute; came to an end on
+October 31, 1903, without any further action over the Hay-Herran Treaty,
+the Americans concluded that the whole business was over so far as
+negotiations with Colombia on the Panama question were concerned.
+Obviously the only course was to turn <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>to the Nicaraguan alternative.
+And the Colombian government no doubt thought it had won the day by
+sheer force of astute statesmanship.</p>
+
+<p>Then came a coincidence more astonishing than any since the day when Mr.
+Weller, senior, upset the Eatanswill outvoters (purely by accident) into
+another canal. The Panama revolution broke out, and the United States
+suddenly and without further difficulty obtained all they wanted of the
+isthmus. And Colombia? She lost every stick and stone of the canal which
+was to have been hers in October 1904, never made a farthing on a Panama
+deal, got no thanks from Germany or anybody else, and lost a whole
+province into the bargain. Such were the results of very astute
+statesmanship at Bogot&aacute;.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+<h2>A MINIATURE REVOLUTION.</h2>
+
+
+<p>It was not to be expected that Panama, one of the constituent provinces
+of the United States of Colombia, would be very enthusiastic about all
+this haggling and intriguing at Bogot&aacute;. Panama asked for nothing better
+than that a rich and powerful country like the United States should
+continue the French enterprise and carry it through. The canal would run
+right through the province, and would bring it into the main stream of
+the world's traffic and commerce. No doubt the central government at
+Bogot&aacute; would skim off as much as possible of this new wealth and
+prosperity at the isthmus; but even so, Panama would reap a great
+advantage from the running of this new and much-frequented highway of
+communication between east and west through its territory. The dealings
+of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>central government with the United States had roused a growing
+disgust and resentment at the isthmus.</p>
+
+<p>The relations between the province of Panama with New Granada and its
+successor Colombia had been very chequered ever since the revolt of the
+Spanish colonies in Central and South America in the early years of last
+century. Panama declared her independence in 1821, and allied herself at
+once with New Granada. But troubles began forthwith. Again and again the
+isthmian province seceded from New Granada or Colombia, and was induced
+to return by promises of more favourable terms of union, these always
+remaining unfulfilled. In his annual message to Congress in 1903,
+President Roosevelt enumerated some fifty-three "revolutions,
+rebellions, insurrections, riots, and other outbreaks" that had occurred
+at the isthmus in fifty-seven years. Not long before these difficulties
+between the United States and Colombia, Panama had received a new
+constitution which was far from satisfactory to the people of the
+province. There was in truth little to be gained by a continued
+allegiance to the government at Bogot&aacute;. Some <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>idea of the depths to
+which Colombia had sunk through a long course of bad administration and
+corruption may be gathered from a passage in the official address of Dr.
+Marroquin on his becoming vice-president of Colombia in 1898. He said:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Hatred, envy, and ambition are elements of discord; in the
+political arena the battle rages fiercely, not so much with
+the idea of securing the triumph of principles as with that
+of humbling, and elevating persons and parties; public
+tranquillity, indispensable to every citizen for the free
+enjoyment of what he possesses either by luck or as the
+fruit of his labour, is gradually getting unknown; we live
+in a sickly atmosphere; crisis is our normal state; commerce
+and all other industries are in urgent need of perfect
+calmness for their development and progress; poverty invades
+every home. The notion of mother country is mistaken or
+obliterated, owing to our political disturbances. The
+conception of mother country is so intimately associated
+with that of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>political disorders, and with the afflictions
+and distrust which they engender, that it is not unusual to
+hear from one of our countrymen what could not be heard from
+a native of any other country: "I wish I had been born
+somewhere else." Could many be found among us who would feel
+proud when exclaiming, "I am a Colombian," in the same way
+as a Frenchman does when exclaiming, "I am a Frenchman"?</p></div>
+
+<p>This was a cheerful pronouncement for a people to hear from the lips of
+a man who was just assuming high office in their midst. It suggests some
+further reasons why the Panamanians should have so readily asserted
+their independence once more when the negotiations between Colombia and
+the United States fell through.</p>
+
+<p>Long before that happened, before the Colombian Congress which was to
+deal with the Hay-Herran Treaty had assembled, a much-respected citizen
+of Panama, Dr. Manuel Amador (Guerrero), had written to the Colombian
+president warning him that serious consequences would <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>follow at Panama
+if that treaty were not ratified. For answer the central government
+foisted on Panama a candidate for Congress who was well known as an
+enemy of the United States and of the isthmian canal scheme.
+Representations to the government at Bogot&aacute; were useless, and Panama saw
+the prospect of a canal being constructed through her territory fading
+into distance.</p>
+
+<p>Then it was that an eminent Panamanian, Jos&eacute; Agustin Arango, a senator
+at the Colombian Congress of 1903, who had vainly urged the ratification
+of the Hay-Herran Treaty, conceived the idea that Panama might declare
+her independence and then make her own treaty with the United States
+regarding a trans-isthmian canal. It soon turned out that the same idea
+had struck many others, and a junta of zealous conspirators was quickly
+formed. Se&ntilde;or Arango chanced to meet Dr. Amador one day at the offices
+of the Panama Railroad, and unfolded his revolutionary design to that
+gentleman. The doctor proved highly sympathetic. There was indeed no
+difficulty in finding adherents. Se&ntilde;or Arango, Dr. Amador, and C. C.
+Arosemena undertook the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>conduct of the movement, and among the other
+leaders were Se&ntilde;or Arango's sons and sons-in-law, Nicanor A. de Obarrio,
+Federico Boyd, Tomas and Ricardo Arias, and Manuel Espinosa. A very
+important person, General Esteban Huertas, commander of the troops in
+Panama, was easily enrolled, as were also alcaldes, chiefs of police,
+and other important officials.</p>
+
+<p>The first thing to do was to sound official opinion in Washington as to
+what treatment the revolted province might expect from the American
+government. Moreover, revolutions cost money, and supplies must be
+obtained from somewhere. So Dr. Amador and Ricardo Arias were deputed to
+go to the United States. There they called on Mr. Cromwell, the counsel
+of the New Panama Company, who gave them very little encouragement.
+Moreover, they were carefully "shadowed" by Colombian agents, so that
+they were able to cable to their expectant friends at the isthmus only
+the single depressing word, "desanimado" (disappointed).</p>
+
+<p>Then Dr. Amador called at the office of a Panamanian friend and
+sympathizer, Joshua Lindo, and asked for counsel in his difficulties.
+Mr. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>Lindo at once suggested that the likeliest person to help was Mr.
+Bunau-Varilla, who had been chief engineer under the French Canal
+Company. It is interesting to know that this gentleman had been a
+fellow-student of Alfred Dreyfus, and had given effective help in the
+campaign which ended in that officer's liberation from the island prison
+not so very far from the isthmus of Panama. Unfortunately, said Mr.
+Lindo, Mr. Bunau-Varilla was in Paris; but even as the friends deplored
+his absence the telephone rang, Mr. Lindo answered the call, and lo! Mr.
+Bunau-Varilla announced his return to New York. Such a coincidence might
+well seem providential, for Mr. Varilla proved a friend in need and in
+deed. He promised the necessary funds as well as other practical help,
+and asked for only one return&mdash;that he might be appointed minister of
+the reconstituted Panama to the United States for just so long a time as
+was necessary for the arrangement of the new treaty between the two
+countries for the construction of the isthmian canal.</p>
+
+<p>It is not surprising, therefore, that the next telegram sent home by the
+revolutionary agents <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>was more cheerful. It consisted of the single word
+"esperanzas" (hopes). Dr. Amador now made some efforts to ascertain the
+sentiment and intentions of the United States government. He called on
+Mr. Hay, the Secretary of State, at the state department. Now it is
+obvious that when a gentleman calls at a foreign office and announces
+himself as a conspirator against a government with which that office has
+friendly relations, the visitor cannot expect much practical help and
+sympathy. But the authorities at Washington, whose nerves were raw from
+the prolonged struggle with Colombia, would scarcely have been human if
+they had not felt a secret joy at a movement which promised such an
+ample retribution on Colombia and so easy a settlement of the Panama
+problem. Dr. Amador was politely informed that he must pay no more calls
+at the department. But he had seen and heard enough to assure him that
+the United States would at least remain neutral, and, if the revolution
+succeeded, would conclude a canal treaty with the new republic. He felt
+that there were two very important conditions to be fulfilled. Firstly,
+the revolution must be effected without <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>bloodshed, for public sympathy
+in the United States would be alienated by any fighting or violent
+disturbance. The conspirators were also not without a certain natural
+solicitude for their own skins. Secondly, there must be a brand-new
+government ready to take the place of the Colombian administration so
+soon as this was abolished.</p>
+
+<p>The scene now changes to the isthmus. The conspirators were inclined at
+first to be sceptical about Dr. Amador's report of the probable attitude
+of the United States, but on November 2, 1903, the arrival of the
+American gunboat <i>Nashville</i> at Colon reassured them. The <i>Nashville</i>
+had come, as American men-of-war had frequently come in the past to
+Colon or Panama, not to take sides with any party in a scrimmage, but
+calmly and impartially to maintain order and keep transit open at the
+isthmus, in accordance with treaty obligations. The orders to the
+<i>Nashville</i>, as subsequently to the <i>Boston</i> and the <i>Dixie</i>, were
+these:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Maintain free and uninterrupted transit. If interruption
+threatened by armed force, occupy line of railroad. Prevent
+landing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>of any armed force with hostile intent, either
+government or insurgent, either at Colon, Porto Bello, or
+other point.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>A similar order was sent to Rear-Admiral Glass at Acapulco, who was to
+proceed to Panama with the same object.</p>
+
+<p>But the coming <i>coup d'&eacute;tat</i> was known at Bogot&aacute; as well as at
+Washington. The date fixed for the outbreak was November 4. General
+Huertas was to be ready with his troops, and the signal to be given by
+the blowing of bugles by the firemen. But the Colombian government at
+last decided to act, and on November 3 the steamer <i>Carthagena</i> arrived
+at Colon, having on board General Tovar with a force of about four
+hundred and fifty men. The commander with three other resplendent
+warriors, Generals Castro, Alban, and Amaya, at once took train for
+Panama; while their troops, many of whom had brought their wives, camped
+out in the streets of Colon. These events were duly telephoned to
+Panama. The news <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>reached Dr. Amador and his friends at ten o'clock,
+just an hour before the arrival of the Colombian officers. It was "a
+crowded hour of glorious life" for the conspirators, some of whom found
+the excitement too much for their nerves, disappeared from the scene,
+and gave up the conspiracy business altogether. But the leaders were of
+better mettle, and while the trans-isthmian train was rapidly bringing
+the representatives of the established government to Panama a good many
+plans were discussed. The desperate nature of the occasion may be
+gathered from the fact that one of the proposals was to drug the
+Colombian officers, and when thus disabled convey them to durance vile.
+In great perplexity Dr. Amador sought General Huertas; but he had put on
+his dress uniform and gone to the station to meet his superiors. So
+matters were to be allowed to take their own course.</p>
+
+<p>At eleven o'clock a gush of glittering uniforms, fifteen in all,
+counting the generals and the staffs, descended upon the Panama
+platform. One might almost have expected them to advance to the
+footlights and announce their arrival and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>intentions in a four-part
+chorus. Here obviously were the properties, the stage scenery, and the
+artistes, principals and chorus, of a first-rate comic opera. In the
+harbour lay three Colombian gunboats whose political views were not
+fully ascertained, though it was thought the commanders had been won
+over to the revolutionary cause. The new arrivals were welcomed by
+General Huertas and conducted to headquarters, while the conspirators,
+no doubt with quickened pulses, awaited subsequent events from a
+distance.</p>
+
+<p>The Colombian officers wished to be conducted forthwith to the
+fortifications and the sea-wall. Now this was precisely what General
+Huertas, whose heart beat loyally under his official gold braid to the
+cause of freedom and independence, wished to avoid, and for two reasons:
+firstly, it would have been easy for the federal generals to signal to
+the gunboats in the harbour and thus get command of the entire
+situation; secondly, on that same sea-wall there were some modern
+quick-firing guns, behind which even fifteen men might quickly get the
+whole city at their mercy. So General Huertas determined that on the
+whole <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>he would conduct his guests anywhere but to the sea-wall. He
+suggested that there were better ways of spending the hot hours of the
+day than in going round fortifications in stiff and sweltering uniforms.
+After luncheon, followed by a little siesta behind sun-shutters, would
+be a better time for the business of inspection. The generals were
+probably both hot and hungry, and they allowed themselves to be
+persuaded.</p>
+
+<p>But even as they lunched their suspicions seemed to have awakened. Some
+one, it is said, warned them of the trap into which they had walked. And
+moreover, why did the Bogot&aacute; troops not arrive from Colon? What exactly
+happened is not recorded, but it is a fact that the generals suddenly
+insisted on the Panama troops being paraded and themselves being
+conducted to the fortifications.</p>
+
+<p>General Huertas made some excuse for leaving the luncheon room, and
+outside the door found Dr. Amador, the respectable physician of Panama,
+now an arch-conspirator, though without the black mantle and stiletto.
+"The contrast between these two men," writes Mr. Johnson, "was most
+striking. The one was advanced in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>years, venerable and stately in
+aspect, and yet impetuous as youth. The other was only a boy in stature
+and scarcely more than a boy in years, yet at the time deliberate and
+dilatory. The latter, however, quickly responded to the zealous
+initiative of the former. 'Do it,' exhorted Dr. Amador in an impassioned
+whisper, 'do it now.'"</p>
+
+<p>The business was soon over. Huertas ordered out his soldiers, who knew
+well enough what was going to happen. Then, as the military swells from
+Bogot&aacute; came on the ground, the little general gave the order, the rifles
+were levelled on the Colombians, and they were walked off to police
+headquarters and safely locked up. Then Governor Obaldia was also
+arrested and taken to prison, but this was only a formality. He was an
+ardent conspirator, but as he represented the central government, it was
+thought desirable to perform the symbolical act of arresting and
+deposing him. He was at once released.</p>
+
+<p>There was now no going back. The next step was to announce the fact of
+the revolution to the gunboats, in the harbour, which were still a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>doubtful factor. Two of them, the <i>Padilla</i> and the <i>Chucuito</i>,
+remained silent; but the third, the <i>Bogot&aacute;</i>, sent word that if the
+generals were not released by ten o'clock it would turn its guns on to
+the city. The generals were, of course, not released, so at ten o'clock
+the <i>Bogot&aacute;</i> launched three shells into the city. One of these killed an
+unfortunate and innocent Chinese coolie near the barracks, and that was
+the only casualty that occurred during the whole course of the great
+Panama revolution. Then the <i>Bogot&aacute;</i>, that deed of slaughter
+accomplished, steamed out of the harbour.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning the gunboat <i>Padilla</i>, which had been considering the
+situation during the night, suddenly made up its mind, steamed in to a
+snug anchorage under the fortified sea-wall, and hoisted the flag of
+free and independent Panama. The <i>Padilla</i> might have been called upon
+to make good its new allegiance, for a report was spread that the
+terrible <i>Bogot&aacute;</i> was returning to bombard, this time to good purpose.
+So a letter was drawn up by the consuls of the United States, Great
+Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Holland, Ecuador, Guatemala,
+Salvador, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>Denmark, Belgium, Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, Honduras, and Peru,
+protesting against the bombardment of a defenceless city without due
+notice to the consular corps as contrary to the rights and practices of
+civilized nations. What answer the justly enraged commander of the
+<i>Bogot&aacute;</i> would have returned to this rather representative address
+cannot be known, for the <i>Bogot&aacute;</i>, no doubt unnerved by the sensation of
+casting three live shells into a live town, never returned to witness
+the devastation it had wrought.</p>
+
+<p>What in the meantime was occurring at Colon? Why had the 450 Colombian
+soldiers not flown to the rescue and vengeance of their captured
+officers? The explanation is simple, though perhaps unexpected&mdash;they
+could not pay their railway fares! After the departure of the generals
+for Panama on November 3, Colonel Torres, who had been left in charge of
+the government troops, demanded a "special" to take them across the
+isthmus. The superintendent of the line intimated that specials were
+procurable, but that fares must be paid. And the fares of 450 persons
+ran into money, in fact nearly $2,000 in gold, or quite a little
+wheelbarrowful of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>the depreciated Colombian silver. Anywhere but in
+Panama or Ruretania the plea of state necessity, which in presence of
+the 450 needed no demonstration, would have procured some concession
+from the railway authorities. But the railway rules provided for no such
+emergencies. No fare, no journey&mdash;that was the immutable railway law,
+and Colonel Torres had to lead his men back to their street encampments.
+It is one of the many remarkable coincidences at this juncture that the
+telegraphic and telephonic system also broke down, the wires refusing to
+transmit any messages from Colon to the officers at Panama.</p>
+
+<p>At last, on November 4, Colon received the news of the revolution and
+the impounding of the Colombian officers. Some little impatience then
+appeared among the Colombian troops. They actually threatened to seize
+the railway and go across in spite of regulations. Also it was rumoured
+that Colonel Torres, losing for a moment his self-command, threatened to
+kill every American citizen in Colon unless his fellow-officers were at
+once liberated. At any rate, that rumour was duly reported to the
+commander <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>of the <i>Nashville</i>, who, on the strength of it, at once
+landed fifty bluejackets to preserve the peace of the town. The
+commander also wrote to the alcalde of Colon and the chief of the
+police, giving the gist of an official order he had received from
+Washington. The order pointed out that to allow the passage of Colombian
+troops from Colon to Panama would excite a conflict between the forces
+of the two parties, and would thus interrupt the free and open transit
+of the isthmus which the United States was bound to maintain. The
+commander had therefore instructed the superintendent of the railways to
+afford carriage to the troops of neither party. Never was officer so
+outrageously impeded in the performance of his obvious duty as Colonel
+Torres. And right in the middle of the situation thus created the
+<i>Carthagena</i>, which had brought the Colombian troops to Colon, sailed
+demurely home.</p>
+
+<p>In a few days there assembled some nine or ten vessels of the United
+States navy at Colon or Panama. On November 4 it was announced that the
+United States would permit the landing of no forces hostile to Panama
+within fifty miles of the city of Panama or anywhere at all on the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>Caribbean coast. Was not the United States government compelled by
+treaty obligations to preserve peace, the paying of fares, and "free and
+uninterrupted transit" at the isthmus? How unreasonable to suggest that
+the great and grown-up republic was protecting and taking the side of
+the little baby republic which had just been born at Panama!</p>
+
+<p>But the 450 soldiers encamped with their wives in the streets of Colon
+were becoming an inconvenience, and it was highly desirable to remove
+this substantial lump of grit from the machinery of revolution. The
+commander of these troops himself helped to effect that object. He, in
+fact, offered to take his little army away in return for a satisfactory
+honorarium. The Panama treasury fortunately contained at that time a sum
+of $140,000 in debased Colombian coinage, worth about $56,000 in gold. A
+little of this might well be expended on clearing the country of the
+Colombian troops. The commander accepted $8,000 in gold, and quickly
+bundled the loyal troops and their spouses on board the Royal Mail
+steamship <i>Orinoco</i> for passage homewards. He himself did not propose
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>to return home and report himself. His scheme was to go to Jamaica and
+spend his suddenly acquired wealth in "that loveliest of the Antilles."
+Then a cruel thing happened. The 450 got wind of the bargain their
+commander had made with the Panama government, and by a swift logical
+process concluded that the $8,000 which had been paid for their
+departure belonged to themselves as well as to their commander. So they
+laid hands on the hapless officer and took all the money from him. We
+may imagine the annoyance of the gentleman who had betrayed his country,
+dishonoured his name, and then lost the "tip" which had made it all
+worth while. His subsequent proceedings are nowhere recorded.</p>
+
+<p>Just after the Colombian troops had set sail homewards a special train
+arrived at Colon bringing the captive generals, who had promised to go
+home without further fuss. They left Colon on November 12, so that they
+had plenty of time to contemplate the beginnings of the new r&eacute;gime in
+Panama. All kinds of reports began to arrive about the intentions of the
+government at Bogot&aacute;. A naval expedition was said to be on the way from
+Buenaventura, but the United <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>States navy had instructions to take care
+of any experiments of that sort. Then the news came that a land
+expedition was approaching along the isthmus. That would have implied a
+real triumph of original exploration. It would have meant clearing a
+road for troops through impenetrable jungle, through which it is hard to
+cut the narrowest track by means of the machete or the long Spanish
+cutlass. The untamed San Blas Indians, who permit no white man to spend
+a single night in their territory, would have mobilized against the
+invasion, and so would the wild cats and anacondas and monkeys, who
+share with the Indians the sovereignty of that tangled wilderness.</p>
+
+<p>The revolution was an accomplished fact, and Colombia could do nothing
+but accept the inevitable and reflect on the disappointment of her
+golden dreams. The revolutionists had been ready with their
+constitutional arrangements. The municipal council of Panama had met
+immediately after the <i>coup d'&eacute;tat</i>. It was unanimously voted that
+Panama should be a free and independent republic, and a provisional
+ministry was at once appointed. These proceedings were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>ratified the
+same afternoon at a mass meeting of the people of Panama held in the
+cathedral square. A formal manifesto was also issued, constituting a
+declaration of independence and a justification of the revolt. It opens
+magniloquently: "The transcendental act that by a spontaneous movement
+the inhabitants of the isthmus of Panama have just executed is the
+inevitable consequence of a situation which has become graver daily." It
+goes on to set forth the grievances of Panama under the Colombian
+connection and the events which had led to the revolution. It ends in an
+almost pathetic note:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>At separating from our brothers of Colombia we do it without
+hatred and without any joy. Just as a son withdraws from his
+paternal roof, the isthmian people in adopting the lot it
+has chosen have done it with grief, but in compliance with
+the supreme and inevitable duty it owes to itself&mdash;that of
+its own preservation and of working for its own welfare. We
+therefore begin to form a part among the free nations of the
+world, considering Colombia as a sister nation, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>with which
+we shall be whenever circumstances may require it, and for
+whose prosperity we have the most fervent and sincere
+wishes.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>By November 7 the new government had settled down so steadily to its
+work, and so obviously commanded the adherence of the whole people, that
+it received formal recognition from the United States in these words:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>As it appears that the people of Panama have, by unanimous
+movement, dissolved their political connection with the
+Republic of Colombia and resumed their independence, and as
+there is no opposition to the provisional government in the
+state of Panama, I have to inform you that the provisional
+government will be held responsible for the protection of
+the persons and property of citizens of the United States,
+as well as to keep the isthmian transit free, in accordance
+with the obligations of existing treaties relative to the
+isthmian territory.</p></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>We need not dwell upon the desperate efforts made by the Colombian
+government to retrieve the situation. A respected Colombian, General
+Reyes, was sent to Washington to offer to revive the old Hay-Herran
+Treaty, with modifications greatly in the American interest, if the
+United States would help to restore Colombian sovereignty at the
+isthmus. But all was in vain. Colombia must lie on the bed she had made,
+and before the end of the year the new republic had been recognized by
+all the leading Powers of the world. The new government was true to the
+undertaking on the strength of which Mr. Bunau-Varilla had given his
+help and support to the movement. On November 7 he was appointed
+minister of Panama to the United States, and on November 18 the
+Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> was signed at Washington, which finally
+placed the United States in a position to begin the work of canal
+construction at the isthmus.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> See "Four Centuries of the Panama Canal," p. 188 (W. F.
+Johnson).</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> For full text of declaration see Appendix ii.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Appendix iii.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE BATTLE OF THE LEVELS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>By the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty the United States guaranteed and
+undertook to maintain the independence of the Republic of Panama. The
+new republic granted to the United States in perpetuity the use,
+occupation, and control of a strip ten miles wide and extending three
+nautical miles into the sea at either terminal, with all lands lying
+outside of the zone necessary for the construction of the canal, and
+with the islands in the Bay of Panama. The cities of Panama and Colon
+were not embraced in the canal zone, but the United States assumed their
+sanitation and, in case of need, the maintenance of order therein. All
+railway and canal property rights belonging to Panama and needed for the
+canal passed to the United States, including any property of the railway
+and canal <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>companies in the cities of Panama and Colon. The works,
+property, and personnel of the canal and railways were exempted from
+taxation in the cities of Colon and Panama as well as in the actual
+canal zone. Free immigration of the workers and free importation of
+supplies for the construction and operation of the canal were granted.
+Provision was made for the use of military force and the building of
+fortifications by the United States for the protection of the transit.
+The United States were to pay $10,000,000 down on exchange of
+ratifications and an annuity of $250,000, beginning nine years from the
+same date. It will be noticed that the United States enjoyed in the
+canal zone all the rights, though not the name and title, of
+sovereignty.</p>
+
+<p>The treaty was finally ratified on February 26, 1904, and four days
+later the first Isthmian Canal Commission, consisting of seven members,
+was appointed by President Roosevelt to arrange for the conduct of the
+great enterprise. Careful instructions were given to the commission. The
+Isthmian Canal Commission were authorized and directed:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>First.&mdash;To make all needful rules and regulations for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>
+government of the zone, and for the correct administration
+of the military, civil, and judicial affairs of its
+possessions until the close of the fifty-eighth session of
+Congress. Second.&mdash;To establish a civil service for the
+government of the strip and construction of the canal,
+appointments to which shall be secured as nearly as
+practicable by merit system. Third.&mdash;To make, or cause to be
+made, all needful surveys, borings, designs, plans, and
+specifications of the engineering, hydraulic, and sanitary
+works required, and to supervise the execution of the same.
+Fourth.&mdash;To make, and cause to be executed after due
+advertisement, all necessary contracts for any and all kinds
+of engineering and construction works. Fifth.&mdash;To acquire by
+purchase or through proper and uniform expropriation
+proceedings, to be prescribed by the commission, any private
+lands or other real property whose ownership by the United
+States is essential to the excavation and completion of the
+canal. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>Sixth.&mdash;To make all needful rules and regulations
+respecting an economical and correct disbursement and an
+accounting for all funds that may be appropriated by
+Congress for the construction of the canal, its auxiliary
+works, and the government of the canal zone; and to
+establish a proper and comprehensive system of bookkeeping
+showing the state of the work, the expenditures by classes,
+and the amounts still available. Seventh.&mdash;To make
+requisition on the Secretary of War for funds needed from
+time to time in the proper prosecution of the work, and to
+designate the disbursing officers authorized to receipt for
+the same.</p></div>
+
+<p>The work of this commission was not wholly satisfactory, and in April
+1905 another was appointed, which was ordered to meet at Panama
+quarterly, the first commission having conducted its operations from
+Washington.</p>
+
+<p>The first two and a half years of the American occupation were spent
+mainly in preparing for the great task. One very important question had
+now to be finally decided. The battle of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>the routes was over, and now
+began the battle of the levels. We have seen that the French began with
+the idea of a tide-level canal. The New Panama Canal Company had changed
+to the lock or high-level plan, but the French had not advanced in their
+work to the point when the one or the other scheme must be definitively
+adopted. The excavation they had carried out was all available for
+either type of canal. But the Americans had now to come to a decision.</p>
+
+<p>A few more words about the main physical features of the isthmus are
+necessary for the reader to understand the nature of the problem. The
+two most important factors in the problem, as we have seen, are,
+firstly, the river Chagres with its tributaries, the Trinidad, Gatun,
+and twenty others; and, secondly, the range of low hills on the Pacific
+side through which any canal from Colon to Panama must pass. The river
+Chagres is a great mountain torrent which enters the Caribbean Sea a
+little west of Colon. The canal follows its course inland for about 26
+miles, when the river valley turns sharply north-east and the canal
+continues <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>straight on to the Pacific. The Chagres is not a river to be
+despised. The rainfall on the isthmus is very heavy, especially on the
+Atlantic side, where 140 inches per annum have been recorded. The
+isthmian rivers are all liable to quickly-swelling floods, the Chagres
+at Gamboa having been known to rise 35&frac12; feet in twenty-four hours.
+The two different types of canal involve equally different methods of
+dealing with this formidable stream. It must either be harnessed to the
+work or firmly and finally shut off from any interference with the
+canal. De Lesseps, who had chosen the tide-level scheme, proposed to
+turn the Chagres and other rivers into diversion channels, so that they
+could get safely to the sea without crossing the line of the canal or
+having any connection with it. This would have involved a work of
+excavation and construction scarcely less gigantic than the building of
+the canal itself.</p>
+
+<p>On the other plan, the Chagres and its tributaries would be made the
+feeders of the upper reaches of the canal. So far from being politely
+shown off the premises, the question rather was whether they would be
+able to supply sufficient <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>water all the year round for the needs of the
+canal. Then this harnessing of the Chagres meant the taming of its
+waters in a huge artificial lake, in which the impetuous current would
+be quenched and through which the dredged channel of the waterway would
+run. The New Panama Company had recommended the construction of a huge
+dam for this purpose at Bohio towards the Atlantic end of the canal, and
+this plan had been adopted by the first American Isthmian Commission,
+which issued its report in 1901. I may add that the Spooner Act, which
+authorized the construction of a canal, also contemplated a lock or
+high-level waterway. As we shall see, Bohio was not in the end adopted
+as the site of the big dam, but Gatun, where it is now constructed, with
+its concrete spillway carrying away the overflow waters of the lake down
+the old Chagres channel to the near Atlantic. I need not say that these
+were two very different ways of "caring for" the Chagres and its
+affluents. The tide-level canal would also, of course, be supplied with
+sea-water, while the high-level will be a fresh-water canal. Colonel
+Goethals, the chief engineer of the canal, anticipates rather a curious
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>result from this latter circumstance. He thinks the bed of the upper
+reaches of the canal will in course of time be quite paved with the
+barnacles washed by the fresh-water from the bottoms of the great
+ocean-going vessels passing through the canal.</p>
+
+<p>The second physical feature is the hill country or the "Continental
+Divide" which the canal enters near the point where the Chagres River
+crosses its course. Here runs the famous Culebra Cut, the nine-mile-long
+artificial canyon, the biggest excavation in the world. Now the highest
+elevation of these hills along the centre line of the canal was 312 feet
+above sea-level. The bottom of the canal at the cutting is 40 feet, so
+that the vertical depth of the cut on the centre line is 272 feet. The
+engineers of the tide-level scheme would have had not only to excavate
+85 feet deeper&mdash;that is, to 45 feet below sea-level&mdash;but to make the
+cutting immensely wider in order to avoid the danger of disastrous
+landslides. This would have meant an enormous amount of additional work,
+as well as expense. Nevertheless, the controversy between the two
+principles was very warmly and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>equally sustained. It may be mentioned
+that Mr. Bunau-Varilla was an especially ardent advocate of the
+tide-level scheme. In fact, he was not for calling the waterway a canal
+at all; he would have christened it "the Straits of Panama."</p>
+
+<p>However, a decision was necessary, and in 1905 a board of consulting or
+advisory engineers was appointed, mainly to consider whether the canal
+should be constructed at high-level or sea-level. Five members were
+appointed by European governments, and the president was Major-General
+George W. Davis, formerly of the United States army. The instructions
+given to this board by President Roosevelt will afford a very clear idea
+of the problem it had to solve:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>There are two or three considerations which I trust you will
+steadily keep before your minds in coming to a conclusion as
+to the proper type of canal. I hope that ultimately it will
+prove possible to build a sea-level canal. Such a canal
+would undoubtedly be best in the end, if feasible; and I
+feel that one of the chief advantages of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>Panama route
+is that ultimately a sea-level canal will be a possibility.
+But while paying due heed to the ideal perfectibility of the
+scheme from an engineer's standpoint, remember the need of
+having a plan which shall provide for the immediate building
+of a canal on the safest terms and in the shortest possible
+time. If to build a sea-level canal will but slightly
+increase the risk, then, of course, it is preferable. But if
+to adopt the plan of a sea-level canal means to incur a
+hazard, and to insure indefinite delay, then it is not
+preferable. If the advantages and disadvantages are closely
+balanced, I expect you to say so. I desire also to know
+whether, if you recommend a high-level multi-lock canal, it
+will be possible, after it is completed, to turn it into or
+substitute for it, in time, a sea-level canal without
+interrupting the traffic upon it. Two of the prime
+considerations to be kept steadily in mind are:</p>
+
+<p>First.&mdash;The utmost practicable speed of construction.
+Second.&mdash;Practical certainty that the plan proposed will be
+feasible; that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>it can be carried out with the minimum risk.</p>
+
+<p>The quantity of work and the amount of work should be
+minimized as far as possible.</p>
+
+<p>There may be good reason why the delay incident to the
+adoption of a plan for an ideal canal should be incurred;
+but if there is not, then I hope to see the canal
+constructed on a system which will bring to the nearest
+possible date in the future the time when it is practicable
+to take the first ship across the isthmus&mdash;that is, which
+will in the shortest time possible secure a Panama waterway
+between the oceans of such a character as to guarantee
+permanent and ample communication for the greatest ships of
+our navy and for the larger steamers on either the Atlantic
+or the Pacific. The delay in transit of the vessels owing to
+additional locks would be of small consequence when compared
+with shortening the time for the construction of the canal
+or diminishing the risks in its construction.</p>
+
+<p>In short, I desire your best judgment on all the various
+questions to be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>considered in choosing among the various
+plans for a comparatively high-level multi-lock canal; for a
+lower level, with fewer locks; and for a sea-level canal.
+Finally, I urge upon you the necessity of as great
+expedition in coming to a decision as is compatible with
+thoroughness in considering the conditions.</p></div>
+
+<p>The board went to the isthmus and investigated the subject with great
+care. In January 1906 they issued three reports. A majority of eight to
+five pronounced in favour of the sea-level scheme "as the only one
+giving reasonable assurance of safe and uninterrupted navigation." "Such
+a canal," it said, "can be constructed in twelve or thirteen years'
+time; the cost will be less than $250,000,000; it will endure for all
+time."</p>
+
+<p>The minority were just as confidently in favour of a high-level canal.
+They concluded:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>In view of the unquestioned fact that the lock canal herein
+advocated will cost about $100,000,000 less than the
+proposed sea-level canal; believing that it can be built in
+much less time; that it will afford a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>better navigation;
+that it will be adequate for all its uses for a longer time,
+and can be enlarged, if need should arise, with greater
+facility and less cost, we recommend the lock canal at
+elevation 85 for adoption by the United States.</p></div>
+
+<p>The third report was made by the chief engineer, Mr. Stevens, who, quite
+apart from all considerations of expense, was strongly in favour of the
+high-level plan.</p>
+
+<p>The three reports were considered by the canal commissioners, a majority
+of whom ultimately agreed with the minority of the advisory board. They
+admitted that a sea-level canal was ideally the best, but considered
+that the cost of making such a canal sufficiently wide would be
+prohibitive. They declared therefore for a lock canal at an elevation of
+85 feet above sea-level. They gave their decision thus:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It appears that the canal proposed by the minority of the
+board of consulting engineers can be built in half the time
+and at a little more than half the cost of the canal
+proposed by the majority of the board, and that when
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>completed it will be a better canal, for the following
+reasons:</p>
+
+<p>1. It provides greater safety for ships and less danger of
+interruption to traffic by reason of its wider and deeper
+channels.</p>
+
+<p>2. It provides quicker passage across the isthmus for large
+ships or a large traffic.</p>
+
+<p>3. It is in much less danger of damage to itself or of
+delays to ships from the flood-waters of the Chagres and
+other streams.</p>
+
+<p>4. Its cost of operation and maintenance, including fixed
+charges, will be less by some $2,000,000 or more per annum.</p>
+
+<p>5. It can be enlarged hereafter much more easily and cheaply
+than can a sea-level canal.</p>
+
+<p>6. Its military defence can be effected with as little or
+perhaps less difficulty than the sea-level canal.</p>
+
+<p>7. It is our opinion that the plan proposed by the minority
+of the board of consulting engineers is a most satisfactory
+solution of an isthmian canal, and therefore we recommend
+that the plan of the minority be adopted.</p></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>In February 1906 the president referred the question for final decision
+to Congress. In his message on the subject he spoke thus:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It must be borne in mind that there is no question of
+building what has been picturesquely termed "the Straits of
+Panama"&mdash;that is, a waterway through which the largest
+vessels could go with safety at uninterrupted high speed.
+Both the sea-level canal and the proposed lock canal would
+be too narrow and shallow to be called with any truthfulness
+a strait, or to have any of the properties of a wide, deep
+water strip. Both of them would be canals, pure and simple.
+Each type has certain disadvantages and certain advantages.
+But, in my judgment, the disadvantages are fewer and the
+advantages very much greater in the case of a lock canal
+substantially as proposed in the papers forwarded herewith;
+and a careful study of the reports seems to establish a
+strong probability that the following are the facts: The
+sea-level canal would be slightly less exposed to damage in
+the event <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>of war; the running expenses, apart from the
+heavy cost of interest on the amount employed to build it,
+would be less; and for small ships the time of transit would
+probably be less. On the other hand, the lock canal, at a
+level of 80 feet or thereabouts, would not cost much more
+than half as much to build, and could be built in about half
+the time, while there would be very much less risk connected
+with building it, and for large ships the transit would be
+quicker; while, taking into account the interest on the
+amount saved in building, the actual cost of maintenance
+would be less. After being built, it would be easier to
+enlarge the lock canal than the sea-level canal.</p>
+
+<p>The law now on our statute books seems to contemplate a lock
+canal. In my judgment a lock canal as herein recommended is
+advisable. If the Congress directs that a sea-level canal be
+constructed, its direction will, of course, be carried out.
+Otherwise, the canal will be built on substantially the plan
+for a lock canal outlined in the accompanying papers, such
+changes being <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>made, of course, as may be found actually
+necessary.</p></div>
+
+<p>In June 1906 Congress finally decided for a high-level canal, and the
+controversy was officially closed. But the friends of the sea-level
+scheme were by no means silenced. Whenever any serious difficulty
+occurred in the construction of the canal on the lock principle their
+voices were heard again. In fact, the conflict cannot be said to have
+ended until 1909, and even then it is not certain that the sea-levellers
+modified their convictions.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+
+<h2>MAN AND THE GNAT.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Almost at the beginning of their great task the Americans were faced
+with a problem which involved the success or failure of the whole
+enterprise. I have said something about the climate and health
+conditions at the isthmus. It is fairly certain that yellow fever and
+malaria would have wrecked the French undertaking even if there had been
+no other obstacles to its success. It is not less probable that if the
+Americans had been in no better a position to wage war with these
+plagues, their work at the isthmus would also have been in vain. The
+French had built excellent hospitals and provided efficiently for the
+comfort and recovery of those who were stricken with these diseases. But
+being totally ignorant of the sources and method of transmission of
+malaria and yellow fever, they could <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>do nothing effectual in the way of
+prevention and eradication. They could only take the individual victim
+when they found him and do their best to cure him. They still believed
+that malaria was produced by climatic conditions, by marshy emanations,
+mists, and so forth. The fleecy clouds which gather round the isthmian
+hills in the rainy season were given the very undeserved title of "the
+white death" by the French workers at the isthmus. Yellow fever, again,
+was just as mistakenly attributed to the climate, and especially to
+filthy ways of living. It is not surprising that, with these
+misconceptions, medical skill should have been almost useless during the
+French occupation, and that the employees at the isthmus should have
+died in their thousands.</p>
+
+<p>But since the days of the Lesseps company, science had thrown a flood of
+light on the nature of these tropical scourges and the secret of their
+transmission. As these medical and scientific pioneers made a Panama
+Canal possible, though their names are not directly linked with its
+construction, we may look back for a few moments at their triumphs of
+discovery. The credit for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>first discovering that malaria is not due to
+poisonous emanations or contagion but is carried from people infected
+with the disease by the <i>anopheles</i> mosquito belongs to Major (now Sir)
+Ronald Ross, formerly of the Indian Medical Service, who devoted himself
+to this subject during the last years of the 19th century. By a series
+of experiments he proved that malaria is due to the presence in the
+human blood of an organism which is conveyed from person to person by
+this mosquito, and that the mosquito is harmless unless it has become
+infected with the germ by biting a person who has caught malaria. The
+value of this discovery was soon shown by practical applications. Major
+Ross was engaged by the Suez Canal Company to deal with the malaria
+which had become firmly established at Ismailia, a little town of 10,000
+inhabitants on that canal. No fewer than 2,500 cases had been supplied
+in one year by this small population. The new methods founded on the new
+discovery proved so effectual that in three years the disease was
+stamped out, and there has been no relapse ever since. The same results
+were achieved at Port Said.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>Now, if malaria is thus caused by mosquito bite, there was some <i>&agrave;
+priori</i> reason for thinking that yellow fever might be transmitted in
+the same way. At any rate the insect was again laid under a very grave
+suspicion. The opportunity for studying this further question was
+afforded during the Spanish-American war, when a serious outbreak
+occurred among the troops occupying Havana, in Cuba. The doctors were
+quite unable to deal with this most terrible of all diseases. Knowing
+nothing whatever of its cause, their treatment of it could be only
+experimental and casual. So a board of inquiry was formed consisting of
+four army surgeons serving in Cuba&mdash;Walter Reed, James Carroll, Jesse W.
+Lazear, and Aristides Agramonte. The experiments were begun in June
+1900, and continued into the next year. Of these four, Dr. Agramonte was
+not liable to the disease, and Dr. Reed was called away on duty to
+Washington. The other two determined to experiment on their own persons
+rather than risk the lives of other people.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Carroll first allowed himself to be bitten by the mosquitoes, not
+the <i>anopheles</i> but another variety known as the <i>stegomyia</i>. He fell
+ill <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>with a bad attack of yellow fever, which very nearly cost him his
+life. Later, in the yellow fever hospital, Dr. Lazear deliberately
+allowed a mosquito to feed on his hand. In four days he was down with
+the disease in so acute a form that he died of it&mdash;a true martyr, if
+ever there was, to the cause of science and the welfare of mankind.
+These and other experiments proved conclusively that yellow fever, like
+malaria, is transmitted by mosquito bites, but it was still uncertain
+how soon after biting an infected person the mosquito becomes itself
+harmful and how soon a person stricken with malaria is able to infect a
+healthy mosquito. So further experiments were necessary, and volunteers
+were invited to offer themselves for this service. Everybody in the army
+knew what had happened to Doctors Carroll and Lazear, but in spite of
+this plenty of willing martyrs appeared. The first to present themselves
+were two young soldiers from Ohio, John R. Kissinger and John J. Moran.
+Dr. Reed talked the matter over with them, explaining fully the danger
+and suffering involved, and stating the money consideration offered by
+General Wood. Both young men <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>declared that they were prepared to
+undergo the experiment, but only on condition that they should receive
+no pecuniary reward. When he heard this declaration, Dr. Reed touched
+his hat with profound respect, saying, "Gentlemen, I salute you!"<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a>
+Kissinger took the disease from the mosquito bites, and recovered. A
+room was prepared for Moran, a sort of mosquito den into which fifteen
+gnats, all suffering from yellow fever, had been admitted. Major Reed
+describes what happened:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>At noon on the same day, five minutes after the mosquitoes
+had been placed therein, a plucky Ohio boy, Moran by name,
+clad only in his night-shirt and fresh from a bath, entered
+the room containing the mosquitoes, where he lay down for a
+period of thirty minutes. Within two minutes of Moran's
+entrance he was being bitten about the face and hands by the
+insects, that had promptly settled down upon him. Seven, in
+all, bit him at this visit. At 4.30 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>p.m. the same day, he
+again entered and remained twenty minutes, during which time
+five others bit him. The following day, at 4.30 p.m., he
+again entered and remained fifteen minutes, during which
+time three insects bit him; making the number fifteen that
+had fed at these three visits. On Christmas morning, at 11
+a.m., this brave lad was stricken with yellow fever, and had
+a sharp attack, which he bore without a murmur.</p></div>
+
+<p>But still the demonstration was not complete. It was necessary to prove
+by equally undeniable evidence that yellow fever is not conveyed by
+contagion with the clothes and persons of infected people. These
+experiments were even more trying and heroic than those which preceded.
+A small wooden hut, 14 by 20 feet, was prepared, and into this was
+stored a large amount of bedding and clothes which had been used and
+worn by persons suffering from the fever. The building was carefully
+guarded against the intrusion of mosquitoes, and a temperature of
+seventy-six degrees, with a sufficient moisture, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>maintained. For twenty
+consecutive days Dr. Clarke and his men went into this room, handled,
+wore, and slept in the contaminated clothing, although the stench was so
+offensive as to be almost appalling. They emerged from the ordeal in
+perfect health, proving beyond possibility of dispute that the disease
+was not contagious, and that the mosquito was the sole method of
+transmission.</p>
+
+<p>When distributing the credit for the new channel of world-traffic
+through the isthmus of Panama, let us not forget Dr. Lazear who
+sacrificed his life and the many others who cheerfully risked their
+lives to establish truths and facts without which the construction and
+continued operation of the canal would almost certainly have been
+impossible.</p>
+
+<p>One mosquito may look very much like another, but the <i>stegomyia</i> and
+the <i>anopheles</i> differ in many important respects. The latter finds its
+most favourable breeding-places in stagnant pools of fresh water, such
+as are left by the heavy rains of the isthmus. It is essentially a gnat
+of the country-side. The <i>stegomyia</i>, on the other hand, inclines to a
+more frivolous town life. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>Cisterns and tanks and other receptacles for
+storing water are his favourite haunts. In length of life and power of
+flight the species also differ, though these details are not yet fully
+ascertained. The <i>stegomyia</i> is said to live three months. Dr. Cornish
+states that it becomes dangerous only by attacking man during the first
+three days of yellow fever, and that, even then, twelve days elapse
+before its bite is infectious. Six days after a man has been bitten by
+an infected <i>stegomyia</i> he falls ill with yellow fever, and for the next
+three days he is capable of transmitting it to the healthy mosquito. Mr.
+Bishop informs us that if there is no fresh case of yellow fever within
+a period of sixty days after the latest one in an epidemic, it is a safe
+conclusion that the disease has been stamped out, because there is no
+mosquito alive to carry the parasite. After a period of ninety days all
+doubt on the subject is removed.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> If a community, therefore, which has
+thus got rid of its last case of yellow fever could be completely
+isolated, yellow fever could never possibly return. It could only be
+reintroduced from outside. It <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>should be possible, with a proper system
+of sanitation and quarantine, to free any district entirely from this
+awful scourge.</p>
+
+<p>The case of the <i>anopheles</i> and his little contribution to human
+suffering is very different. Whereas the victim of yellow fever either
+dies or gets better and quickly ceases to be a source of infection to
+the mosquito, the victim of malaria seldom dies of the disease, but he
+remains infectious to the <i>anopheles</i> for three years. The disease does
+not simply attack new-comers or white people. Natives of the isthmus and
+the West Indies are subject to it, and, indeed, seem to be in a
+chronically malarious condition. It is said that 50 per cent. of the
+population of the isthmus were found in 1904-5 to have the parasite of
+malaria in their systems. It is difficult to estimate or imagine the
+part played by this widespread malady on conditions of life and
+civilization within the tropics.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Ronald Ross, the greatest living authority on the subject, made some
+interesting remarks in an address at the Royal Colonial Institute in
+January of this year. He said:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Nothing has been more carefully studied of recent years than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>
+the existence of malaria amongst indigenous populations. It
+often affects every one of the children, probably kills a
+large proportion of the new-born infants, and renders the
+survivors ill for years; only a partial immunity in adult
+life relieves them of the incessant sickness. Here in Europe
+nearly all our children suffer from certain
+diseases&mdash;measles, scarlatina, and so on. But these maladies
+are short and slight compared with the enduring infection of
+malaria. When I was studying malaria in Greece in 1906, I
+was struck with the impossibility of conceiving that the
+people who are now intensely afflicted with malaria could be
+like the ancient Greeks who did so much for the world; and I
+therefore suggested the hypothesis that malaria could only
+have entered Greece at about the time of the great Persian
+wars. One can scarcely imagine that the physically fine race
+and the magnificent athletes figured in Greek sculpture
+could ever have spent a malarious and splenomegalous
+childhood. And, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>conversely, it is difficult to imagine that
+many of the malarious natives in the tropics will ever rise
+to any great height of civilization while that disease
+endures amongst them. I am aware that Africa has produced
+some magnificent races, such as those of the Zulus and
+Masai, but I have heard that the countries inhabited by them
+are not nearly so disease-ridden as many of the larger
+tracts. At all events, whatever may be the effect of a
+malarious childhood upon the physique of adult life, its
+effects on the mental development must certainly be very
+bad, while the disease always paralyzes the material
+prosperity of the country where it exists in an intense
+form.</p></div>
+
+<p>The isthmus of Panama was beautifully adapted to the breeding of the
+<i>anopheles</i> and the widest dissemination of malaria. In fact, the canal
+zone taken over by the Americans was perhaps the most malarial strip of
+territory in the world. The heavy rains leave the country covered with
+those marshes and pools from which these little ghostly insects are
+always rising in swarms, ready to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>carry the germs of disease from the
+sick to the healthy and thus perpetuate and extend the domain of this
+distressing malady. The reader will notice that, as the yellow fever
+victim is only infectious to the mosquito for three days, while the
+malarial person can convey the poison for three years, it is a much more
+practical problem to eradicate yellow fever than to stamp out malaria.
+It is true the causes of malaria are now fully known and the only
+effective methods of propagation ascertained. If one could isolate all
+malarial patients, including all who are capable of transmitting the
+disease, in buildings screened with fine copper-gauze to keep out the
+mosquitoes and thus gradually diminish the area of infection to
+vanishing point, it would not be necessary to deal with the
+breeding-places of the mosquitoes, and man and the gnat might live
+together in perfect amity. But with fifty and even seventy per cent. of
+the people malarially infected, such a heroic course is obviously
+impossible, and one can hope only to diminish to a considerable degree
+the prevalence of the disease.</p>
+
+<p>The first two and a half years of the American occupation of the isthmus
+was spent in looking <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>round and preparing for the great work. It soon
+became evident that the most pressing and immediate task was one of
+cleaning up and sanitation. In July 1904, Colonel W. C. Gorgas, whose
+name will always be associated with the triumphs won over disease at the
+isthmus, became the head of the department of sanitation under the Canal
+Commission. He quickly recognized that everything depended on the
+efficiency and success of his own department. "The experience of our
+predecessors," he wrote, "was ample to convince us that unless we could
+protect our force against yellow fever and malaria we would be unable to
+accomplish the work."<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> When the Americans took over, yellow fever,
+though present, was quiescent, but the figures began almost at once to
+mount up. In December 1904 there were six cases on the isthmus and one
+death. In January 1905 there were nineteen cases and eight deaths, seven
+and one respectively among the canal employees. In May there were
+thirty-three cases, twenty-two on the canal, with seven deaths in all,
+including three employees. In June there was an alarming advance.
+Sixty-two cases <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>occurred on the isthmus, thirty-four of them among the
+employees. There were nineteen deaths, six on the canal. Something like
+a panic then set in among the Americans engaged on the canal works. Many
+threw up their positions, and the homeward-bound steamers were filled
+with employees fleeing from this real "yellow peril." In the annual
+report of the Commission for 1905 we read:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>A feeling of alarm, almost amounting to panic, spread among
+the Americans on the isthmus. Many resigned their positions
+to return to the United States, while those who remained
+became possessed with a feeling of lethargy or fatalism,
+resulting from a conviction that no remedy existed for the
+peril. There was a disposition to partly ignore or openly
+condemn all preventive measures. The gravity of the crisis
+was apparent to all.</p></div>
+
+<p>This loss of moral tone was the most dangerous symptom of all. A feeling
+of "let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die" gained possession <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>of
+the canal workers, and in the indifference of despair many tore down the
+nettings over the windows of the canal building and began to neglect all
+the sanitary precautions enjoined on them by the department. Evidently a
+calamity was in prospect which would have brought to an end, perhaps for
+ever, American canal ambitions at the isthmus. The restoration of public
+confidence and sense of responsibility seems to have been due largely to
+Mr. Charles E. Magoon, governor of the canal zone. He set himself to
+rebuke and remove the morbid bravado then prevailing. "He began by
+frankly and publicly declaring that he, personally, was afraid of the
+fever, and that in his opinion all non-immunes who professed not to be
+afraid were 'talking rot!' Then he ordered all the window-screens to be
+repaired and kept in place, and announced that if any man was caught
+leaving them open or tearing holes in them, something uncommonly
+unpleasant would happen to him. Now when a man of Judge Magoon's mental
+and physical stature admits that he is afraid, any lesser man is a fool
+to say he isn't; and when a man of Judge Magoon's resolution gives an
+order <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>and prescribes a penalty for its violation, that order is very
+likely to be obeyed."<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p>
+
+<div class="img"><a name="imagep144" id="imagep144"></a>
+<a href="images/imagep144.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep144.jpg" width="45%" alt="Col. William C. Gorgas" /></a><br />
+<p class="capright" style="margin-top: .2em;">[<i>Clinedinst--Washington, D.C.</i></p>
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;"><span class="smcap">Col. William C. Gorgas,</span><br />
+Medical Dept., U.S. Army, Head of the Department of Sanitation, Ancon.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Governor Magoon arrived at the isthmus in May 1905, just as the yellow
+fever epidemic was reaching its climax. From that moment he and Colonel
+Gorgas, to whom he gave the most complete support, set themselves to
+fight the fever. The first thing to do was to get all the patients
+within screened buildings, whether the hospital or their own homes, so
+that no <i>stegomyia</i> mosquitoes could saunter in and take the poison.
+Then the towns of Colon and Panama were handed over to a campaign of
+spring-cleaning such as the world has never witnessed. Then the canal
+building was thoroughly fumigated with pyrethrum powder or sulphur, and
+not simply the official building but every single house in the city of
+Panama was similarly disinfected. Dust and refuse were everywhere burnt.
+A very efficient system of inspection was adopted, and a rigid
+quarantine enforced against all foreign places whence the yellow plague
+could be imported into the zone.</p>
+
+<p>But more important than the immediate <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>expedients were the more
+permanent sanitary improvements carried out in Colon and Panama. These
+towns were repaired with brick or cement, and provided with what they
+had never yet enjoyed, a proper system of drainage. Waterworks were also
+constructed outside the towns, and a supply of pure water made available
+for every household. Hitherto water had had to be stored during the dry
+season in tanks and cisterns, in which the <i>stegomyia</i> mosquito revelled
+exceedingly. These were now no longer necessary, and stagnant water,
+wherever it collected in the town, was drained away. In order to
+expedite these splendid reforms, Governor Magoon withdrew the workers
+from the canal and concentrated all efforts on the sewers and
+waterworks. So speedily was the work carried forward that the water was
+turned on for public use from the main in the Cathedral Plaza on July 4.</p>
+
+<p>The results of this drastic campaign were soon apparent in the dwindling
+of the yellow fever returns. In July there were still forty-two cases
+and thirteen deaths on the isthmus, with twenty-seven cases and ten
+deaths among the employees. August showed a great improvement, with
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>twenty-seven cases and nine deaths on the isthmus, and twelve cases and
+only one death on the canal. The improvement continued through
+September, October, November, and in December only one case was reported
+on the isthmus and one on the canal. Three months having elapsed since
+the last case, and, therefore, every <i>stegomyia</i> which could possibly be
+infected with malaria having departed this life, the epidemic was
+entirely past and over. As I have pointed out, there cannot possibly be
+any return of it under these conditions unless the infection is brought
+from without. And if any new cases are at once isolated and screened
+from afternoon calls of the mosquito, the outbreak may be easily and
+infallibly suppressed. We may say, therefore, that the yellow spectre at
+the isthmus has been shorn of all its terrors.</p>
+
+<p>Malaria is, however, a very different proposition. A corresponding
+crusade has been carried on for six years against the little <i>anopheles</i>
+gnat, the little criminal who carries the malarial poison. His happy
+breeding-grounds are in open country marshes and pools, and there is no
+lack of these in the canal zone. It was impossible to deal with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>the
+entire three-quarters of a million acres of that territory, but wherever
+the canal workers were settled determined war was waged against the
+mosquitoes. It should be remembered that the <i>anopheles</i> can fly only
+about a hundred or two hundred yards. The jungle was therefore cleared
+away for a few hundred yards round each village and settlement, marshes
+and pools in this area were drained off, and into all the ditches where
+stagnant water had collected oil was poured, which so effectually turns
+the mosquito's stomach that it never recovers. Some 1,200 acres of the
+zone were thus treated, and of course the regulations as to
+house-screening applied to malaria no less than to yellow fever. The
+employees were also supplied freely and generously with quinine.</p>
+
+<p>The result has been not the eradication of malaria, but the reduction of
+the cases to about one-third the number at which they stood in 1906. Yet
+even so, among the 40,000 employees on the canal during the year ending
+June 30, 1912, there were 7,000 malaria cases in the hospitals, with 32
+deaths, 22 of these being white people. The heavy rainfalls at the
+isthmus will probably <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>prevent the complete sanitation of the country in
+this respect, for the simple reason that the destruction of the
+<i>anopheles</i> mosquito or the eradication of the malarial germ can never
+be complete. There will always be people going about with the malarial
+organism in their blood, and always <i>anopheles</i> mosquitoes ready to
+become infected with it and to carry the infection about. But, as we
+have seen, much can be done by the means described to reduce the ravages
+of the disease. In 1906, out of a working force of 26,000, there were
+21,739 cases of malaria. We have seen how this figure had been brought
+down in 1912. In 1906 it was almost certain that any white person coming
+to reside at the isthmus would catch malaria. Now it is quite possible
+to live there in perfect health, quite free from any malarial infection.</p>
+
+<p>It may be useful to mention that the entire death-roll among the
+employees on the Panama Canal and railway from the American occupation
+down to June 30, 1912&mdash;that is, about eight years&mdash;was 5,141, of whom
+284 were Americans. Of this total, 4,119 died of disease and 1,022 from
+violence or accident. During the same period <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>49 American women and 87
+American children died.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> Sir Ronald Ross, as I have said, was told by
+the British Consul at Panama in 1904 that the French lost in the nine
+years of their occupancy some 50,000 lives, principally from malaria and
+yellow fever. This may be an over-estimate, but there is no doubt that
+the American figure shows an enormous improvement on the French.</p>
+
+<p>It is easy to conclude that what has been done in sanitation at the
+isthmus of Panama may be done anywhere else in the tropics, where
+malaria and yellow fever prevail. That may be true, but we must also
+remember that the work of Panama had behind it all the wealth and
+resources of a mighty republic of 90,000,000 citizens. The expenditure
+on these hygienic purposes at the isthmus has been enormous, though not
+a penny has been wasted. Down to the end of December, 1912, the total
+outlay of the Department of Sanitation was $15,500,000. Waterworks,
+sewers, etc., accounted for another $2,500,000, so that we get a grand
+total expenditure on sanitation of $18,000,000. This will certainly rise
+to $20,000,000 before the canal is finished, so that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>for the ten and a
+half years of its construction there will have been an annual
+expenditure for all health purposes of $1,900,000. It is not likely that
+there will be many tropical areas of this kind with so large a sum
+available for the luxury of scientific sanitation. Again, it must be
+noticed that the administration had special advantages at the isthmus.
+It exercised something like military authority. It had absolute powers
+of deportation, and could enforce its regulations as it pleased. And in
+considering the statistics it must also be borne in mind that not only
+the physical but the moral and mental health of the work-people at the
+isthmus was promoted in every way. We shall look into the life of the
+Panama construction camps in the next chapter. The social interest and
+amusement provided for the employee must have counted for something
+beside the sewering and screening and mosquito-hunting. All the same,
+the success achieved at Panama is full of hope and promise for tropical
+life in the future. Colonel Gorgas writes encouragingly:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I think the sanitarian can now show that any population<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>
+coming into the tropics can protect itself against these two
+diseases (malaria and yellow fever) by measures that are
+both simple and inexpensive; that with these two diseases
+eliminated life in the tropics for the Anglo-Saxon will be
+more healthful than in the temperate zones; that gradually,
+within the next two or three centuries, tropical countries,
+which offer a much greater return for man's labour than do
+the temperate zones, will be settled up by the white races,
+and that again the centres of wealth, civilization, and
+population will be in the tropics, as they were in the dawn
+of man's history, rather than in the temperate zone, as at
+present.</p></div>
+
+<p>Apart from the question of disease, it is far from certain that the
+white man can ever remain as "fit," as capable of bodily labour, in
+equatorial regions as in his native temperate conditions, or that his
+descendants will also maintain the same standard of health and strength.
+Ordinary non-professional opinion would perhaps discount Colonel
+Gorgas's forecast as a little too optimistic.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> "Sanitation of the Isthmus." Mr. J. B. Bishop in
+<i>Scribner's Monthly</i>, February 1913.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> <i>Scribner's Monthly</i>, February 1913, p. 248.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> <i>Journal American Medical Association</i>, July 6, 1907.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> "Four Centuries of the Panama Canal."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> See <i>Scribner's Magazine</i>, February 1913, p. 251.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+
+<h2>LIFE AT THE ISTHMUS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Before we go on to describe the canal and its method of construction, we
+must look at the sort of social life and civil administration which has
+prevailed since the Americans arrived. Construction camps in tropical
+climes are not usually distinguished for order and good morals. The
+Americans determined to make an exception at Panama. They had a
+perfectly free hand and the enjoyment of all sovereign rights at the
+isthmus, and were able to construct a brand-new little state on the most
+approved and ideal principles. We have seen what instructions were given
+by President Roosevelt to the first commission. An entire administrative
+system had to be established within this little plot 10 miles wide and
+50 long. Laws had to be framed and civil government established, with
+all the needful <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>accessories of judicial courts, police force,
+fire-brigades, customs and revenue service, post-offices, public works
+and financial department. The administration carried what is known as
+"paternalism" to all lengths. That is, it did all the catering and
+providing itself, and left little or nothing to private companies. Of
+course, everything had to be imported, for the little territory itself
+produced nothing. Whole villages and settlements with all the
+accessories of social life had to be built along the line of works. Over
+2,000 structures, including offices, hospitals, hotels, messes,
+kitchens, shops, storehouses, and living quarters, were constructed, and
+more than 1,500 buildings taken over from the French, which were made
+available by necessary repairs.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Goethals gives us a brief insight into the work of the
+Commissary Department of the Panama Railroad:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The Commissary Department of the Panama Railroad Company was
+enlarged until it is now [1911] a great department store,
+supplying to the employees whatever may be necessary for
+their comfort and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>convenience. Manufacturing, cold-storage,
+and laundry plants were established, and turn out each day
+about 90 tons of ice, 14,000 loaves of bread, 2,400 rolls,
+250 gallons of ice-cream, 1,000 pounds of roasted coffee,
+and 7,500 pieces of laundry. Four or five refrigerator cars,
+loaded with meats, vegetables, and such fruits as can be
+obtained, are sent out on the night freight to distant
+points, and every morning a supply train of about 16 cars,
+of which number six to eight are refrigerator cars, leaves
+Cristobal at 4.30 to distribute foodstuffs and laundry to
+the local commissaries along the line, where the employees
+make their purchases, and where the hotels, messes, and
+kitchens secure their supplies for the day.</p></div>
+
+<p>A graphic and representative picture of one of the construction
+settlements along the canal was given by the correspondent of <i>The
+Times</i> at Panama.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> He chose "Emperador," or "Empire," as the typical
+village. This is the headquarters of the central division of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>construction work, and is situated about halfway along the great
+Culebra Cut. The correspondent writes:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>According to the census just completed, it contains 7,152
+inhabitants, of whom 1,757 are whites, 3,701 negroes, 1,569
+mestizos, 101 Chinese, and 24 East Indians. North of the
+main street is a section called the "native town,"
+apparently because it is inhabited by natives of other
+countries than Panama, but really because here was situated
+the native hamlet alongside which the French built their
+construction camp in 1881. It is occupied by the part of the
+population not employed by the government, and here are the
+American saloons, the Spanish <i>cantinas</i> and restaurants,
+Chinese shops, East Indian fancy-work shops, and negro
+tailoring and shoemaking places. On the south side of the
+American settlement are the labour "camps," consisting of
+barracks and eating-places. All the buildings are of wood,
+constructed to last not over ten years; and none are large,
+excepting the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>administration buildings and the club-house.
+On three sides of the village are the huts of the labourers
+who prefer the half-jungle life with its freedom; and here,
+with discomfort and squalor and liberty, is the only
+picturesque part of the settlement; all else is orderly, of
+one pattern, almost smug. On the fourth side the village is
+limited by the canal itself.</p>
+
+<p>In the centre of the village is the commissariat, where the
+canal and railroad workers buy their food and clothing. Here
+congregate every morning the housewives of the village to do
+their shopping, and at night, after work, the men, to
+complete the family purchases. There is a similar store in
+each canal village&mdash;eighteen in all. The commissariat does
+away with the middleman's profit and buys in such large
+quantities, and for cash, that it obtains the lowest prices,
+while the many ways in which the materials purchased can be
+used prevent waste. If there is cause for complaint on the
+part of any class in the canal workers, that class is the
+bachelors, for they are discriminated against in the matter
+of quarters. But good <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>provision is made for their meals, at
+the so-called "hotels" for the white employees, and the
+messes and kitchens for Spanish and negro labourers.</p></div>
+
+<p>Another remarkable evidence of how the canal administration stands <i>in
+loco parentis</i> to all its work-people is that it has provided twenty-six
+churches and maintains fifteen ministers of religion. This is
+interesting because it shows how the state, when conducted on
+common-sense principles, may provide for religious instruction without
+causing any offence or inflicting any injustice. The administration
+treated all denominations with perfect impartiality. Of the fifteen
+ministers it supported, four were Episcopalian, four Baptist, three
+Roman Catholic, one Wesleyan, and one Presbyterian. But this was not the
+entire provision of churches and chapels on the isthmus. There were
+fourteen other churches not under direct government control, but
+assisted by the government in many ways. Of the forty in all, thirteen
+were Episcopalian, seven Baptist, seven Roman Catholic, two Wesleyan,
+and eight undenominational.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>As I have pointed out, the moral sanitation of the isthmus was cared for
+as well as the physical. For example, in September 1905, a man living in
+the canal zone was charged with running a roulette table. He pleaded
+that he owned a concession from the Republic of Panama. That excuse was
+not allowed, and he was sentenced to fine and imprisonment for
+transgressing one of the canal zone laws. Gambling, which had always
+been one of the Panamanian vices, was quite forbidden within the zone.
+Remembering the descriptions given of the state of morals at the isthmus
+during the French occupation, one cannot help being struck with the
+contrast afforded by the American regime. Criticisms of the canal
+scheme, of climatic and social conditions in the zone, appeared in the
+early days from time to time. Mr. Johnson quotes an example which is so
+amusing as to bear repetition:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>A land as feverish to the imagination as to the body is
+Panama. It is a land making a fitting environment to the
+deeds of conspiracy, piracy, loot, cruelty, and blood that
+have principally made its history for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>centuries. This
+gloomy, God-forsaken isthmus is a nightmare region. One
+descriptive writer has truly said of it that it is a land
+where the flowers have no odour, the birds no song; where
+the men are without honour and the women without virtue. He
+is not far wrong. The birds, brilliant as is their plumage,
+have no musical notes. The dense forests teem with
+bright-hued parrots, parroquets, and other birds, which
+squeak and scream but do not sing. There are beautiful
+orchids to be found in the swamps and jungles&mdash;fair to look
+upon, but they have no odour. The oranges have green skins
+instead of golden, the plantains must be fried to make them
+fit to eat, the reptiles and insects are often venomous, and
+myriads of parasites are ever ready to invade the human body
+and bring disease and death. In the atmosphere itself is
+something suggestive of the days of the old pirates and
+their fiendish cruelties and orgies. There is no life in the
+air; it is depressing, damp, miasmatic, and intensely hot.
+For a great part of the year thunder-showers succeed each
+other all day <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>long and half the night, with sheet lightning
+all around the horizon after dark. There is practically no
+twilight, day passing almost instantly into night. It is no
+wonder that this uncanny land has made its residents
+degenerate into plotters, revolutionists, murderers, and
+thieves. Its aspect is one of darkness, treachery, and
+curse.</p></div>
+
+<p>President Roosevelt had something to say on these recurring criticisms
+in a message to Congress in January 1906. He wrote:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>From time to time various publications have been made, and
+from time to time in the future various similar
+publications, doubtless, will be made, purporting to give an
+account of jobbing or immorality or inefficiency or misery
+as obtaining on the isthmus. I have carefully examined into
+each of these accusations which seemed worthy of attention.
+In every instance the accusations have proved to be without
+foundation in any shape or form. They spring from several
+sources. Sometimes they take the shape of statements by
+irresponsible <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>investigators of a sensational habit of mind,
+incapable of observing or repeating with accuracy what they
+see, and desirous of obtaining notoriety by widespread
+slander. More often they originate with or are given
+currency by individuals with a personal grievance. The
+sensation mongers, both those who stay at home and those who
+visit the isthmus, may ground their accusations on false
+statements by some engineer who, having applied for service
+on the commission and been refused such service, now
+endeavours to discredit his successful competitors, or by
+some lessee or owner of real estate who has sought action or
+inaction by the commission to increase the value of his
+lots, and is bitter because the commission cannot be used
+for such purposes, or on the tales of disappointed bidders
+for contracts, or of office-holders who have proved
+incompetent, or who have been suspected of corruption and
+dismissed, or who have been overcome by panic and have fled
+from the isthmus. Every specific charge relating to jobbery,
+to immorality, or to inefficiency, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>from whatever source it
+has come, has been immediately investigated, and in no
+single instance have the statements of these sensation
+mongers and the interested complainants behind them proved
+true. The only discredit adhering to these false accusations
+is to those who originate and give them currency, and who,
+to the extent of their abilities, thereby hamper and
+obstruct the completion of the great work in which both the
+honour and the interest of America are so deeply involved.
+It matters not whether those guilty of these false
+accusations utter them in mere wanton recklessness and
+folly, or in a spirit of sinister malice to gratify some
+personal or political grudge.</p></div>
+
+<p>The soundness and purity of the canal zone administration has long ago
+been established beyond all question and cavil. The Americans have given
+an example to the world how a great work of this kind, involving the
+gathering together of a large multitude of workers from many races and
+nations, may be carried on without those moral and physical evils which
+have marked <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>too many enterprises of the kind. In fact, the way in which
+the Americans have arranged and controlled the life of the canal zone
+stands quite as much to their credit as the skill and determination they
+have shown in the actual construction of the canal.</p>
+
+<p>But we have said nothing yet about the workers themselves on the canal.
+The Americans, on taking over the work from the French, found about 700
+West Indian negroes engaged in excavating the Culebra Cut. From this
+contingent as a nucleus a much larger army of workers was built up. The
+numbers rapidly grew. In December 1905 there were 5,000 employees; in
+1906, 24,000; in 1908, 31,000; the highest figure being reached in 1910,
+when there were 50,000 workers available for duty. Of the employees,
+speaking roughly, one-seventh have been white Americans, all, of course,
+skilled workers, one-seventh European labourers, and five-sevenths West
+Indian negroes. The British West Indies, especially Barbados, have
+continued to be the main source of labour supply. But the West Indian at
+the outset left a great deal to be desired in his work and efficiency.
+In 1905 complaints <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>were made on the subject by the chairman of the
+canal commission to the President of the United States. In 1906 the
+chief engineer reported:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The criticisms of the character of the common labour which
+were made in last year's report still hold good. Our labour
+consists almost entirely of West Indian negroes, and their
+efficiency is very low, although we have a few of this class
+who are fairly steady workers&mdash;by this it is meant that they
+average to work all the time, but the great body of them do
+not. The majority work just long enough to get money to
+supply their actual bodily necessities, with the result
+that, while we are quartering and caring for twenty odd
+thousand of these people, our daily effective force is many
+thousands less. Preliminary steps have been taken toward
+securing a large number of Spanish labourers direct from the
+north-west provinces of Spain, also for the securing of a
+trial shipment of Cantonese Chinese, as it is believed that
+the introduction of labourers of different nationalities
+will be beneficial.</p></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>The Chinese project was frustrated through the influence of trade unions
+in the United States, backed up by representations from the Pacific
+coast states. The West Indian labourer quickly began to earn a better
+report. It was found that his inefficiency was largely due to
+insufficient and improper food. He speedily improved when turned on to
+the generous and nourishing diet provided in the zone. In order to be
+certain that he had the full advantage of the provided meals, the price
+of them was very wisely deducted from his wages. Moreover, the American
+foremen soon began to learn that the men from Barbados, Trinidad, and
+elsewhere were British subjects and could not be treated as though they
+were southern state "coons." With a better understanding and more
+sympathetic treatment of the black employees, much more work was got out
+of them, and a good deal of the credit for the building of the Panama
+Canal is due to the 30,000 workers<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> who have been recruited mainly
+from the British islands in the West Indies.</p>
+
+<p>But the southern European contingent has <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>been found to be excellent
+material. It was thought that the work-people of Spain, Italy, and
+Greece would take more easily to navvying work in the tropics than
+people from more northerly regions of the temperate zone. The results
+were, on the whole, satisfactory. The Greeks were, it is true, not equal
+to the Italians or the Spaniards, and very few of them were recruited
+for canal work. The Italians, also, though several thousands of them
+were engaged, proved rather hard to handle. They were bitten with
+collectivist ideas, and inclined to act on trade union lines. The
+Spaniard was, in every way, the most satisfactory workman introduced
+from Europe. He was taken in an unsophisticated state directly from his
+village in Galicia or Castile. He was tractable and orderly, and quick
+and ready to learn. Hard labour under the tropical sun and in the hot
+damp of the isthmus seemed to have no exhausting or enervating influence
+whatever upon him. The Spaniard shows no sign of settling down on the
+isthmus. He either goes home with his savings or on to railway work in
+Brazil. Some 9,000 have been directly recruited, but this number does
+not include all the Spanish <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>labourers whose muscle has helped to the
+completion of this great work.</p>
+
+<p>A word or two should be said about the wages earned on the canal. The
+West Indian recruit was offered 6&frac12;d. an hour for common labour and an
+eight-hour day, in addition to free quarters, medical care, and
+repatriation. Meals were supplied to him at the rate of 1s. 2&frac12;d. per
+day. Later the pay of all not under contract was reduced to 5d. per
+hour, and the price of the three meals to 1s. 1&frac12;d. Negro artisans,
+such as carpenters, masons, blacksmiths and others, of whom there were
+some 5,000 employed in connection with the canal works, received pay
+varying from 8d. to 22d. per hour. There were in 1912 4,400 negro
+artisans receiving 8d. an hour or more, while 400 received 1s. an hour,
+and the work was constant.</p>
+
+<p>The European labourer, in addition to free quarters, received $1.60 per
+eight-hour day, and more for overtime work. He was charged 40 cents a
+day for his three meals, which left him a minimum net wage per day of
+$1.20, or a little less than thirty shillings a week. Many, however,
+received more, and a good number of Spanish <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>work-people must have gone
+home with a nice little nest-egg in their pockets.</p>
+
+<p>The skilled labour was done almost entirely by United States employees,
+though the "gold roll," as it was called, included at first some
+Europeans. The pay was excellent, the social life, with its gymnasia,
+billiard-rooms, concerts and so forth, attractive, and the commissariat,
+with its three good meals at a fixed charge, quite up to the standard of
+a good hotel. The billets on the isthmus were therefore popular, and
+about 7,000 Americans on an average have been in employment there.</p>
+
+<p>As I have pointed out, the responsibility for the construction of the
+canal was vested in the President of the United States, who acted
+through an executive commission resident in the canal zone. The work was
+organized in a large number of departments, each responsible for a big
+task. These were excavation and dredging; locks and dams; machinery and
+buildings (also responsible for paving and other improvements in Colon
+and Panama); labour, subsistence, and quarters; material and supplies;
+sanitation (responsible also for hygiene in Panama and Colon, which
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>towns are technically outside the zone); civil administration; the
+Panama railroad. There were also some smaller divisions, such as
+accounts and an office of a purchasing officer in Washington, nearly all
+the supplies for the canal being obtained in the United States. It
+should be added that the Republic of Panama is responsible for the
+policing of the two big towns, but the department of civil
+administration of the Panama Canal Commission employed 200 police, 88 of
+which were native West Indians.</p>
+
+<p>This busy hive of labour will soon present a very different aspect. With
+the approach of the canal to completion the numbers of the workmen will
+gradually be reduced. A drastic process of sifting and selection will be
+carried out among the Americans employed on the works. Only about 2,500
+men will be necessary to operate the canal, when it is in full working
+order. These will be established at the locks and other important
+points. In fact, the canal authorities recommend a complete depopulation
+of the isthmus except, of course, the terminal cities and the operating
+stations on the canal. Otherwise, they think, a large expense for
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>sanitation will be necessary which might thus be avoided. But the
+question of defence must not be forgotten. It will certainly be found
+advisable to maintain a pretty large American garrison at the isthmus,
+and to the population we have mentioned perhaps even 8,000 American
+troops must be added. The busy scenes still prevailing in the canal zone
+will now soon have disappeared like a dream, and the future traveller
+who looks from the ship-rail over the shining waters of Gatun Lake or
+beyond to the vast and silent tropical forest will have difficulty in
+reconstructing the spectacle which the narrow lands presented during the
+ten strenuous years of construction.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> <i>The Times</i>, September 26, 1912.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> This is the figure of official recruiting. Very many more
+came to the isthmus of their own accord.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE PROBLEM OF CONSTRUCTION.</h2>
+
+
+<p>We may now begin to consider the canal itself, the problems which its
+designers had to solve, the methods of construction, and the features of
+the completed work. As we have seen, the first two and a half years were
+a time mainly of preparation for the titanic enterprise of excavation
+and construction. In fact, it might have been better if the work during
+that period had been entirely restricted to scavenging, sewering, and so
+forth. The labourers were hurried a little too fast to the isthmus,
+before the isthmus was properly cleaned up to receive them. Hence the
+yellow fever panic and difficulties which might have been avoided. The
+people of the United States were responsible for this over-haste at the
+start. The great thing, they cried, is to "make the dirt fly." They
+wanted evidence <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>that the steam-navvies were actually at work in the bed
+of the canal and that the task was well in hand. In fact, the public at
+home took an interest in the canal operations which was sometimes
+embarrassing. Some newspaper man at the isthmus would report an accident
+or unforeseen difficulty, probably with a good deal of exaggeration, an
+anxious excitement sprang up among the people, and special commissions
+had to go to the isthmus in order to investigate the true state of
+affairs and if possible restore confidence at home.</p>
+
+<p>As the reader knows, the Americans had no clean slate on which to write
+at Panama. They succeeded two French companies which had been at work
+for twenty years. True, the New Panama Canal Company which succeeded the
+Lesseps Company had not greatly perspired over the undertaking. It had
+kept a certain amount of work going, chiefly in order to maintain its
+concession. All the same, the French had ploughed a pretty deep furrow
+between Colon and Panama, and much of the work they had done was
+fortunately available whichever type of canal should be adopted,
+high-level or tide-level. They had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>carried out a good deal of dredging
+for the channel through the tidal flats at either end of the canal, and
+they had made a very visible impression on the "continental divide" at
+what is known as the Culebra Cut. Altogether the French companies
+excavated 81,548,000 cubic yards. The Americans inherited from their
+predecessors a large amount of machinery and tools, in addition to a
+great deal of work well done. Much of the machinery, even of the Lesseps
+Company, was found to be in serviceable condition, and operations could
+be continued with it, though the extent and efficiency of the plant was,
+of course, as time went on, greatly increased.</p>
+
+<p>The main problem which the American engineers had to solve was how to
+deal with the Chagres River. On the tide-level scheme, that violent and
+capricious stream, which in the rainy season was navigable for half its
+length of 100 miles, would have had to be diverted into another channel
+or ponded back in its upper waters by a high dam at Gamboa, some of the
+overflow of which might perhaps have been permitted to pass into the
+canal. But, as we have seen, the Chagres would have to be utilized and
+at the same <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>time controlled if the high-level plan was adopted. A river
+which is capable of rising 35&frac12; feet in twenty-four hours needed a
+great deal of regulation and discipline before it could be used as the
+feeder of the upper reaches of a lock canal. The only way to do this was
+to diffuse its waters over a vast artificial lake which it would keep
+full, but in which its floods and current would be effectually tamed.
+This could only be done by a huge dam intercepting the course of the
+river in its lower reaches, at some point before it entered the
+Caribbean Sea. When the New Panama Canal Company changed its plans and
+decided for an elevated waterway, it was intended to construct such a
+barrier at Bohio, a point much higher up stream than Gatun, the site
+ultimately chosen by the American engineers. The Isthmian Canal
+Commission which reported in 1901, also arranged for a dam at Bohio to
+control the Chagres River. On this plan the river would have been
+intercepted much higher up, and the artificial lake would have been much
+smaller. But when the Americans finally decided on the high-level type
+in 1906, the site of the proposed dam was shifted from Bohio to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>Gatun,
+nearer the river's mouth, which involved the inundation of a much vaster
+area of country. This position for the dam was first suggested by a
+French engineer, Godin de L&eacute;pinay, who, in a paper read before the
+congress of engineers in Paris in 1879, advocated a lock canal with a
+dam controlling the Chagres River at Gatun. This, then, was the biggest
+problem peculiar to the high-level scheme, for the cutting through the
+"continental divide," though an even more titanic labour, would have had
+to be accomplished whatever type of canal had been adopted.</p>
+
+<p>No feature of the construction has been subject to so much criticism and
+anxious solicitude as this Gatun dyke. On it depends the maintenance of
+Gatun Lake and the supply of water for the canal. If the dam fails,
+everything fails. The real cause of the difficulty was the foundation
+upon which this big artificial hill had to be laid. The great dam at
+Assouan in Egypt is based upon the eternal granite, upon which masonry
+of natural stone is built. It is, therefore, part and parcel of the
+solid framework of our planet, and will probably last as long. The Gatun
+dam is, however, founded upon the alluvial deposits of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>Chagres
+River. This alluvium consists of gravel firmly cemented with mud and
+clay, and is unquestionably water-tight. These deposits go down in
+places to a depth of 280 feet before the solid rock is reached. The dam
+had, therefore, to be laid down on the top of them.</p>
+
+<p>Now this foundation, though water-tight, is soft. It would have been
+impossible to place upon it a massive structure of rock or concrete. The
+deposits would have given way under its weight. The only plan was to
+dump down in the valley an earthen dam, making it very broad so as to
+distribute the weight over as large a space as possible of the alluvium
+underneath. A steep slope would have been impossible, for the weight of
+the central portion would have pushed the clay and gravel outwards, and
+the whole mass would have subsided. The earth-dam was to block the
+valley through which the Chagres had hitherto flowed uninterruptedly to
+the sea. This valley is a mile and a half wide, and this is, therefore,
+the length of the dam. Its base is 2,100 feet wide. It is 398 feet
+through at the surface of the water, 100 feet wide at the top, and was
+to be 115 feet above sea-level. The last figure has, it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>seems, been
+brought down to 104 feet, which will be an advantage, as the weight upon
+the foundations will be proportionately less.</p>
+
+<p>In the middle of the dam the level of the lake is controlled by a
+channel called the "spillway," with walls and floor of concrete, by
+which the surplus waters will be sluiced off into the old bed of the
+Chagres River and so passed on to the sea. The entrance to this channel
+is closed with falling gates or doors. This safety-valve will no doubt
+be capable of dealing with the biggest and quickest rise of the
+lake-level that is ever likely to take place. It can pass off 137,000
+cubic feet of water a second, the water issuing at a speed of 35 feet a
+second. But, to complete the security, the big culverts of the mighty
+Gatun locks close by can be turned open, and 170,000 cubic feet a second
+carried off there. Indeed, as regards the Gatun Lake the anxiety, if
+there be any, is that the water-supply will be insufficient rather than
+dangerously excessive.</p>
+
+<p>The level of the lake is to be kept at 85 feet above mean
+sea-level&mdash;that is, the dam, or a considerable length of it, will be
+exposed to what is called a "head" of water of 85 feet. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>lake itself
+will be 164 square miles in extent. There have been many rational
+anxieties on the sufficiency of the dam. A certain American senator,
+however, who visited the works during the construction, worried himself
+rather unnecessarily on this last figure. Colonel Goethals was showing a
+congressional delegation round the works, and in the course of the
+survey they came to the dam with the broad expanse of water behind it.
+"Colonel," he said, "how is it that so small a body of earth as the
+Gatun dam can hold in check such a tremendous body of water as the Gatun
+Lake?" The chief engineer explained that the pressure of a body of water
+is determined by its height and not by its volume. The inquirer seems
+not to have been satisfied with the statement of this hydrostatic law.
+Senator Knox, afterwards Secretary of State, then came to his aid.
+"Senator," he said, "if your theory were true, how could the dykes of
+Holland hold in check the Atlantic Ocean?" This was a clincher, and the
+sceptic joined in the laugh at his own expense.</p>
+
+<p>All the same, the Gatun dam has two extremely <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>responsible and heavy
+duties to perform. It has to withstand the horizontal thrust of a head
+of 85 feet of water so as not to be carried bodily down the Chagres bed
+into the Atlantic. And it has to block up the valley so effectually that
+the water of the lake shall not percolate through at any point. There is
+every reason to believe that, in spite of all alarums and excursions
+during its construction, it will fulfil both these requirements. Its
+composition and construction may be briefly described. Two bulwarks of
+big rocky fragments were built up on either outer line or "toe" of the
+structure. This rough material was obtained from the lock site, or
+Mindi, or the Culebra Cut twenty-six miles away. The area between these
+piles is filled with silt, and water pumped into it by hydraulic dredges
+from the Chagres valley. The surplus water is carried off through pipes.
+The sodden silt remains and is packed down and consolidated by
+atmospheric pressure. Such a "hydraulic fill" is impervious to water,
+the thrust or "head" of which is very quickly lost in the minute
+interstices or pores of the material. It will be seen how such a
+structure differs from a dam of concrete <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>or stone masonry. It is
+porous, while at the same time impervious to water.</p>
+
+<p>The future traveller through the Panama Canal will probably never guess
+the immensity of the labour that has gone to the building of the Gatun
+dam. Already, indeed, it looks so much like a part of the natural
+landscape that it might well escape special observation altogether. Yet
+nothing less than 21,145,931 cubic yards of material were laid
+down&mdash;enough to make a wall of earth three feet high and three feet
+thick reaching nearly halfway round the world. The spillway itself
+contains 225,485 cubic yards of concrete.</p>
+
+<p>It will be noticed that in the dam proper there is no core of masonry or
+puddled chalk or clay whatever. It was at one time intended that there
+should be. I have alluded to the alarmist rumours that were raised again
+and again at Panama and created much uneasiness in the United States.
+These were especially concerned with the great dam, and that word must
+have frequently been on the lips of the engineers in more than one
+significance. Every possible test was applied to determine the exact
+character of the underlying materials, to ascertain whether <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>there was
+any connection between the swamp areas to the north and south through
+the deposits in the gorges which the earthwork was to bridge, to prove
+the ability of the material below to support the structure, and to find
+out whether suitable material for the dam could be found in its
+neighbourhood. "As the result of all these investigations," wrote
+Colonel Goethals,<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> "it may be briefly stated that the underlying
+material is impervious to water; that it possesses ample strength to
+uphold the structure that will be placed upon it, and, the subsoil being
+impervious, that there is no connection between the swamps above and the
+sea below."</p>
+
+<p>In order to make assurance doubly sure, Colonel Goethals planned the dam
+so as to include triple interlocking steel sheet-piling across the
+valley, driven down to bedrock, and decided to carry the dam to a height
+of 135 feet. Even so, the news of a collapse was wired home, and this so
+impressed President Roosevelt that he sent a commission of engineers to
+the isthmus accompanied by President-elect Taft. The investigations had
+a different result from what had been expected. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>Instead of being
+dissatisfied with the size and strength of the dam, the engineers
+declared that it was being built too high and that the steel piling was
+unnecessary. It must be admitted, therefore, that the efficiency of the
+Gatun dam has been subjected to the most rigorous tests, and that no
+further anxiety on the subject need be felt.</p>
+
+<p>With the blocking of the Chagres outlet at Gatun, the waters of the lake
+have gradually accumulated until they cover an area of 164 square miles.
+Not only the Chagres itself but its tributaries, the Trinidad and
+others, are thus ponded back. The reservoir extends up a number of long
+and winding arms, and is thus very irregular in shape. The bed of the
+channel itself was cleared of brushwood and trees, but the rest of the
+valley was thickly overgrown. As the waters rose, therefore, and
+gradually submerged this primeval forest, a rather dismal spectacle was
+presented of decay and destruction. The lake has, indeed, completely
+altered the aspect of the country. Villages and even small towns, whose
+names had come down from the days of the old navigators, lie buried for
+ever beneath the waters <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>of Lake Gatun. Even now the great expanse of
+water with its wooded islands looks like a natural feature of the
+landscape rather than yesterday's creation of engineering enterprise.
+The vessels in transit will, of course, keep to the dredged and buoyed
+channel, but the channel will itself be invisible, and the traveller,
+after tossing on the restless Caribbean Sea, will enjoy the full
+sensation of a cruise over a landlocked fjord or lake. Lake Gatun is
+indeed twice the size of Lago Maggiore and four-fifths the size of Lake
+Geneva. The journey from Gatun to Bas Obispo, where the waterway again
+assumes the appearance of a canal and enters the Culebra gorge, is 22
+miles, but the same 85-foot level is maintained right to the locks at
+Pedro Miguel, where the waters of Lake Gatun are again retained by a dam
+connecting the walls of the lock with a hill to the west. The rest of
+the lake is held in by the natural configuration of the country, the
+only outlets being at the Gatun spillway and, of course, through the
+locks.</p>
+
+<p>But we must not overlook the main purpose of the lake, which is to
+supply the water for the canal and the lockages. For this purpose
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>everything, of course, depends on the rainfall at the isthmus, and the
+question arises whether this may be relied upon to replenish the canal
+with the needful water-supply. Colonel Goethals estimates that in an
+average dry season 58 "lockages," or transits of the canal, per day
+would be possible, which is a greater number than the twenty-four hours
+of the day would permit, allowing vessels to follow each other at
+intervals of one hour. Happily, a resource is still left if the supply
+of water should show signs of proving insufficient. At Alhajuela, on the
+Chagres River, some nine or ten miles above Obispo, there is an
+excellent site for a dam, forming a reservoir where some of the surplus
+water of the rainy season could be stored and supplied to the canal as
+required in the dry months. Details of the construction of such a dam
+were prepared in connection with a former canal-scheme, and would be
+available in case of need.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTE:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> <i>The National Geographic Magazine</i>, February 1911.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE CULEBRA CUT.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The most famous section of work on the canal has been that at the
+vertebra or "continental divide," which runs along the isthmus on the
+Pacific side and had to be pierced through by any canal running from
+Colon to Panama. This tremendous work, known as the "Culebra Cut," from
+the name of one of the hills, extends for nine miles from Bas Obispo to
+Pedro Miguel. Mr. Bryce has truly said, referring to this section, that
+"never before on our planet have so much labour, so much scientific
+knowledge, and so much executive skill been concentrated on a work
+designed to bring the nations nearer to one another and serve the
+interests of all mankind."<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> The bottom of the canal in the cut, as in
+the channel through Lake Gatun, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>is 40 feet above sea-level. The highest
+elevation of the original surface of the ground above the centre line of
+the canal was 312 feet above sea-level, so that the total excavation
+along this saddle was 312 minus 40, or 272 feet. This was, however, not
+actually the highest point of excavation. Gold Hill, close to the canal
+line, is 534 feet above sea-level, and from the top of this hill a new
+and steeper slope had to be made. The surface of the water is 85 feet
+above sea-level, and so is 227 feet below the original saddle at its
+highest elevation. We have already noticed that a tide-level canal would
+have involved an excavation 85 feet deeper, and the width of the cutting
+would have had to be immensely wider. The slides and breaks which have
+rendered the American excavation so much more difficult lead one to
+suppose that the tide-level cutting might have proved impracticable.</p>
+
+<p>All the work at Culebra performed by the French was available for their
+successors. The French companies accounted for 18,646,000 cubic yards of
+material on this section. They had already cut down 152 feet below the
+original surface at its highest elevation, and the cliff <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>they had cut
+in the face of Gold Hill was 374 feet in vertical height. It is well to
+mention such figures, as some people imagine that the French wasted all
+their time and resources at Panama. It may be added that the bottom
+width of the channel adopted by the French engineers was 74 feet,
+whereas that of the American canal will be 300 feet.</p>
+
+<p>Many descriptions have been given by visitors of the spectacle presented
+in this long and deep gash through the mountains during the progress of
+the excavations. From these and the numerous photographs taken at that
+stage the traveller will be able to reconstruct the scene&mdash;the two
+hundred miles of railroad construction track, laid down tier above tier
+at different levels; the thousands of men busily at work; the roar and
+smoke of the dynamite tearing the rock into fragments; the mighty
+steam-shovels like great dragons burying their iron teeth in the surface
+of the bank, engulfing a huge mouthful, then swinging round and belching
+it all into the dirt trucks, to be carried off to the dumping-ground at
+Gatun near the Atlantic or Balboa at the Pacific end of the canal. At
+Culebra, Colonel Goethals made the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>"dirt fly" to the full satisfaction
+of public opinion in the United States. All sorts of devices and
+machinery were employed to hasten and economize the process. For
+example, there was the Ledgerwood Unloader. Railway trucks provided with
+flaps were used, these flaps making a single platform of the whole
+train. At the rear of the train was a plough which could be drawn by a
+wire rope attached to a drum carried on a special car in the fore part
+of the train. When the train arrived at the dumping-ground the drum was
+started, and the plough, advancing from the rear, swept the 320 cubic
+yards and rock from the sixteen cars in seven minutes. Then there was a
+"track-shifter," invented by an employee on the isthmus, which lifted
+and relaid the railway lines as the spoil-tracks had to be shifted. This
+powerful engine raised the track and ties clear of the ground and
+deposited them from three to nine feet sideways.</p>
+
+<p>The "spoil trains" were treated with all the respect which is accorded
+to the fastest mail trains of the day on an English main line. They
+followed one another from the cutting at intervals of three minutes, and
+any delay, of course, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>balked the mammoth steam-shovel of its gluttonous
+meal on the stones and rubble of the mountain-side. Any cause of delay
+was at once reported by telephone to the superintendent of
+transportation at Empire, and the obstruction was immediately dealt
+with. By this persistent concentration on the main object the dirt has
+been made to fly not only more speedily but more cheaply.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most serious causes of anxiety and difficulty along the canal
+line were the "slides" and "breaks" which kept occurring in the Culebra
+Cut. To use a condensed Americanism, the sides would not "stay put."
+Large masses of material would slide or move from the banks into the
+excavated area, closing off the drainage, upsetting the steam-shovels,
+and tearing up the tracks. A very unpleasant phenomenon was the lifting
+of the shovels in the bottom of the canal due to the bulgings of the
+earth there. It is not necessary to enter into the distinction between
+"slides" and "breaks," or into the learned disquisitions that have been
+written about them. It is sufficient for us to note that they added
+immensely to the amount of material which had to be got out of the
+Culebra gorge. Colonel <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>Goethals tells us that of the 14,325,876 cubic
+yards removed during the year 1909, 884,530 cubic yards, or 6 per cent.,
+were due to slides; that in 1910 of 14,921,750 cubic yards removed,
+2,649,000, or 18 per cent., came from slides or breaks that had
+previously existed or that had developed during the year.</p>
+
+<p>It might have been imagined that these discouraging additions to the
+work would have seriously delayed progress on the canal and put forward
+the date of its completion. But able and economic organization triumphed
+over all these lets and hindrances. At the beginning of the American
+excavations the engineers estimated that 103 million cubic yards of
+"dirt" had still to be removed, and that this work would take nine years
+to accomplish. But that estimate of material proved to be greatly below
+the mark. Enlargements of the canal and the unforeseen collapses in the
+Culebra Cut brought up the total to 195 million cubic yards. It is a
+remarkable evidence of the efficiency and economy of the American
+organization that this immense task will have been completed in about
+six years of actual full-swing work.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>Some idea of the way in which Colonel Goethals made the dirt fly may be
+gathered from the fact that in the first five years of his directorship,
+down to April 1912, he removed 160 million cubic yards of material. "If
+all this material," writes Mr. Showalter, "could be placed in a solid
+shaft of the shape of the Washington Monument, with a base as large as
+an average city block, it would tower more than six miles skyward,
+overtopping the earth's loftiest mountain peak by more than a mile.
+Again, if it were to be loaded on to the big Lidgerwood dirt cars used
+on the canal, it would make a string of them reaching over two and a
+half times around the earth, and requiring a string of engines reaching
+from New York to Sac Francisco to move them." It is indeed a remarkable
+achievement that, while the amount of material to be removed was
+increased by about 90 per cent., the time of removal was cut down by 30
+per cent. Nor has the increase of the work added to the estimate of
+cost. The total cost of the completed canal was fixed in 1908 at 375
+million dollars. Yet, in spite of the increased excavations, enough of
+this sum, it is calculated, will be left over to build a new
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>breakwater, and perhaps a big storage reservoir at Alhajuela on the
+upper reaches of the Chagres River. In the Culebra Cut, despite the
+landslides, the cost of excavation has actually been reduced by more
+than one-third.</p>
+
+<div class="img"><a name="imagep192" id="imagep192"></a>
+<a href="images/imagep192.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep192.jpg" width="75%" alt="Culebra Cut, from West Bank" /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">Culebra Cut, from West Bank, showing Shovels at Work.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The pessimists have of course been busy with these landslides in the
+"Cut." They predicted that the canal along this section would always be
+exposed to danger from that source. But here, too, every precaution has
+been taken. The engineers have given a much lower slope to the sides of
+the canal, which is therefore wider at the top than had been originally
+planned. The slopes will also be sown with creeping grasses and other
+plants, which will bind down the surface soil. When the forty-five feet
+of water are in the canal, the bottom will be held down by the weight,
+and the bulgings no longer take place. Moreover, any earth that, in
+spite of all precautions, still manages to slide into the canal should
+be easily dealt with by the big 20-inch suction dredges, which can be
+brought up through the locks and set to work. So we need not trouble
+much about the stability of things along this nine-mile section through
+the Culebra Mountains.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>Here as elsewhere it is possible to give only a very general idea of the
+difficulties which were encountered and overcome in the course of
+construction. The drainage of the "Cut" during the work was in itself a
+heavy and important task. It was necessary to keep out the water of the
+surrounding country and to rid the excavated area of water collecting in
+it. A system of diversion channels, carrying off the Obispo River and
+its tributaries, effected the first object, and the second problem was
+solved by gravity drains and pumps. On the whole, this mighty trench
+through the isthmian hills is not only the biggest thing to the credit
+of a nation which delights in bigness, but the greatest achievement of
+its kind the world has ever seen.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTE:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> "South America," p. 26.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE LOCKS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The Panama Canal belongs to the "age of concrete." All other vast works
+of construction, such as the Pyramids of antiquity and the Assouan Dam
+of to-day, have been built of live natural rock. At Panama
+everything&mdash;locks, wharves, piers, breakwaters&mdash;has been constructed of
+concrete. The Americans have not only built these incomparable piles of
+masonry; they have manufactured the material out of which they are
+built. This circumstance makes the rapid completion of the canal all the
+more wonderful. Not less than four and a half million cubic yards of
+artificial stone have been produced for the built portions of the canal
+and its accessories. This amount of concrete, we are informed, would
+make an ordinary sidewalk nine feet wide <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>by six inches thick reaching
+more than twice round the earth.</p>
+
+<p>The broken stone which is one of the ingredients of concrete was
+quarried and transported from Porto Bello&mdash;a name famous in the annals
+of West Indian romance&mdash;20 miles to the east of Colon; while the sand
+came mostly from Nombre de Dios, also a celebrated place 20 miles
+further to the east, the Atlantic terminal of the old paved
+trans-isthmian road along which the Spanish mule convoys brought the
+silver of the Incas from Panama. Millions of yards of stone came from
+Porto Bello. Hundreds of bargeloads of sand came from Nombre de Dios and
+from islands in the Atlantic and Pacific. Myriads of barrels of cement
+were shipped from the United States to Cristobal, an outskirt of Colon,
+thence carried by barges to Gatun or by railway to the Pedro Miguel and
+Miraflores lock sites. Dozens of mighty "mixers" were ready to receive
+these diverse materials. Each of these could accommodate ten tons of
+sand, cement, crushed stones, and water. This indigestible mixture the
+machine would toss and churn round for a minute or so in its interior
+and then belch <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>it all out in the shape of unhardened artificial stone.</p>
+
+<p>The belief in concrete among the builders of the Panama Canal has been
+almost a superstition. They invented a sort of cement gun to shoot sand
+and water against the sides of the Culebra Cut, so as to form a coating
+of solid artificial rock, but the experiment rather deserved than
+achieved success. Of course all such structures as lighthouses were
+built wholly of concrete, and it is reported that even barges were
+constructed of this adaptable material. As regards concrete and its
+nature and behaviour nothing was taken for granted. Every means was
+taken of testing such important matters as the effect of sea-water on
+this material, the time it takes for these huge masses of artificial
+stone to settle, and many other questions on the answer to which the
+permanence and stability of the locks and the entire waterway would
+depend. The Panama Canal, writes Mr. Showalter, is "the greatest effort
+man ever has made, and perhaps ever will make, to simulate the processes
+of geologic ages, and do in days what Nature required unreckoned years
+to accomplish."</p>
+
+<p>These remarks about concrete naturally lead <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>us to the subject of the
+Panama locks, the magnificent stairway at Gatun, the single-step locks
+at Pedro Miguel (or, as the worker quickly Anglicized it, Peter Magill),
+and the double-step flight at Miraflores. The most impressive of these
+is the colossal duplicated three-step flight at Gatun, up which the
+vessel in transit is lifted from the end of the sea-level
+seven-mile-long entrance channel through Limon Bay to Gatun up to the
+surface of Gatun Lake, 85 feet above the level of the sea. This giant
+staircase has been constructed in a cutting through the hill which
+retains at this end the waters of the artificial lake. A tremendous
+amount of excavation, upwards of 5,000,000 cubic yards, was necessary,
+and the locks, which are constructed entirely of concrete, contain about
+2,046,100 cubic yards of that material. The chambers of all the locks in
+the canal will have a usable length of 1,000 feet and a width of 110
+feet. These dimensions should prove large enough for the largest ships
+not only existing but likely to be constructed for many years to come.
+They satisfy the requirement of the Spooner Act that the canal shall be
+"of sufficient capacity and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>depth to afford convenient passage for
+vessels of the largest tonnage and greatest draft now in use, and such
+as may reasonably be expected." More than 95 per cent. of the ships now
+afloat are less than 600 feet in length, so that a good margin is
+allowed. We may be certain that the American government has given the
+closest attention to the question of the length and breadth of the
+lock-chambers, for the canal, we must remember, is primarily a military
+passage for the purpose of transferring, if need be, the entire American
+fleet from the Atlantic to the Pacific seaboard. The locks of the Kiel
+Canal, it may be added for purposes of comparison, have an available
+length of 492 feet and a width of 82 feet.</p>
+
+<p>The vessel, then, in order to gain the level of Gatun Lake from the
+Atlantic entrance, has to pass through a flight of three successive
+locks. The maximum lift is 32 feet, or about four feet higher than at
+any other locks now in use. All the locks along the Panama Canal are
+duplicated&mdash;that is, there are two parallel sets with a common
+centre-wall&mdash;so that two ships could be simultaneously put through both
+flights in the same or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>in opposite directions. This "double-tracking"
+is in itself one of the many precautions taken against accidents at the
+locks. There are no locks in the world where these precautions are so
+minute and numerous. It is all of course in the interests of the owners
+to inspire the maximum of confidence in maritime circles. Complete
+efficiency in the operation of the canal, absolute safety for the
+vessels and cargoes entrusted for ten or twelve hours to its keeping,
+are the elementary conditions of success. Each lock through which the
+vessel passes is equipped with two pairs of mitre gates&mdash;that is, double
+swinging doors&mdash;the biggest lock-gates in the world; but in all cases
+the uppermost locks have a second pair of gates, so that if some unruly
+vessel were to ram open one set of gates there would still be another
+set ready to receive it. But even this is not all. Heavy chains are
+stretched across the channel with the ends attached to hydraulic
+paying-out machinery. These chains and their attachments are capable of
+bringing to a dead stop a vessel of 10,000 tons moving at the rate of
+five miles an hour. And still the precautionary devices are not
+exhausted. Let us suppose that all these <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>barriers were broken down,
+though such a disaster is almost beyond the bounds of things possible.
+At the head of each flight of locks there are provided great cantilever
+swing-bridges which can be thrown across the channel in case of
+accident. From these bridges a series of nickel-steel wicket girders
+could be let down. The lower ends of these girders would drop into a
+sort of sill at the bottom of the rushing waters. The girders would then
+act as small perpendicular runways, down which large steel sheets on
+rollers would be let down, gradually damming back the escaping waters.</p>
+
+<p>And lastly, in order to avoid all recourse to these emergency
+contrivances, it is ordained that no vessel shall enter any chamber of
+any locks under its own steam. Nearly all the accidents that happen in
+locks are due to the vessels being worked independently of the lock
+authorities when passing through. Captains may be as anxious as possible
+to avoid mistakes, but there is many a slip possible between an order
+and its fulfilment. So the lock operators are not going to be
+responsible for the safety of a vessel which is not entirely under their
+own control. None <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>will be allowed to negotiate the locks under its own
+motive-power. A series of electric towing-stations will be set up on the
+side walls of the locks. When a vessel approaches it will be brought to
+a standstill outside the locks. Then four of these towing engines will
+be fastened to it by means of hawsers&mdash;two at the stem, in order to draw
+the vessel into the locks, and two at the stern, to check its speed and
+bring it to a standstill when necessary. And this control will of course
+be exercised all through its passage to the upper or lower levels. We
+should certainly not hear of any accidents in the lock-chambers of the
+Panama Canal.</p>
+
+<div class="img"><a name="imagep201" id="imagep201"></a>
+<a href="images/imagep201.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep201.jpg" width="75%" alt="Gatun Locks, looking South-West" /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">Gatun Locks, looking South-West, showing North End of the Locks.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>It is expected that a vessel will be passed through the three locks at
+Gatun in about fifty minutes, though some delay may be caused in the
+approach. On the Atlantic side the water of the canal will be smooth,
+and the ship will be in some degree sheltered from the winds, so that
+there should be no difficulty in the approach from that direction.
+Coming from Lake Gatun to the locks the vessel may experience a little
+rough water, though there is seldom a great force of wind there, and the
+lake will be free from currents. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>As regards the Pacific side, the ocean
+there fully corresponds with its name. It is always calm, and not the
+slightest difficulty may be anticipated from either winds or waves or
+currents.</p>
+
+<p>Over thirty miles away at the southern extremity of the Culebra Cut the
+vessel in transit will be lowered from the high-level lake 30 feet down
+to the surface of another artificial lake much smaller in content, held
+at a surface-height of 55 feet above sea-level. These are the
+single-step duplicate locks known as the Pedro Miguel or "Peter Magill."
+The construction of these locks required 770,000 cubic yards of cement.
+On the west side of these locks is the other dam which, with the mighty
+Gatun dam at the other end, holds up the waters of Lake Gatun. This
+smaller dam is also of earth, and is about 1,400 feet long and 40 feet
+wide at the top. It is subjected to a maximum "head" of water of 40
+feet, but the average is from 25 to 30 feet. The length of the lake,
+which is known by the pretty name of "Miraflores," between the Peter
+Magill and the next set of locks, is about 2,000 yards, and the lake
+itself covers about 1,200 acres. Its waters are held up at 55 feet
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>above sea-level by two dams at the Miraflores locks.</p>
+
+<p>These are the third and last set of locks for a ship proceeding from the
+Atlantic to the Pacific. They are in two steps, or, to use the more
+technical expression, "two in flight," and they drop the vessel from the
+Miraflores Lake at 55 feet elevation down to sea-level. It must be
+noticed, however, that the fluctuations in the tide of the Pacific end
+are about 20 feet, and that the height of the lake is given for mean
+tide. In other words low water during "spring" tides is 10 feet below
+the average sea-level. The maximum lift for these locks therefore will
+be 65 feet. There are two dams holding up the waters of the Miraflores
+Lake, one to the west of earth, and one to the east of concrete. The
+former is 2,300 feet long and 40 feet wide at the top. The average
+"head" to which it is subjected is 30 feet, the maximum 40. Its
+construction is similar to that at Gatun. The concrete dam is about 500
+feet long, and is provided with regulating works similar to and of the
+same dimensions as those at Gatun, the crest in this instance being 39
+feet above mean tide-level, with seven openings, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>allowing a discharge
+of 7,500 cubic feet per second. The locks themselves will require
+1,312,000 cubic feet of concrete. I should add that these dams at Pedro
+Miguel and Miraflores are, unlike their big brother at Gatun, founded
+upon the solid bedrock. There has, therefore, been no question as to
+their permanence and stability. Moreover, as will have been noticed, the
+pressure of water is only about a half of that at Gatun.</p>
+
+<p>The relaying of most of the old Panama railroad was proceeding <i>pari
+passu</i> with the construction of the canal. Two sections of the old line,
+one from Colon to Mindi at the Atlantic end, the other from Corozal to
+Panama at the Pacific end, could be used for the new. All the rest had
+to be built. The greater portion of the old track was, indeed, submerged
+beneath the waters of Lake Gatun. The line is also being doubled
+throughout almost its entire length. It was originally intended to carry
+the line through the Culebra Cut along a berm 10 feet above the water
+surface, to be left for this purpose during the excavations of the
+channel; but the "slides" interfered with this project, and a new line
+to the east of the Cut was selected. The heavy embankments along the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>railway were among the most useful and convenient "dumps" for the
+material taken out of the Culebra cutting. As a great part of the
+railroad passes through the lake, culverts of reinforced concrete are
+provided to equalize the water on both sides of the embankments. South
+of Miraflores the new railway passes through a tunnel 800 feet long, and
+a striking feature of the canal is a steel bridge across the Chagres
+River near Gamboa, almost a quarter of a mile long. We need not dwell on
+the excavations of the tidal stretches of the canal on the Atlantic and
+Pacific ends or through Lake Gatun. A good deal of the French work was
+available at the tidal levels, but a vast amount of excavation had still
+to be done by steam-shovels as well as dredges, rocky elevations being
+found in both channels. Below the Miraflores locks a million and a half
+cubic yards of rock had to be removed. There will be some tidal current
+at the Pacific end, but as the sea-level section here will be 500 feet
+wide, the current will never run faster than about one foot per second.
+The sea is practically tideless at the Atlantic terminal, the variation
+being only 2.5 as a maximum, whereas at the Pacific it is 21.1.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2>
+
+<h2>THE COMPLETED CANAL.</h2>
+
+
+<p>We may now begin to consider the canal as a whole and in its completed
+state. From deep water in Limon Bay, 41-foot depth at mean tide, to deep
+water outside Panama, 45-foot depth at mean tide, is just about 50
+miles. The greater part of the canal is at high elevation, only 15 miles
+of it being at sea-level. We shall note the varying depths and widths of
+the channel when we take our imaginary journey along it. Here it is
+enough to say that the minimum width will be 300 feet, the minimum depth
+41 feet, the breadth and depth being, however, for the greater portion
+of its course, greater than these dimensions. Its highest point above
+sea-level, as the reader already knows, is 85 feet&mdash;that is, 85 feet at
+the surface of the water, and 40 feet at the canal bottom. The depth
+along this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>stretch is therefore 45 feet. The Panama Canal, though not
+so long as the Kiel and Suez Canals, is very much broader and deeper.
+Suez is 108 feet wide and 31 feet deep as <i>minima</i>; Kiel, 72 feet and
+29&frac12; feet. The Manchester Ship Canal is 120 feet by 26 feet. In length
+Panama, with its 50 miles, comes third, Suez being 90, Kiel 61, and
+Manchester 35&frac12; miles long.</p>
+
+<p>During the building of the canal the department of construction and
+engineering was arranged in three divisions&mdash;the Atlantic, embracing the
+engineering construction from deep water in the Caribbean Sea to include
+the Gatun locks and dam; the central division, extending from Gatun to
+Pedro Miguel; and the Pacific division, from Pedro Miguel to deep water
+in the Pacific Ocean. For the ordinary student, however, the channel
+divides naturally into four sections, the Atlantic level, the lake, the
+cutting, and the Pacific section (in two levels separated by locks).</p>
+
+<p>The invisible channel of the waterway begins at the mouth of Limon Bay,
+about eight miles from Gatun locks. Limon, also known as Colon or Navy
+Bay, is about three miles wide and three and a half miles long from
+north to south. It <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>is shallow, from three to seven fathoms deep, and
+seems to be steadily growing shallower. This is not surprising, as it is
+fully exposed to the "northers," which blow with terrific force from the
+Caribbean, and no doubt carry into the bay a good deal of detritus from
+the bottom of the sea. The heavy rains of the isthmus must also scour
+the land perpetually down into the bay. On the east side of the bay is
+the flat Manzanillo Island, a mile long by three-quarters broad, on
+which stands the city of Colon. This town, which was once known as
+Aspinwall, owes its existence to the Panama Railway, of which it is the
+northern or Caribbean terminus. Its position on the railway gave it an
+advantage over the old town of Chagres, a little distance along the
+coast to the west, which, though once a flourishing port, has now fallen
+on evil days. Near Colon is Cristobal, the new Atlantic terminal of the
+canal.</p>
+
+<div class="img"><a name="imagep208" id="imagep208"></a>
+<a href="images/imagep208.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep208.jpg" width="75%" alt="Gatun Upper Lock, looking North" /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">Gatun Upper Lock, looking North from Lighthouse.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Without some protection the entrance to the canal would have been
+exposed to the extremely violent storms which occur in the Caribbean
+during the winter months. During these storms vessels cannot lie safely
+in Colon harbour, and could not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>safely enter or issue from the canal.
+So a breakwater two miles long has been run out from Toro point in an
+easterly direction, covering the extremity of the canal. A glance at the
+map will suggest a thought that this barrier will not provide sufficient
+protection, and that another breakwater will have to be run out from the
+eastern shore. Such a further protection will be provided if the need
+should arise.</p>
+
+<p>At this point then, west of Colon and at the mouth of Limon Bay, our
+vessel enters the buoyed submarine channel of the canal and speeds
+onwards along the first section of the waterway, 500 feet in
+bottom-width and 41 feet deep, towards the locks at Gatun. But the locks
+are not yet visible. It is not until the fifth mile&mdash;that is, at
+Mindi&mdash;that a bend of the canal opens that gigantic structure to view,
+and by that time the vessel has left the broad waters and is enclosed
+within banks. The experience which awaits the traveller who has looked
+forward with some excitement to see the world's greatest wonder of
+to-day has been vividly imagined by Mr. Bryce. Our late American
+Ambassador writes:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The voyager of the future, in the ten or twelve hours of his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>
+passage from ocean to ocean, will have much variety. The
+level light of the fiery tropic dawn will fall on the houses
+of Colon as he approaches it in the morning, when vessels
+usually arrive. When his ship has mounted the majestic
+staircase of the three Gatun locks from the Atlantic level,
+he will glide slowly and softly along the waters of a broad
+lake which gradually narrows toward its head&mdash;a lake
+enclosed by rich forests of that velvety softness one sees
+in the tropics, with vistas of forest-girt islets stretching
+far off to right and left among the hills; a welcome change
+from the restless Caribbean Sea which he has left. Then the
+mountains will close in upon him, steep slopes of grass or
+brushwood rising two hundred feet above him as he passes
+through the great Cut. From the level of the Miguel lock he
+will look southward down the broad vale that opens on the
+ocean flooded with the light of the declining sun, and see
+the rocky islets rising, between which in the twilight his
+course will <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>lie out into the vast Pacific. At Suez the
+passage from sea to sea is through a dreary and monotonous
+waste of shifting sand and barren clay. Here one is for a
+few hours in the centre of a verdant continent, floating on
+smooth waters, shut off from sight of the ocean behind and
+the ocean before&mdash;a short sweet present of tranquillity
+between a stormy past and a stormy future.</p></div>
+
+<p>The Gatun locks, each chamber of which is a sort of "canyon of cement,"
+will almost oppress the imagination with the sense of immensity. At the
+foot of the locks the vessel will surrender its own volition and entrust
+itself wholly to the canal operators. It will be attached to the
+electric apparatus ashore and gently towed into the lock-chambers. In
+less than an hour it should have climbed the three gigantic steps and be
+afloat on the surface of the lake, 85 feet above sea-level. The
+traveller might fail even to notice of himself the great dam which abuts
+on the locks to the west. He may be surprised to hear that the whole
+being of the canal depends upon that earthwork, and that with the
+Culebra <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>Cut it absorbed the greater part of the labour and skill and
+solicitude of the canal-builders. The Gatun dam has indeed been so
+adopted and transfigured by Nature that it appears only a part, and not
+a very conspicuous part, of the landscape. Nor would our traveller,
+without previous information, guess the history of the great expanse of
+water which stretches to right and left up many a distant arm or loch
+and round many a picturesque island, and over which his vessel, once
+more resuming its own power and control, begins to advance. The buoys
+alone indicate that the channel, the true and well-wrought link between
+the two oceans, still holds its course through the bed of the lake. Mr.
+Bryce has pointed out what a pleasant interlude in a long ocean journey
+will be afforded by this placid glide of 22 miles over the inland lake
+from Gatun to Gamboa. The bottom widths through the lake are 1,000 feet
+for 16 miles, 800 feet for 4 miles, and 500 feet for about 3 miles.</p>
+
+<p>At Gamboa the vessel enters the eight-mile section of the Culebra Cut.
+Here again, though the traveller in future days will need no reminding
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>of the enterprise represented by this tremendous trench driven through
+the backbone of the isthmus, he will have to imagine the busy scene
+during the days of construction which will then have disappeared. He
+must try to reproduce what was little less than a manufacturing town at
+Gorgona, just near the entrance to the Cut, where stood the machine
+shops, boiler shops, smith shops, car shops, pattern shops, where
+repairs of all kinds were made and machines of all sorts and sizes
+constructed. He should think of that model residential town to the west
+of the Cut where the chief engineer and his assistants lived, surrounded
+by the quarters of the men, each dwelling protected with its fine wire
+netting to exclude the mosquitoes, the whole settlement scrupulously
+clean and bright with well-kept lawns and flowerbeds. All this will have
+passed away with the crowds of workers who interrupted for a dozen years
+the stillness of the primeval forest. Nature and silence will in a large
+degree have resumed their sway, but the world will not forget the debt
+it owes to that conquering industrial army which divided the land here
+in order to unite the nations.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>Through the cutting the bottom width of the canal is 300 feet. Having
+accomplished the eight or nine mile passage through the deep gorge, the
+vessel reaches the end of the high-level section at the Pedro Miguel
+locks. Here she is gently lowered 30 feet down to the bosom of little
+Miraflores Lake, held at 55 feet above sea-level. The length of this
+subsection is about a mile and a half, and it ends at the Miraflores
+locks, where the ship is lowered by two steps to the level of the
+Pacific. Then follows the last stage of this eventful transit&mdash;the
+eight-mile tidal section along which the vessel glides between low
+swamps to her own element of deep sea-water beyond the new port of
+Balboa, west of Panama, whose wharves are being constructed from the
+waste material of the inland excavations. The new breakwater which runs
+out from Balboa to Naos Island suggests wind and storm. But eternal calm
+reigns along these shores, and the object of the breakwater is to
+protect the line of the canal, not from heavy seas, but from the
+silt-bearing currents from the east which set at right angles to the
+channel. Constant dredging was necessary to prevent the bed of the canal
+becoming filled <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>with this sediment. The dyke has proved very effectual
+for this purpose.</p>
+
+<p>Such is the Panama Canal which has for so many centuries been the desire
+of the nations, and which is now one of the permanent geographical
+features of the globe. It is so well and truly constructed that nothing
+short of an earthquake could ever seriously damage it. The question
+naturally arises whether this ultimate danger needs to be seriously
+considered. Panama is rather suspiciously close to a region where
+geological conditions are not remarkable for stability. The earthquake
+at Kingston a few years ago was as destructive a calamity as those of
+Messina and San Francisco. Costa Rica, too, almost an isthmian country,
+enjoys a very bad reputation for this kind of friskiness. Panama,
+however, seems happily to lie outside the zone of such disturbances.
+Slight earthquake shocks have been felt, probably only the reflections
+of severer shocks elsewhere. But there is no record or tradition of a
+really serious convulsion. There is, indeed, one visible and reassuring
+evidence of the self-possession of the earth's surface in this region.
+To the east of the modern city of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>Panama is the site of old Panama, of
+which the lofty tower of the old cathedral&mdash;a pathetic and picturesque
+object&mdash;is still standing. This shows that there has been no serious
+earthquake here for the greater part of four centuries. Still, the
+danger&mdash;great or small&mdash;does exist, and it threatens a high-level canal,
+with its elaborate lock-machinery and masonry, far more than it would
+have affected a canal at sea-level. No very severe convulsion might be
+necessary to throw one of these locks out of gear, and the entire canal,
+therefore, out of operation for a considerable time. But against such
+perils there is no guarding, and every precaution having been taken
+against foreseeable and preventable dangers, all else must be left to
+the disposal of that Providence "which by his strength setteth fast the
+mountains," "who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not
+be removed for ever."</p>
+
+<div class="img"><a name="imagep216" id="imagep216"></a>
+<a href="images/imagep216.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep216.jpg" width="75%" alt="Gatun Upper Lock (West Chamber.)" /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">Gatun Upper Lock&mdash;West Chamber.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>It seems incredible that the canal should ever be in danger of injury or
+destruction from the attack of any civilized Power, because all nations
+are apparently interested in its preservation. What, then, is the
+meaning of these slopes which are being prepared for forts and batteries
+at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>either end of the canal? "With the two great forts at the two ends
+of the canal," writes Mr. Showalter, "fitted with four 14-inch guns, six
+6-inch guns, and twelve 12-inch mortars, with twelve companies of coast
+artillery, one battery of field artillery, four regiments of infantry,
+and one squad of cavalry, there is not likely to arise a time when these
+fortifications, backed up by the American navy, will fail to command a
+proper and wholesome respect from other nations." Yet if the object were
+simply to maintain the neutrality of the canal, the best course would
+seem to have been to leave the canal entirely unfortified, as is the
+case at Suez, and trust to the moral influence of the great Powers and
+their common interest in keeping the canal free and open to the world's
+traffic. Obviously the idea of making the canal zone a big military camp
+and arsenal is not so much to "police" the passage as a great
+international waterway, but to defend it and the zone as a position of
+immense strategic importance to the United States. President Hayes, in a
+message to the Senate in 1880, spoke of the canal as "the great ocean
+thoroughfare between our Atlantic and Pacific ports, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span><i>virtually a
+part of the coastline of the United States</i>." The words I have
+italicized seem to show that the United States regard the new passage
+rather as wholly proprietary, like those of Kiel and Corinth, than as
+international in status, like the Suez Canal.</p>
+
+<p>In the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty there is no specific reference to
+fortification. The only allusion to the defence of the canal occurs in
+the second subsection of the third clause: "The United States shall be
+at liberty to maintain such military police along the canal as may be
+necessary to protect it against lawlessness and disorder." The
+Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty is rather more specific in its provisions on
+this subject, though even that instrument seems scarcely to have
+contemplated an armament and garrison on the large and permanent scale
+intended at the isthmus.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p>
+
+<p>England has, however, acquiesced in the proposed fortification. The
+decision is not likely to be challenged in any other quarter. The United
+States have built the canal with their own money and enterprise. They
+are more <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>closely and immediately interested in the passage than any
+other Power, and so long as they fulfil their undertaking to afford
+equal treatment in tolls and other respects to the commerce of all
+nations, nobody is likely to protest against the presence of American
+men and guns at the isthmus.</p>
+
+<p>Indeed, there is some force in the plea that the complete neutralization
+of the canal would be inconsistent with American control and operation.
+In time of war the Americans would have had either to refrain from using
+the canal for their warships (an unthinkable proposition) or to permit
+their enemy or enemies to use it on equal terms. This would have meant a
+rather painful experience for the American engineers, managers, workmen,
+and others on the isthmus. They would have been obliged to put the
+enemy's vessels through the canal, and thus commit a sort of legalized
+treason against their own government by giving "aid and comfort" to the
+enemy. So it comes to this&mdash;that the canal will be neutral at all times
+except when the United States are themselves a belligerent. Then it will
+become part and parcel of the sovereign dominions of the great American
+Republic.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>But the United States will have to stand all the ulterior possibilities
+of this position. If they were at war the canal would be at once liable
+to attack. In fact it would invite attack as a very vulnerable point in
+their armour. It has been truly said that the canal zone will have all
+the disadvantages, without any of the advantages, of an island. It will
+be entirely dependent on imported supplies and isolated from the centre
+of American power. If the American fleet lost the command of the sea
+even for a short time, the enemy could land troops at any part of the
+isthmus, march them against any point of the extended canal line and
+inflict on the United States a wound in a very sensitive, if not a vital
+region. So that instead of simply doubling the efficiency of the
+existing American fleet, by enabling it to be transferred swiftly and
+bodily from the western to the eastern coast, it may rather add to the
+naval responsibilities of the States and compel a considerable increase
+in their sea-power. To Englishmen, however, this development of the
+power and resources of the United States ought to bring no feelings but
+those of pleasure and satisfaction. In view of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>great secular
+struggle between East and West for supremacy in the Pacific, which some
+people think will fill the pages of future world history, anything that
+strengthens the position and prestige of Anglo-Saxondom as the main
+guardian of Western ideas and principles should be welcome to all the
+members of that race.</p>
+
+<p>It is estimated that the fortification of the canal will cost about
+$12,000,000. This added to the $375,000,000, the estimated cost of
+construction, will bring the entire bill up to the round and goodly sum
+of $400,000,000 or &pound;80,000,000. This puts all other expenditure on
+artificial water-channels into the shade, as the Suez Canal cost only
+&pound;19,000,000, the Manchester Ship Canal &pound;15,000,000, and the Kiel Canal
+&pound;8,000,000. As regards this expense and the possibilities of revenue
+returns, Colonel Goethals has written an interesting passage:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Much has been said and predicted as to the commercial value
+of the canal to the United States. In this connection it
+must be remembered that the commercial shipping of this
+country never required the canal. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>The trip of the <i>Oregon</i>
+in 1898 settled the question of the advisability of
+constructing an isthmian canal, and had the canal been built
+at that time, thereby saving that trip around the Horn,
+there is no question that it would have been agreed
+generally that the canal, even at an expenditure of
+$375,000,000, was worth while.</p>
+
+<p>In whatever light the Panama Canal is viewed, it will have
+paid for itself if in time of war or threatened war a
+concentration of the fleet is effected without that long,
+tedious, uncertain route followed by the <i>Oregon</i>.</p>
+
+<p>It will practically double the efficiency of that fleet,
+and, notwithstanding the fact that we are a peaceful nation,
+our outlying possessions make the Panama Canal a military
+necessity, and it must be so recognized. From this point of
+view the debt should be charged to the account which
+necessitated its construction, and whatever revenues are
+derived from other sources are so much to the good. The
+traffic that will utilize the canal depends upon the tolls
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>that will be charged, and the President has asked the
+Congress for legislation which will enable the establishment
+of rates.</p>
+
+<p>There is another policy which, if adopted, will have a
+material bearing on the revenues of the enterprise. Through
+the Panama railroad a large expenditure of money has been
+made for providing the present working forces with supplies
+of all kinds. Though the railroad has been reimbursed for
+this plant through fixed charges on sales, it should not be
+abandoned, but utilized for furnishing shipping with its
+needed supplies. Suitable coaling plants should be erected
+for the sale of coal to vessels touching at or passing
+through the canal. In addition, since oil is now used on a
+number of ships plying in the Pacific, such fuel should also
+be on hand for sale by the canal authorities.</p>
+
+<p>The extensive machine shops now located at Gorgona must be
+moved before the completion of the canal, and they should be
+established in connection with a dry dock that will be
+needed for commercial purposes, and utilized as a revenue
+producer for the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>canal. This policy also needs
+Congressional action.</p>
+
+<p>With properly regulated tolls, and with facilities for fully
+equipping, supplying, and repairing ships, the Panama route
+would offer many advantages and bring to it a sufficiently
+remunerative return to pay, not only the operating expenses,
+but to gradually absorb the debt which the United States has
+incurred by its construction.</p></div>
+
+<p>We shall return to the question of tolls in a later chapter.</p>
+
+<div class="img"><a name="imagep224" id="imagep224"></a>
+<a href="images/imagep224.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep224.jpg" width="75%" alt="Pedro Miguel Locks, from Hill on East Bank" /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">Pedro Miguel Locks, from Hill on East Bank.</p>
+</div>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTE:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> See <i>ante</i>, page 71.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2>
+
+<h2>PANAMA AND THE ISTHMUS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>It may be convenient to deal here with a few detached questions before
+inquiring into the commercial and maritime changes likely to be produced
+by the canal. The reader understands the position of the United States
+at the isthmus. They control a zone of territory ten miles wide running
+across from Panama to Colon. These two towns are, however, not included
+politically, though they are geographically, within the zone. This
+narrow strip of territory with its precious canal runs right through a
+foreign country in which the social and political conditions existing
+must be a matter of importance to the canal-owners. One cannot help
+wondering how long this state of things is likely to continue. Panama,
+the youngest of the South and Central American <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>republics, is no better
+than the rest in its governmental principles. Indeed, the republic had
+scarcely got into being when it was threatened with a military
+revolution. A pompous and polysyllabic self-importance, coupled with a
+levantine standard of business and financial ethics, scarcely promises a
+long continuance of the present political relations with a great
+republic which is not likely to see its achievement at the isthmus in
+the smallest degree prejudiced or endangered.</p>
+
+<p>Some interesting little details of Panamanian manners have been
+reported. For example, Chinese immigration is forbidden by law, yet,
+strange to say, most of the retail trade of the isthmus is in Celestial
+hands. This is because the law against immigration gave the opportunity
+for the formation of a syndicate with the collusion of the authorities,
+by which Chinese were introduced at a rate of $200 entrance fee. The
+judicial standards which prevail in this little Bumbledom may be
+gathered from another story. The mate of a British ship was recently
+sentenced to twelve years' hard labour for manslaughter, because he was
+held responsible on no evidence whatever <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>for the loss of a ship and the
+lives of several relatives of <i>those serving on the jury</i>.</p>
+
+<p>It is scarcely to be expected that a people for whom ideals and
+standards of this kind are good enough will take much trouble to develop
+their country. An efficient and responsible administration might make a
+good deal of these narrow lands between the two oceans, a territory of
+33,000 square miles, larger, that is, than Scotland or Ireland. It is
+perhaps as well that the construction of the canal has not made many
+Panamanian fortunes or produced any great boom in trade. Otherwise the
+withdrawal of the industrial army from the zone might have had the
+effect produced when the French canal works were shut down. A grievous
+famine desolated the whole country. This is not likely to happen again.
+The zone has been largely an independent and detached enclave, such as
+never existed during the French occupation, when the Panamanians became
+dependent for work and wage on the industrial invaders. The American
+canal employees have done very little shopping in Panama and Colon,
+because they could buy every necessity and luxury duty-free in the
+United States <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>government stores. Some trade may be lost owing to the
+departure of the workers, but it is hoped that this will be more than
+replaced by the growing stream of tourists who will come to visit the
+"big ditch," and increased business brought by the shipping which will
+pass through the canal.</p>
+
+<p>With a little thrift and enterprise the Panamanians might have profited
+much more from the long period of construction. They might have supplied
+the zone with a good many more articles. As it was, the only
+contribution the country made to the zone or to the towns was about
+28,000 head of cattle killed annually. The country is almost entirely
+dependent on imported supplies, only a small fraction of which it pays
+for by exports. Here is a little instructive table of the Panamanian
+commerce:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="60%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="png229">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" width="10%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdc" width="45%">Imports.</td>
+  <td class="tdc" width="45%">Exports.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc">1908</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&pound;1,561,362</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&pound;365,410</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc">1909</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&pound;1,751,261</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&pound;300,495</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc">1910</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&pound;2,008,679</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&pound;353,866</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc">1911</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&pound;1,980,488</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&pound;179,941<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>The excess of imports over exports looks rather alarming, but it is
+adequately explained by the British Consul at Colon as "a measure of the
+commercial value to Panama of its transit trade and of the trade with
+canal employees and tourists." The great bulk of the imports is consumed
+in the two towns of Panama and Colon, for, as in most of the South
+American republics, the interior is undeveloped and therefore
+self-supporting, being still in the "pack-mule" stage of civilization.</p>
+
+<p>In 1911 the imports into Panama from the United States amounted to
+&pound;1,024,589, from the United Kingdom to &pound;454,541, and from Germany to
+&pound;223,845. France, Italy, and Spain exported to Panama smaller
+quantities. The exports from Panama to the United States amounted in
+1910 to &pound;301,684 (1911, first six months, &pound;150,990); to the United
+Kingdom, to &pound;33,055 (1911, first six months, &pound;15,921), with smaller
+values to Germany and France. The reader will be interested to learn
+what sort of things Panama exports. Here, then, is a list of the
+principal exports for 1910, the last full year available:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="85%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="png231">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="35%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdc" width="15%">1910</td>
+  <td class="tdc" width="27%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdc" width="23%">&pound;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Bananas</td>
+  <td class="tdc">Bunches</td>
+  <td class="tdc">3,643,900</td>
+  <td class="tdc">184,257</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Cacao</td>
+  <td class="tdc">Kilos</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;18,021</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;940</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Cocoanuts</td>
+  <td class="tdc">Kilos</td>
+  <td class="tdc">6,305,238</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;31,534</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Cocobolo</td>
+  <td class="tdc">Kilos</td>
+  <td class="tdc">1,203,522</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;7,132</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Gold</td>
+  <td class="tdc">Kilos</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2,748</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;26,995</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Hides</td>
+  <td class="tdc">Kilos</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;567,454</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;16,973</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Horns</td>
+  <td class="tdc">Kilos</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;6,893</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1,410</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Ivory Nuts</td>
+  <td class="tdc">Kilos</td>
+  <td class="tdc">2,102,743</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;26,527</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Mother-of-pearl shell</td>
+  <td class="tdc">Kilos</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;625,008</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;10,183</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Rubber</td>
+  <td class="tdc">Kilos</td>
+  <td class="tdc">6,305,238</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;31,534</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Sarsaparilla</td>
+  <td class="tdc">Kilos</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;32,553</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2,099</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Skins</td>
+  <td class="tdc">Kilos</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;257,740</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;4,750</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Tortoise shell</td>
+  <td class="tdc">Kilos</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;3,829</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;3,334</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p>The United Fruit Company has now, in the province of Bocas del Toro,
+32,000 acres of bananas under cultivation and 1,000 acres planted in
+cacao, with about 165,000 trees; the bananas being exported to the
+United States, and the chocolate to the United States and Europe. There
+should be a considerable increase in rubber production during the next
+few years, as 150,000 rubber trees have been recently planted in this
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>province, and these will soon be ready for tapping. Nearly all the
+rubber exported at present is taken from the wild trees growing in the
+virgin forests of this province. A curious article of exportation is the
+ivory nut, or <i>tagua</i>, which in value now comes next after bananas.
+These nuts are collected by Indians on the Caribbean coast, brought to
+Colon, and there bought by merchants and shipped to New York and
+Hamburg. They are used to make the big buttons which are now so
+fashionable, and probably a good many English girls who are wearing
+coats "made in Germany," are carrying about a number of these ivory nuts
+which not long ago were lying on the tropical shores of the Caribbean.
+The timber exports from Panama would grow rapidly with proper
+exploitation. Exports of mahogany, cedar, and cocobolo have already
+begun.</p>
+
+<p>The gold exports come mainly from the mines of the Darien Company, a
+French company which has been working for years. The whole isthmus is
+strongly under suspicion of gold. All the streams show evidence of it,
+and prospectors are always searching the Darien country and the
+provinces of Los Santos and Veraguas for the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>saint-seducing metal. No
+other minerals are worked in the isthmus. There are "coal-deposits" of a
+sort in the canal zone, but the coal is of no commercial value.</p>
+
+<p>The only railway at present existing in the republic is that between
+Colon and Panama, the entire stock of which is owned by the United
+States government, and is worked as a company under the laws of the
+state of New York. This line, which has had to be largely reconstructed
+owing to the course of the new canal, was opened in 1855. It is rather
+surprising that it should not have been more extensively employed for
+traffic between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of America. As a matter
+of fact, it was the main highway of transcontinental traffic until 1869,
+when the Missouri River was first linked up with the Pacific coast by
+the Union and Central Pacific Railroads, and the first continuous line
+across the States came into existence. After that date the traffic fell
+off very rapidly. The causes of this decline are various. To begin with,
+the great trunk-lines across the States competed ruthlessly with the old
+isthmian route, getting control of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company,
+which was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>for long the only regular line between the west coasts of the
+United States and Panama. Then the French and American construction work
+has seriously interfered with the route by limiting the amount of
+commercial freight that could be handled across the isthmus.</p>
+
+<p>Another cause of depression has been the opening of the Tehuantepec
+route in South Mexico. In 1906 the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company
+made an agreement with the Tehuantepec National Railway, which runs
+across the isthmus, and withdrew its vessels from the old Magellan
+route, establishing regular services between New York and Puerto Mexico
+on the Atlantic side, and on the Pacific between Salina Cruz, the
+Pacific terminal of the canal, and the west coast ports of the United
+States and Hawaii. The route so organized was opened in 1907, and has
+proved very successful, chiefly owing to the enormous increase in the
+sugar exports from Hawaii. The intercoastal traffic by Tehuantepec from
+New York to Pacific ports advanced from 114,900 tons in 1906 to 295,800
+tons in 1911, and from Pacific ports to New York from 32,000 tons in
+1906 to 162,500 in 1911.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>All this competition hit the Panama route very badly. The Atlantic to
+Pacific traffic by that railroad rose from 25,914 tons in 1906 to 46,394
+tons in 1910, and the Pacific to Atlantic from 24,937 tons to 32,482
+tons between the same years. But in 1911 there came a sudden expansion
+to 96,420 tons (Atlantic to Pacific), and to 115,508 tons (Pacific to
+Atlantic), owing largely to the development of shipping services on both
+isthmian terminals. In fact, the commercial freight has had to be
+seriously held up and restricted in the interests of canal construction
+and the shipment of canal material.</p>
+
+<p>The reader will perhaps ask whether the Tehuantepec route is likely to
+compete seriously in the future with the Panama Canal. The distance from
+New York to San Francisco is 1,016 nautical miles less <i>via</i> Tehuantepec
+than <i>via</i> Panama, and from New Orleans 1,573 miles less. The difference
+to Honolulu in favour of the Tehuantepec transit is almost exactly the
+same. But the difference in time will be a good deal less than these
+figures indicate. The cargo has to be transferred from shipboard to
+railroad on one side of the isthmus of Tehuantepec and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>retransferred on
+the other. This means on the average about four days' delay. At Panama,
+a vessel can pass through the canal in half a day, or, reckoning other
+causes of detention, coaling, etc., the total isthmian transit should
+not take more than one day. Then there is the question of expense. The
+cost of transferring freight at Tehuantepec could not be less than $2.50
+per cargo ton. A Panama toll of $1.20 per vessel ton, net register,
+would be equivalent to about $0.60 per cargo ton, giving Panama an
+advantage of $2 over Tehuantepec. And the inconvenience and damage
+resulting from transhipment, from which a through service through the
+canal is free, will also be a considerable point in favour of the
+waterway. It is not likely, however, that Tehuantepec will be ruined by
+the opening of the canal. Considerable short-distance coasting trade is
+sure to continue along that route, and it will share in the general
+benefit of the developments which await Isthmian and Central America.</p>
+
+<p>Has Panama any danger to fear from its old rival the Nicaraguan canal
+project? The United States seems to have forestalled this possible
+challenge of Panama's monopoly of water transit <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>over the isthmus. Just
+as I write comes the news of a new treaty between the United States and
+Nicaragua, securing to the former, for the payment of $3,000,000, the
+exclusive rights to construct a canal through Nicaraguan territory. The
+United States are reported also to have obtained under the treaty
+possession of Fonseca Bay, one of the few places on the west coast of
+Central America affording ample deep water facilities.</p>
+
+<p>Moreover, the Colombian Charg&eacute; d'Affaires in London recently made the
+following communication to the press:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I have received from my government the following information
+respecting certain propositions made to Colombia by the
+government of the United States, which the government of
+Colombia has not accepted. The American propositions were as
+follows:</p>
+
+<p>1. That Colombia should grant the United States an option
+for the construction of an interoceanic canal, starting from
+the Gulf of Uraba on the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean,
+through the region of the Atrato River.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>2. That Colombia should give to the American government the
+right to establish coaling stations in the islands of San
+Andres and Providencia, which are located in the Caribbean
+Sea.</p>
+
+<p>3. In consideration of the above, the United States to pay
+to Colombia $10,000,000 and to use their good influence for
+the settlement of pending differences between Colombia and
+Panama. Also to grant Colombia preferential rights for the
+use of the canal and the settlement by arbitration of the
+claims of Colombia against the Panama Railroad Company.</p>
+
+<p>The government of Colombia declined to accept the above
+proposals, insisting, at the same time, that all questions
+pending between Colombia and the United States should be
+settled by arbitration.</p></div>
+
+<p>It is evident that the United States are not going to permit any
+competitive canal scheme in Central America if they can help it.</p>
+
+<p>What will be the effect of the opening of the canal on Panamanian
+prosperity? The local <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>merchants fear that the system of state-supply,
+which has prevailed in the zone during the constructional period, will
+be continued after completion and extended to the shipping which will
+pass through the canal, and that coal and ship-chandlery will become
+American government monopolies. Much depends on whether the Panamanian
+merchant will be allowed to import freely through Colon and compete in
+the supplying of the ships in transit.</p>
+
+<p>No serious development can be expected in Panama until the country is
+better provided with railways. The only other line in contemplation is
+one from Empire, on the Culebra Cut, to David, a town close to the
+Pacific near the far western frontier, in the province of Chiriqui. This
+line would be 289 miles in length, and branches from it are proposed to
+Anton, 5 miles, and to Los Santos, about 67 miles.</p>
+
+<p>It is pretty safe to prophesy that the blue streak through the isthmus
+of Panama will have a gradual but sure effect on the politics of Central
+America. The need to protect the canal, and to surround it with orderly
+conditions, social and political, will compel a good many states to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>put
+themselves to amendment or force the big republic responsible for the
+canal to provide them with good government whether they like it or not.
+If the United States had to intervene in Cuba in order to put down
+anarchy or misrule, they may be persuaded by an even stronger necessity
+to intervene in the affairs of Central America in the defence of the
+Panama Canal. It would be no surprise, especially after recent events in
+Mexico, if the south-western frontier of the States gradually advanced
+down the broad and narrow isthmus until it reached and passed the line
+of the canal. This would be quite in accordance with the law which makes
+it almost inevitable that a great and well-governed Power should absorb
+weaker states along its borders, especially when these are unable to
+keep their houses in order.</p>
+
+<p>There is always the danger that foreign Powers will intervene in the
+affairs of these republics in the interests of their bondholders, and
+this would compel in turn the intervention of the United States in order
+to make good the Monroe doctrine, which is directed against any such
+foreign interference in American affairs. In order to avoid <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>these
+complications Mr. Taft actually proposed not long ago to refund the
+debts of Honduras and Nicaragua, placing the custom-houses under the
+control of American officials. The object was partly to secure loans
+advanced by American bankers, but partly also to satisfy European
+bondholders and to make the politics of these republics more stable.
+Nothing came of this significant project. But I should not care to
+ensure, except at a very high premium, the permanence of the political
+arrangements now existing in these regions when the Panama Canal is in
+working order and becomes more and more essential to the safety and
+prosperity of the great republic. The canal may in the long run be not
+"virtually" but actually "a part of the coastline of the United States."</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTE:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Six months.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE NEW OCEAN HIGHWAYS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>I have already mentioned that England and Europe gained much more from
+the opening of the Suez Canal than the United States. Before the Suez
+Canal was opened, the voyage both from Liverpool and from New York to
+Asia and Australia was made <i>via</i> the Cape of Good Hope. Liverpool had
+then an advantage over New York of 480 miles in the journey to all
+Asiatic and Australian as well as East African ports. When the Suez
+Canal was opened the route to Asia was <i>via</i> the Mediterranean and Red
+Seas for both Liverpool and New York. But New York is 3,207 miles from
+Gibraltar, while Liverpool is only 1,283, so that Liverpool has had an
+advantage of 1,924 miles instead of 480, as formerly, on the voyage to
+Asiatic ports. In other words, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>Liverpool gained a competitive benefit
+of 1,444 miles from the opening of the Suez Canal.</p>
+
+<p>Now let us take the voyage to Australia from New York and Liverpool.
+From New York the journey is still made <i>via</i> the Cape of Good Hope, but
+from Liverpool chiefly <i>via</i> Suez. Liverpool is 1,622 miles nearer than
+New York to Australia <i>via</i> Suez, but only 480 miles nearer round the
+Cape. Liverpool therefore has owed a competitive "pull" of 1,142 miles
+over New York to the Suez Canal.</p>
+
+<p>Let us remember, therefore, that the Suez Canal has largely diminished
+the advantage which the western route sought by Columbus and his
+successors would once have conferred upon England and Europe in the
+voyage to the Far East. The opening of the Panama Canal will readjust
+the balance which was tilted against the United States when the Suez
+Canal was opened in 1869. The United States will gain far more than the
+western ports of Europe from the new highway through the American
+isthmus. Speaking broadly, Suez was a British, Panama is an American
+proposition.</p>
+
+<p>There are so many facts and figures in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>connection with the changes in
+distances and sea-routes as the result of the construction of the Panama
+Canal that it may save the reader's attention to lay down a few more
+obvious effects in succession. We can then go on to look at the subject
+in closer detail.</p>
+
+<p>1. The canal reduces the distance between New York on the eastern and
+all ports on the western seaboard of America <i>north of Panama</i> by 8,415
+geographical miles. The saving from New Orleans is much greater.</p>
+
+<p>2. Liverpool is brought 6,046 miles nearer to all ports on the western
+seaboard of America (of course including Canada) north of Panama.</p>
+
+<p>3. The saving between New York and the Pacific ports of America <i>south
+of Panama</i> depends how far south those ports are. But on the average the
+shortening of distance is 4,709 miles. The saving varies from 8,415
+miles at Panama to about 1,004 miles at Punta Arenas, the strange little
+town on the Straits of Magellan. New Orleans and the Gulf ports benefit
+still more.</p>
+
+<div class="img"><a name="imagep245" id="imagep245"></a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>
+<a href="images/imagep245.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep245.jpg" width="75%" alt="OCEAN ROUTES" /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">OCEAN ROUTES</p>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>4. Liverpool is brought on an average about 2,600 miles nearer to
+Pacific ports of America <i>south of Panama</i>. The shortening of distance
+varies <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>from 6,046 miles at Panama itself down to zero at a point
+between Punta Arenas and Coronel (the most southerly commercial port of
+Chile).</p>
+
+<p>5. All the Pacific ports of the Americas are, <i>via</i> Panama, 2,759 miles
+nearer to New York than to Liverpool.</p>
+
+<p>6. The Panama Canal will not bring any port in Australia or the East
+Indies, nor any ice-free port in Asia or Asiatic islands, nearer to any
+European port. Of all ports on the western Pacific coasts, only those of
+New Zealand and a few very chilly ones in Siberia will be brought nearer
+to Liverpool.</p>
+
+<p>7. All of Asia and all of Australia, with the exception of New Zealand,
+will be nearer Europe by way of the Suez Canal than by way of the Panama
+route.</p>
+
+<p>8. Nearly all Japan, Shanghai, Hong-kong, the Philippines, New Guinea,
+all Australia (save a far western strip), and all New Zealand are
+brought nearer the Atlantic and Gulf ports of the United States and the
+Atlantic ports of Canada.</p>
+
+<p>9. The relative distances from New York and Liverpool to the Atlantic
+coast of South America <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>(nearly all way down), to Africa, and to Asiatic
+ports south of Hong-kong are unchanged.</p>
+
+<p>10. It is New York and not Liverpool which is now nearer to Yokohama,
+Sydney, and Melbourne. Wellington, in New Zealand, formerly equidistant
+between the two great ports, is now 2,739 miles nearer to New York than
+to Liverpool. Sydney, which was formerly over 1,500 miles nearer
+Liverpool (<i>via</i> Suez) than New York (<i>via</i> Cape of Good Hope), now
+becomes 2,424 miles nearer New York (<i>via</i> Panama) than Liverpool (<i>via</i>
+Suez).</p>
+
+<p>11. Nearly the whole of the Atlantic seaboard in the Old World and the
+New is brought nearer to the Pacific ports of the United States and
+Canada.</p>
+
+<p>12. The Panama Canal cannot invade the main traffic field of the Suez
+route&mdash;the countries of Southern Asia, East Africa, the Red Sea, and the
+Persian Gulf. The competitive region of the two canals lies east of
+Singapore.</p>
+
+<div class="img"><a name="imagep249" id="imagep249"></a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>
+<a href="images/imagep249.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep249.jpg" width="45%" alt="The Isthmus of Panama" /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">THE ISTHMUS <span class="smcap">of</span> PANAMA</p>
+</div>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>
+
+<p>The reader will gather from the last proposition that the scene of the
+new battle of the routes will lie in the Western Pacific, and this
+probably will also be the scene of the main industrial and commercial
+competitions of the future. It is in these regions, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>Australasia and
+the countries along the Pacific Asiatic coasts, that the traffic zones
+of the Suez and Panama Canals touch or overlap. The positive effect on
+relative distances from American and European ports is of great
+importance to commercial developments in these regions. Let us look at
+the geographical results of the Panama Canal a little more closely. On
+pages 252, 253 are two tables transcribed from the official report of
+1912 on Panama Canal Traffic and Tolls, by Mr. Emory R. Johnson.</p>
+
+<p>The following tables are given by Dr. Vaughan Cornish:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="png 251">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlb" width="25%">New York to&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdl" width="45%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl" width="20%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdc" width="10%">Reduction miles (geog.).</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Yokohama</td>
+  <td class="tdl">by Suez</td>
+  <td class="tdc">13,564</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">by Panama</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;9,835</td>
+  <td class="tdc">3,729</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Shanghai</td>
+  <td class="tdl">by Suez</td>
+  <td class="tdc">12,514</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">by Panama</td>
+  <td class="tdc">10,855</td>
+  <td class="tdc">1,629</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Sydney</td>
+  <td class="tdl">by Cape of Good Hope</td>
+  <td class="tdc">13,658</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">by Panama (<i>via</i> Tahiti)</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;9,852</td>
+  <td class="tdc">3,806</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Melbourne</td>
+  <td class="tdl">by Cape of Good Hope</td>
+  <td class="tdc">13,083</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">by Panama (<i>via</i> Tahiti)</td>
+  <td class="tdc">10,427</td>
+  <td class="tdc">2,656</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Wellington, N.Z.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"> by Straits of Magellan</td>
+  <td class="tdc">11,414</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">by Panama</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;8,872</td>
+  <td class="tdc">2,542</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Hong-kong</td>
+  <td class="tdl">by Suez</td>
+  <td class="tdc">11,655</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">by Panama</td>
+  <td class="tdc">11,744</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Manila</td>
+  <td class="tdl">by Suez</td>
+  <td class="tdc">11,601</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlb">(Philippines)</td>
+  <td class="tdl">by Panama <i>via</i> San Francisco and Yokohama</td>
+  <td class="tdc">11,585</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;16</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Manila</td>
+  <td class="tdl">by Panama, Honolulu and Guam</td>
+  <td class="tdc">11,729</td>
+  <td class="tdc">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>Comparative distances (in nautical miles) from New York and Liverpool to
+New Zealand, Australia, Philippines, China and Japan, <i>via</i> Suez and
+Panama Canals.</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="90%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="png 252">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdcb" width="15%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdcb" width="25%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdcb" width="10%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdcb" width="30%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdcb" width="10%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdcb" width="10%">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdclb" rowspan="2">To</td>
+  <td class="tdclb" colspan="2">New York <i>via</i> Panama Canal.</td>
+  <td class="tdclb" colspan="2">Liverpool <i>via</i> Suez Canal.</td>
+  <td class="tdclbr" rowspan="2">Difference in favour of Suez -, Panama +</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdclb">Ports of Call.</td>
+  <td class="tdclb">Distance.</td>
+  <td class="tdclb">Ports of Call.</td>
+  <td class="tdclb">Distance.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllz">Wellington</td>
+  <td class="tdllz">Panama and Tahiti</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">8,851</td>
+  <td class="tdll">Aden, Colombo, King George Sound, and Melbourne</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">12,889</td>
+  <td class="tdclrz">+4,138</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllz">Sydney</td>
+  <td class="tdllz">Panama and Tahiti</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">9,811</td>
+  <td class="tdll">Aden, Colombo, King George Sound, Adelaide, and Melbourne</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">12,235</td>
+  <td class="tdclrz">+2,424</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllz">Adelaide</td>
+  <td class="tdll">Panama, Tahiti, Sydney, and Melbourne</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">10,904</td>
+  <td class="tdllz">Aden, Colombo, and King George Sound</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">11,142</td>
+  <td class="tdclrz">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;+238</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllz">Manila</td>
+  <td class="tdll">Panama, San Francisco, and Yokohama</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">11,548</td>
+  <td class="tdllz">Aden, Colombo, and Singapore</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">&nbsp;&nbsp;9,701</td>
+  <td class="tdclrz">-1,847</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllz">Hong-kong</td>
+  <td class="tdll">Panama, San Francisco, and Yokohama</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">11,383</td>
+  <td class="tdllz">Aden, Colombo, and Singapore</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">&nbsp;&nbsp;9,785</td>
+  <td class="tdclrz">-1,598</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllz">Shanghai</td>
+  <td class="tdllz">Panama, San Francisco, and Yokohama</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">10,839</td>
+  <td class="tdll">Aden, Colombo, Singapore, and Hong-kong</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">10,637</td>
+  <td class="tdclrz">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;-202</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllz">Tientsin</td>
+  <td class="tdllz">Panama, San Francisco, and Yokohama</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">11,248</td>
+  <td class="tdll">Aden, Colombo, Singapore, Hong-kong, and Shanghai</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">11,377</td>
+  <td class="tdclrz">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;+129</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllz" style="border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">Yokohama</td>
+  <td class="tdllz" style="border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">Panama and San Francisco</td>
+  <td class="tdclz" style="border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">&nbsp;&nbsp;9,798</td>
+  <td class="tdll" style="border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">Aden, Colombo, Singapore, Hong-kong, and Shanghai</td>
+  <td class="tdclz" style="border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">11,678</td>
+  <td class="tdclrz" style="border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">+1,880</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>Distances (in nautical miles) from Liverpool <i>via</i> the Panama and Suez
+routes to Australia, New Zealand, the Philippine Islands, China, and
+Japan.</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="90%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="png 253">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdctlb" width="15%">To</td>
+  <td class="tdctlb" width="26%">Suez Route.</td>
+  <td class="tdctlb" width="10%">Distance.</td>
+  <td class="tdctlb" width="26%">Panama Route.</td>
+  <td class="tdctlb" width="10%">Distance.</td>
+  <td class="tdctlbr" width="13%">In favour of Suez -, Panama +.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllz">Adelaide</td>
+  <td class="tdllz">Aden, Colombo, and King George Sound</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">11,142</td>
+  <td class="tdllz">Panama, Tahiti, Sydney, and Melbourne</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">13,478</td>
+  <td class="tdclrz">-2,336</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllz">Melbourne</td>
+  <td class="tdllz">Aden, Colombo, King George Sound, and Adelaide</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">11,654</td>
+  <td class="tdllz">Panama, Tahiti, and Sydney</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">12,966</td>
+  <td class="tdclrz">-1,312</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllz">Sydney</td>
+  <td class="tdllz">Aden, Colombo, King George Sound, Adelaide, and Melbourne</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">12,235</td>
+  <td class="tdllz">Panama and Tahiti</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">12,385</td>
+  <td class="tdclrz">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;-150</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllz">Wellington</td>
+  <td class="tdllz">Aden, Colombo, King George Sound, and Melbourne</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">12,989</td>
+  <td class="tdllz">Panama and Tahiti</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">11,425</td>
+  <td class="tdclrz">+1,564</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllz">Manila</td>
+  <td class="tdllz">Aden, Colombo, and Singapore</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">&nbsp;&nbsp;9,701</td>
+  <td class="tdllz">Panama, San Francisco, and Yokohama</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">14,122</td>
+  <td class="tdclrz">-4,421</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllz">Hong-kong</td>
+  <td class="tdllz">Aden, Colombo, and Singapore</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">&nbsp;&nbsp;9,785</td>
+  <td class="tdllz">Panama, San Francisco, and Yokohama</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">13,957</td>
+  <td class="tdclrz">-4,172</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllz">Tientsin</td>
+  <td class="tdllz">Aden, Colombo, Singapore, Hong-kong, and Shanghai</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">11,377</td>
+  <td class="tdllz">Panama, San Francisco, and Yokohama</td>
+  <td class="tdclz">13,822</td>
+  <td class="tdclrz">-2,445</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdllz" style="border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">Yokohama</td>
+  <td class="tdllz" style="border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">Aden, Colombo, Singapore, Hong-kong, and Shanghai</td>
+  <td class="tdclz" style="border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">11,678</td>
+  <td class="tdllz" style="border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">Panama and San Francisco</td>
+  <td class="tdclz" style="border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">12,372</td>
+  <td class="tdclrz" style="border-bottom: .5pt black solid;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;-694</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>As figures are rather confusing and difficult to retain in the memory,
+let us find a more graphic way of indicating this zone in the Western
+Pacific where the chief conflict of canal and commerce is likely to take
+place in the future. Let us mark out a block of sea and land between the
+lines of latitude 40&deg; north and 40&deg; south and the lines of longitude
+120&deg; east and 160&deg; east of Greenwich. This zone includes Japan and
+Korea, Shanghai and the Philippines, New Guinea, and all Australia
+except the farthest western coastline. New Zealand lies outside it. Now
+along its western margin, the Suez and Panama routes to New York are
+equal in length. Along its eastern margin, which lies outside Japan and
+Australia (<i>not</i> New Zealand), and only traverses the scattered islets
+of the Pacific, the Suez and Panama routes to Liverpool are equal in
+length. Now look down an imaginary line near the centre of the zone but
+running rather west of north and east of south. Along this line all
+places are the same distance from New York and Liverpool by Panama and
+Suez respectively.</p>
+
+<p>Can we, then, roughly forecast the changes in ocean trade-routes which
+will result from this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>new channel of communication between East and
+West? For this purpose we may divide the world traffic into three
+parts&mdash;firstly, that part of it which the canal is almost certain to
+secure; secondly, that for which it will have to fight with competitive
+routes; thirdly, that which it will have no chance of securing.</p>
+
+<p>As regards the first, Panama will almost certainly attract most, if not
+all, the traffic which flows from the eastern American and Gulf ports to
+Hawaii and the west coast of North and South America, and of the traffic
+from the United Kingdom and the west of Europe to the whole western
+seaboard of America. We have already seen the regions where the Panama
+Canal will have to compete with the existing routes. Roughly, they
+comprise Pacific Asia, a part of the East Indies, and Australasia. These
+regions represent an enormous volume of traffic from which Panama will
+have to try to detach as large a share as possible. The third part is
+the main traffic-field of Suez&mdash;that is, Southern Asia, East Africa, the
+Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf. No efforts on the part of Panama, no
+reductions of canal tolls, could possibly lure any of this traffic from
+its <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>determination to Suez; the competitive region of the two canals
+lies all east of Singapore, and the greater part of the commerce of that
+region with Western Europe will still continue to move <i>via</i> Suez.</p>
+
+<p>The question of tolls at Panama is, of course, very important in its
+bearing upon the future popularity of the canal. It would certainly not
+have done to make the Panama charges higher than those at Suez. These
+latter have been reduced as from January 1, 1912. They are now 6.25
+francs ($1.206) per net ton for loaded vessels. The passenger tolls are
+10 francs a passenger above twelve years of age, and 5 francs for each
+child from three to twelve years old. If these figures had been exceeded
+at Panama the traffic there would have suffered. On the other hand, the
+attempt to attract traffic by a great reduction on tolls would have
+involved a loss on the assured traffic between the eastern and western
+coasts of America which would have more than counterbalanced the
+probable gain.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Taft's proclamation fixing the Panama tolls will be found at the end
+of the book. It will be seen that the charge of $1.20 is almost
+identical <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>with the Suez toll. There are, however, to be no passenger
+tolls at Panama. It must not be forgotten that the Suez Canal could very
+well afford to lower its charges to meet the new competition. A dividend
+of 30 per cent. leaves a considerable margin for this purpose.</p>
+
+<div class="img"><a name="imagep256" id="imagep256"></a>
+<a href="images/imagep256.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/imagep256tn.jpg" width="75%" alt="Map of Panama Canal" /></a><br />
+</div>
+
+<p>And we must remember that tolls, however important, are not by any means
+the only determinants of traffic-routes. All sorts of commercial and
+freight considerations come into play. For example, the shortest way
+from Japan to the eastern coasts of North America will be <i>via</i> Panama.
+Fully loaded vessels will certainly go that way. But the ship that
+leaves the land of the cherry blossom only partly loaded and wanting to
+make up a full freight may choose the route past Asia and through the
+Suez Canal as being more likely to serve that object.</p>
+
+<p>Then the cost of coal is an important point. Other things being equal,
+shipowners will select the routes by which coal is cheapest and the
+coaling stations nearest each other. With plenty of cargo coming along
+and good freight rates it is desirable to reserve as little bunker space
+as possible. I cannot go into this question at any <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>great length, but in
+the competition with the Suez route it will be quite as important to
+have abundant and cheap coal at Colon (the pun is accidental!) and
+Panama as to keep the transit dues moderate.</p>
+
+<p>But we have not yet exhausted the motives which may help to prompt the
+choice of one route rather than another. There is the question of
+climatic conditions&mdash;storms and winds and currents. In this respect
+Panama should have a decided advantage over Suez. The Red Sea, as
+everybody knows, is red hot. This is not good for some sorts of cargo,
+and so terrible is the heat at times that the stokers are said to be
+unable to maintain the steam at full pressure. This may involve an
+appreciable delay in the 1,310-mile run from Suez to Aden. Moreover,
+from a temper and character point of view, the North Pacific and
+Caribbean are distinctly superior to the Indian Ocean and the North
+Atlantic. The deliverance which the Panama Canal will afford to many
+vessels and steamship lines from the perils and savageries of "Cape
+Stiff," as the sailors call the Horn, or the reefs and currents of
+Magellan's Straits, is in itself one of the blessings <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>of the new route.
+Travellers tell us that the biggest ocean rollers in the world are found
+on the Pacific coast of America just a little north of the southern
+straits. For these reasons insurance rates <i>via</i> Panama are likely to be
+lower than those round the far south of the American continent.</p>
+
+<p>There is good reason to believe that the Panama Canal will pay its way
+without imposing any new burden on the taxpayers of the United States.
+It will probably not produce the dividends of the Suez Canal. It will
+have cost four times as much, and is unlikely for many years to command
+quite as large a volume of traffic. The increase in the traffic at Suez
+has been enormous during the last fifteen years, owing largely to the
+development of the resources of the Far East with the help of western
+capital. The net tonnage of vessels passing through the canal in 1911
+was 18,324,794, and the total passengers were 275,651. All forecasts of
+the traffic <i>via</i> Panama must, of course, be speculative, but it may be
+mentioned that the net register tonnage of vessels that might have
+advantageously used a Panama Canal in 1910 is officially estimated at
+8,328,029.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>Before discussing the more economic and commercial results likely to
+follow from the opening of the canal, there are one or two subsidiary
+questions we may consider. Is the Panama Canal likely to be used by
+sailing vessels? The prevailing idea is that it will be no more
+practicable a route for such craft than the Suez Canal. Winds, tides,
+and currents have much more to say to the sailing vessel than to the
+steamer, and the terminals of the canal, especially on the Pacific end,
+are not always easy of approach to wind-driven ships. One effect of the
+opening of the Panama Canal will be to hasten the decline of these
+old-fashioned and more beautiful craft. It must not be imagined that the
+"windjammer" or "limejuicer," in the sea-going vernacular, has already
+nearly disappeared from the seven seas. A great deal of the world's
+commerce is still carried on in such vessels. They still battle their
+way round the Horn laden with the timber of Oregon or British Columbia
+and the nitrates of Chile. But the unsuitability of the Panama transit
+for sailing vessels will unquestionably lead to their quicker decline.
+It is interesting to see how steam has <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>gradually ousted sail in the
+world's shipping. In 1873-4 the sea-going sail tonnage of the world was
+14,185,836 tons. This declined to 11,636,289 in 1888-9; to 8,693,769 in
+1898-9; and to 6,412,211 in 1910-11; while steam tonnage increased from
+4,328,193 in 1873-4 to 41,061,077 in 1910-11. For many reasons, climatic
+and economic, we may safely assume that the Panama Canal will be
+confined exclusively to "steam circles." Steamers will be substituted
+for the "limejuicers" in every canal-using line, and the snowy canvas
+will be banished to other regions. Hitherto, such freights as coal,
+lumber, grain, nitrate of soda, and sugar have been considered specially
+suited for sail transportation, because they are shipped as full vessel
+cargoes and do not require rapid transportation or delivery. But even
+such cargoes are certain to be largely transferred to the steamship when
+it is realized that the Panama Canal is "no road" for sailing vessels.</p>
+
+<p>Another interesting question is the probable effect of the canal on the
+American mercantile marine. The ocean-going merchantmen of the United
+States engaged in the foreign trade are <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>practically non-existent,
+though the "coasting" trade, which includes the trade of Hawaii and the
+Philippines with the United States, is strictly reserved to American
+vessels, ships flying foreign flags being entirely excluded. But these
+latter, which are in the main British, carry on all the foreign trade of
+the United States with South America, New Zealand, Australia, Northern
+China and Japan. It is almost unbelievable that in 1908 there was not a
+single steamship flying the flag of the United States between the United
+States ports and those of Brazil, the Argentine, Chile, or Peru. The
+mails from New York and the other Atlantic ports of the American
+republic go, or went until quite recently, <i>via</i> Europe, though New York
+is 370 miles nearer Brazil, etc., than the Old World coasts.<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> The
+reasons for this want of a foreign-trade mercantile marine <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>are chiefly
+the greater cost of shipbuilding in the United States and the
+requisitions with regard to wages and food of the American trade-unions.
+The result of the high standards of comfort thus imposed has been that
+the cost in wages and food to run American ships under American
+conditions across the Pacific is double that in European or Japanese
+steamers. It is scarcely to be wondered at, therefore, that some people
+in the United States regard the Panama Canal as a very disinterested
+gift from the United States to humanity at large, especially perhaps to
+Great Britain and Japan&mdash;as an example of altruism run mad. But while
+the United States may not be ready to reap the full advantage of the
+canal at the start, it is highly probable that its opening will lead to
+a rapid growth in the United States merchant service. A larger coasting
+fleet will be required with larger vessels, and this will lead to a
+general development of the larger classes of shipbuilding.</p>
+
+<p>At present no vessels are permitted to fly the American flag unless
+American-built. A large number of American-owned vessels are therefore
+registered under the flags of some foreign nation. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>As the United States
+begins to compete in cheapness and efficiency of shipbuilding with other
+countries, the chief motive for this foreign registration will be
+removed. Great Britain cannot expect to be the chief carrier of United
+States trade for ever. This is indeed one of many directions in which
+the opening of the Panama Canal may tend rather to the disadvantage than
+to the benefit of the United Kingdom. There is no reason why the United
+States should not build up a mercantile marine as swiftly as Germany and
+Japan have done. England will have to consider seriously this and many
+other probable effects of the canal closely touching her most important
+interests.</p>
+
+<p>I will conclude this chapter with an interesting little fact which may
+already have occurred to the reader. From the moment the Panama Canal is
+opened it will be possible for the first time to sail all round the
+world from England wholly in the northern hemisphere and without
+crossing the Equator. Who will be the first circumnavigator along the
+all-northern trail?</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTE:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p  class="noin"><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Many persons may have expected these countries to be much
+nearer New York. They do not realize that <i>nearly all South America lies
+east of North America</i>. Washington is on the same meridian as Callao on
+the coast of Peru. Antofagasta and Iquique, the chief nitrate ports of
+Chile, have the longitude of Boston. The eastern point of Brazil lies
+2,600 miles east of New York, and is <i>equidistant from New York Bay and
+the English Channel</i>.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE CANAL AND THE AMERICAS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The likely effects of the Panama Canal on international commerce and the
+development of the world's resources is so big a subject that one can do
+little more than indicate the larger probabilities. The influence of the
+canal on the British Empire must be left to another chapter. Here we
+shall have to consider mainly the case of the United States, the country
+which stands to gain far more than any other from this new link between
+East and West.</p>
+
+<p>The most obvious result of the new event, as it was the main object of
+the canal's construction, must be the immensely quickened all-sea
+communication between the eastern and western coasts of North America.
+The motive for the building of the canal was military rather than
+commercial. It was rendered necessary by painful <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>experience during the
+Spanish-American War of the effects of the 14,000-mile sea journey
+between the two seaboards of the republic. But the commercial results
+will not be the less important because they were not foremost in the
+object and motive of the canal-builders. It is pretty clear that what we
+may call the main developmental effect of the canal will be felt along
+that Pacific coast of the Americas which has been so long shut out from
+the great centres of industrial enterprise in the New World and the Old.</p>
+
+<p>We are so accustomed to regard the United States as a fully developed
+and fully equipped country that we forget how slowly her population and
+industries advanced westward from the Atlantic coasts. Even now it
+cannot be said that the railroad communications between the east and the
+Pacific states beyond the great mountain-divide of the Rockies are fully
+equal to the carriage of the produce which is or should be exchanged
+between east and west. The transcontinental lines have scarcely yet
+furnished a cheap and satisfactory connection between the Pacific coast
+states and their largest and most <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>natural markets. Hitherto the
+railways have had to compete with only three alternative routes: (1) the
+all-sea route round Cape Horn for sailers, and through Magellan Straits
+for steamers; (2) the route <i>via</i> Panama, with railroad transit over the
+isthmus; (3) the route <i>via</i> Tehuantepec, with railroad transit over
+that isthmus from Puerto Mexico on the Gulf to Salina Cruz on the
+Pacific. The new canal will be a much more formidable competitor. It is
+highly important that the industries of the United States should have
+the benefit of this healthy tug-of-war between railroad and canal, and
+the government is perfectly justified in keeping that competition open,
+even to the length of forbidding the use of the canal to ships owned,
+controlled, or operated by railway companies.</p>
+
+<p>There is no fear that the Panama Canal, even if it prospers exceedingly,
+will ruin the transcontinental railroads. The report of the Isthmian
+Canal Commission in 1901 made some interesting remarks on this subject,
+and they are as pertinent to-day:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The competition of the canal will affect, first, the volume<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>
+and rates of the through business of the Pacific railroads,
+and secondly, the amount of their local traffic. At the
+beginning of their existence these railways depended almost
+entirely upon their through traffic; but their chief aim
+throughout their history has been to increase the local
+business, which is always more profitable than the through
+traffic; and although the great stretch of country crossed
+by them is still in the infancy of its industrial
+development, the local traffic of some, if not all, of the
+Pacific roads has already become of chief importance. A
+vice-president of one of the railway systems states that
+since 1893 "the increase in business of the transcontinental
+lines has not come from the seaports, but from the
+development of the intermediate country." The canal can
+certainly in no wise check the growth of this local traffic,
+and the evidence strongly supports the belief entertained by
+many persons that the canal will assist largely in the
+industrial expansion of the territory served by the Pacific
+railways.</p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>
+
+<p>If this be true, the proximate effect of the isthmian canal
+in compelling a reduction and readjustment of the rates on
+the share of the transcontinental railway business that will
+be subject to the competition of the new water route, will
+be more than offset by the ultimate and not distant
+expansion of the through and local traffic, that must
+necessarily be handled by rail. It seems probable that the
+increase in the population of the country, and the growth in
+our home and foreign trade, will early demonstrate the need
+of the transportation service of both the canal and the
+railways.</p></div>
+
+<p>The reduction of freight through the use of the canal is sure to give a
+big stimulus to many leading industries of the Pacific states. One of
+the most important is the lumber industry. California and Oregon are
+very rich in forests of pine, spruce, cedar, and redwood, the last being
+much in demand in Atlantic countries. A good deal of this timber is
+exported to Europe and the eastern states, and it has all to be carried
+in sailing ships round Cape Horn. It is calculated that the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>opening of
+the Panama Canal will reduce the freight by 50 per cent., which means
+that all this Pacific coast timber will be correspondingly increased in
+value. The exports eastwards are sure to advance rapidly with the new
+means of transport. Grain, wine, and fruit will benefit, and the
+manufactured goods from the industrial states of the east will flow
+through the same channel to the western states in an ever-increasing
+volume.</p>
+
+<p>Every staple industry of the United States will feel the new stimulus,
+and England and Europe generally are certain to feel the pressure of
+this new competitive power of the American republic. In cotton and iron
+goods especially the exports from the eastern and southern states are
+bound to forge ahead. Manufactured cotton goods exported from the
+southern states have had to be carried by rail to the western ports, and
+thence by steamer to China and Japan, or else eastward by the Suez
+Canal, sometimes even <i>via</i> England or Germany. We may imagine what a
+boon the Panama Canal will be to this trade, and how conveniently it
+will lie for the Gulf ports and all their raw and manufactured exports.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>American iron and steel will also be immensely strengthened for
+competition with those of England and Europe in the markets of China,
+Japan, British Australasia, and along the coast of South America. We
+need not describe in detail effects which are likely to be felt over the
+entire range of American industry.</p>
+
+<p>The United States appears, indeed, to be on the verge of tremendous
+developments. In a paper read before the Royal Colonial Institute,<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a>
+that well-known physical geographer and economist, Dr. F. B. Vrooman,
+gave us a hint of further American enterprises in civil engineering,
+after the Panama Canal is opened:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The isthmian canal is but a part of the greater American
+waterways project. As soon as this is finished it is
+possible that the United States will start in a large way
+with the project of the artificial canalization of the
+Mississippi with its 16,000 miles of already navigable
+waters and a drainage basis of 1,280,000 square miles. The
+cutting-through of an ocean-ship canal to the Great Lakes
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>will make seaport towns of the Canadian cities on the Lakes
+Ontario, Erie, and Superior. The Saskatchewan and the Red
+River can be canalized for 1,000 miles, and a short haul
+from Winnipeg will open the whole Saskatchewan valley from
+near the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains&mdash;downstream, but
+for this short portage&mdash;all the way to the Gulf of Mexico,
+and thence to Panama and the Pacific ports. Every
+transcontinental freight-rate in Canada and the United
+States will be reduced, and perhaps some in the middle
+interior. As this great southern movement starts up the
+industries of the southern states will receive a new
+impulse. The Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea will
+spring into a new life, together with the West Indies and
+Central America and the vast and fertile interior drained by
+the Orinoco and the Amazon.</p></div>
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AMERICA.</p>
+
+<p>But there are no countries which will hear the call of the canal so
+nearly and clearly as those of Central and Southern America. It is
+astonishing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>how that forty-mile wide land barrier between the two
+oceans has isolated all the western shore of the continent. The Panama
+Canal Railroad has done very little to modify the situation. The Pacific
+coast of America has looked westwards over its waste of waters, and has
+scarcely been reached by the industrial and economic forces at work
+behind it in the Old and New Worlds. Its trade has been carried on
+mostly with Europe, and especially England, in sailing vessels that have
+plodded round the distant Horn. An interesting example of this
+geographical and commercial detachment of the west coast of Central and
+South America is furnished by the port of Mazatlan in Western Mexico.
+From this place there are considerable exports of logwood and mahogany.
+But thirty times as much of this lumber has gone to Europe as to the
+east of the American continent. On the opposite or eastern side of
+Mexico is Tampico, where the returns of trade are just the reverse, the
+United States being the largest customer for its exports. Despite the
+old Spanish paved roads across the isthmus at Panama, by which the
+silver and pearls of Peru and the Pacific were conveyed to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>Nombre de
+Dios and Porto Bello, for shipment to Spain, despite the sixty years of
+the little Panama Railway, the American continent even in its narrowest
+parts has been something like an impenetrable screen between east and
+west. Four centuries of continued agitation and effort to get the water
+through show how seriously this physical divorce has been felt, and give
+an earnest of the large results which are sure to follow the completion
+of the task.</p>
+
+<p>There have been other reasons for the backward development of western
+South America. To begin with, the Spanish, not a progressive and
+pioneering race, laid their hands on these countries four hundred years
+ago, and have held them politically or racially ever since. This would
+not in itself have kept out the Anglo-Saxon or the German. But these
+countries have not yet been greatly needed as an outlet of the surplus
+populations of Europe. Even the United States is very far from being
+filled up, and Canada is likely to be giving away farms for many years
+to come. The Teutonic race, to which above all others the trusteeship of
+Western civilization is committed, has left these Spanish Americas,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>with their revolutions coming almost as frequently and regularly as the
+seasons, comparatively unvisited. As yet the North European emigration
+to the southern continent has been mainly confined to Argentina and
+Southern Brazil.</p>
+
+<p>In one respect the isthmian breakwater has been profitable to these
+states of the Pacific coast. It has sheltered them largely from the
+negro element which has spread so widely over the West Indies and the
+southern United States. But Japan and China are already there, and the
+yellow will be laid on more and more thickly unless these countries are
+brought quickly within the zone of Western ideas and enterprise. And
+that process is likely to begin with the opening of the canal.</p>
+
+<p>The backwardness of these regions is indeed almost unbelievable. Most
+people think of them as producing mainly nitrates and revolutions. But
+their possible resources and products are illimitable, and are only
+awaiting the organized capital of the West to be made available for
+human service. As yet these Latin republics are in their middle ages of
+development. There are few railways, only one continuous
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>transcontinental line having been completed between Valparaiso, through
+Mendoza, to Buenos Aires. Their internal communications are carried on
+mainly by the pack mule, as they have been since the days of Pizarro and
+Valdivia. Each country, of course, has a foreign trade, but the people
+of the interior, the Indians or mixed breeds, live in isolated
+communities which are self-sufficing, raise their own food and make
+their own simple manufactures, knowing little or nothing of the products
+of foreign countries.</p>
+
+<p>The whole coast and its hinterland is engaged almost solely in what are
+known as "extractive" industries&mdash;that is, in mining or agriculture. The
+exports consist mainly of foodstuffs and raw materials, nitrate, ores of
+copper, silver, and gold, grain, sugar, cotton, cocoa, coffee, wool,
+hides, rubber, and woods. With these the people pay for their
+manufactured goods, and these come mainly from Europe, and chiefly also
+from the United Kingdom. The mineral wealth of the northern parts,
+especially the Andean plateau, is still enormous, though vast quantities
+have been extracted. For centuries the Andes furnished the civilized
+world with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>most of the bullion used for its current coinage. Between
+1630 and 1803 Peru alone sent out &pound;250,000,000 worth of silver. Bolivia
+has contributed &pound;800,000,000 worth; the famous mines of Potosi alone
+accounted for &pound;600,000,000 worth of this metal. The nitrate works of
+Chile are in the hands of Englishmen and Germans, and American and other
+foreigners hold the sugar plantations of Peru. But, as I have said, the
+range of production is enormous and only awaits the stimulus of imported
+capital. To give one example of the variety of products, it is said that
+the Aconcagua valley in Chile would alone furnish annually from its
+vineyards 1,000,000 gallons of claret, if the grapes were not used to
+produce a local drink named "chica." There is no sign of the exhaustion
+of any of the natural products of these regions. Even the nitrate of
+soda, that most valuable of fertilizers, though it is being shovelled
+out at a great rate, covers about 220,000 acres, or about 400 miles from
+north to south, and is sufficient to last for a very long time to come.</p>
+
+<p>Nitrate, minerals, wheat, barley, wool, hides&mdash;these are the main
+exports of the Pacific west, the returning imports being cotton goods,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>machinery, steel rails, woollens, coal, and all sorts of miscellaneous
+manufactures and supplies. But, as I said, the trade has been almost
+wholly with Europe, England enjoying a very predominant position. The
+United States have competed with Europe at great disadvantages. The
+trade has been mostly carried on in sailing vessels. Now such craft, to
+get from New York to South America, have been obliged to sail eastwards
+almost as far as the Canaries in order to catch the trade winds and
+weather Cape St. Roque on the coast of Brazil. The sailing vessel from
+Europe, on the other hand, sails right past the Canaries, and can give
+the American ship ten days' start in the journey to any part of South
+America south or west of the most easterly point of Brazil. If the
+reader will turn back to the chapter on the new distances he will see
+how the little streak of blue water at Panama will alter all this. Take
+one little fact to illustrate the change. Callao, on the coast of Peru,
+is, before the opening of the canal, farther by steam from New York than
+is the South Pole, but the Panama Canal will bring the city 1,000 miles
+nearer to New York by steam than San Francisco will then be. The canal
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>will reduce the distance from New York to the Chilean nitrate port of
+Iquique by 5,139 miles (nautical), to Valparaiso by 3,747, to Coronel
+(farther south) by 3,296, to Valdivia (about 1,000 miles north of
+Magellan's Straits, nearly at the farthest southern limit of the
+commercially important part of western South America) by 2,900. Take
+Iquique, an important North Chilean nitrate port. By Panama this place
+is 4,004 miles from New York, but 6,578 from Liverpool. Their respective
+distances <i>via</i> Magellan were 9,143 and 9,510.</p>
+
+<p>It looks, therefore, as though the United States, with its new
+advantages, which begin when the first vessel is passed through the
+Panama locks, would have a good chance of securing for the future the
+main share of the South American trade. Its cotton, iron and steel
+goods, electrical machinery, etc., will be able to compete on very
+different terms with those of England and Germany. Cotton manufactures
+have reached Chile and the other countries of Pacific South America by a
+rather absurdly roundabout route. The raw cotton has been grown in the
+southern parts of the United States, carried to Europe <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>for manufacture,
+and brought back to South America <i>via</i> the Straits of Magellan. These
+goods will, we may be sure, tend in future to go direct from the
+American factories <i>via</i> New York, Charleston, or New Orleans, without
+trans-shipment, thus saving about 7,000 miles of transportation. A very
+small part of the American trade with these countries has passed by the
+Panama railroad. The rates charged by the steamers which have picked up
+the goods for the west coast at Panama have been kept so high as to be
+practically prohibitive. It has actually been cheaper to send goods from
+the United States by way of England or Germany&mdash;that is, a journey of
+14,000 miles&mdash;than by way of Panama, a journey of three or four
+thousand. One of the surest results, then, of the Panama Canal opening
+will be a rapid development of the Pacific coasts of America, especially
+of South America, and a great expansion of trade between these countries
+and the United States.</p>
+
+<p>The effect of the canal on the Atlantic coasts and hinterland of South
+America will naturally be less striking. There has never been much
+interchange of trade between the two coasts <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>of the southern continent,
+for the simple reason that their products are not complementary but
+mostly identical. Most of the trade of the eastern coast states is with
+the countries of the North Atlantic. But some trade to the more
+northerly and tropical parts of this coast is certain to flow through
+the canal. Lumber from the Pacific coasts of North America is used in
+Atlantic South America, and a part of this trade, which is likely to
+grow in extent, will be passed through the canal. It should be noticed,
+however, that the temperate reaches of the eastern coast of South
+America farther to the south will be nearer the Pacific coasts of the
+United States and Canada <i>via</i> the Horn and the Straits of Magellan
+owing to the big easterly projection of Brazil.</p>
+
+<p>We must leave the probable effects of the Panama Canal on the British
+possessions in America to another chapter. It has not been possible to
+deal with prospective commercial developments in great detail. Only some
+general idea could be given of the vast changes and developments in
+progress. On the day on which I am writing the Washington correspondent
+of <i>The Times</i> summarizes the meaning and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>effect of the Panama Canal in
+three rather formidable words. He says it "symbolizes commercial
+Pan-Americanism." The canal is going to help America to keep its trade
+more to itself. It represents in commerce and economics what the Monroe
+doctrine represents in politics. It will immensely assist the United
+States to become the chief industrial supplier of the great continent,
+with the other states mainly as agricultural or mining annexes. One
+incident in the furthering of this ambition was the attempt to conclude
+a treaty of reciprocity with Canada, the effect of which, as Mr. Taft
+admitted, would have been to make Canada such an "annexe" of the
+republic. The Canadian people, however, realizing the ulterior political
+and commercial effects of such a treaty, refused to ratify it. Canada,
+in fact, belongs to another political and economic system. She gives
+valuable trade-preference to the manufactures of the mother-country in
+the Old World, and there is happily no reason to believe that she will
+abandon the Imperial ideals for the objects of continental
+Pan-Americanism. After all, the citizens of Canada and the United States
+are mostly of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span>same stock, speaking the same language and cherishing
+the same great traditions. The two branches of the Anglo-Saxon family
+ought to be able, while each maintaining its own life and growth, to
+remain happily side by side, sharing in the new prosperity which the
+world owes to this latest achievement of the great republic.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTE:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> March 19, 1912.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE CANAL AND THE BRITISH EMPIRE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>One of the most important results of the Panama Canal, one which is
+likely to have the largest influence on future political history, seems
+scarcely to have been noticed by writers on this subject. I have shown
+how much nearer Australia and New Zealand are brought to New York than
+to Liverpool, owing to the isthmian passage. They are brought of course
+proportionately nearer to the eastern provinces, which are also the
+governmental headquarters of Canada. But the moving away, so to speak,
+of these great countries from England, and their closer approximation to
+the great and growing branches of the Anglo-Saxon stock in America, has
+the effect of locating the centre of gravity of the English-speaking
+races more firmly and permanently than ever in the New World. When
+Canada, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>Australia, and New Zealand have grown for another quarter of a
+century, and the United States have reaped for so long the advantage in
+wealth and power of the new waterway, the little islands of the United
+Kingdom may begin to appear as a detached and distant fragment, rather
+than as the "heart and hearth," of the British Empire and the
+English-speaking world. In the eighteenth century, when the English
+plantations in America began to develop their manufactures and had
+increased rapidly in population, the question was discussed in England
+how long she could continue to control an oversea empire, likely to be
+in time more populous and prosperous than the home-country itself, from
+these far-away islands of the Old World. It was actually suggested at
+that time that the King of England should carry his crown and throne
+where the most part of his subjects were congregated. That suggestion is
+not likely to be repeated. We have found a way of harmonizing local
+self-government with imperial unity. But the position of England in her
+empire is sure to be greatly modified as time goes on, and the Panama
+Canal, by bringing these vast and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span>undeveloped continents and isles of
+the far south-west so much nearer to North America than to the imperial
+centre, cannot fail to have some influence in this direction. From a
+commercial point of view, its effect will be to increase the value and
+importance of those trade preferences which Australia gives the home
+country in her markets.</p>
+
+<p>Probably no single country in the world, certainly no portion of the
+British Empire, stands to gain so tremendously from the opening of the
+canal as British Columbia. England has not yet realized what enormous
+resources are locked up in this province of the furthest west, which
+looks out from a hundred harbours to the Pacific and across to the
+awakening East. The long haul across the continent, the interminable
+sea-trail round the Horn, twice crossing the equator, kept British
+Columbia, until lately, outside the thought and interest, not only of
+Englishmen, but even of the Canadians of the administrative East. Even
+with the gradual filling of the empty middle and west, geography would
+have continued to be against British Columbia. But the Panama Canal
+makes all the difference. This province will no longer look vaguely and
+dreamily to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>western sea-spaces and a still half-slumbering Orient.
+She will suddenly find herself at one end of a sea-route which will
+shorten her distance from New York by 8,415 miles and from Liverpool by
+6,046 miles.</p>
+
+<p>Her timber and other produce will no longer toil wearily in the holds of
+the "windjammer" down the whole length of Northern, Central, and
+Southern America. There at Balboa, less than halfway down, is the
+entrance of the long-desired short-cut to the world-centres of progress
+and enterprise. The electric thrill of this new circuit will be felt not
+only along the havens and fjords of the British Columbian coast, but
+nearly a thousand miles inland. We may say that almost the whole western
+half of Canada, where the golden wheat frontiers are ever advancing,
+will face about and henceforth look west instead of east. All the corn
+and produce of Alberta and Western Saskatchewan will flow, not eastwards
+as heretofore, but to the Pacific shores, there to be shipped for
+transit <i>via</i> the canal to the southern and eastern United States, to
+the north and east of South America, and to the Old World over the
+Atlantic. Even the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>eastern and western fronts of the Dominion will feel
+the grip of a new link, which may serve important naval and defensive
+interests for Canada.</p>
+
+<p>The new Pacific outlet will have many advantages over the eastern. For
+one thing, it is always ice-free, whereas the eastern route is icebound
+for five months in the year. Even now, I understand, it is appreciably
+cheaper in winter to send wheat from Calgary to Liverpool by Vancouver
+than by St. John's, New Brunswick. The freight-rate between British
+Columbian and United Kingdom ports should be at least halved when the
+canal is in operation. Of all cities in any clime or hemisphere,
+Vancouver seems to stand most surely on the threshold of a new and
+mighty future. She will have "greatness thrust upon her." Her citizens
+are preparing for the spacious days that are about to set in. A "Great
+Vancouver" will probably arise from the nine local municipalities, to
+provide an area and administration worthy of the dawning era. Dr. F. B.
+Vrooman eloquently voiced the sentiment of the great port and of British
+Columbia at a recent luncheon of the Progress Club at Vancouver. He
+said:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>We are on the verge of nothing less than a revolution of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span>
+world's commerce, and industry, and finance, which now, as
+sure as fate, are destined to be transferred to the lands of
+the Pacific Ocean. It is not only revolution. It is such a
+revolution as never has been and never again can be
+foreordained before chaos primeval for this twentieth
+century of the Christian era, for there are no more
+hemispheres to cut in two. There are no more oceans, with
+half the water area on the world and twenty million square
+miles more than all the land surface of the globe, to be
+suddenly transferred into the arena of world trade. There
+are no more continents with the widest reaches, the richest
+resources, and the densest populations of the world to be
+awakened and developed after Asia has achieved its
+resurrection.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore I say to you that there has got to be one port at
+least in the British Empire big enough to be equal to the
+greatest opportunity the world ever offered any city since
+time began. And if that city is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>not destined to be
+Vancouver, it will be for one, and for only one,
+reason&mdash;because the men of Vancouver have been too timid and
+feeble, too shortsighted and too little to take hold of what
+the good God has offered them.</p></div>
+
+<p>I have already alluded to the question of coal in connection with the
+new canal. All the new routes will have to be cheaply and abundantly
+"coaled," or they will be at a great disadvantage in the competition for
+traffic with Suez. The Isthmian Canal Commission of 1899-1901 pointed
+out that the coaling stations at San Francisco, Seattle, and Vancouver
+will in the future bear about the same relation to the route <i>via</i> the
+Panama Canal to the Orient as the coaling stations at or near the Suez
+Canal bear to the route from Europe <i>via</i> Suez to the Orient. Among the
+Pacific Islands, at Colon and Panama, and among the West Indies coal
+will have to be stored in big quantities for the tramps and liners and
+warships which will soon be drawn along these seaways by the new canal.
+British Columbia has coal illimitable, and this interest alone ought <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span>to
+be quickly and mightily developed in the coming years. Happily there are
+men of imagination and public spirit in this great Pacific province of
+the empire who understand what the canal means to it in future wealth
+and welfare, and are preparing its people to take advantage of the new
+opportunities. Let an eloquent British Columbian, Dr. Vrooman again,
+open for us the broad and bright prospect:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>New markets will be found on the Atlantic for British
+Columbia lumber and paper. This new large demand will
+increase the price. But the saving of freight is an enormous
+item. The present freight-rates from Vancouver to Liverpool
+are sixteen dollars per 1,000 feet. The canal will give
+British Columbia a rate of about eight dollars per 1,000
+feet. This difference per 1,000 will add to the value of
+British Columbia timber destined for Europe. But it is for
+more reasons than this that British Columbia is destined to
+be a vast Imperial industrial workshop. While her
+agricultural and horticultural possibilities are far beyond
+what <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>is generally supposed, British Columbia is in natural
+resources and raw materials of industry one of the richest
+areas on the globe. But above all is she rich in mechanical
+power&mdash;water-power and coal. These are about to be opened up
+and developed. Their development soon will be beyond
+computation, for, roughly speaking, there is not an
+investment in British Columbia to-day which will not be
+directly increased in value by the new canal; but also much
+indirectly in the impetus given to development. This one
+thing&mdash;this canal&mdash;costing us nothing&mdash;will double,
+quadruple, and quintuple values out there in a few brief
+years. With easier access will come new trade, and new
+demands will create new products, and soon the innumerable
+water-powers of British Columbia will start the wheels of a
+thousand new industries. The illimitable resources of the
+province will be opened up, developed, and utilized at home
+or shipped abroad. The value of every town lot and of every
+acre of land of the 395,000 square miles of the province
+will be greatly enhanced; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>town sites will be hewed out of
+the forests, and the forests themselves&mdash;every stick of wood
+of their 182,000,000 acres of forest and woodland&mdash;will be
+increased in value directly, by reason of cheaper shipping
+alone, to the extent of several dollars per 1,000 feet; and
+in the items of lumber and wood-pulp alone the Panama Canal
+will make as a free gift to British Columbia considerably
+more than the United States is spending on the whole canal.</p>
+
+<p>The mines of British Columbia, which have already produced
+over &pound;70,000,000, will leap forward with renewed prosperity.
+Her fisheries, which have produced &pound;21,000,000, will be more
+extensively developed and, let us hope, be made again a
+British asset&mdash;since they are wholly in the hands of the
+Japanese, who not only send their earnings home to Japan,
+but are criminally wasteful in their methods. The coal
+deposits of the province, which promise to be the most
+extensive in the world, will, with immense deposits of iron,
+be opened to the world's markets. It is said that the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>coal-fields of one small district in the Kootenay are
+capable of yielding 10,000,000 tons of coal a year for over
+seven thousand years, and a new district has been discovered
+within a twelvemonth which the provincial mineralogist told
+me on Christmas Eve was the most important economic
+discovery ever made in British Columbia, where there are
+known to be 1,000 square miles of the best of anthracite,
+and which is probably the richest known anthracite district
+in the New World west of Pennsylvania.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>The references to coal are especially interesting in this passage. It is
+an evidence of the public alertness in this matter that the British
+Columbian government has just appointed a special commissioner "to
+investigate and report upon all circumstances and conditions incident to
+the production and sale or other disposition of coal in British
+Columbia."</p>
+
+<p>It may be certain, therefore, that the opening of the canal will be
+followed by a rapid growth of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span>exports from Canadian ports, serving a
+thousand miles of hinterland, many of the vessels returning laden with
+the manufactures of the eastern United States and Europe, both streams
+of traffic flowing through the isthmian canal. But we must not overlook
+the growth in passenger traffic. The sea-passage round by the canal from
+Europe to the Pacific states of North America will be much cheaper and
+to many people more pleasant than the fatiguing transcontinental railway
+journey. Fresh brain and muscle will enter Canada by its western
+portals, new needs will arise, new industries spring up, a new &aelig;on of
+progress and enterprise begin on the far Pacific slopes when the first
+vessel mounts and descends the mighty steps of this wonder-working
+isthmian highway.</p>
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">THE WEST INDIES.</p>
+
+<p>But there is another region of the British Empire which will benefit
+only less, if less at all, than the Pacific province of Canada. The West
+Indies will feel at once the throb of a new life and interest when the
+canal is thrown open to the world's traffic. These "pearls of ocean,"
+the oldest of England's oversea possessions, have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span>lain hitherto in what
+the Americans call a "dead end." They are thrown across the entrances to
+a land-girt sea, the Mediterranean of the New World, from which there
+has hitherto been no exit to the west or the south, but only a return by
+the same passages to east and north. A glance at a map will show how
+these islands, the Greater and Lesser Antilles,<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> cluster round the
+Atlantic end of the canal and beset all the possible sea-routes from
+east and north and south-east. Every vessel that makes from the Atlantic
+for the canal entrance or quits the canal for the Atlantic will have to
+pass through this star-thick storied archipelago.</p>
+
+<p>The islands naturally fall into two groups, with the names I have just
+mentioned. The Greater Antilles, lying further to the west and
+north-west, consist of Jamaica, the Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos
+Islands, these last being administered by Jamaica. To this group
+belongs, geographically and historically, the mainland <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span>colony of
+British Honduras, a territory rather larger than Wales, whose great
+value England has scarcely begun to appreciate. The Lesser Antilles,
+stretched like a jewelled coronet round the eastern entrance to the
+Caribbean, consist, north to south, of the Virgin Islands, St. Kitts and
+Nevis, Antigua, Montserrat, Dominica (these forming the Leeward Islands
+Confederation), St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Vincent, Grenada, Trinidad, and
+Tobago (the Windward Islands). With this group goes naturally British
+Guiana, on the continent east of the Spanish Main, a territory much
+larger than Great Britain, which should also begin to develop its vast
+resources more adequately when the canal is opened.</p>
+
+<p>These islands, being largely inhabited by black people, cannot be
+entrusted with complete self-government like purely white communities.
+They are under various forms of what is known as crown colony
+government. For example, Trinidad and the Windward Islands are under the
+complete control of the British Colonial Office, while Barbados and
+Jamaica enjoy a large measure of self-rule. But this division into a
+large number of small governments without any <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span>connection with each
+other is extremely expensive, and proposals have been made for a
+federation of the British West Indies either in one great system,
+including them all, with British Honduras and Guiana thrown in, or in
+two systems embracing respectively the Greater and the Lesser Antilles.</p>
+
+<p>England, it must be confessed, has treated her splendid West Indian
+empire very badly. In order that she might have sugar "dirt-cheap" at
+home she allowed the great staple product of the isles and mainland,
+cane-sugar, to be brought to the verge of ruin by the competition of
+European bounty-fed beet-sugar. Happily there was a statesman of strong
+imperial sympathies in England, Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, who arranged the
+Brussels Sugar Convention with certain Powers of Europe, all of which
+agreed to suppress their own bounties and to impose countervailing
+duties on bounty-fed sugar imported from countries outside the
+convention. This gave the West Indies a fairer chance of competition,
+and they quickly felt the benefit. But the convention was always opposed
+in England by certain industries in which sugar is used and is therefore
+wanted as cheap as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span>possible, and notice has recently been given,
+despite the protests and alarms of the West Indies, that England intends
+to withdraw from the convention. And this, too, without any sort of
+compensation for the sugar-islands, which had begun to rely upon the
+protection against unfair competition afforded by that instrument.</p>
+
+<p>England has withdrawn her garrisons and, what is still more serious,
+almost her entire navy from the West Indies. When the terrible
+earthquake occurred at Kingston in Jamaica in 1907, there was no English
+ship-of-war anywhere near to render help and to maintain order, and this
+duty had to be performed by vessels of the American fleet. Five days
+after that disaster the correspondent of <i>The Times</i> wrote: "It is
+difficult to describe the sense of humiliation with which an Englishman
+surveys Kingston harbour this evening&mdash;two American battleships, three
+German steamers, a Cuban steamer, and one British ship; she leaves
+to-night, and the white ensign and the red ensign will be as absent from
+Kingston harbour as from the military basins of Kiel and Cherbourg." And
+this is what England calls ruling the waves and being mistress <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span>of the
+seas! Later in the same year she had another lesson. Rioting broke out
+in St. Lucia, once, but no longer, an important naval base. It was a
+whole week before an English cruiser arrived, though a Dutch man-of-war,
+the <i>Gelderland</i>, was anchored in the spacious harbour of Castries, St.
+Lucia's capital.</p>
+
+<p>This, one must allow, is a slovenly way of conducting a great empire. If
+these methods are pursued after the Panama Canal is opened, the results
+will be disastrous. A complete change will have to be made in the
+attitude of England and the Colonial Office to the British West Indian
+Islands. For these islands, instead of being tucked away in a sort of
+cul-de-sac, or inland lake, will henceforth be thrown right across or
+alongside the main highways of the world's ocean-traffic. Look again at
+the map and see how the most direct sea-route from New York, the eastern
+states and Canada to Colon and Cristobal comes down through the Windward
+Passage, between Cuba and Haiti, and then right past the eastern end of
+Jamaica, quite close to the magnificent bay on which Kingston stands.</p>
+
+<p>Look again and see how the routes from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span>Liverpool, Southampton, and the
+Old World pass through the Lesser Antilles, either Leeward or Windward,
+further east. The most direct of these trails passes through the Virgin
+Islands, the most northerly group, and one of these is said to possess a
+harbour of which a good deal might be made. But this is not by any means
+the only line of approach to the entrance of the canal. A more southerly
+route near Barbados or Trinidad might be chosen, and certainly would be
+chosen by vessels intending to call at ports along the old Spanish Main.</p>
+
+<p>Trinidad will indeed lie right across the direct route from ports on the
+Pacific coasts of the United States and Canada, as well as from the Far
+East, to Brazil and the Atlantic coast of South America&mdash;a trade which
+may well grow to very large proportions, considering the vast
+undeveloped resources of the Orinoco and Amazon basins. Valuable
+deposits of petroleum have also been discovered in Trinidad, and this
+should add greatly to the wealth and importance of that island as oil
+replaces coal for fuel. Oil-bunkering stations will be wanted at many
+points in the West Indies.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span>Trinidad and Kingston seem likely to benefit most from the traffic to
+and from Cristobal, the new Atlantic terminal of the canal. Both are
+splendidly equipped by Nature to act as coaling and repairing stations
+as well as centres for the distribution of goods. Kingston has a superb
+harbour, and so also has Port of Spain (the capital of Trinidad) in the
+Gulf of Paria, a natural landlocked harbour in which the fleets of the
+whole world could lie in safety&mdash;and, it is important to add, outside
+the hurricane zone. Trinidad lies right athwart the mouths of the
+Orinoco River. The years that are coming will see a tremendous
+development of the resources of these rich tropical basins, and Port of
+Spain is a natural port of exit and entry for the trade of regions where
+Raleigh sought the fabled Manoa or El Dorado.</p>
+
+<p>It is too soon to try to indicate in detail the effects which the Panama
+Canal is likely to have on the trade and production of the islands
+themselves. The sugar industry is reviving under the influence of the
+Treaty of Reciprocity concluded between a large number of the islands
+and the Dominion of Canada. Probably the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span>sugar for the tea-tables and
+apple-tarts of Vancouver, and a good many places far to the north and
+east, will be brought from the West Indies to Vancouver. But the islands
+will benefit more directly and immediately through the immense growth of
+traffic in the Caribbean Sea, the supply of coal and other necessities
+to this increased shipping, and in general through the publicity the
+islands will enjoy, which will mean a growing invasion of
+"globe-trotters," and consequently a big development of agricultural
+resources and an influx of new capital.</p>
+
+<p>An almost certain and immediate result of the new route, I may say in
+passing, will be a large increase of the tourist traffic to England and
+Europe from the western coasts of North and South America. When the
+fares are lowered, and the traveller can do the journey wholly by water,
+without the trouble of changing from railroad to steamer, we may be sure
+that a rapidly growing tide of passengers will set eastwards as well as
+westwards through the canal.</p>
+
+<p>But, to return to the West Indies, every nation is preparing to develop
+or establish in these regions harbours and coaling-stations and other
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span>facilities for its trade. For example, a Danish company proposes to
+establish connection between Copenhagen and San Francisco through the
+island of St. Thomas, one of the Virgin group. At St. Thomas, by the
+way, is shown the castle of Edward Teach, or "Blackbeard," the very beau
+ideal of a skull and crossbones pirate who, according to "Tom Cringle's
+Log," wore a beard in three plaits a foot long, and a full-dress purple
+velvet coat, under which bristled many pistols and two naked daggers
+over eighteen inches long, and who had generally a lighted match in his
+cocked hat with which he lit his pipe or fired a cannon, as the occasion
+demanded. "One of his favourite amusements when he got half-slewed was
+to adjourn to the hold with his compotators, and, kindling some
+brimstone matches, to dance and roar as if he had been the devil
+himself, until his allies were nearly suffocated. At another time he
+would blow out the candles in the cabin and blaze away with his loaded
+pistols at random right and left.... He was kind to his fourteen wives
+as long as he was sober, and never murdered above three of them." This
+very improper, but picturesque, gentleman was run down at last by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span>H.M.
+frigates the <i>Lime</i> and the <i>Pearl</i> to a creek of North Carolina, where,
+with thirty men in an eight-gun schooner, he made a desperate fight for
+life, killing and wounding more than the number of his own crew, and
+dying where he fell, faint with the loss of blood, overcome by superior
+numbers alone. Whether "Blackbeard" ever inhabited the castle at St.
+Thomas may be questioned, but the island ought to benefit from the
+canal, as it lies right across the main entrance to the Caribbean from
+the Atlantic.</p>
+
+<p>The German steamship lines are awake to the new opportunities, the
+Hamburg-Amerika preparing for the new emigrant traffic between Europe
+and Western America. Germany, it is said, is negotiating for a
+coaling-station in Hayti, which, with its two negro republics, stands to
+profit immensely from the new conditions. No one has troubled much about
+this splendid island of late. It has had a dark and terrible history.
+Discovered by Columbus, who called it <i>Hispaniola</i>, it was occupied by
+the Spanish adventurers who found alluvial gold there. Then it became
+the headquarters of the "buccaneers" who succeeded to the gallant and
+courtly sea-rovers of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span>Elizabethan period and became formidable
+about the year 1630. One of these buccaneers was that Henry Morgan who
+sacked the old town of Panama in 1671, and then became quite a
+respectable character, governor of Jamaica, and dubbed knight by Charles
+II. It was in Hispaniola, or Hayti, that this species of Western viking
+got their name. The island had been depopulated by the Spaniards, but
+the cattle and hogs they had introduced became wild and repopulated the
+land in their own kind. Thus Hispaniola became a splendid provisioning
+base for the ships of the buccaneers. They hunted the cattle and
+preserved the meat, smoke-drying it in the Indian fashion. This industry
+was called <i>boucanning</i>, and from it the buccaneers were named.</p>
+
+<p>Hispaniola was the mother colony of the Spanish Empire in the West
+Indies which has now wholly disappeared, very unfortunately for Spain in
+view of the enhanced value these islands will now soon acquire. In 1795
+it was ceded to France, and soon afterwards the emancipated slaves
+gained possession of the island, and after a period of anarchy and
+bloodshed established their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span>independence. It is divided into two negro
+and mulatto republics, Hayti and San Domingo, and, as might have been
+expected, has sunk to the lowest depths of possible human degradation.
+Fetishism, human sacrifice, and even cannibalism prevail in this
+sea-girt Paradise, placed right among the possessions of the most
+civilized Powers of the world and now across the main ocean routes from
+the West to the United States, Canada, and the Old World. Can anybody
+believe that beautiful Hispaniola, an island 30,000 square miles in
+extent, whose economic and strategic value will be increased a
+hundredfold in the years that are coming, will long remain under this
+blighting shadow of ignorance and barbarism? Here certainly the Panama
+Canal will work a beneficent political change.</p>
+
+<p>France, too, is beginning to look up her possessions and opportunities
+in the Caribbean. Here her two islands, Martinique and Guadeloupe, are
+placed most conveniently for her ships coming westwards from Havre,
+Bordeaux, and St. Nazaire, while Tahiti and New Caledonia will pass them
+on over the Pacific to the Far East. M. Gilquin, writing in <i>La vie
+Maritime</i>, says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>In Martinique, Guadeloupe, New Caledonia, and Tahiti our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span>
+commerce&mdash;that is to say, exports and imports together&mdash;was,
+in the year 1909, ninety millions of francs; this rose to
+one hundred and twenty-two millions in 1910, and it is
+probable that when we get the figures for 1911 they will be
+found to be even more favourable. It is certain that with
+the opening of the Panama Canal a great increase in traffic
+will take place, and possessing, as we do, ports so
+advantageously placed on the principal lines of route, we
+should benefit extensively by that development of traffic
+between Europe and the western coasts of both North and
+South America. In order that we may reap the benefit,
+however, of the situation of our colonial harbours, it is
+necessary that these be taken in hand at once and rendered
+fit for the commerce they will be called upon to handle.</p></div>
+
+<p>And what is England doing to prepare for the new epoch in these regions
+where she has planted her flag on so many rich and beautiful islands,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span>strung like pearls of necklace and tiara over these warm tropical seas?
+We hear of Jamaica providing a new site for coaling and ships' repairs
+near Kingston, of harbour improvements at Port of Spain (Trinidad) and
+St. George (Grenada), of oil-bunkering stations at Barbados and St.
+Lucia. All this is good, but England will have to enter upon a very
+different policy for the future with regard to her West Indian empire.
+She must show that she values her priceless inheritance in and round the
+Caribbean; that she is determined to maintain her position, to promote
+her commerce, and to further the interests of all her subjects in these
+regions.</p>
+
+<p>What the West Indies need in order to be able to take the new
+opportunity by the forelock are organization and combination. Schemes
+have been proposed for federalizing the constitution of the
+islands&mdash;placing them, that is, under a strong central government for
+those purposes that are common to them all. There are many difficulties
+in the way of such proposals. The nearest island of the Greater Antilles
+is 1,000 miles away from the nearest of the Lesser, so that Nature seems
+to have pronounced for the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span>present against any federal scheme embracing
+all the islands. But space is always shrinking. Wireless telegraphy and
+aeroplanes may make 1,000 miles an inconsiderable distance for such
+political purposes. The Leeward Islands have already been organized
+under a single federal government, and it ought to be possible to extend
+the system. Moreover, the islands and the colonies on the continent are
+learning the value of common consultation and action in such matters as
+quarantine, and they meet together in annual agricultural conferences.</p>
+
+<p>We need not wait for a formal and complete federal constitution. Some
+central council for consultation on the best means of taking advantage
+of the new opportunities, some central fund for promoting common
+objects, such as advertising the wonderful attractions of the islands
+and preparing for the birds of passage that will soon be coming from
+every civilized country in the Old and New World&mdash;all this is possible
+now. It is important, too, that the West Indian colonies should have
+some assembly or council through which they can address the Imperial
+Power with a single voice. England can give <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>these colonies invaluable
+help. She can assist them to develop those steamship and telegraphic
+communications between the islands which are still so inadequate. She
+can indicate the best locations for harbours, coaling and repairing
+stations, and the other facilities which the new traffic will require.
+In view of the certain growth in wealth and prosperity, the colonies
+ought to be able by contributions among themselves to provide a
+substantial fund for objects they can carry out in common for the
+advantage of each and all.</p>
+
+<p>Some valuable information and very practical suggestion will be found in
+the report of the West Indian Commission presided over by Lord Balfour
+of Burleigh which was issued in 1910. Besides recommending a system of
+reciprocal trade preference between Canada and the West Indies, the
+commissioners made important proposals with regard to steamship and
+telegraphic communications. They favoured the public ownership and
+operation of the West Indian cables and possibly of the whole system
+northward to Halifax. They wrote:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The single cables now connecting Halifax with Bermuda and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span>
+Bermuda with Jamaica ought either to be duplicated or
+supplemented by wireless. A cable should be laid between
+Bermuda and Barbados, with a branch to Trinidad, and perhaps
+another to British Guiana. The cables which run from Jamaica
+to the eastern islands and British Guiana, sometimes single
+and sometimes duplicate, are very old. The bed of this part
+of the Caribbean being trying for cables, we believe it
+would be found advantageous in most cases not to renew them,
+but to replace them by wireless installations. If these were
+well arranged, they might form a satisfactory connection
+between the eastern islands and Jamaica and an alternative
+route to Bermuda, and render unnecessary duplication of the
+suggested Bermuda-Barbados cable. While it is desirable to
+connect British Honduras with Jamaica, we consider that the
+probable volume of traffic would not warrant the cost of a
+cable. We therefore recommend the employment of wireless for
+this purpose. Small installations should <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span>also be supplied
+to the outlying Leeward and Bahamas Islands.</p></div>
+
+<p>England will have to foster the welfare of her possessions in these
+regions as she has never done before. The Brussels Convention forbade
+her to give any preference to sugar produced in her own dominions. But
+she is about to step out of that agreement, and will be at liberty, if
+she thinks fit, to encourage by preferential favours the one great
+staple for which these colonies can find no substitute. There may be
+differences of opinion on the fiscal question, but surely everybody must
+agree that the naval power and political prestige of the British Empire
+must be represented in the Caribbean Sea by something rather more
+impressive than two small and obsolete cruisers. If England is to
+maintain her position against the severer competition she will now have
+to face, if she is to get her share of the new commerce now in prospect,
+she will have to give her traders, and shippers, and merchants all the
+confidence and encouragement which her flag should inspire. One or two
+well-equipped naval bases, a squadron <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span>of up-to-date cruisers for police
+and patrol work in the Caribbean and down the Pacific coasts of America,
+are indispensable. There must be no more earthquakes and destructions of
+British cities with never a British vessel to bring the sorely-needed
+help, no more riots in British islands with only a Dutch warship
+standing helplessly by.</p>
+
+<p>Both British Columbia and the West Indies have complained with reason of
+the absenteeism of the British fleet from their shores. The necessity
+for concentrating all our naval power in the North Sea to meet the
+German menace has no doubt been the cause of these withdrawals from the
+outer sea-marches of the empire. But at any cost this wrong will have to
+be righted in the future. The West Indies and British Columbia are just
+the two portions of the empire which the Panama Canal may benefit most
+and most immediately, and they have a right to expect the support and
+co-operation of the imperial government wherever it can be given. All
+the Powers of the world will be afloat on the Caribbean and along the
+Pacific sea-trails to Balboa. Let the white ensign return to these seas
+and shores <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span>as an earnest to all that the same national spirit that won
+for England her political and commercial supremacy avails to maintain it
+now and in the new era which is just dawning.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> From the already-quoted paper read before the Royal
+Colonial Institute, March 19, 1912.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Marco Polo, following Aristotle's nomenclature, had given
+the name of "Antilla" to an island off the eastern coast of Asia. The
+name was transferred by Columbus, or Peter Martyr, to the islands of the
+Caribbean.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE NEW PACIFIC.</h2>
+
+
+<p>Some readers may perhaps think that these forecasts of the results of
+running a canal through the isthmus of Panama are somewhat exaggerated.
+It is sufficient to point out to such a critic how different the course
+of American and world history might have been if Nature had left a
+practicable channel between the two Americas. The effect of erecting an
+artificial passage there in these days may be even greater than at
+present we can imagine. Some of these results will be apparent at once;
+others may take decades or even centuries to materialize. Many of the
+commercial and political results which have followed the construction of
+the Suez Canal were quite unforeseen in 1869. We may be similarly
+mistaken in our forecast with regard to the Panama Canal. Mr. Bryce
+suggests that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span>if a dozen experts were, in 1914, to write out and place
+in the libraries of the British Museum and of Congress their respective
+forecasts bearing on this subject, sealed up and not to be opened till
+<span class="smcap">A.D.</span> 2000, they might make curious reading in that year. We may
+venture to predict that the results of Panama will be much more profound
+and revolutionary than those of Suez. The Panama Canal, says Mr. Bryce,
+is "the greatest liberty man has ever taken with Nature." It will
+involve a far greater shifting of centres of gravity, political and
+commercial, a more radical readjustment of ideas and points of view than
+the Suez Canal.</p>
+
+<p>As the past four hundred years have belonged to the Atlantic, the
+present century and others to come may belong to the Pacific. That area
+of 70,000,000 square miles may become the main theatre of the
+rivalries&mdash;commercial, political, and racial&mdash;of the most powerful
+nations of East and West. Some believe that the world is advancing to
+that loud and fateful day when East and West will fight out their long
+difference in some naval and aerial Armageddon on and above this
+miscalled Pacific. Without straining our imaginations to this extent, we
+may well observe <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span>that the canal brings Eastern and Western
+civilizations into much closer contact and competition than before. Mr.
+Kipling has informed us that East is East and West is West, and never
+the twain shall meet; and a still earlier author, desiring to give the
+penitent sinner the uttermost consolation, declared that the Lord
+removes his transgressions from him "as far as the east is from the
+west."</p>
+
+<p>The new canal rather diminishes the force of such similitudes. It is not
+simply that the east of Canada and the United States, as representing
+Western civilization, is brought much closer to China and Japan; that
+the passage from West to East which the early navigators vainly sought
+is now thrown open. The important thing is that the Pacific is going to
+be the scene of commercial and political rivalries in which the slowly
+awakening people of China and the already wide-awake people of Japan
+will take part. All the Pacific Ocean westward to 160 degrees of
+longitude east of Greenwich is brought nearer to England and the western
+coasts of Europe. The entire ocean right back to the western extremity
+of Australia is brought closer to the governmental and industrial
+centres of the United States and Canada.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span>English people have been thinking "Atlantically" up to now. The Pacific,
+held at an unimaginable distance by a broad continent or an abyss of
+ocean, has been known to them chiefly through stories of adventure among
+its coral islands familiar to their childhood. Yet England is the
+greatest Pacific Power in the world. British Columbia alone has a
+Pacific sea-front longer than the United States, and holds 383,000
+square miles, an area as large as France and Spain put together. And yet
+the population of that vast and fertile province is only 134,000. And
+what of the lonely continent that bounds this oceanic abyss in the far
+south-west? Australia, without New Zealand, is about 3,000,000 square
+miles in extent, and has to-day a white population of about 4,600,000,
+or about 4,700,000 people all told. The northern part of this mighty
+island-continent, known as the "Territory," 560 miles wide, 900 miles
+long, and 523,620 square miles in extent, a region of great potential
+wealth, has a total European population of 1,274! And to the north and
+north-west there are a billion (1,000,000,000) brown and yellow people,
+packed together in crowded islands and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span>territories, whose mere
+overspill would quickly fill that delectable island-continent to the
+south where England has done so little to make good her nominal title to
+sovereignty by actual and effective settlement.</p>
+
+<p>Such a possession, an empire in itself, held so precariously and
+offering such a ceaseless temptation to swarming land-hungry hordes, is
+rather a weakness than a strength to England on the threshold of the new
+era. And from all this Pacific region and its adjuncts where she has
+secured all the empty and desirable plots and pegged out so many claims
+for posterity, she has had to withdraw her fleets, as Rome had to draw
+in her legions from the outer provinces to defend the central heart of
+her empire. We may hope that this North Sea danger, so embarrassing and
+disastrous in its strategic needs to a power like England, whose empire
+is scattered over every ocean and continent, may disappear through the
+growth of better relations between the German and Anglo-Saxon branches
+of the Teutonic race. To that stock more than any other is committed the
+defence of Western and Christian ideas, and the great issues of the
+future may compel a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span>Pan-Teutonic alliance, embracing the British and
+German Empires and the United States.</p>
+
+<p>England has two responsibilities in the Pacific&mdash;the one to herself and
+her empire, and the other to Christendom and Western civilization. If
+she is true to the former, she cannot well be false to the latter. She
+must bring her fleets back to this great ocean and assert an influence
+in its politics proportionate to her territorial domains and the extent
+of her commerce in those regions. But there are objects more important
+than the interests of any single Power. The entire coast of the Pacific
+from Behring Straits to the Horn, and round south by New Zealand and
+Australia, must be kept "white"&mdash;reserved, that is, for the Occidental
+and Christian races. Perhaps the United States may one day so far modify
+the Monroe doctrine as to welcome Germany to a sovereign foothold among
+the unstable politics of South America, in order to strengthen still
+more the outposts of Christian civilization in the Western hemisphere.</p>
+
+<p>It is possible to talk great nonsense about what is called the "yellow
+peril." No sensible person imagines that the nimble Japanese, the
+inscrutable <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span>Chinaman, and the subtle Hindoo are suddenly going to rise
+as one man and throw down the gage of challenge to Christianity and the
+West. East, like West, has its own political and religious divisions;
+nevertheless it is impossible to foresee what the results of the
+Oriental resurgence may mean, and England and the United States, and
+perhaps Germany, may some day have a joint responsibility in the Pacific
+compared with which their rivalries among themselves may seem trifling
+and irrational.</p>
+
+<p>But I do not wish to end this little book with presages of future
+discord. We must all hope that the Panama Canal will prove a new and
+powerful influence for peace, that it will bring even East and West
+together, not in strife and suspicion, but in friendship and a better
+mutual understanding. There is surely a human interest and sympathy
+transcending even those racial divisions which may seem most
+insuperable. The great nation which has given this splendid gift to the
+world should ask no better or more selfish reward than that it may
+contribute to the welfare and progress of humanity at large.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>APPENDIX I.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE ISTHMIAN CANAL CONVENTION (COMMONLY CALLED THE HAY-PAUNCEFOTE
+TREATY), 1901.</h2>
+
+
+<p>1. The high contracting parties agree that the present treaty shall
+supersede the aforementioned (Clayton-Bulwer) convention of April 19,
+1850.</p>
+
+<p>2. It is agreed that the canal may be constructed under the auspices of
+the government of the United States either directly at its own cost, or
+by gift or loan of money to individuals or corporations, or through
+subscription to or purchase of stock or shares, and that, subject to the
+provisions of the present treaty, the said government shall have and
+enjoy all the rights incident to such construction, as well as the
+exclusive right of providing for the regulation and management of the
+canal.</p>
+
+<p>3. The United States adopts as the basis of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span>the neutralization of such
+ship canal the following rules substantially as embodied in the
+Convention of Constantinople, signed the 28th October, 1888, for the
+free navigation of the Suez Canal; that is to say:</p>
+
+<p>First.&mdash;The canal shall be free and open to the vessels of commerce and
+of war of all nations observing these rules, on terms of entire
+equality, so that there shall be no discrimination against any such
+nation or its citizens or subjects in respect of the conditions or
+charges of traffic, or otherwise. Such conditions and charges of traffic
+shall be just and equitable.</p>
+
+<p>Second.&mdash;The canal shall never be blockaded, nor shall any right of war
+be exercised nor any act of hostility be committed within it. The United
+States, however, shall be at liberty to maintain such military police
+along the canal as may be necessary to protect it against lawlessness
+and disorder.</p>
+
+<p>Third.&mdash;Vessels of war of a belligerent shall not revictual nor take any
+stores in the canal except so far as may be strictly necessary; and the
+transit of such vessels through the canal shall be effected with the
+least possible delay in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span>accordance with the regulations in force, and
+with only such intermission as may result from the necessities of the
+service. Prizes shall be in all respects subject to the same rules as
+vessels of war of the belligerents.</p>
+
+<p>Fourth.&mdash;No belligerent shall embark or disembark troops, munitions of
+war or warlike materials in the canal except in case of accidental
+hindrance of the transit, and in such case the transit shall be resumed
+with all possible despatch.</p>
+
+<p>Fifth.&mdash;The provisions of this article shall apply to waters adjacent to
+the canal, within three marine miles of either end. Vessels of war of a
+belligerent shall not remain in such waters longer than twenty-four
+hours at any one time except in case of distress, and in such case shall
+depart as soon as possible, but a vessel of war of one belligerent shall
+not depart within twenty-four hours from the departure of a vessel of
+war of the other belligerent.</p>
+
+<p>Sixth.&mdash;The plant, establishment, buildings and all works necessary to
+the construction, maintenance and operation of the canal shall be deemed
+to be parts thereof for the purpose <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span>of this treaty, and in time of war,
+as in time of peace, shall enjoy complete immunity from attack or injury
+by belligerents, and from acts calculated to impair their usefulness as
+part of the canal.</p>
+
+<p>4. It is agreed that no change of territorial sovereignty or of
+international relations of the country or countries traversed by the
+before-mentioned canal shall affect the general principle of
+neutralization or the obligation of the high contracting parties under
+the present treaty.</p>
+
+<p>5. The present treaty shall be ratified by the President of the United
+States by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and by
+His Britannic Majesty; and the ratifications shall be exchanged at
+Washington or at London at the earliest possible time within six months
+from the date thereof.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>APPENDIX II.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE PANAMA DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 1903.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The transcendental act that by a spontaneous movement the inhabitants of
+the isthmus of Panama have just executed is the inevitable consequence
+of a situation which has become graver daily.</p>
+
+<p>Long is the recital of the grievances that the inhabitants of the
+isthmus have suffered from their Colombian brothers; but those
+grievances would have been withstood with resignation for the sake of
+harmony and national union had its separation been possible and if we
+could have entertained well-founded hopes of improvement and of
+effective progress under the system to which we were submitted by that
+republic. We have to solemnly declare that we have the sincere and
+profound conviction that all the hopes <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span>were futile and useless, all the
+sacrifices on our part.</p>
+
+<p>The isthmus of Panama has been governed by the Republic of Colombia with
+the narrow-mindedness that in past times was applied to their colonies
+by the European nations&mdash;the Isthmian people and territory were a source
+of fiscal resources and nothing more. The contracts and negotiations
+regarding the railroad and the Panama Canal and the national taxes
+collected in the isthmus have netted to Colombia tremendous sums which
+we will not detail, not wishing to appear in this exposition which will
+go down to posterity as being moved by a mercenary spirit, which has
+never been nor is our purpose; and of these large sums the isthmus has
+not received the benefit of a bridge for any of its numerous rivers, nor
+the construction of a single road between its towns, nor of any public
+building nor of a single college, and has neither seen any interest
+displayed in advancing her industries, nor has a most infinite part of
+those sums been applied toward her prosperity.</p>
+
+<p>A very recent example of what we have related above is what has occurred
+with the negotiations <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span>of the Panama Canal, which, when taken under
+consideration by Congress, was rejected in a summary manner. There were
+a few public men who expressed their adverse opinion, on the ground that
+the isthmus of Panama alone was to be favoured by the opening of the
+canal by virtue of a treaty with the United States, and that the rest of
+Colombia would not receive any direct benefits of any sort by that work,
+as if that way of reasoning, even though it be correct, would justify
+the irreparable and perpetual damage that would be caused to the isthmus
+by the rejection of the treaty in the manner in which it was done, which
+was equivalent to the closing of the doors to future negotiations.</p>
+
+<p>The people of the isthmus, in view of such notorious causes, have
+decided to recover their sovereignty and begin to form a part of the
+society of the free and independent nations, in order to work out its
+own destiny, to insure its future in a stable manner, and discharge the
+duties which it is called on to do by the situation of its territory and
+its immense richness.</p>
+
+<p>To that we, the initiators of the movement <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span>effected, aspire and have
+obtained a unanimous approval.</p>
+
+<p>We aspire to the formation of a true republic, where tolerance will
+prevail, where the law shall be the invariable guide of those governing
+and those governed, where effective peace be established, which consists
+in the frequent and harmonious play of all interests and all activities,
+and where, finally, civilization and progress will find perpetual
+stability.</p>
+
+<p>At the commencement of the life of an independent nation we fully
+appreciate the responsibilities that state means, but we have profound
+faith in the good sense and patriotism of the Isthmian people, and we
+possess sufficient energy to open our way by means of labour to a happy
+future without any worry or any danger.</p>
+
+<p>At separating from our brothers of Colombia we do it without hatred and
+without any joy. Just as a son withdraws from his paternal roof, the
+Isthmian people in adopting the lot it has chosen have done it with
+grief, but in compliance with the supreme and inevitable duty it owes to
+itself&mdash;that of its own preservation and of working for its own
+welfare.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span>We therefore begin to form a part among the free nations of the world,
+considering Colombia as a sister nation, with which we shall be whenever
+circumstances may require it, and for whose prosperity we have the most
+fervent and sincere wishes.</p>
+
+<div style="margin-left: 65%; margin-right: 5%;"><span class="smcap">Jos&eacute; Agustin Arango,<br />
+                                                 Federico Boyd,<br />
+                                                 Tomas Arias.</span></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>APPENDIX III.</h2>
+
+<h2>THE PANAMA CANAL CONVENTION (COMMONLY CALLED THE HAY-BUNAU-VARILLA
+TREATY), 1904.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The United States of America and the Republic of Panama being desirous
+to insure the construction of a ship-canal across the isthmus of Panama
+to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the Congress of the
+United States of America having passed an Act approved June 28, 1902, in
+furtherance of that object, by which the President of the United States
+is authorized to acquire within a reasonable time the control of the
+necessary territory of the Republic of Colombia, and the sovereignty of
+such territory being actually vested in the Republic of Panama, the high
+contracting parties have resolved for that purpose to conclude a
+convention and have accordingly appointed as their plenipotentiaries&mdash;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span>The President of the United States of America, John Hay, Secretary of
+State, and the government of the Republic of Panama, Philippe
+Bunau-Varilla, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the
+Republic of Panama, thereunto specially empowered by said government,
+who after communicating with each other their respective full powers
+found to be in good and due form, have agreed upon and concluded the
+following articles:</p>
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">Article 1.</p>
+
+<p>The United States guarantees and will maintain the independence of the
+Republic of Panama.</p>
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">Article 2.</p>
+
+<p>The Republic of Panama grants to the United States in perpetuity the
+use, occupation and control of a zone of land and land under water for
+the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation and protection of
+said canal of the width of ten miles extending to the distance of five
+miles on each side of the centre line of the route of the canal to be
+constructed; the said zone beginning in the Caribbean Sea three marine
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span>miles from mean low water mark, and extending to and across the isthmus
+of Panama into the Pacific Ocean to a distance of three marine miles
+from mean low water mark, with the proviso that the cities of Panama and
+Colon and the harbours adjacent to said cities, which are included
+within the boundaries of the zone above described, shall not be included
+within this grant. The Republic of Panama further grants to the United
+States in perpetuity the use, occupation and control of any other lands
+and waters outside of the zone above described which may be necessary
+and convenient for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation
+and protection of the said canal or of any auxiliary canal or other
+works necessary and convenient for the construction, maintenance,
+operation, sanitation and protection of the said enterprise.</p>
+
+<p>The Republic of Panama further grants in like manner to the United
+States in perpetuity all islands within the limits of the zone above
+described and in addition thereto the group of small islands in the Bay
+of Panama, named Perico, Naos, Culebra, and Flamenco.</p>
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span>Article 3.</p>
+
+<p>The Republic of Panama grants to the United States all the rights, power
+and authority within the zone mentioned and described in Article 2 of
+this agreement and within the limits of all auxiliary lands and waters
+mentioned and described in said Article 2 which the United States would
+possess and exercise if it were the sovereign of the territory within
+which said lands and waters are located to the entire exclusion of the
+exercise by the Republic of Panama of any such sovereign rights, power
+or authority.</p>
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">Article 4.</p>
+
+<p>As rights subsidiary to the above grants the Republic of Panama grants
+in perpetuity to the United States the right to use the rivers, streams,
+lakes and other bodies of water within its limits for navigation, the
+supply of water or water-power or other purposes, so far as the use of
+said rivers, streams, lakes and bodies of water and the waters thereof
+may be necessary and convenient for the construction, maintenance,
+operation, sanitation and protection of the said canal.</p>
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span>Article 5.</p>
+
+<p>The Republic of Panama grants to the United States in perpetuity a
+monopoly for the construction, maintenance and operation of any system
+of communication by means of canal or railroad across its territory
+between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.</p>
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">Article 6.</p>
+
+<p>The grants herein contained shall in no manner invalidate the titles or
+rights of private landholders or owners of private property in the said
+zone or in or to any of the lands or waters granted to the United States
+by the provisions of any Article of this treaty, nor shall they
+interfere with the rights of way over the public roads passing through
+the said zone or over any of the said lands or waters unless said rights
+of way or private rights shall conflict with rights herein granted to
+the United States, in which case the rights of the United States shall
+be superior. All damages caused to the owners of private lands or
+private property of any kind by reason of the grants contained in this
+treaty or by reason of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span>the operations of the United States, its agents
+or employees, or by reason of the construction, maintenance, operation,
+sanitation and protection of the said canal or of the works of
+sanitation and protection herein provided for, shall be appraised and
+settled by a joint commission appointed by the governments of the United
+States and the Republic of Panama, whose decisions as to such damages
+shall be final and whose awards as to such damages shall be paid solely
+by the United States. No part of the work on said canal or the Panama
+railroad or on any auxiliary works relating thereto and authorized by
+the terms of this treaty shall be prevented, delayed or impeded by or
+pending such proceedings to ascertain such damages. The appraisal of the
+said private lands and private property and the assessment of damages to
+them shall be based upon their value before the date of this convention.</p>
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">Article 7.</p>
+
+<p>The Republic of Panama grants to the United States within the limits of
+the cities of Panama and Colon and their adjacent harbours and within
+the territory adjacent thereto the right to acquire <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span>by purchase or by
+the exercise of the right of eminent domain, any lands, buildings, water
+rights or other properties necessary and convenient for the
+construction, maintenance, operation and protection of the canal and of
+any works of sanitation, such as the collection and disposition of
+sewage and the distribution of water in the said cities of Panama and
+Colon, which, in the discretion of the United States, may be necessary
+and convenient for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation
+and protection of the said canal and railroad. All such works of
+sanitation, collection and disposition of sewage and distribution of
+water in the cities of Panama and Colon shall be made at the expense of
+the United States, and the government of the United States, its agents
+or nominees shall be authorized to impose and collect water rates and
+sewage rates which shall be sufficient to provide for the payment of
+interest and the amortization of the principal of the cost of said works
+within a period of fifty years, and upon the expiration of said term of
+fifty years the system of sewers and water works shall revert to and
+become the properties of the cities <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span>of Panama and Colon respectively;
+and the use of the water shall be free to the inhabitants of Panama and
+Colon, except to the extent that water rates may be necessary for the
+operation and maintenance of said system of sewers and water.</p>
+
+<p>The Republic of Panama agrees that the cities of Panama and Colon shall
+comply in perpetuity with the sanitary ordinances whether of a
+preventive or curative character prescribed by the United States, and in
+case the government of Panama is unable or fails in its duty to enforce
+this compliance by the cities of Panama and Colon with the sanitary
+ordinances of the United States the Republic of Panama grants to the
+United States the right and authority to enforce the same.</p>
+
+<p>The same right and authority are granted to the United States for the
+maintenance of public order in the cities of Panama and Colon and the
+territories and harbours adjacent thereto in case the Republic of Panama
+should not be, in the judgment of the United States, able to maintain
+such order.</p>
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span>Article 8.</p>
+
+<p>The Republic of Panama grants to the United States all rights which it
+now has or hereafter may acquire to the property of the New Panama Canal
+Company and the Panama Railroad Company as a result of the transfer of
+sovereignty from the Republic of Colombia to the Republic of Panama over
+the isthmus of Panama, and authorizes the New Panama Canal Company to
+sell and transfer to the United States its rights, privileges,
+properties and concessions, as well as the Panama Railroad and all the
+shares or part of the shares of that company; but the public lands
+situated outside of the zone described in Article 2 of this treaty now
+included in the concessions to both said enterprises and not required in
+the construction or operation of the canal shall revert to the Republic
+of Panama except any property now owned by or in the possession of said
+companies within Panama or Colon or the ports or terminals thereof.</p>
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">Article 9.</p>
+
+<p>The United States agrees that the ports at either entrance of the canal
+and the waters thereof, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span>and the Republic of Panama agrees that the
+towns of Panama and Colon shall be free for all time, so that there
+shall not be imposed or collected custom-house tolls, tonnage,
+anchorage, lighthouse, wharf, pilot, or quarantine dues or any other
+charges or taxes of any kind upon any vessel using or passing through
+the canal or belonging to or employed by the United States, directly or
+indirectly, in connection with the construction, maintenance, operation,
+sanitation and protection of the main canal, or auxiliary works, or upon
+the cargo, officers, crew, or passengers of any such vessels, except
+such tolls and charges as may be imposed by the United States for the
+use of the canal and other works, and except tolls and charges imposed
+by the Republic of Panama upon merchandise destined to be introduced for
+the consumption of the rest of the Republic of Panama, and upon vessels
+touching at the ports of Colon and Panama and which do not cross the
+canal.</p>
+
+<p>The government of the Republic of Panama shall have the right to
+establish in such ports and in the towns of Panama and Colon such houses
+and guards as it may deem necessary to collect duties on importations
+destined to other portions <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span>of Panama and to prevent contraband trade.
+The United States shall have the right to make use of the towns and
+harbours of Panama and Colon as places of anchorage, and for making
+repairs, for loading, unloading, depositing, or transshipping cargoes
+either in transit or destined for the service of the canal and for other
+works pertaining to the canal.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+
+<p class="cen">Article 23.</p>
+
+<p>If it should become necessary at any time to employ armed forces for the
+safety or protection of the canal, or of the ships that make use of the
+same, or the railways and auxiliary works, the United States shall have
+the right, at all times and in its discretion, to use its police and its
+land and naval forces or to establish fortifications for these purposes.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span>
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>APPENDIX IV.</h2>
+
+<h2>PANAMA CANAL TOLL RATES.</h2>
+<br />
+
+<h3>By the President of the United States of America,<br /> Washington, November
+14, 1912.</h3>
+
+
+<p class="cen">A PROCLAMATION.</p>
+
+<p>I, William Howard Taft, President of the United States of America, by
+virtue of the power and authority vested in me by the Act of Congress,
+approved August twenty-fourth, nineteen hundred and twelve, to provide
+for the opening, maintenance, protection and operation of the Panama
+Canal and the sanitation and government of the canal zone, do hereby
+prescribe and proclaim the following rates of toll be paid, by vessels
+using the Panama Canal.</p>
+
+<p>1. On merchant vessels carrying passengers or cargo one dollar and
+twenty cents ($1.20) per net vessel ton&mdash;each one hundred (100) cubic
+feet&mdash;of actual earning capacity.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span>2. On vessels in ballast without passengers or cargo forty (40) per
+cent. less than the rate of tolls for vessels with passengers or cargo.</p>
+
+<p>3. Upon naval vessels, other than transports, colliers, hospital ships,
+and supply ships, fifty (50) cents per displacement ton.</p>
+
+<p>4. Upon army and navy transports, colliers, hospital ships and supply
+ships one dollar and twenty cents ($1.20) per net ton, the vessels to be
+measured by the same rules as are employed in determining the net
+tonnage of merchant vessels.</p>
+
+<p>The Secretary of War will prepare and prescribe such rules for the
+measurement of vessels and such regulations as may be necessary and
+proper to carry this proclamation into full force and effect.</p>
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">THE END.</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Panama Canal, by J. Saxon Mills
+
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+</pre>
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+</body>
+</html>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Panama Canal, by J. Saxon Mills
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Panama Canal
+       A history and description of the enterprise
+
+Author: J. Saxon Mills
+
+Release Date: October 24, 2010 [EBook #34124]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PANAMA CANAL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Barbara Kosker and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ THE PANAMA CANAL
+
+  [Illustration: _Clinedinst--Washington, D.C._
+  COL. GEORGE W. GOETHALS, U.S.A.,
+  Chairman and Chief Engineer Isthmian Canal Commission.]
+
+
+
+
+ THE PANAMA CANAL
+
+ A HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE ENTERPRISE
+
+
+
+
+ BY
+
+ J. SAXON MILLS, M.A.
+
+ BARRISTER-AT-LAW
+
+
+
+
+ WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+
+
+ THOMAS NELSON AND SONS
+
+ LONDON, EDINBURGH, DUBLIN, MANCHESTER, LEEDS
+ PARIS, LEIPZIG, MELBOURNE, AND NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+The literature on the subject of the Panama Canal is rather dispersed. A
+full and entertaining history of the project will be found in Mr. W. F.
+Johnson's "Four Centuries of the Panama Canal" (Cassell and Co., 1907),
+a work to which I am greatly indebted. Dr. Vaughan Cornish has given the
+results of much research and several visits to the canal in "The Panama
+Canal and its Makers" (T. Fisher Unwin, 1909), and in several lectures,
+especially one before the Royal Colonial Institute, June 11, 1912. An
+inexhaustible mine of information will be found in Mr. Emory R.
+Johnson's Official Report on Panama Canal Traffic and Tolls (Washington,
+1912). The Report on the Trade and Commerce of the Republic of Panama
+for the year 1911, by Mr. H. O. Chalkley, Acting British Consul at
+Colon, contains useful information. A valuable series of articles on
+the Panama Canal appeared in _The Times_ of 1912. The _National
+Geographic Magazine_ of February 1911 contains an authoritative article
+by Colonel G. W. Goethals, Chief Engineer of the Canal, and the number
+for February 1912 an interesting appreciation by Mr. W. J. Showalter. In
+_Scribner's Magazine_ for February 1913, Mr. J. B. Bishop, Secretary of
+the Isthmian Canal Commission, writes a very useful paper on the
+Sanitation of the Isthmus. In his recent work on South America Mr. Bryce
+devotes one of his delightful chapters to the Isthmus of Panama. A
+chapter on the Panama Canal will be found in Mr. A. E. Aspinall's "The
+British West Indies," and many references in Mr. C. G. Murray's "A
+United West Indies." I must thank Mr. G. E. Lewin, the Librarian of the
+Royal Colonial Institute, for his unfailing help and courtesy.
+
+BUSHEY, 1913.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+        PREFACE                                                    5
+
+        DATE HISTORY OF THE CANAL                                 11
+
+     I. THE SECRET OF THE STRAIT                                  15
+
+    II. CANAL PROJECTS                                            23
+
+   III. THE CLAYTON-BULWER TREATY AND THE SUEZ CANAL              42
+
+    IV. THE FRENCH FAILURE                                        52
+
+     V. THE HAY-PAUNCEFOTE TREATY                                 64
+
+    VI. THE UNITED STATES AND COLOMBIA                            77
+
+   VII. A MINIATURE REVOLUTION                                    88
+
+  VIII. THE BATTLE OF THE LEVELS                                 112
+
+    IX. MAN AND THE GNAT                                         129
+
+     X. LIFE AT THE ISTHMUS                                      153
+
+    XI. THE PROBLEM OF CONSTRUCTION                              172
+
+   XII. THE CULEBRA CUT                                          186
+
+  XIII. THE LOCKS                                                195
+
+   XIV. THE COMPLETED CANAL                                      207
+
+    XV. PANAMA AND THE ISTHMUS                                   226
+
+   XVI. THE NEW OCEAN HIGHWAYS                                   242
+
+  XVII. THE CANAL AND THE AMERICAS                               265
+
+ XVIII. THE CANAL AND THE BRITISH EMPIRE                         284
+
+   XIX. THE NEW PACIFIC                                          316
+
+ APPENDIX   I.--HAY-PAUNCEFOTE TREATY                            323
+
+ APPENDIX  II.--PANAMA DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE               327
+
+ APPENDIX III.--HAY-BUNAU-VARILLA TREATY CLAUSES 1-9 AND 23      332
+
+ APPENDIX  IV.--PROCLAMATION AS TO CANAL TOLL RATES              343
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+
+ Col. George W. Goethals, U.S.A.                        _Frontispiece_
+ Chairman and Chief Engineer Isthmian Canal Commission.
+
+ Col. William C. Gorgas                                            144
+ Medical Department, U.S. Army, Head of the Department
+   of Sanitation, Ancon.
+
+ Culebra Cut, from West Bank                                       192
+
+ Gatun Locks, looking South-West                                   201
+
+ Gatun Upper Lock, looking North                                   208
+
+ Gatun Upper Lock--West Chamber                                    216
+
+ Pedro Miguel Locks                                                224
+
+
+
+
+DATE HISTORY OF THE CANAL.
+
+
+ Conquest of Constantinople by Turks                                1453
+
+ Columbus's First Voyage                                            1492
+
+ Columbus discovers Bay of Limon                                    1497
+
+ Rodrigo de Bastidas, Balboa, and La Cosa reach the Isthmus         1500
+
+ Columbus's Fourth Voyage, vainly seeks the strait                  1502
+
+ Balboa sights the Pacific                                Sept. 25, 1513
+
+ Pedrarias founds the old town of Panama                            1519
+
+ Magellan discovers the straits that bear his name               1519-21
+
+ Gonzalez de Avila discovers Lake Nicaragua                         1522
+
+ The quest of Isthmian Strait given up as hopeless          _circa_ 1532
+
+ Gomara appeals to Charles V. to construct canal                    1551
+
+ Drake sights the Pacific                                           1573
+
+ Philip III. directs surveys for Darien Canal                       1616
+
+ English seize Jamaica                                              1655
+
+ Henry Morgan destroys old Panama                                   1671
+
+ Paterson's settlement at Panama                                    1698
+
+ Spanish surveys of Tehuantepec and Nicaragua              1771 and 1779
+
+ Von Humboldt's residence in Central America                   1799-1804
+
+ Panama declares its independence and joins New Granada             1822
+
+ Overtures made by Central America to United States for canal       1825
+
+ Goethe's prophecies                                                1827
+
+ Dutch canal concession from Nicaraguan Government                  1829
+                                         abandoned                  1830
+
+ British Honduras annexed by Great Britain                          1835
+
+ United States Treaty with New Granada                              1846
+
+ Clayton-Bulwer Treaty                                              1850
+
+ Panama Railway opened to traffic                                   1855
+
+ Dickinson-Ayon Treaty between United States and Nicaragua          1868
+
+ President Grant recommends canal under United States control       1869
+
+ Appoints Interoceanic Canal Commission                             1869
+
+ Suez Canal opened                                                  1869
+
+ La Societe Civile Internationale du Canal Interoceanique founded   1876
+
+ Grant's Commission reports in favour of Nicaraguan route           1876
+
+ The De Lesseps Company formed                                      1878
+
+ Company starts work                                                1881
+
+ Bankruptcy of French company                                       1889
+
+ New Panama Company formed                                          1889
+
+ Construction work at Nicaragua                                   1890-3
+
+ Ferdinand de Lesseps died                                          1894
+
+ Hay-Pauncefote Treaty                                              1901
+
+ Spooner Act                                                        1902
+
+ Panama revolts from Colombia                                       1903
+
+ Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty                                           1904
+
+ American occupation of Isthmus begins                              1904
+
+ Completion of canal                                                1914
+
+ Formal opening                                                     1915
+
+
+
+
+THE PANAMA CANAL.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE SECRET OF THE STRAIT.
+
+
+It was either very careless or very astute of Nature to leave the entire
+length of the American continent without a central passage from ocean to
+ocean, or, having provided such a passage at Nicaragua, to allow it to
+be obstructed again by volcanic action. This imperviousness of the long
+American barrier had, as we shall see, important economic and political
+results, and the eventual opening of a waterway will have results
+scarcely less important. The Panama Canal will achieve, after more than
+four centuries, the object with which Columbus spread his sails
+westwards from the port of Palos--the provision of a sea-route westwards
+to China and the Indies. The capture of Constantinople in 1453 by the
+Turks interrupted the ancient trade routes between East and West.
+Brigands held up the caravans which plodded across the desert sands from
+the Euphrates and the Indus, and pirates swarmed in the Mediterranean
+and Red Sea, intercepting the precious cargoes of silks and jewels and
+spices consigned to the merchants of Italy. The eyes of all Europe were
+turned to the Atlantic, and an ocean route westwards to India and the
+Orient, the existence of which had been fabled from the days of
+Aristotle, became an economic necessity.
+
+Columbus, as every one knows, died in the belief that he had discovered
+this route, and that the lands he had visited were fringes and islands
+of the Eastern Asiatic continent. The geographers of those days greatly
+exaggerated the eastern extension of Asia, with the result that the
+distance from Europe to China and India was underestimated by at least
+one-half. This was a fortunate mistake, for it is improbable that if
+Columbus had known that Cathay and Cipangu (Japan) were a good 12,000
+miles westwards from the coast of Spain he would have ventured upon a
+continuous voyage of that length in the vessels of his time.
+
+It was in his fourth voyage (1502) that Columbus first reached and
+explored the coastline of the isthmus and Central America. He was
+apparently not the first to land on the isthmus. That distinction
+belongs either to Alfonso Ojeda, who is said to have reached "Terra
+Firma" earlier in 1502, or to Rodrigo de Bastidas, who, we are told, set
+sail from Cadiz with La Cosa in 1500, and, reached the isthmus somewhere
+near Porto Bello. About the doings of Columbus on the mainland we get
+some detailed information from the Portuguese historian and explorer of
+the sixteenth century, Galvano. It is interesting to read that the great
+navigator visited the exact spot where the newly-constructed canal
+starts from the Caribbean coast. From the Rio Grande, we read, Columbus
+"went to the River of Crocodiles which is now called Rio de Chagres,
+which hath its springs near the South Sea, within four leagues of
+Panama, and runneth into the North Sea." It was this same river, as we
+shall see, that became the feeder of the canal when the high-level
+scheme was adopted. So far out of his reckoning was Columbus that at
+Panama he imagined himself to be ten days' journey from the mouth of the
+Ganges! One of his objects, as we know from his own journal, was to
+convert the Great Khan of Tartary to the Christian faith, and this
+entanglement in what he called "the islands of the Indian Sea" was a
+sore hindrance to that and all his other purposes. He began that search
+for the strait which engaged the attention and tried the temper of
+Spanish, Portuguese, and English navigators for the next thirty years.
+He had heard from the natives of the coast of "a narrow place between
+two seas." They probably meant a narrow strip of land as at Panama. But
+Columbus understood them to mean a narrow waterway, and rumours of such
+a passage no doubt existed then, as they still do among the isthmian
+tribes. He must also have heard accounts of the great ocean only thirty
+miles away, and it is rather surprising he should not have made a dash
+across and anticipated Balboa and Drake. In May 1503, however, he
+quitted the "Terra Firma" without solving the great secret, and he never
+returned to the mainland. He died in 1506, still in complete ignorance
+of the nature of his discovery. He knew nothing of the continent of
+America or of that seventy million square miles of ocean beyond, to
+which Magellan gave the name of "Pacific."
+
+The Holy Grail itself was not pursued with more persistence and devotion
+than this mythical, elusive strait by the navigators of the early years
+of the sixteenth century. The isthmian governor sent out from Spain went
+with urgent instructions to solve the "secret of the strait." In 1513
+Balboa set himself to the great enterprise. If he could not discover a
+waterway he would at least see what lay beyond the narrow land barrier.
+From Coibo on the Gulf of Darien he struck inland on September 6 with a
+hundred Indian guides and bearers. It is eloquent of the difficulties of
+the country which he had to traverse that it was not until September 26
+that he won, first of European men, his distant view of the nameless and
+mysterious ocean.[1] It was he, and not Cortez, who "with eagle eyes,
+stared at the Pacific."
+
+              "And all his men
+    Looked at each other with a wild surmise,
+    Silent upon a peak in Darien."
+
+Cortez was himself a persistent searcher for the mythical strait. He
+wrote home to the King of Spain saying, "If the strait is found, I shall
+hold it to be the greatest service I have yet rendered. It would make
+the King of Spain master of so many lands that he might call himself the
+lord of the whole world."
+
+These vain attempts had very important results. They led incidentally to
+the exploration of the whole coastline of the American continent. For
+example, Jacques Cartier, who was sent out by the King of France about
+this time to find "the shorter route to Cathay," searched the coast
+northwards as far as Labrador and thus prepared the way for the planting
+of a French colony in Canada. At last, in 1520, a sea-passage from the
+Atlantic to the Pacific was actually discovered by the first great
+circumnavigator, Magellan, but it was far away from the narrow lands
+between North and South America. Through the perilous straits that have
+ever since borne his name at the southern extremity of the continent,
+Magellan pushed his venturous way into the great ocean beyond. But even
+Magellan had no idea that a few miles south of his strait the land ended
+and Atlantic and Pacific mingled their waters in one great flood. That
+truth was accidentally discovered by the English Drake more than fifty
+years afterwards (1579). Drake had been driven southward by stormy
+weather when he made the discovery which almost eclipsed in its
+importance even Magellan's exploit. In his exultation, we are told, he
+landed on the farthest island, and walking alone with his instruments to
+its extremity threw himself down, and with his arms embraced the
+southernmost point of the known world. From that point Drake sailed up
+the western coast of South America, engaged mainly in his favourite
+pursuit of "singeing the King of Spain's beard"--capturing, that is, the
+treasure-ships bound to Panama. But he did not forget the more
+scientific duty of searching for the strait. Far northward he held his
+course, past the future California, till he must have been off the
+coastline of what is now British Columbia, ever hoping to find the
+Pacific outlet of the famous North-West Passage. But always the coast
+trended to the north-west, and Drake, giving up the quest, turned his
+prow westward and continued his voyage of circumnavigation.
+
+But we are over-running our dates and must return to events at the
+isthmus. It was about the year 1530 that the non-existence of a natural
+waterway became recognized. And no sooner was this fact accepted than
+projects for an artificial canal began to be put forward. It was clear
+to the geographers and traders of those days that an isthmian route
+westward offered great advantages to the routes _via_ the Cape of Good
+Hope, Magellan Straits, or the problematical North-West Passage.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] The eminence known as "Balboa Hill" in the American canal zone is
+certainly not that from which Balboa first sighted the Pacific, though
+very likely a tradition to that effect will now gradually be
+established.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+CANAL PROJECTS.
+
+
+It appears that the honour of first conceiving and proposing the project
+of an artificial waterway through the isthmus belongs to Alvaro de
+Saavedra Ceron, a cousin of Cortez, who had been with Balboa at Panama.
+Ceron had been for twelve years engaged in the search for the strait,
+and had finally begun to doubt its existence. His thoughts turned to the
+isthmus at Panama, where the narrowness and low elevation of the land
+seemed to offer the likeliest chance of an artificial canal. We learn
+from the old historian Galvano that Ceron prepared plans for the
+construction of a waterway there--almost precisely along the route
+chosen for the American canal nearly four hundred years later. Ceron's
+death, however, put an end to this early project.
+
+It is interesting to find the Portuguese historian Galvano, who
+flourished in the middle of the sixteenth century, mentioning four
+possible routes for the canal--namely, Darien, Panama, Nicaragua, and
+Tehuantepec. The choice, however, quickly confined itself to the Panama
+and Nicaraguan lines. The reader may feel some surprise that at such an
+early date as this an engineering project should be seriously considered
+which was only accomplished in the end by the wealth and mechanical
+resources of one of the greatest of modern Powers. The explanation is
+that the tiny vessels of the early sixteenth century could have taken
+advantage of the natural rivers and lakes in the isthmus, especially
+those on the Nicaraguan route, and that far less artificial construction
+would have been necessary than in these days of the mammoth liner and
+warship.
+
+Charles V., King of Spain, seems to have been quite alive to the
+importance of these canal projects. In 1534 he directed the Governor of
+Costa Firme, the old name for the Panama district, to survey the valley
+of the Chagres, the river which supplies the water for the upper reaches
+of the American canal. This gentleman, however, seems scarcely to have
+shared the royal enthusiasm. He may be supposed to have known the
+isthmus at these points very well, and his scepticism about the prospect
+of canal construction there in those days was not wholly groundless. The
+Spanish historian Gomara, who wrote a history of the Indies in 1551 and
+dedicated it to Charles V., declared a canal to be quite feasible along
+any of the four routes mentioned by Galvano. It is true he recognized
+obstacles. "There are mountains," he wrote, "but there are also hands.
+If determination is not lacking, means will not fail; the Indies, to
+which the way is to be made, will furnish them. To a king of Spain,
+seeking the wealth of Indian commerce, that which is possible is also
+easy."
+
+But Charles V. died without making any practical advance in this
+enterprise, and a rather remarkable reaction took place under his
+successor, Philip II. It should be noted that by this time a permanent
+roadway had been established across the isthmus from Panama to Porto
+Bello, along which the Spanish treasure-convoys passed from sea to sea
+without much interruption. The rapidly growing power of the English at
+sea made Philip fear that, if a canal were built, he would be unable to
+control it, and would probably lose his existing monopoly of isthmian
+transit. So he issued a veto against all projects of canal construction.
+He even persuaded himself that it would be contrary to the Divine
+purpose to link together two great oceans which God had set asunder, and
+that any such attempt would be visited by a terrible nemesis.[2] So his
+Majesty not only forbade all such schemes but declared the penalty of
+death against any one who should attempt to make a better route across
+Central America than the land-route between Panama and Porto Bello.
+
+In course of time the king's beard was so horribly singed by English
+navigators and adventurers in the Caribbean Sea that the Atlantic end of
+the overland trail became almost useless, and the Spanish argosies were
+compelled to sail homewards round the far Magellan Straits. But in 1579,
+as we have seen, Sir Francis Drake ("El Draque" as he was called by the
+terrified Spaniards) had suddenly attacked, captured, and scattered the
+Spanish ships off the Pacific coast of South America. So the isthmian
+land-route was once more resumed, and it took the Spaniard all his time
+to hold that open.
+
+For many years no progress was made with the idea of an isthmian canal.
+War between England and Spain was the natural order of things in these
+Central American regions. In 1655 the English seized Jamaica, and soon
+afterwards established themselves on the coast of Honduras and
+Nicaragua. The old city of Panama, of which only a picturesque
+church-tower remains to-day, had been founded by a Spanish governor
+named Pedrarias in 1519. In 1671 the city was destroyed by that wicked
+Welsh buccaneer, Sir Henry Morgan. The town was rebuilt two years later
+by Alonzo Mercado de Villacorta, five miles west of the old site.
+
+The project of a canal across the isthmus was never allowed entirely to
+disappear. In 1694 a very determined attempt was made to plant a
+British colony on the isthmus at Darien, a little east of the Panama
+route. The pioneer was William Paterson, a Scotsman, who founded "the
+Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies." Sir Walter Scott,
+in his "Tales of a Grandfather," thus describes the project:--
+
+      The produce of China, Japan, the Spice Islands, and Eastern
+      India, brought to the Bay of Panama, were to be transferred
+      across the isthmus to the new settlement, and exchanged for
+      the commodities of Europe. In Paterson's enthusiastic words,
+      "This door of the seas and key of the universe will enable
+      its possessors to become the legislators of both worlds and
+      the arbitrators of commerce. The settlers at Darien will
+      acquire a nobler empire than Alexander or Caesar, without
+      fatigue, expense, or danger, as well as without incurring
+      the guilt and bloodshed of conquerors."
+
+So 1,200 settlers set sail from Leith in July 1698, no doubt with a high
+hope and courage. In November the expedition arrived and established
+itself at a point of the coast still called Puerto Escoces, or Scotch
+Port, in Caledonian Bay, also named from the same event. "New Edinburgh"
+and "New St. Andrews" were founded, but the settlers soon got into
+difficulties. The climate was intolerable, and the project was opposed
+from the outset by the English and Dutch East India Companies, who were
+alarmed on the score of their own exclusive rights, while Spaniards and
+Indians were a perpetual menace. Broken down by these adversities the
+original settlers left the place, but were succeeded at once by another
+company which, after some successful fighting with the Spaniards, were
+compelled by the superior forces of the enemy to evacuate the
+settlements in the year 1700. It is possible that if this attempt at
+colonization had been made after and not before the Union of Scotland
+and Ireland it would have met with much less opposition in England,
+perhaps would have received government sympathy and support. In that
+case the isthmus would have been added to the British dominions, and a
+waterway might have been constructed under the British flag. It should
+be added that Paterson, who had personally surveyed the isthmus,
+positively declared that the construction of a canal was a feasible
+undertaking.
+
+During the eighteenth century, though surveying was carried out in many
+parts of the isthmus by European engineers, the project of a canal was
+never seriously taken up. It may be remembered that in 1780 our own
+Nelson was at Nicaragua, annexing the lake and getting control of the
+interoceanic route in this region, but doing little more than injuring
+his own health. With the nineteenth century, however, events began to
+move at the isthmus. The great scientist, Alexander von Humboldt, spent
+the first few years of the new century in Mexico and Central America. In
+his "Political Essay on New Spain" he described the impervious isthmus,
+"the barrier against the waves of the Atlantic," as for ages "the
+bulwark of the independence of China and Japan."
+
+The absence of any water communication at the isthmus between the two
+oceans has indeed had highly important political and economic results.
+It kept East and West far asunder. It removed the west coast of North
+America from the colonizing rivalries of the Old World. England and the
+United States seemed for long ages only semiconscious of their
+territories on the Pacific which were awaiting colonization. Even in
+recent times very few emigrants from Europe, who went out with the
+intention of going far west, penetrated much further than Chicago or
+Manitoba. Population and industrial enterprise were concentrated in the
+east of Canada and the United States, and have only begun within modern
+times to move effectually westwards. England was indeed so indifferent
+about her territories along a far coast, which could be reached only
+round the Horn or by an almost impossible land-transit, that in the
+settlement of the Oregon boundary in the middle of last century she
+accepted a Canadian frontier-line much further north than would
+otherwise have contented her. She had at least as good a right to
+California and the territories to the northwards as the descendants of
+her revolted colonists. The absence of a waterway at the narrow lands
+secured to the United States and to England their expansion westwards,
+but imposed on the westward movement a very slow and gradual pace. One
+result of the new canal will be a very rapid development of these
+Pacific slopes, especially those of British Columbia.
+
+The effect on South America of this complete severance of East and West
+has also been very important. The republics on the Pacific have been
+sheltered as much as possible from European influences. Immigration has
+been naturally restricted, the population, especially that of Chile,
+kept free from negro admixture, and the development of the countries
+effectually checked. The opening of the canal will, of course, have a
+contrary effect all along these lines.
+
+But, to return from this digression, Humboldt described six routes in
+Central America where a canal would be practicable, including that which
+was afterwards adopted at Panama. He investigated and discussed many
+physiographical questions in connection with the subject. There had
+arisen a general belief that the level of the Pacific was much higher
+than that of the Atlantic, and that a sea-level canal would therefore be
+impossible. Humboldt declared against this theory. But it is curious to
+find him favouring the idea that the construction of a tide-level canal
+might have the effect of diverting the Gulf Stream from our shores, and
+thus making the climate of our British islands much more rigorous and
+inhospitable.
+
+The researches of Humboldt in the West Indies and Central America much
+interested the scientist's great fellow-countryman, Goethe. A passage
+from Goethe's "Conversations with Eckermann" is worth quoting as an
+example of prophecy wonderfully fulfilled:--
+
+      Humboldt [said Goethe] has with great practical knowledge
+      mentioned other points where, by utilizing some of the
+      rivers which flow into the Gulf of Mexico, the end could
+      perhaps be more advantageously attained than at Panama.
+      Well, all this is reserved for the future, and for a great
+      spirit of enterprise. But so much is certain: if a project
+      of the kind succeeded in making it possible for ships of
+      whatever lading or size to go through such a canal from the
+      Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean, quite incalculable
+      results would ensue for the whole of civilized and
+      uncivilized humanity. I should be surprised, however, if
+      the United States were to let the opportunity escape them of
+      getting such an achievement into their own hands. We may
+      expect this youthful Power, with its decided tendency
+      westwards, in thirty or forty years to have also occupied
+      and peopled the extensive tracts of land beyond the Rocky
+      Mountains. We may further expect that along the whole
+      Pacific coast, where Nature has already formed the largest
+      and safest harbours, commercial cities of the utmost
+      importance will gradually arise, to be the medium of trade
+      between China, together with the East Indies, and the United
+      States. Were this to happen, it would be not alone desirable
+      but even almost necessary that merchantmen as well as
+      men-of-war should maintain a more rapid connection between
+      the west and east coasts of North America than has
+      previously been possible by the wearisome, disagreeable, and
+      costly voyage round Cape Horn. I repeat, then: it is
+      absolutely indispensable for the United States to effect a
+      way through from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean,
+      and I am certain they will compass it. This I should like to
+      live to see, but I shall not. Secondly, I should like to
+      live to see a connection established between the Danube and
+      the Rhine. But this, too, is an undertaking so gigantic that
+      I doubt its being accomplished, especially when I consider
+      our German means. Thirdly and lastly, I should like to see
+      the English in possession of a Suez Canal. These three great
+      things I should like to live to see, and it would almost be
+      worth while for their sakes to hold out for some fifty
+      years.
+
+Many projects for canal construction, chiefly by the Nicaraguan route,
+were started and failed during the first half of the nineteenth century.
+The second decade of that century witnessed the revolt one by one of all
+the Spanish provinces in Central and South America. The Colombian
+Confederation, comprising Venezuela, Ecuador, and New Granada, achieved
+their independence in 1821. Panama quickly followed, and allied itself
+with New Granada (now Colombia). In 1825 the Central American envoy to
+the United States urged the American government to co-operate in the
+canal enterprise with the states he represented. The result was that
+Henry Clay, the American Secretary of State, ordered an official survey
+at Nicaragua, and scheme followed scheme in quick succession. In 1829
+the King of Holland was granted a canal concession by the Nicaraguan
+government. This enterprise was frustrated by the outbreak of the
+revolution in the Netherlands and Belgium. It would be tedious to
+enumerate the many projects started during the following years. But it
+is worth recalling that Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, who was then a
+prisoner in the fortress of Ham, became interested in the subject, and
+while still a captive obtained a concession and franchise for a canal
+company from the Nicaraguan government. He published a pamphlet on the
+Isthmian Canal question which aroused a good deal of attention, though
+its author's interest was soon diverted to political events nearer home.
+A passage from his little book is interesting for its strong advocacy of
+the Nicaraguan route by the San Juan River and the lakes:--
+
+      The geographical position of Constantinople rendered her the
+      queen of the ancient world. Occupying, as she does, the
+      central point between Europe, Asia, and Africa, she could
+      become the entrepot of the commerce of all these countries,
+      and obtain over them immense preponderance; for in politics,
+      as in strategy, a central position always commands the
+      circumference. This is what the proud city of Constantine
+      could be, but it is what she is not, because, as Montesquieu
+      says, "God permitted that the Turks should exist on earth,
+      as a people most fit to possess uselessly a great empire."
+      There exists in the New World a state as admirably situated
+      as Constantinople, and we must say, up to this time, as
+      uselessly occupied. We allude to the State of Nicaragua. As
+      Constantinople is the centre of the Ancient World, so is the
+      town of Leon the centre of the New, and if the tongue of
+      land which separates its two lakes from the Pacific Ocean
+      were cut through, she would command by virtue of her central
+      position the entire coast of North and South America. The
+      State of Nicaragua can become, better than Constantinople,
+      the necessary route of the great commerce of the world, and
+      is destined to attain an extraordinary degree of prosperity
+      and grandeur. France, England, and Holland have a great
+      commercial interest in the establishment of a communication
+      between the two oceans, but England has more than the other
+      Powers--a political interest in the execution of this
+      project. England will see with pleasure Central America
+      becoming a powerful and flourishing state, which will
+      establish a balance of power by creating in Spanish America
+      a new centre of active enterprise, powerful enough to give
+      rise to a feeling of nationality, and to prevent, by backing
+      Mexico, any further encroachments from the north.
+
+The idea of a trans-isthmian canal seemed likely in the 'fifties of last
+century to prove a cause of discord, if not of war, between England and
+the United States. Under the rather "pushful" foreign policy of Lord
+Palmerston, England rapidly increased her influence and possessions in
+Central America. In 1835 "British Honduras" was practically constituted
+a British colony, and British influence was subsequently extended into
+Nicaragua and Mosquitia, thus covering the favourite route for an
+isthmian waterway. The United States were establishing themselves on the
+Pacific through their encroachments on Mexico. In 1846 they acquired the
+states of California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico, and naturally
+began to attach more importance to the canal project and to feel more
+sensitive as regards rival ambitions in Central America. Soon after they
+had acquired these Pacific territories, began the great rush for gold to
+California, and some shorter way from east to west became necessary than
+the sea-trail round the Horn or the weary wagon-trek over the broad
+North American continent. Already in 1846, before the Mexican War and
+the discovery of gold in California, the United States had made a treaty
+with New Granada, by which the former secured rights of transit over the
+isthmus "upon any modes of communication that now exist or may hereafter
+be constructed," and by which they guaranteed the sovereignty of New
+Granada over all the territories at the isthmus.
+
+It was under this treaty that the Panama Railway was constructed which
+brought the town of Colon (formerly Aspinwall) into existence, and was
+subsequently taken over by the United States government. This railroad
+made the isthmus for the first time a highway of world-traffic. It had a
+monopoly of isthmian transportation, and was able to make any charges it
+pleased. Steamship services to the southern and northern coasts of
+America from Panama were developed, and the railway succeeded so well
+that it paid down to 1895 an average dividend of 15 per cent. It was
+bought by the first French Panama Company for the outrageously high sum
+of L5,100,000. The existence of the railway really determined De
+Lesseps' choice of the Panama route, and the immense amount of
+excavation done by the French had a great deal to do in turn with the
+American choice of the same route, so that the construction of the
+Panama Railway was a highly important event at the isthmus. The United
+States took over the railroad from the French with the unfinished
+canal, together with a steamship service from Colon to New York, owned
+by the railroad.
+
+The rivalry between England and the United States along the Nicaraguan
+route became so acute and dangerous that a very important treaty was
+concluded between the two countries in 1850, when we may say that the
+Panama Canal question entered the domain of modern politics. The
+Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, so-called from Mr. John M. Clayton, the American
+Secretary of State, and Sir Henry Bulwer, British Minister at
+Washington, who negotiated it, held the field for fifty years, and
+became the subject of endless discussion between England and the United
+States.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[2] Herodotus tells a story how the people of Knidos were forbidden by
+the Delphic oracle to make a canal through the isthmus, along which
+their Persian enemies could advance by land to attack them. The oracle
+said that if Zeus had wished the place to be an island he would have
+made it one. There is a curious resemblance between this story and that
+related in the text.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE CLAYTON-BULWER TREATY AND THE SUEZ CANAL.
+
+
+The treaty of 1850 was concerned primarily with a canal along the
+Nicaraguan route--that is, as the preamble expresses it, a canal
+"between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by way of the river San Juan de
+Nicaragua and either or both of the lakes of Nicaragua or Managua to any
+port or place on the Pacific Ocean." But as Article VIII. says, it
+established "a general principle" relating to any waterway across the
+isthmus between North and South America. The two contracting parties
+undertook in the treaty that neither should "obtain or maintain for
+itself any exclusive control over the said canal," or "maintain any
+fortifications commanding the same, or in the vicinity thereof," or
+"occupy, or fortify, or colonize, or assume, or exercise any dominion
+over Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito Coast, or any part of Central
+America." This agreement, as I said, subsisted for fifty years, but it
+was scarcely concluded when it was found inconsistent with the growing
+importance and ambition of the United States, where a demand quickly
+arose for an American-owned canal.
+
+Again there followed a series of schemes for canal construction at
+various points of the isthmus. For example, Dr. Edgar Cullen created
+some excitement in England in the early Victorian days by giving a very
+favourable account of the Caledonian route across the isthmus at Darien,
+in a lecture to the Royal Geographical Society. The doctor was received
+by the young queen and the Prince Consort, a corporation was formed, and
+an engineer sent out to make surveys from Caledonian Bay. A British and
+a French man-of-war were dispatched to the isthmus to make
+investigations. But the surveyor was driven from Caledonian Bay by local
+tribes, and so went on to Panama, giving a favourable report of that
+route on his return to England. But nothing came of these incidents,
+and the American Civil War in the early 'sixties diverted the attention
+of the United States from isthmian affairs. At the end of the war
+American interest revived, and public opinion set more and more against
+the idea of sharing a canal with any other Power. In 1869 President
+Grant gave the first public expression to the demand for an American
+canal under American control. "I regard it," he said, "as of vast
+political importance to this country that no European government should
+hold such a work." Later, in an article in the _North American Review_,
+he said, "I commend an American canal, on American soil, to the American
+people."
+
+Just before the President's declaration of policy the United States had
+concluded an important treaty, known as the "Dickinson-Ayon Treaty,"
+with Nicaragua, securing a right of way for a canal over the Nicaraguan
+route; and, just afterwards, President Grant appointed an Interoceanic
+Canal Commission which investigated four routes for a canal, and
+finally, in 1875, reported unanimously in favour of the Nicaraguan route
+from Grey town to the San Juan River, to Lake Nicaragua, through the Rio
+del Medio and Rio Grande valleys, to Brito on the Pacific coast.
+
+In 1869 an event occurred which was to have a very decisive effect on
+isthmian affairs--the opening for traffic of the Suez Canal. These two
+isthmuses in the eastern and western hemispheres have some obvious
+features in common. They both link two vast continents and form a
+barrier between two oceans or oceanic systems. They are fairly equal in
+breadth--Suez, sixty miles, and Panama about fifty-four. The shortest
+line across each runs almost exactly north and south. And they were both
+until recent times uninhabited country. But there are many
+dissimilarities. The isthmus at Suez is a flat and sterile desert; that
+at Panama is hilly and covered with an almost impenetrable jungle of
+tropical vegetation. Again, Suez is a healthy district, whereas Panama
+was, until recent years, a pest-house as deadly as Sierra Leone or the
+Guinea coast.
+
+Mr. Bryce in his charming book on "South America" compares these two
+inter-continental causeways from a more historical point of view. He
+writes:--
+
+      A still more remarkable contrast, between these two necks of
+      land, lies in the part they have respectively played in
+      human affairs. The isthmus of Panama in far-off prehistoric
+      days has been the highway along which those wandering tribes
+      whose forefathers had passed in their canoes from
+      North-eastern Asia along the Aleutian Isles into Alaska
+      found their way, after many centuries, into the vast spaces
+      of South America. But its place in the annals of mankind,
+      during the four centuries that have elapsed since Balboa
+      gazed from a mountain top rising out of the forest upon the
+      far-off waters of the South Sea, has been small indeed
+      compared to that which the isthmus of Suez has held from the
+      beginning of history. It echoed to the tread of the armies
+      of Thothmes and Rameses marching forth on their invasions of
+      Western Asia. Along the edge of it Israel fled forth before
+      the hosts of Pharaoh. First the Assyrian and afterwards the
+      Persian hosts poured across it to conquer Egypt; and over
+      its sands Bonaparte led his regiments to Palestine in that
+      bold adventure which was stopped at St. Jean d'Acre. It has
+      been one of the great highways for armies for forty
+      centuries, as the canal cut through it is now one of the
+      great highways for commerce.
+
+      The turn of the isthmus of Panama is now come, and,
+      curiously enough, it is the isthmus of Suez that brought
+      that turn, for it was the digging of a ship canal from the
+      Mediterranean to the Red Sea, and the vast expansion of
+      Eastern trade which followed, that led to the revival of the
+      old designs, mooted as far back as Philip II. of Spain, of
+      piercing the American isthmus. Thus the comparison of the
+      two isthmuses becomes now more interesting than ever, for
+      our generation will watch to see whether the commerce and
+      politics of the Western World will be affected by this new
+      route which is now being opened, as those of the Old World
+      have been affected by the achievement of Ferdinand de
+      Lesseps.
+
+It will be seen from this quotation how the completion of the Suez Canal
+affected the Panama project. Lesseps, fresh from his success at Suez
+and not contented with his great achievement there, was easily attracted
+by the schemes which were afoot for constructing a ship canal at another
+land-barrier which, like the isthmus at Suez, had obstructed the
+quickest lines of communication between East and West. In 1876 a
+corporation was established, called "La Societe Civile Internationale du
+Canal Interoceanique," for the purpose of promoting canal schemes on the
+lower isthmus. Its head was Lieutenant Lucien Napoleon Bonaparte Wyse,
+who easily obtained a canal concession at Bogota from the Colombian
+government. In 1879 an International Engineering Congress was assembled
+at Paris by Lesseps, whose partisans compelled a decision in favour of
+the Panama route.
+
+But the United States, determined by this time to construct a canal for
+themselves without any joint control or international guarantee of
+neutrality, opposed the French scheme from the outset. No amount of
+bluff from the French promoters affected this opposition. The American
+people had indeed some right to complain. The Colombian concession to
+the French was quite inconsistent with the treaty of 1846 between this
+South American republic and the United States. This treaty Lesseps tried
+to induce Colombia to abrogate, and every effort, fair and foul, was
+employed to overcome the American objection to the scheme. In 1880
+Lesseps was feted at a public banquet at New York, but even the personal
+presence of the great man failed to have the desired effect. President
+Hayes addressed a strong message to the Senate on the subject, a few
+passages of which are interesting as showing the very decided views now
+held by the American government and people:--
+
+      An interoceanic canal across the American isthmus will
+      essentially change the geographical relations between the
+      Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States, and
+      between the United States and the rest of the world. It will
+      be the great ocean thoroughfare between our Atlantic and our
+      Pacific shores, and virtually a part of the coastline of the
+      United States. Our mere commercial interest in it is larger
+      than that of all other countries, while its relation to our
+      power and prosperity as a nation, to our means of defence,
+      our unity, peace, and safety, are matters of paramount
+      concern to the people of the United States. No other great
+      Power would, under similar circumstances, fail to assert a
+      rightful control over a work so closely and vitally
+      affecting its interests and welfare.
+
+      Without urging further the grounds of my opinion, I repeat,
+      in conclusion, that it is the right and the duty of the
+      United States to assert and maintain such supervision and
+      authority over any interoceanic canal across the isthmus
+      that connects North and South America as will protect our
+      national interests. This, I am quite sure, will be found not
+      only compatible with, but promotive of, the widest and most
+      permanent advantage to commerce and civilization.
+
+The reader will see that all this is inconsistent with the
+Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, under which the United States had actually
+undertaken to claim no such exclusive control as was now desired.
+Lengthy negotiations were now set on foot with England for the
+abrogation of a treaty which forbade the United States to build a canal
+of their own and prevented them from effectually opposing the French
+scheme. Lord Granville, however, saw no reason why England should
+abandon the treaty solely in the interests of the United States, and the
+negotiations were fruitless.
+
+Meantime the French persisted in their undertaking. Their canal was to
+be tide-level, twenty-eight feet deep, costing L26,400,000. A
+corporation entitled the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interoceanique
+de Panama was formed in 1881, and in the same year the work of
+construction was begun. So it looked as though the Americans were to
+lose all chance of constructing an isthmian canal under their own
+control. Events, however, were to decide otherwise.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE FRENCH FAILURE.
+
+
+The French company began work on the isthmus in February, and such a
+rake's progress set in as the world has seldom seen. The name of
+Ferdinand de Lesseps inspired such confidence that plenty of money was
+forthcoming from the French people. A great deal of it was subscribed by
+small investors who could ill afford to lose their savings, and no fewer
+than 16,000 women took shares in their own names. The beginning of the
+excavations was celebrated with a "gala" performance in the little
+theatre at Panama, among the artistes being Sarah Bernhardt. Then began
+a drama or a melodrama of extravagance and profligacy lasting seven
+years. Money was poured out like the torrential flood-waters down the
+river Chagres. I have mentioned the exorbitant sum which the company
+paid for the Panama Railway. All the expenditure was on the same scale.
+Princely salaries were paid to the managers and directors, and elegant
+mansions erected for their accommodation. Building operations--warehouses,
+hospitals, hotels, etc.--were carried on "regardless." Mr. W. F. Johnson
+tells of a man who owned thirty acres of land useful mainly as a
+breeding-place for mosquitoes, but lying right across the route of the
+canal. It was worth perhaps 300 dollars. The man demanded just a
+thousand times that sum; the Colombian courts awarded it, and the French
+paid it. For one great mistake the French made was that they failed to
+secure a canal zone in which they would have exercised full powers of
+administration. They began to build their canal on Colombian territory,
+under Colombian control, and the consequence was that they were fleeced
+on every side. Probably this mistake was inevitable, as the United
+States would have vetoed any territorial concession by Colombia to
+France as a transgression of the Monroe doctrine.
+
+The isthmus rapidly degenerated into a moral as well as a climatic
+pest-house. Froude described the condition of things at Panama in one
+terrible sentence: "In all the world there is perhaps not now
+concentrated in any single spot so much swindling and villainy, so much
+foul disease, such a hideous dung-heap of moral and physical
+abomination." In fairness, however, it must be said that Lesseps himself
+cannot be held directly responsible for this state of affairs. He lived
+in Paris, and had probably little notion of what was happening at
+Panama. He furnished an example of the proverbial effects of too much
+success and prosperity. He seems to have become a superstitious believer
+in his own star, and to have thought that nothing could fail with which
+he was associated. Still less can the French nation be blamed for the
+wild doings of their representatives at the isthmus. And there is at
+least one redeeming feature in the conduct of this enterprise. In the
+midst of the moral and physical abominations that infested the isthmus
+during the French occupation, the engineering work went on steadily and
+conscientiously. Much of the French work was available for the Americans
+when they took over the task, and the engineers of the United States
+have always testified generously to the excellence of the French
+excavation and construction along the Canal route.
+
+It must be carefully noted that the French canal was to be sea-level
+like the Suez, Corinth, and Kiel Canals. The construction of such a
+waterway differed in many important ways from that of the high-level
+lock canal which the United States have completed. To understand this we
+must consider briefly the character of the country which lies between
+Panama and Colon. The dominant and decisive features of the isthmus at
+this point are the Chagres River and the Culebra Mountains. The Chagres
+enters the Caribbean a little west of Colon. Its valley runs right
+across the isthmus south-south-eastwardly towards Panama for about
+twenty-six miles, then, at a place called Bas Opisbo, suddenly swerves
+away to the north-east into the trackless and jungle-clad hill country.
+This valley is the only transverse trench which the isthmus affords at
+this stretch, and it has always fixed the attention of surveyors looking
+out for a canal site. If the isthmus had been a rainless desert like
+that of Suez, a canal could have been constructed by a further
+preparation of this river valley and some heavy excavations along the
+nine-mile reach from Obispo to the Pacific. The sea would then have been
+admitted, the ebb and flow of the Pacific (the Atlantic shore is almost
+tideless) being regulated by a tidal lock. But the problem is not nearly
+so simple. The isthmus is one of the rainiest places in the world,
+enjoying on the Atlantic side 140 inches of rain a year. At Panama the
+rate is much smaller, not more than 60 inches. In the central hills the
+rainfall averages 90 to 95 inches. The average number of rainy days in
+the year is 246 at Bohio (inland on the Atlantic side), 196 at Colon,
+and 141 at Panama. The reader must not imagine a perpetual downpour or
+drizzle. The rain comes down in thundering tropical cataracts, leaving
+spaces of fine weather between the storms. Still, the isthmus is
+undoubtedly rainy and damp, and it is this humidity which makes the
+climate so trying, though the variations of the thermometer are by no
+means extreme and the average air temperature not particularly high. For
+example, the average temperature at Panama ranges from 81.6 Fahrenheit
+in November to 86.1 in March--that is, during the hottest time of the
+day, from two to four o'clock p.m. The coolest time is from six to seven
+a.m., when the average temperature ranges between 74.0 in January to
+76.6 in June. The yearly average daily temperature is 79.6. The
+thermometer seems never to have recorded 100 degrees Fahrenheit at
+Panama, whereas 104 has been touched even at Washington.
+
+But to return to the Chagres River. The tropical rains convert this
+stream very quickly into a raging torrent. The Chagres is capable of
+rising over forty feet in twenty-four hours. If the Chagres valley was
+to be the site of the canal, as was obviously necessary, how did the
+French propose to "care for" this tremendous and capricious flow of
+water? Mr. Johnson remarks that "those who have seen the antics of the
+Chagres under the stress of a characteristic isthmian rain must be
+pardoned if they regard the harnessing of the Chagres to the canal as
+something much like the harnessing of a mad elephant to a family
+carriage." The only course open to the French with their sea-level
+project was to divert the Chagres with its twenty-six tributaries,
+chief of which are the Gatun and the Trinidad, from its old valley into
+another channel, along which it could rage as it pleased on its short
+journey to the Caribbean. This would have been a tremendous, though
+probably not an impossible, task. The New Panama Company, which took the
+French work from the Lesseps Company in 1893, dropped the tide-level in
+favour of a lock or high-level canal, and adopted the plan of a dam
+across the river valley at Bohio, creating a lake above this point and
+discharging the flood waters to the level below by means of a spillway
+in the adjacent hills. We shall see later how the Americans adopted the
+same principle but modified it in practice.
+
+So much at present for the Chagres problem. The other main feature of
+the isthmus is met with about the point where the river suddenly changes
+its direction--that is at Bas Obispo, or Gamboa, about nine miles from
+the Pacific outlet. Here are the hills, the backbone or "continental
+divide," averaging over 300 feet high but rising to much higher points,
+which connects the Cordilleras of South with the Sierras of North
+America. For eight or nine miles the canal must run through this
+central barrier on its way to the Pacific. The earliest French notion
+was for a ship tunnel--a project perhaps never seriously contemplated.
+The only other course was to cut right down through this hilly country.
+That was a tremendous undertaking, which required, even for its
+inception, a good deal of the faith which is said to be able to "remove
+mountains." We shall look more closely at the famous "Culebra Cut" when
+we come to the American canal. Most of the work of the French companies
+consisted of the dredging of the sea-level channels at the Atlantic and
+Pacific ends. But they drove a pretty deep furrow as well through the
+Culebra Mountains, excavating in all about 22,600,000 cubic yards.
+
+With their sea-level scheme the French had, of course, a bigger
+proposition before them at the hills than their American successors.
+They would have had to cut right down below sea-level, whereas the
+bottom of the cut in the American lock-canal is forty feet above that
+level. Considering the difficulty the United States engineers have had
+with "slides" and "breaks" along the sides of their cutting, one
+suspects that the much deeper and narrower channel of the French would
+have proved impracticable. The French scheme gave a width to the channel
+at this point of only 74 feet, while the bottom width of the American
+canal is 300 feet. The French work at the "Cut" was all utilizable by
+the Americans, who, though with different machinery, adopted the same
+general method of excavation.
+
+In 1888 the French company suspended payments and went into bankruptcy.
+The canal was completed to the extent of about two-fifths, and had
+already cost nearly L80,000,000. It was said at the time that about
+one-third of this sum was spent on the canal, one-third wasted, and
+one-third stolen. The original capital with the eight subscription lists
+between 1882 and 1888 produced nominally L78,701,020, but actually only
+L40,309,348, the loss in discounts, etc., amounting to L38,391,672. The
+collapse of the company was followed by investigations and trials in
+France. Ten senators and deputies, together with the directors, were
+brought to trial. Ferdinand and his son Charles de Lesseps were, among
+others, condemned to fines and imprisonment, but the sentences upon the
+Lesseps were never carried out. Neither the son nor the father was
+probably responsible for the iniquities which had marked the history of
+the company. The genius who had created the Suez Canal was indeed
+completely broken down by the tragical conclusion of his second venture,
+and died in 1894 in a condition of mental and physical collapse.
+
+But financial profligacy was not the only cause of the French failure.
+Disease and death fought against the enterprise from the first. Yellow
+fever and malaria caused as much mortality among the French employees as
+would suffice for a great military campaign. Sir Ronald Ross, the great
+expert in tropical diseases, was told in 1904, when at the isthmus, that
+the French attempt cost at least 50,000 lives. This may have been an
+over-estimate, but there is no doubt that the mortality was terrible,
+and would probably have brought the French operations to an end even if
+greater economy and honesty had prevailed in the administration. It must
+not be supposed that the French made no provision for the victims of
+these endemic diseases. Excellent hospitals were built at Ancon, near
+Panama, at a cost of over a million of money; while those at Colon cost
+more than a quarter of a million--in both cases about three times a fair
+and honest price. At the time of the French occupation of the isthmus
+nothing was known of the real nature and cause of yellow fever and
+malaria, of the manner in which they are transmitted, and the only
+effective means of prevention. All the recent and marvellous advance in
+scientific knowledge of these diseases was available when the Americans
+began their work, and was applied with the greatest efficiency and
+success. Medical science, quite as much as engineering skill, made a
+Panama canal possible, and we shall have a good deal more to say on this
+subject when we come to describe the American operations.
+
+Let us not forget, then, that despite their failure the French did a
+great deal of good work, which they passed on many years afterwards to
+their American successors. A quantity of the French machinery, tools,
+and hardware was also available. It is true that among this was included
+a large consignment of snow-shovels (for use at sea-level less than 10
+degrees from the Equator!), and a quantity of petroleum torches for the
+festivities which were one day to celebrate the completion of the canal.
+But a great deal of the plant was in good condition. The extravagance
+and corruption which prevailed at the isthmus during the first French
+company were almost incredible. But it may be doubted whether any other
+nation could have succeeded in the 'eighties of last century where the
+French failed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE HAY-PAUNCEFOTE TREATY.
+
+
+In 1893 a new corporation, known as the New Panama Canal Company, took
+over all the assets of the De Lesseps Company, including the railway,
+and the work of construction was continued, or at least not wholly
+interrupted. Meanwhile the people of the United States were not greatly
+displeased at the collapse of the great French enterprise. They became
+more and more determined to construct an American canal under American
+control. The Nicaraguan route was still favoured by many as compared
+with that at Panama. In 1887 a surveying party was sent to Nicaragua,
+and the next year the Maritime Canal Company was established to promote
+the building of a canal there. It is important to notice this particular
+scheme, for under it work was actually begun. Wharves, warehouses, and
+a breakwater were constructed at Greytown, a railway was built, and
+some progress made with the canal itself. Outside the Panama route this
+was the only actual work of canal construction performed in Isthmian and
+Central America. The project failed owing to the great depression of
+trade which occurred in 1893 and the impossibility of getting more
+capital. It should be noticed that these projects of constructing an
+American canal at Nicaragua quite independently of Great Britain were
+right in the teeth of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850, which still
+remained in force. Most sensible persons saw that the first preliminary
+to an American canal was to get this treaty abrogated or modified. But
+this purpose and canal schemes in general were delayed by the outbreak
+in 1898 of the Spanish-American War.
+
+This was a naval war, and the United States were to feel the
+inconvenience and danger of having no sea communication between their
+eastern and western coasts except _via_ the far southern extremity of
+the continent. United fleet action over the whole theatre of the war was
+rendered impossible. An event soon occurred which finally completed the
+conviction of the American people that, in the words of President Grant,
+"an American canal on American soil" was a national necessity. At the
+beginning of the war the battleship _Oregon_, one of the finest ships in
+the United States navy, lay off San Francisco. She was not wanted there,
+but she was very badly wanted at the West Indies, the main scene of the
+naval struggle. To get there the _Oregon_ had to sail 13,400 miles round
+Cape Horn instead of 4,600 miles _via_ a Panama canal, if there had been
+one. Everybody in the United States knew that the precious warship was
+making that perilous journey exposed all the way to the attack of the
+enemy. If she had been lost, the course of the war might have been very
+different, and even the delay of this long passage was a serious
+consideration at so critical a time. However, the vessel arrived safely
+and in a record time off Florida, and the suspense and anxiety of the
+American people were changed into jubilation. But "never again" was the
+moral they drew from this painful and exciting experience.
+
+At the end of the war a fresh canal campaign broke out in Congress, the
+claims of Nicaragua and Panama being urged by their respective
+champions. The outcome of this rivalry was the appointment of a
+commission, the third of the kind, to go to the isthmus and investigate
+both Nicaragua and Panama. We shall have something to say about the
+report of this commission, which was issued in December 1900. But
+already, before that appeared, negotiations had been set on foot between
+the United States and Great Britain with regard to the Clayton-Bulwer
+Treaty. Allusions to the subject by Mr. M'Kinley in his second message
+to Congress had brought the question prominently before the people of
+both countries. The president had spoken thus:--
+
+      That the construction of such a maritime highway is now more
+      than ever indispensable to that intimate and ready
+      communication between our eastern and western seaboards
+      demanded by the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands and the
+      prospective expansion of our influence and commerce in the
+      Pacific, and that our national policy now more imperatively
+      than ever calls for its control by this government, are
+      propositions which I doubt not the Congress will duly
+      appreciate and wisely act upon.
+
+It is obvious that the annexation by the United States of Hawaii and the
+Philippines, the beginnings of an American oversea empire, had greatly
+strengthened the case for a canal owned and controlled by the United
+States, and bringing the eastern coasts, the governmental centre of the
+States, into far more direct communication with these new acquisitions
+in the west.
+
+Mr. M'Kinley's pronouncement was soon followed by conversations between
+Mr. John Hay, the American Secretary of State, and Lord Pauncefote,
+British Ambassador at Washington. The result was a treaty which was laid
+before the Senate in February 1900. This first attempt, however, was
+unsuccessful. The American people were annoyed to find that it did not
+abrogate the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, but left the United States with
+something very short of that independent control which they desired.
+Amendments were introduced, and, so altered, the treaty was ratified by
+the Senate on December 20, 1900. But in this new shape it proved
+unacceptable to the British government, and it was permitted to lapse;
+Lord Lansdowne, however, suggesting that another attempt at agreement
+should be made.
+
+It may be asked why Great Britain, who had hitherto taken the view that
+it had nothing to gain, and perhaps much to lose, from the
+reconsideration of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, should now have been so
+willing to bring it under review. There was a variety of reasons. The
+government of the United States had protested for nearly fifty years
+against the agreement, and this pertinacity, together with the changed
+conditions since the Spanish-American War, may have weighed with the
+British government. Then the Alaskan boundary question was at that time
+still under discussion between the two countries, and a settlement was
+proving difficult. An obstinate resistance to the United States over the
+canal question might have continued that deadlock indefinitely. At this
+time, too, England was at the beginning of the Boer War, and finding
+that business a good deal more intricate than she had expected. The
+sentiment of Anglo-American friendship had also grown much warmer since
+the days when Lord Granville had repulsed the advances of Mr. Blaine.
+
+In November 1901 a new treaty made its appearance. This was ratified by
+the Senate without amendment, and was ultimately concluded between the
+two Powers, being known as the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty.[3]
+
+It is very important to note the provisions of this treaty, because it
+establishes what is known as the political "status" of the new canal.
+The Hay-Pauncefote expressly supersedes the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty and
+provides for the construction of a canal (mentioning no particular
+route) "under the auspices of the government of the United States,"
+which country is "to have and enjoy all the rights incident to such
+construction, as well as the exclusive right of providing for the
+regulation and management of the canal." It adopts the principles of
+"neutralization" which were embodied in the Treaty of Constantinople of
+1888 in connection with the Suez Canal. Both treaties provide for:--
+
+1. Freedom of transit in time of peace or war for the vessels of all
+nations.
+
+2. Freedom of the canal and its terminals from blockade.
+
+3. A code of procedure for war-vessels entering or leaving the canal.
+
+No special reference is made to the question of fortification, but the
+United States are to be at liberty to maintain such military police
+along the canal as may be necessary to protect it against lawlessness
+and disorder. A treaty, however, subsequently concluded between the
+United States and the Republic of Panama (known as the Hay-Bunau-Varilla
+Treaty) contains the following provision:--
+
+      If it should become necessary at any time to employ armed
+      forces for the safety and protection of the canal, or of the
+      ships that make use of the same, or the railways and
+      auxiliary works, the United States shall have the right, at
+      all times and in its discretion, to use its police and its
+      land and naval forces or to establish fortifications for
+      these purposes.
+
+But the most important provision of all related to the question of the
+charges and other conditions of traffic through the canal. The meaning
+of the section seems plain enough, though it became a subject of rather
+acute controversy:--
+
+      The canal shall be free and open to the vessels of commerce
+      and war of all nations observing these rules, on terms of
+      entire equality; so that there shall be no discrimination
+      against any such nation, or its citizens or subjects, in
+      respect of the conditions and charges of traffic, or
+      otherwise. Such conditions and charges of traffic shall be
+      just and equitable.
+
+This provision is reaffirmed in Article XVIII. of the Hay-Bunau-Varilla
+Treaty. There is no doubt that the British government regarded this
+promise of equal treatment as some compensation for the surrender of
+those rights of joint construction and control which Great Britain
+enjoyed under the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. In fact, Mr. Hay, in a
+memorandum he sent to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations,
+described the treaty as a sort of contract between Great Britain and
+the United States by which the former gave up those rights just
+mentioned in return for the "rules and principles" included in the new
+treaty, the chief among these being, of course, the provision about
+equality of treatment for all nations.
+
+It was, therefore, a surprise when the United States government decided
+that the expression "all nations" did not include the United States
+themselves, and that it was quite open to them to give preferential
+treatment to their "coastwise" traffic. Under the term "coastwise" the
+United States include the sea-traffic not only between ports along a
+continuous coast, but between such points as San Francisco or Washington
+and the Philippine Islands. As a matter of fact, an amendment proposed
+by Mr. Burd in the Senate, reserving to the United States the right of
+favouring its "coastwise" traffic, had been defeated, when the new
+treaty was under discussion.
+
+But, leaving these controversial questions, the most important thing for
+us to notice is that the Panama Canal has what is known as an
+"international status." It is not quite the sole and absolute property
+of the United States in the sense in which the Kiel Canal belongs to
+Germany, the Corinth Canal to Greece, and the Amsterdam or North Sea
+Canal to the Netherlands. Its status is governed by treaties which
+impose certain obligations and restrictions upon the United States and
+lay down certain rules of administration. It was intended at first to
+make the status of the Panama and the Suez Canal identical. But there
+are considerable differences. The "neutrality" of the Suez Canal is
+guaranteed by all the Powers of Europe, that of the Panama Canal by two
+only, England and the United States, and it is safeguarded and
+maintained by the United States alone. Then the Suez Canal is and must
+remain unfortified, while the Panama Canal will be strongly fortified by
+the United States.
+
+The reader may wonder what precisely is meant by the word "neutral" as
+applied to the new waterway. The position will be as nearly as possible
+that indicated by Dr. Vaughan Cornish in the following passage:--
+
+      If there be a war in which the United States is not a party,
+      the canal will be used by belligerents in exactly the same
+      way as was the Suez Canal--for example, in the
+      Russo-Japanese War--and the government of the United States
+      has pledged itself to see that such neutrality is preserved.
+      But if there be a war in which the United States is a party,
+      the circumstances of fortification and operation by the
+      United States in fact render it impossible for the other
+      belligerent to use the canal, and are intended to have that
+      effect. This being so, the United States is preparing to
+      defend the canal from attack. Thus it is important to the
+      proper understanding of the undertaking on which the United
+      States government has embarked that we should clearly
+      realize that the canal is only neutral in a restricted
+      sense.[4]
+
+As a matter of fact the status of the Panama Canal lies somewhere
+between neutralization and American control. The Hay-Pauncefote Treaty
+also lays down the rules which are to be observed by the ships of war
+of a belligerent using the canal and the waters adjacent to the
+canal--that is, within three marine miles of either end. They are
+similar to those in force at Suez, and need not be repeated here.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[3] Appendix i.
+
+[4] "The Panama Canal and its Makers," pp. 42, 43.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE UNITED STATES AND COLOMBIA.
+
+
+Those citizens of the United States who thought that with the
+disappearance of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty all the difficulties in the
+way of obtaining a canal of their own had also disappeared were doomed
+to a severe disappointment. They had not reckoned with a South American
+republic on the verge of bankruptcy and suddenly presented with a
+glorious opportunity to fill its empty treasury. Two preliminaries were
+necessary before the United States could settle down at the isthmus of
+Panama to the work of canal construction. They had to purchase the
+concession, the unfinished works and the other assets of the New Panama
+Company, at as reasonable a price as they could obtain; and, secondly,
+it was necessary to conclude a treaty with Colombia, securing to the
+United States on satisfactory terms the perpetual control of a strip of
+territory on the isthmus from sea to sea within which the canal could be
+constructed.
+
+The first of these undertakings presented, as it turned out, no great
+difficulty. The New Panama Company had begun to despair of its own
+ability to get a canal finished across the isthmus, and to realize that
+their best course was to transfer the whole business to the United
+States. This disposition had been greatly strengthened by the Report of
+the Third Canal Commission, issued in December 1900. Probably the
+members of the commission were convinced of the advantages of the Panama
+route and the desirability of continuing the work of the French
+engineers. But they were shrewd people. They dwelt in their report on
+the improbability that the New Panama Company would sell its property to
+the United States, and on the difficulty of getting the Colombian
+concession transferred. They decided, therefore, that "the most
+practicable and feasible route for an isthmian canal to be under the
+control, management, and ownership of the United States is that known as
+the Nicaraguan route."
+
+The commission probably foresaw the effect such a decision was likely to
+have on the directors and shareholders of the New Panama Company. If an
+American canal were constructed at Nicaragua, all the property and work
+of the company at Panama would be thrown on the scrap-heap. The company
+estimated the value of its property at $109,141,500, a price which the
+commission, representing the American government, declined to look at.
+The commission thought $40,000,000 quite enough for the property, and so
+completely were the Americans master of the situation that that price
+was agreed upon in January 1902. The commission thereupon issued a
+supplementary report, which reversed the former decision and recommended
+the Panama route and the purchase of the French property.
+
+Then arose in the Congress of the United States a tremendous conflict
+between the Nicaraguans and the Panamanians, the champions of the two
+routes which had so long been in rivalry. The former party insisted that
+Panama was farther from the United States than Nicaragua, and therefore
+the journey from the eastern to the western seaboard of the States
+would be longer. They argued that Panama was unfavourable to sailing
+vessels on account of the prevailing calms on that coast; that it would
+be easier to deal with Costa Rica and Nicaragua than with Colombia; and
+that Nicaragua was "the traditional American route" as compared with the
+Frenchified Panama. The claims of the old Darien route were also
+advanced. This was probably done by American railway people who were
+against any canal, for the Darien route would have involved a rock
+tunnel five miles long and three hundred feet broad, the attempt to
+achieve which would probably have ended all canal adventures at the
+isthmus.
+
+From these discussions emerged the celebrated "Spooner Bill," under
+which the Panama Canal has been constructed. It empowered the American
+government to secure the rights and property of the Panama Company for
+not more than $40,000,000; to obtain from Colombia the perpetual control
+of a strip of land, not less than six miles wide, in which the canal
+should run; and then to proceed with the work. But if it should prove
+impossible to come to terms with Colombia and the New Panama Company,
+then the Nicaraguan project was to be revived. We shall see how, in the
+sequel, this latter proviso came very near fulfilment. But, as a matter
+of fact, the Spooner Bill marks the end of the great battle of the
+routes which had lasted for four centuries.
+
+The purchase price of the New Panama Company's property was happily
+settled, but the purchase was of course conditional on the conclusion of
+a satisfactory agreement between the United States and Colombia. It was
+no use for the United States to acquire unfinished canal-works if they
+were to be prevented from continuing and completing them. The situation
+was interesting. The Republic of Colombia was extremely "hard up." Its
+currency was debased, its treasury empty, its debt rapidly increasing
+through a large annual deficit. The government, if one may so express
+it, of the Colombian Republic was therefore not likely to overlook the
+chance of "making a bit" out of the necessities of the bigger and richer
+republic farther north. The United States wished to get their concession
+as cheaply as possible; Colombia wished to sell as dearly as possible.
+This is not infrequently the case with buyers and sellers; but Colombia
+pushed her haggling a little too far, and in the end very badly
+overreached herself.
+
+The United States began by proposing terms on which they might obtain
+the desired strip of territory. The conditions were carefully laid down.
+The territory was to remain under Colombian sovereignty, but to be
+administered by the United States. Sanitary and police services were to
+be maintained by both governments jointly. Colombia was to police the
+zone, with the help of the United States if necessary. But the business
+terms were chiefly interesting to Colombia. The United States were to
+pay Colombia a bonus of $7,000,000 in cash, and after fourteen years an
+annuity of $250,000. These terms, which were not ungenerous, the
+Colombian minister at Washington declined to accept.
+
+A brilliant idea had, indeed, struck the statesmen of the Colombian
+Republic. They had remembered that the concession to the Panama Company
+lapsed in October 1904, and that all its property that could not be
+carried away would revert to the Colombian government. Only defer any
+agreement with the United States till then, and the $40,000,000 to be
+paid to the New Panama Canal Company by the United States would drop
+like a golden nest-egg into the empty exchequer of the Colombian
+Republic. It was a brilliant idea, but the Colombian method of pursuing
+it was rather too crude and obvious.
+
+In order to meet the Colombian government the United States improved
+their offer, considerably increasing the bonus and making other changes.
+An agreement, known as the Hay-Herran Treaty, was actually arranged
+between the United States and Colombia, the latter represented by her
+minister at Washington, Dr. Tomas Herran. This treaty, before it became
+operative, had to be ratified by the Congress of Colombia, and the
+president of that state took care that a congress should be elected
+which would do no such thing. Meantime all kinds of influences, secret
+and open, were at work. The German "colonial party" had become
+interested in the question, and had conceived the possibility of
+Germany, rather than the United States, succeeding to the French
+concession. It is quite certain that the United States would have
+resisted any such proceeding, if necessary by actual war. There is
+little doubt, also, that the party in the United States which had
+supported the Nicaraguan scheme were throwing every obstruction in the
+way of a satisfactory agreement between the big and the little republic.
+
+The reader may guess what was the anxiety of the New Panama Canal
+Company during all this diplomacy and intrigue. They knew that the
+completion of the sale of its property to the United States depended on
+an agreement being concluded between that country and Colombia; and they
+also knew that unless they sold before October 1904, they would have
+practically nothing to sell, because the franchise and possessions of
+the company would be forfeited to the Colombian government at that date.
+It would be better to sell on the best terms they could obtain to
+Germany or anybody else before the fatal day arrived. Meantime the
+United States brought every force of argument and menace to bear on the
+Colombian government. Secretary Hay sent urgent dispatches to the
+American minister at Bogota. He reminded Colombia that the decision to
+adopt the Panama route was not irrevocable. The Spooner law authorized
+the American president to await only "a reasonable time" for an
+agreement with Colombia. Having waited so long, he was able and indeed
+bound to resume the Nicaraguan project.
+
+When the Colombian Congress duly rejected the Hay-Herran Treaty in
+August 1903, the New Panama Company became very seriously alarmed. Other
+offers of purchase were renewed, and the situation became critical for
+the United States. The American counsel for the company, Mr. William
+Nelson Cromwell, who had done his utmost to promote the agreement, had
+the utmost difficulty in keeping his clients to their compact with the
+United States. He made a hurried trip to Paris, where he said something
+which had the desired effect. There is no reason to believe that Mr.
+Cromwell took any part in the surprising events which were soon to alter
+the entire situation. But he had heard the proverbial "little bird," and
+the tidings he passed on brought the New Panama directors to the desired
+mood of patience and expectancy.
+
+Colombia meanwhile kept on marking time. She suggested that a new treaty
+should be negotiated between the United States and Colombia, to be
+ratified by the Colombian Senate some time in 1904. That would have put
+the clock forward splendidly, but the device was duly understood at
+Washington. In October a committee of the Colombian Senate reported to
+the Senate a recommendation that no agreement should be concluded with
+the United States until the French concession had lapsed. This
+recommendation was not acted upon by the Colombian Senate, nor yet were
+any steps taken towards the negotiation of a new treaty. The American
+government gave a generous interpretation to the "reasonable time"
+specified in the Spooner Bill, and kept on waiting in the hope that the
+Colombian Congress would still change its mind and ratify the Hay-Herran
+Treaty, whose terms, as we have seen, were liberal to the Colombian
+Republic. But when the congressional session at Bogota came to an end on
+October 31, 1903, without any further action over the Hay-Herran Treaty,
+the Americans concluded that the whole business was over so far as
+negotiations with Colombia on the Panama question were concerned.
+Obviously the only course was to turn to the Nicaraguan alternative.
+And the Colombian government no doubt thought it had won the day by
+sheer force of astute statesmanship.
+
+Then came a coincidence more astonishing than any since the day when Mr.
+Weller, senior, upset the Eatanswill outvoters (purely by accident) into
+another canal. The Panama revolution broke out, and the United States
+suddenly and without further difficulty obtained all they wanted of the
+isthmus. And Colombia? She lost every stick and stone of the canal which
+was to have been hers in October 1904, never made a farthing on a Panama
+deal, got no thanks from Germany or anybody else, and lost a whole
+province into the bargain. Such were the results of very astute
+statesmanship at Bogota.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+A MINIATURE REVOLUTION.
+
+
+It was not to be expected that Panama, one of the constituent provinces
+of the United States of Colombia, would be very enthusiastic about all
+this haggling and intriguing at Bogota. Panama asked for nothing better
+than that a rich and powerful country like the United States should
+continue the French enterprise and carry it through. The canal would run
+right through the province, and would bring it into the main stream of
+the world's traffic and commerce. No doubt the central government at
+Bogota would skim off as much as possible of this new wealth and
+prosperity at the isthmus; but even so, Panama would reap a great
+advantage from the running of this new and much-frequented highway of
+communication between east and west through its territory. The dealings
+of the central government with the United States had roused a growing
+disgust and resentment at the isthmus.
+
+The relations between the province of Panama with New Granada and its
+successor Colombia had been very chequered ever since the revolt of the
+Spanish colonies in Central and South America in the early years of last
+century. Panama declared her independence in 1821, and allied herself at
+once with New Granada. But troubles began forthwith. Again and again the
+isthmian province seceded from New Granada or Colombia, and was induced
+to return by promises of more favourable terms of union, these always
+remaining unfulfilled. In his annual message to Congress in 1903,
+President Roosevelt enumerated some fifty-three "revolutions,
+rebellions, insurrections, riots, and other outbreaks" that had occurred
+at the isthmus in fifty-seven years. Not long before these difficulties
+between the United States and Colombia, Panama had received a new
+constitution which was far from satisfactory to the people of the
+province. There was in truth little to be gained by a continued
+allegiance to the government at Bogota. Some idea of the depths to
+which Colombia had sunk through a long course of bad administration and
+corruption may be gathered from a passage in the official address of Dr.
+Marroquin on his becoming vice-president of Colombia in 1898. He said:--
+
+      Hatred, envy, and ambition are elements of discord; in the
+      political arena the battle rages fiercely, not so much with
+      the idea of securing the triumph of principles as with that
+      of humbling, and elevating persons and parties; public
+      tranquillity, indispensable to every citizen for the free
+      enjoyment of what he possesses either by luck or as the
+      fruit of his labour, is gradually getting unknown; we live
+      in a sickly atmosphere; crisis is our normal state; commerce
+      and all other industries are in urgent need of perfect
+      calmness for their development and progress; poverty invades
+      every home. The notion of mother country is mistaken or
+      obliterated, owing to our political disturbances. The
+      conception of mother country is so intimately associated
+      with that of political disorders, and with the afflictions
+      and distrust which they engender, that it is not unusual to
+      hear from one of our countrymen what could not be heard from
+      a native of any other country: "I wish I had been born
+      somewhere else." Could many be found among us who would feel
+      proud when exclaiming, "I am a Colombian," in the same way
+      as a Frenchman does when exclaiming, "I am a Frenchman"?
+
+This was a cheerful pronouncement for a people to hear from the lips of
+a man who was just assuming high office in their midst. It suggests some
+further reasons why the Panamanians should have so readily asserted
+their independence once more when the negotiations between Colombia and
+the United States fell through.
+
+Long before that happened, before the Colombian Congress which was to
+deal with the Hay-Herran Treaty had assembled, a much-respected citizen
+of Panama, Dr. Manuel Amador (Guerrero), had written to the Colombian
+president warning him that serious consequences would follow at Panama
+if that treaty were not ratified. For answer the central government
+foisted on Panama a candidate for Congress who was well known as an
+enemy of the United States and of the isthmian canal scheme.
+Representations to the government at Bogota were useless, and Panama saw
+the prospect of a canal being constructed through her territory fading
+into distance.
+
+Then it was that an eminent Panamanian, Jose Agustin Arango, a senator
+at the Colombian Congress of 1903, who had vainly urged the ratification
+of the Hay-Herran Treaty, conceived the idea that Panama might declare
+her independence and then make her own treaty with the United States
+regarding a trans-isthmian canal. It soon turned out that the same idea
+had struck many others, and a junta of zealous conspirators was quickly
+formed. Senor Arango chanced to meet Dr. Amador one day at the offices
+of the Panama Railroad, and unfolded his revolutionary design to that
+gentleman. The doctor proved highly sympathetic. There was indeed no
+difficulty in finding adherents. Senor Arango, Dr. Amador, and C. C.
+Arosemena undertook the conduct of the movement, and among the other
+leaders were Senor Arango's sons and sons-in-law, Nicanor A. de Obarrio,
+Federico Boyd, Tomas and Ricardo Arias, and Manuel Espinosa. A very
+important person, General Esteban Huertas, commander of the troops in
+Panama, was easily enrolled, as were also alcaldes, chiefs of police,
+and other important officials.
+
+The first thing to do was to sound official opinion in Washington as to
+what treatment the revolted province might expect from the American
+government. Moreover, revolutions cost money, and supplies must be
+obtained from somewhere. So Dr. Amador and Ricardo Arias were deputed to
+go to the United States. There they called on Mr. Cromwell, the counsel
+of the New Panama Company, who gave them very little encouragement.
+Moreover, they were carefully "shadowed" by Colombian agents, so that
+they were able to cable to their expectant friends at the isthmus only
+the single depressing word, "desanimado" (disappointed).
+
+Then Dr. Amador called at the office of a Panamanian friend and
+sympathizer, Joshua Lindo, and asked for counsel in his difficulties.
+Mr. Lindo at once suggested that the likeliest person to help was Mr.
+Bunau-Varilla, who had been chief engineer under the French Canal
+Company. It is interesting to know that this gentleman had been a
+fellow-student of Alfred Dreyfus, and had given effective help in the
+campaign which ended in that officer's liberation from the island prison
+not so very far from the isthmus of Panama. Unfortunately, said Mr.
+Lindo, Mr. Bunau-Varilla was in Paris; but even as the friends deplored
+his absence the telephone rang, Mr. Lindo answered the call, and lo! Mr.
+Bunau-Varilla announced his return to New York. Such a coincidence might
+well seem providential, for Mr. Varilla proved a friend in need and in
+deed. He promised the necessary funds as well as other practical help,
+and asked for only one return--that he might be appointed minister of
+the reconstituted Panama to the United States for just so long a time as
+was necessary for the arrangement of the new treaty between the two
+countries for the construction of the isthmian canal.
+
+It is not surprising, therefore, that the next telegram sent home by the
+revolutionary agents was more cheerful. It consisted of the single word
+"esperanzas" (hopes). Dr. Amador now made some efforts to ascertain the
+sentiment and intentions of the United States government. He called on
+Mr. Hay, the Secretary of State, at the state department. Now it is
+obvious that when a gentleman calls at a foreign office and announces
+himself as a conspirator against a government with which that office has
+friendly relations, the visitor cannot expect much practical help and
+sympathy. But the authorities at Washington, whose nerves were raw from
+the prolonged struggle with Colombia, would scarcely have been human if
+they had not felt a secret joy at a movement which promised such an
+ample retribution on Colombia and so easy a settlement of the Panama
+problem. Dr. Amador was politely informed that he must pay no more calls
+at the department. But he had seen and heard enough to assure him that
+the United States would at least remain neutral, and, if the revolution
+succeeded, would conclude a canal treaty with the new republic. He felt
+that there were two very important conditions to be fulfilled. Firstly,
+the revolution must be effected without bloodshed, for public sympathy
+in the United States would be alienated by any fighting or violent
+disturbance. The conspirators were also not without a certain natural
+solicitude for their own skins. Secondly, there must be a brand-new
+government ready to take the place of the Colombian administration so
+soon as this was abolished.
+
+The scene now changes to the isthmus. The conspirators were inclined at
+first to be sceptical about Dr. Amador's report of the probable attitude
+of the United States, but on November 2, 1903, the arrival of the
+American gunboat _Nashville_ at Colon reassured them. The _Nashville_
+had come, as American men-of-war had frequently come in the past to
+Colon or Panama, not to take sides with any party in a scrimmage, but
+calmly and impartially to maintain order and keep transit open at the
+isthmus, in accordance with treaty obligations. The orders to the
+_Nashville_, as subsequently to the _Boston_ and the _Dixie_, were
+these:--
+
+      Maintain free and uninterrupted transit. If interruption
+      threatened by armed force, occupy line of railroad. Prevent
+      landing of any armed force with hostile intent, either
+      government or insurgent, either at Colon, Porto Bello, or
+      other point.[5]
+
+A similar order was sent to Rear-Admiral Glass at Acapulco, who was to
+proceed to Panama with the same object.
+
+But the coming _coup d'etat_ was known at Bogota as well as at
+Washington. The date fixed for the outbreak was November 4. General
+Huertas was to be ready with his troops, and the signal to be given by
+the blowing of bugles by the firemen. But the Colombian government at
+last decided to act, and on November 3 the steamer _Carthagena_ arrived
+at Colon, having on board General Tovar with a force of about four
+hundred and fifty men. The commander with three other resplendent
+warriors, Generals Castro, Alban, and Amaya, at once took train for
+Panama; while their troops, many of whom had brought their wives, camped
+out in the streets of Colon. These events were duly telephoned to
+Panama. The news reached Dr. Amador and his friends at ten o'clock,
+just an hour before the arrival of the Colombian officers. It was "a
+crowded hour of glorious life" for the conspirators, some of whom found
+the excitement too much for their nerves, disappeared from the scene,
+and gave up the conspiracy business altogether. But the leaders were of
+better mettle, and while the trans-isthmian train was rapidly bringing
+the representatives of the established government to Panama a good many
+plans were discussed. The desperate nature of the occasion may be
+gathered from the fact that one of the proposals was to drug the
+Colombian officers, and when thus disabled convey them to durance vile.
+In great perplexity Dr. Amador sought General Huertas; but he had put on
+his dress uniform and gone to the station to meet his superiors. So
+matters were to be allowed to take their own course.
+
+At eleven o'clock a gush of glittering uniforms, fifteen in all,
+counting the generals and the staffs, descended upon the Panama
+platform. One might almost have expected them to advance to the
+footlights and announce their arrival and intentions in a four-part
+chorus. Here obviously were the properties, the stage scenery, and the
+artistes, principals and chorus, of a first-rate comic opera. In the
+harbour lay three Colombian gunboats whose political views were not
+fully ascertained, though it was thought the commanders had been won
+over to the revolutionary cause. The new arrivals were welcomed by
+General Huertas and conducted to headquarters, while the conspirators,
+no doubt with quickened pulses, awaited subsequent events from a
+distance.
+
+The Colombian officers wished to be conducted forthwith to the
+fortifications and the sea-wall. Now this was precisely what General
+Huertas, whose heart beat loyally under his official gold braid to the
+cause of freedom and independence, wished to avoid, and for two reasons:
+firstly, it would have been easy for the federal generals to signal to
+the gunboats in the harbour and thus get command of the entire
+situation; secondly, on that same sea-wall there were some modern
+quick-firing guns, behind which even fifteen men might quickly get the
+whole city at their mercy. So General Huertas determined that on the
+whole he would conduct his guests anywhere but to the sea-wall. He
+suggested that there were better ways of spending the hot hours of the
+day than in going round fortifications in stiff and sweltering uniforms.
+After luncheon, followed by a little siesta behind sun-shutters, would
+be a better time for the business of inspection. The generals were
+probably both hot and hungry, and they allowed themselves to be
+persuaded.
+
+But even as they lunched their suspicions seemed to have awakened. Some
+one, it is said, warned them of the trap into which they had walked. And
+moreover, why did the Bogota troops not arrive from Colon? What exactly
+happened is not recorded, but it is a fact that the generals suddenly
+insisted on the Panama troops being paraded and themselves being
+conducted to the fortifications.
+
+General Huertas made some excuse for leaving the luncheon room, and
+outside the door found Dr. Amador, the respectable physician of Panama,
+now an arch-conspirator, though without the black mantle and stiletto.
+"The contrast between these two men," writes Mr. Johnson, "was most
+striking. The one was advanced in years, venerable and stately in
+aspect, and yet impetuous as youth. The other was only a boy in stature
+and scarcely more than a boy in years, yet at the time deliberate and
+dilatory. The latter, however, quickly responded to the zealous
+initiative of the former. 'Do it,' exhorted Dr. Amador in an impassioned
+whisper, 'do it now.'"
+
+The business was soon over. Huertas ordered out his soldiers, who knew
+well enough what was going to happen. Then, as the military swells from
+Bogota came on the ground, the little general gave the order, the rifles
+were levelled on the Colombians, and they were walked off to police
+headquarters and safely locked up. Then Governor Obaldia was also
+arrested and taken to prison, but this was only a formality. He was an
+ardent conspirator, but as he represented the central government, it was
+thought desirable to perform the symbolical act of arresting and
+deposing him. He was at once released.
+
+There was now no going back. The next step was to announce the fact of
+the revolution to the gunboats, in the harbour, which were still a
+doubtful factor. Two of them, the _Padilla_ and the _Chucuito_,
+remained silent; but the third, the _Bogota_, sent word that if the
+generals were not released by ten o'clock it would turn its guns on to
+the city. The generals were, of course, not released, so at ten o'clock
+the _Bogota_ launched three shells into the city. One of these killed an
+unfortunate and innocent Chinese coolie near the barracks, and that was
+the only casualty that occurred during the whole course of the great
+Panama revolution. Then the _Bogota_, that deed of slaughter
+accomplished, steamed out of the harbour.
+
+The next morning the gunboat _Padilla_, which had been considering the
+situation during the night, suddenly made up its mind, steamed in to a
+snug anchorage under the fortified sea-wall, and hoisted the flag of
+free and independent Panama. The _Padilla_ might have been called upon
+to make good its new allegiance, for a report was spread that the
+terrible _Bogota_ was returning to bombard, this time to good purpose.
+So a letter was drawn up by the consuls of the United States, Great
+Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Holland, Ecuador, Guatemala,
+Salvador, Denmark, Belgium, Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, Honduras, and Peru,
+protesting against the bombardment of a defenceless city without due
+notice to the consular corps as contrary to the rights and practices of
+civilized nations. What answer the justly enraged commander of the
+_Bogota_ would have returned to this rather representative address
+cannot be known, for the _Bogota_, no doubt unnerved by the sensation of
+casting three live shells into a live town, never returned to witness
+the devastation it had wrought.
+
+What in the meantime was occurring at Colon? Why had the 450 Colombian
+soldiers not flown to the rescue and vengeance of their captured
+officers? The explanation is simple, though perhaps unexpected--they
+could not pay their railway fares! After the departure of the generals
+for Panama on November 3, Colonel Torres, who had been left in charge of
+the government troops, demanded a "special" to take them across the
+isthmus. The superintendent of the line intimated that specials were
+procurable, but that fares must be paid. And the fares of 450 persons
+ran into money, in fact nearly $2,000 in gold, or quite a little
+wheelbarrowful of the depreciated Colombian silver. Anywhere but in
+Panama or Ruretania the plea of state necessity, which in presence of
+the 450 needed no demonstration, would have procured some concession
+from the railway authorities. But the railway rules provided for no such
+emergencies. No fare, no journey--that was the immutable railway law,
+and Colonel Torres had to lead his men back to their street encampments.
+It is one of the many remarkable coincidences at this juncture that the
+telegraphic and telephonic system also broke down, the wires refusing to
+transmit any messages from Colon to the officers at Panama.
+
+At last, on November 4, Colon received the news of the revolution and
+the impounding of the Colombian officers. Some little impatience then
+appeared among the Colombian troops. They actually threatened to seize
+the railway and go across in spite of regulations. Also it was rumoured
+that Colonel Torres, losing for a moment his self-command, threatened to
+kill every American citizen in Colon unless his fellow-officers were at
+once liberated. At any rate, that rumour was duly reported to the
+commander of the _Nashville_, who, on the strength of it, at once
+landed fifty bluejackets to preserve the peace of the town. The
+commander also wrote to the alcalde of Colon and the chief of the
+police, giving the gist of an official order he had received from
+Washington. The order pointed out that to allow the passage of Colombian
+troops from Colon to Panama would excite a conflict between the forces
+of the two parties, and would thus interrupt the free and open transit
+of the isthmus which the United States was bound to maintain. The
+commander had therefore instructed the superintendent of the railways to
+afford carriage to the troops of neither party. Never was officer so
+outrageously impeded in the performance of his obvious duty as Colonel
+Torres. And right in the middle of the situation thus created the
+_Carthagena_, which had brought the Colombian troops to Colon, sailed
+demurely home.
+
+In a few days there assembled some nine or ten vessels of the United
+States navy at Colon or Panama. On November 4 it was announced that the
+United States would permit the landing of no forces hostile to Panama
+within fifty miles of the city of Panama or anywhere at all on the
+Caribbean coast. Was not the United States government compelled by
+treaty obligations to preserve peace, the paying of fares, and "free and
+uninterrupted transit" at the isthmus? How unreasonable to suggest that
+the great and grown-up republic was protecting and taking the side of
+the little baby republic which had just been born at Panama!
+
+But the 450 soldiers encamped with their wives in the streets of Colon
+were becoming an inconvenience, and it was highly desirable to remove
+this substantial lump of grit from the machinery of revolution. The
+commander of these troops himself helped to effect that object. He, in
+fact, offered to take his little army away in return for a satisfactory
+honorarium. The Panama treasury fortunately contained at that time a sum
+of $140,000 in debased Colombian coinage, worth about $56,000 in gold. A
+little of this might well be expended on clearing the country of the
+Colombian troops. The commander accepted $8,000 in gold, and quickly
+bundled the loyal troops and their spouses on board the Royal Mail
+steamship _Orinoco_ for passage homewards. He himself did not propose
+to return home and report himself. His scheme was to go to Jamaica and
+spend his suddenly acquired wealth in "that loveliest of the Antilles."
+Then a cruel thing happened. The 450 got wind of the bargain their
+commander had made with the Panama government, and by a swift logical
+process concluded that the $8,000 which had been paid for their
+departure belonged to themselves as well as to their commander. So they
+laid hands on the hapless officer and took all the money from him. We
+may imagine the annoyance of the gentleman who had betrayed his country,
+dishonoured his name, and then lost the "tip" which had made it all
+worth while. His subsequent proceedings are nowhere recorded.
+
+Just after the Colombian troops had set sail homewards a special train
+arrived at Colon bringing the captive generals, who had promised to go
+home without further fuss. They left Colon on November 12, so that they
+had plenty of time to contemplate the beginnings of the new regime in
+Panama. All kinds of reports began to arrive about the intentions of the
+government at Bogota. A naval expedition was said to be on the way from
+Buenaventura, but the United States navy had instructions to take care
+of any experiments of that sort. Then the news came that a land
+expedition was approaching along the isthmus. That would have implied a
+real triumph of original exploration. It would have meant clearing a
+road for troops through impenetrable jungle, through which it is hard to
+cut the narrowest track by means of the machete or the long Spanish
+cutlass. The untamed San Blas Indians, who permit no white man to spend
+a single night in their territory, would have mobilized against the
+invasion, and so would the wild cats and anacondas and monkeys, who
+share with the Indians the sovereignty of that tangled wilderness.
+
+The revolution was an accomplished fact, and Colombia could do nothing
+but accept the inevitable and reflect on the disappointment of her
+golden dreams. The revolutionists had been ready with their
+constitutional arrangements. The municipal council of Panama had met
+immediately after the _coup d'etat_. It was unanimously voted that
+Panama should be a free and independent republic, and a provisional
+ministry was at once appointed. These proceedings were ratified the
+same afternoon at a mass meeting of the people of Panama held in the
+cathedral square. A formal manifesto was also issued, constituting a
+declaration of independence and a justification of the revolt. It opens
+magniloquently: "The transcendental act that by a spontaneous movement
+the inhabitants of the isthmus of Panama have just executed is the
+inevitable consequence of a situation which has become graver daily." It
+goes on to set forth the grievances of Panama under the Colombian
+connection and the events which had led to the revolution. It ends in an
+almost pathetic note:--
+
+      At separating from our brothers of Colombia we do it without
+      hatred and without any joy. Just as a son withdraws from his
+      paternal roof, the isthmian people in adopting the lot it
+      has chosen have done it with grief, but in compliance with
+      the supreme and inevitable duty it owes to itself--that of
+      its own preservation and of working for its own welfare. We
+      therefore begin to form a part among the free nations of the
+      world, considering Colombia as a sister nation, with which
+      we shall be whenever circumstances may require it, and for
+      whose prosperity we have the most fervent and sincere
+      wishes.[6]
+
+By November 7 the new government had settled down so steadily to its
+work, and so obviously commanded the adherence of the whole people, that
+it received formal recognition from the United States in these words:--
+
+      As it appears that the people of Panama have, by unanimous
+      movement, dissolved their political connection with the
+      Republic of Colombia and resumed their independence, and as
+      there is no opposition to the provisional government in the
+      state of Panama, I have to inform you that the provisional
+      government will be held responsible for the protection of
+      the persons and property of citizens of the United States,
+      as well as to keep the isthmian transit free, in accordance
+      with the obligations of existing treaties relative to the
+      isthmian territory.
+
+We need not dwell upon the desperate efforts made by the Colombian
+government to retrieve the situation. A respected Colombian, General
+Reyes, was sent to Washington to offer to revive the old Hay-Herran
+Treaty, with modifications greatly in the American interest, if the
+United States would help to restore Colombian sovereignty at the
+isthmus. But all was in vain. Colombia must lie on the bed she had made,
+and before the end of the year the new republic had been recognized by
+all the leading Powers of the world. The new government was true to the
+undertaking on the strength of which Mr. Bunau-Varilla had given his
+help and support to the movement. On November 7 he was appointed
+minister of Panama to the United States, and on November 18 the
+Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty[7] was signed at Washington, which finally
+placed the United States in a position to begin the work of canal
+construction at the isthmus.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[5] See "Four Centuries of the Panama Canal," p. 188 (W. F. Johnson).
+
+[6] For full text of declaration see Appendix ii.
+
+[7] Appendix iii.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE BATTLE OF THE LEVELS.
+
+
+By the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty the United States guaranteed and
+undertook to maintain the independence of the Republic of Panama. The
+new republic granted to the United States in perpetuity the use,
+occupation, and control of a strip ten miles wide and extending three
+nautical miles into the sea at either terminal, with all lands lying
+outside of the zone necessary for the construction of the canal, and
+with the islands in the Bay of Panama. The cities of Panama and Colon
+were not embraced in the canal zone, but the United States assumed their
+sanitation and, in case of need, the maintenance of order therein. All
+railway and canal property rights belonging to Panama and needed for the
+canal passed to the United States, including any property of the railway
+and canal companies in the cities of Panama and Colon. The works,
+property, and personnel of the canal and railways were exempted from
+taxation in the cities of Colon and Panama as well as in the actual
+canal zone. Free immigration of the workers and free importation of
+supplies for the construction and operation of the canal were granted.
+Provision was made for the use of military force and the building of
+fortifications by the United States for the protection of the transit.
+The United States were to pay $10,000,000 down on exchange of
+ratifications and an annuity of $250,000, beginning nine years from the
+same date. It will be noticed that the United States enjoyed in the
+canal zone all the rights, though not the name and title, of
+sovereignty.
+
+The treaty was finally ratified on February 26, 1904, and four days
+later the first Isthmian Canal Commission, consisting of seven members,
+was appointed by President Roosevelt to arrange for the conduct of the
+great enterprise. Careful instructions were given to the commission. The
+Isthmian Canal Commission were authorized and directed:--
+
+      First.--To make all needful rules and regulations for the
+      government of the zone, and for the correct administration
+      of the military, civil, and judicial affairs of its
+      possessions until the close of the fifty-eighth session of
+      Congress. Second.--To establish a civil service for the
+      government of the strip and construction of the canal,
+      appointments to which shall be secured as nearly as
+      practicable by merit system. Third.--To make, or cause to be
+      made, all needful surveys, borings, designs, plans, and
+      specifications of the engineering, hydraulic, and sanitary
+      works required, and to supervise the execution of the same.
+      Fourth.--To make, and cause to be executed after due
+      advertisement, all necessary contracts for any and all kinds
+      of engineering and construction works. Fifth.--To acquire by
+      purchase or through proper and uniform expropriation
+      proceedings, to be prescribed by the commission, any private
+      lands or other real property whose ownership by the United
+      States is essential to the excavation and completion of the
+      canal. Sixth.--To make all needful rules and regulations
+      respecting an economical and correct disbursement and an
+      accounting for all funds that may be appropriated by
+      Congress for the construction of the canal, its auxiliary
+      works, and the government of the canal zone; and to
+      establish a proper and comprehensive system of bookkeeping
+      showing the state of the work, the expenditures by classes,
+      and the amounts still available. Seventh.--To make
+      requisition on the Secretary of War for funds needed from
+      time to time in the proper prosecution of the work, and to
+      designate the disbursing officers authorized to receipt for
+      the same.
+
+The work of this commission was not wholly satisfactory, and in April
+1905 another was appointed, which was ordered to meet at Panama
+quarterly, the first commission having conducted its operations from
+Washington.
+
+The first two and a half years of the American occupation were spent
+mainly in preparing for the great task. One very important question had
+now to be finally decided. The battle of the routes was over, and now
+began the battle of the levels. We have seen that the French began with
+the idea of a tide-level canal. The New Panama Canal Company had changed
+to the lock or high-level plan, but the French had not advanced in their
+work to the point when the one or the other scheme must be definitively
+adopted. The excavation they had carried out was all available for
+either type of canal. But the Americans had now to come to a decision.
+
+A few more words about the main physical features of the isthmus are
+necessary for the reader to understand the nature of the problem. The
+two most important factors in the problem, as we have seen, are,
+firstly, the river Chagres with its tributaries, the Trinidad, Gatun,
+and twenty others; and, secondly, the range of low hills on the Pacific
+side through which any canal from Colon to Panama must pass. The river
+Chagres is a great mountain torrent which enters the Caribbean Sea a
+little west of Colon. The canal follows its course inland for about 26
+miles, when the river valley turns sharply north-east and the canal
+continues straight on to the Pacific. The Chagres is not a river to be
+despised. The rainfall on the isthmus is very heavy, especially on the
+Atlantic side, where 140 inches per annum have been recorded. The
+isthmian rivers are all liable to quickly-swelling floods, the Chagres
+at Gamboa having been known to rise 35-1/2 feet in twenty-four hours.
+The two different types of canal involve equally different methods of
+dealing with this formidable stream. It must either be harnessed to the
+work or firmly and finally shut off from any interference with the
+canal. De Lesseps, who had chosen the tide-level scheme, proposed to
+turn the Chagres and other rivers into diversion channels, so that they
+could get safely to the sea without crossing the line of the canal or
+having any connection with it. This would have involved a work of
+excavation and construction scarcely less gigantic than the building of
+the canal itself.
+
+On the other plan, the Chagres and its tributaries would be made the
+feeders of the upper reaches of the canal. So far from being politely
+shown off the premises, the question rather was whether they would be
+able to supply sufficient water all the year round for the needs of the
+canal. Then this harnessing of the Chagres meant the taming of its
+waters in a huge artificial lake, in which the impetuous current would
+be quenched and through which the dredged channel of the waterway would
+run. The New Panama Company had recommended the construction of a huge
+dam for this purpose at Bohio towards the Atlantic end of the canal, and
+this plan had been adopted by the first American Isthmian Commission,
+which issued its report in 1901. I may add that the Spooner Act, which
+authorized the construction of a canal, also contemplated a lock or
+high-level waterway. As we shall see, Bohio was not in the end adopted
+as the site of the big dam, but Gatun, where it is now constructed, with
+its concrete spillway carrying away the overflow waters of the lake down
+the old Chagres channel to the near Atlantic. I need not say that these
+were two very different ways of "caring for" the Chagres and its
+affluents. The tide-level canal would also, of course, be supplied with
+sea-water, while the high-level will be a fresh-water canal. Colonel
+Goethals, the chief engineer of the canal, anticipates rather a curious
+result from this latter circumstance. He thinks the bed of the upper
+reaches of the canal will in course of time be quite paved with the
+barnacles washed by the fresh-water from the bottoms of the great
+ocean-going vessels passing through the canal.
+
+The second physical feature is the hill country or the "Continental
+Divide" which the canal enters near the point where the Chagres River
+crosses its course. Here runs the famous Culebra Cut, the nine-mile-long
+artificial canyon, the biggest excavation in the world. Now the highest
+elevation of these hills along the centre line of the canal was 312 feet
+above sea-level. The bottom of the canal at the cutting is 40 feet, so
+that the vertical depth of the cut on the centre line is 272 feet. The
+engineers of the tide-level scheme would have had not only to excavate
+85 feet deeper--that is, to 45 feet below sea-level--but to make the
+cutting immensely wider in order to avoid the danger of disastrous
+landslides. This would have meant an enormous amount of additional work,
+as well as expense. Nevertheless, the controversy between the two
+principles was very warmly and equally sustained. It may be mentioned
+that Mr. Bunau-Varilla was an especially ardent advocate of the
+tide-level scheme. In fact, he was not for calling the waterway a canal
+at all; he would have christened it "the Straits of Panama."
+
+However, a decision was necessary, and in 1905 a board of consulting or
+advisory engineers was appointed, mainly to consider whether the canal
+should be constructed at high-level or sea-level. Five members were
+appointed by European governments, and the president was Major-General
+George W. Davis, formerly of the United States army. The instructions
+given to this board by President Roosevelt will afford a very clear idea
+of the problem it had to solve:--
+
+      There are two or three considerations which I trust you will
+      steadily keep before your minds in coming to a conclusion as
+      to the proper type of canal. I hope that ultimately it will
+      prove possible to build a sea-level canal. Such a canal
+      would undoubtedly be best in the end, if feasible; and I
+      feel that one of the chief advantages of the Panama route
+      is that ultimately a sea-level canal will be a possibility.
+      But while paying due heed to the ideal perfectibility of the
+      scheme from an engineer's standpoint, remember the need of
+      having a plan which shall provide for the immediate building
+      of a canal on the safest terms and in the shortest possible
+      time. If to build a sea-level canal will but slightly
+      increase the risk, then, of course, it is preferable. But if
+      to adopt the plan of a sea-level canal means to incur a
+      hazard, and to insure indefinite delay, then it is not
+      preferable. If the advantages and disadvantages are closely
+      balanced, I expect you to say so. I desire also to know
+      whether, if you recommend a high-level multi-lock canal, it
+      will be possible, after it is completed, to turn it into or
+      substitute for it, in time, a sea-level canal without
+      interrupting the traffic upon it. Two of the prime
+      considerations to be kept steadily in mind are:
+
+      First.--The utmost practicable speed of construction.
+      Second.--Practical certainty that the plan proposed will be
+      feasible; that it can be carried out with the minimum risk.
+
+      The quantity of work and the amount of work should be
+      minimized as far as possible.
+
+      There may be good reason why the delay incident to the
+      adoption of a plan for an ideal canal should be incurred;
+      but if there is not, then I hope to see the canal
+      constructed on a system which will bring to the nearest
+      possible date in the future the time when it is practicable
+      to take the first ship across the isthmus--that is, which
+      will in the shortest time possible secure a Panama waterway
+      between the oceans of such a character as to guarantee
+      permanent and ample communication for the greatest ships of
+      our navy and for the larger steamers on either the Atlantic
+      or the Pacific. The delay in transit of the vessels owing to
+      additional locks would be of small consequence when compared
+      with shortening the time for the construction of the canal
+      or diminishing the risks in its construction.
+
+      In short, I desire your best judgment on all the various
+      questions to be considered in choosing among the various
+      plans for a comparatively high-level multi-lock canal; for a
+      lower level, with fewer locks; and for a sea-level canal.
+      Finally, I urge upon you the necessity of as great
+      expedition in coming to a decision as is compatible with
+      thoroughness in considering the conditions.
+
+The board went to the isthmus and investigated the subject with great
+care. In January 1906 they issued three reports. A majority of eight to
+five pronounced in favour of the sea-level scheme "as the only one
+giving reasonable assurance of safe and uninterrupted navigation." "Such
+a canal," it said, "can be constructed in twelve or thirteen years'
+time; the cost will be less than $250,000,000; it will endure for all
+time."
+
+The minority were just as confidently in favour of a high-level canal.
+They concluded:--
+
+      In view of the unquestioned fact that the lock canal herein
+      advocated will cost about $100,000,000 less than the
+      proposed sea-level canal; believing that it can be built in
+      much less time; that it will afford a better navigation;
+      that it will be adequate for all its uses for a longer time,
+      and can be enlarged, if need should arise, with greater
+      facility and less cost, we recommend the lock canal at
+      elevation 85 for adoption by the United States.
+
+The third report was made by the chief engineer, Mr. Stevens, who, quite
+apart from all considerations of expense, was strongly in favour of the
+high-level plan.
+
+The three reports were considered by the canal commissioners, a majority
+of whom ultimately agreed with the minority of the advisory board. They
+admitted that a sea-level canal was ideally the best, but considered
+that the cost of making such a canal sufficiently wide would be
+prohibitive. They declared therefore for a lock canal at an elevation of
+85 feet above sea-level. They gave their decision thus:--
+
+      It appears that the canal proposed by the minority of the
+      board of consulting engineers can be built in half the time
+      and at a little more than half the cost of the canal
+      proposed by the majority of the board, and that when
+      completed it will be a better canal, for the following
+      reasons:
+
+      1. It provides greater safety for ships and less danger of
+      interruption to traffic by reason of its wider and deeper
+      channels.
+
+      2. It provides quicker passage across the isthmus for large
+      ships or a large traffic.
+
+      3. It is in much less danger of damage to itself or of
+      delays to ships from the flood-waters of the Chagres and
+      other streams.
+
+      4. Its cost of operation and maintenance, including fixed
+      charges, will be less by some $2,000,000 or more per annum.
+
+      5. It can be enlarged hereafter much more easily and cheaply
+      than can a sea-level canal.
+
+      6. Its military defence can be effected with as little or
+      perhaps less difficulty than the sea-level canal.
+
+      7. It is our opinion that the plan proposed by the minority
+      of the board of consulting engineers is a most satisfactory
+      solution of an isthmian canal, and therefore we recommend
+      that the plan of the minority be adopted.
+
+In February 1906 the president referred the question for final decision
+to Congress. In his message on the subject he spoke thus:--
+
+      It must be borne in mind that there is no question of
+      building what has been picturesquely termed "the Straits of
+      Panama"--that is, a waterway through which the largest
+      vessels could go with safety at uninterrupted high speed.
+      Both the sea-level canal and the proposed lock canal would
+      be too narrow and shallow to be called with any truthfulness
+      a strait, or to have any of the properties of a wide, deep
+      water strip. Both of them would be canals, pure and simple.
+      Each type has certain disadvantages and certain advantages.
+      But, in my judgment, the disadvantages are fewer and the
+      advantages very much greater in the case of a lock canal
+      substantially as proposed in the papers forwarded herewith;
+      and a careful study of the reports seems to establish a
+      strong probability that the following are the facts: The
+      sea-level canal would be slightly less exposed to damage in
+      the event of war; the running expenses, apart from the
+      heavy cost of interest on the amount employed to build it,
+      would be less; and for small ships the time of transit would
+      probably be less. On the other hand, the lock canal, at a
+      level of 80 feet or thereabouts, would not cost much more
+      than half as much to build, and could be built in about half
+      the time, while there would be very much less risk connected
+      with building it, and for large ships the transit would be
+      quicker; while, taking into account the interest on the
+      amount saved in building, the actual cost of maintenance
+      would be less. After being built, it would be easier to
+      enlarge the lock canal than the sea-level canal.
+
+      The law now on our statute books seems to contemplate a lock
+      canal. In my judgment a lock canal as herein recommended is
+      advisable. If the Congress directs that a sea-level canal be
+      constructed, its direction will, of course, be carried out.
+      Otherwise, the canal will be built on substantially the plan
+      for a lock canal outlined in the accompanying papers, such
+      changes being made, of course, as may be found actually
+      necessary.
+
+In June 1906 Congress finally decided for a high-level canal, and the
+controversy was officially closed. But the friends of the sea-level
+scheme were by no means silenced. Whenever any serious difficulty
+occurred in the construction of the canal on the lock principle their
+voices were heard again. In fact, the conflict cannot be said to have
+ended until 1909, and even then it is not certain that the sea-levellers
+modified their convictions.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+MAN AND THE GNAT.
+
+
+Almost at the beginning of their great task the Americans were faced
+with a problem which involved the success or failure of the whole
+enterprise. I have said something about the climate and health
+conditions at the isthmus. It is fairly certain that yellow fever and
+malaria would have wrecked the French undertaking even if there had been
+no other obstacles to its success. It is not less probable that if the
+Americans had been in no better a position to wage war with these
+plagues, their work at the isthmus would also have been in vain. The
+French had built excellent hospitals and provided efficiently for the
+comfort and recovery of those who were stricken with these diseases. But
+being totally ignorant of the sources and method of transmission of
+malaria and yellow fever, they could do nothing effectual in the way of
+prevention and eradication. They could only take the individual victim
+when they found him and do their best to cure him. They still believed
+that malaria was produced by climatic conditions, by marshy emanations,
+mists, and so forth. The fleecy clouds which gather round the isthmian
+hills in the rainy season were given the very undeserved title of "the
+white death" by the French workers at the isthmus. Yellow fever, again,
+was just as mistakenly attributed to the climate, and especially to
+filthy ways of living. It is not surprising that, with these
+misconceptions, medical skill should have been almost useless during the
+French occupation, and that the employees at the isthmus should have
+died in their thousands.
+
+But since the days of the Lesseps company, science had thrown a flood of
+light on the nature of these tropical scourges and the secret of their
+transmission. As these medical and scientific pioneers made a Panama
+Canal possible, though their names are not directly linked with its
+construction, we may look back for a few moments at their triumphs of
+discovery. The credit for first discovering that malaria is not due to
+poisonous emanations or contagion but is carried from people infected
+with the disease by the _anopheles_ mosquito belongs to Major (now Sir)
+Ronald Ross, formerly of the Indian Medical Service, who devoted himself
+to this subject during the last years of the 19th century. By a series
+of experiments he proved that malaria is due to the presence in the
+human blood of an organism which is conveyed from person to person by
+this mosquito, and that the mosquito is harmless unless it has become
+infected with the germ by biting a person who has caught malaria. The
+value of this discovery was soon shown by practical applications. Major
+Ross was engaged by the Suez Canal Company to deal with the malaria
+which had become firmly established at Ismailia, a little town of 10,000
+inhabitants on that canal. No fewer than 2,500 cases had been supplied
+in one year by this small population. The new methods founded on the new
+discovery proved so effectual that in three years the disease was
+stamped out, and there has been no relapse ever since. The same results
+were achieved at Port Said.
+
+Now, if malaria is thus caused by mosquito bite, there was some _a
+priori_ reason for thinking that yellow fever might be transmitted in
+the same way. At any rate the insect was again laid under a very grave
+suspicion. The opportunity for studying this further question was
+afforded during the Spanish-American war, when a serious outbreak
+occurred among the troops occupying Havana, in Cuba. The doctors were
+quite unable to deal with this most terrible of all diseases. Knowing
+nothing whatever of its cause, their treatment of it could be only
+experimental and casual. So a board of inquiry was formed consisting of
+four army surgeons serving in Cuba--Walter Reed, James Carroll, Jesse W.
+Lazear, and Aristides Agramonte. The experiments were begun in June
+1900, and continued into the next year. Of these four, Dr. Agramonte was
+not liable to the disease, and Dr. Reed was called away on duty to
+Washington. The other two determined to experiment on their own persons
+rather than risk the lives of other people.
+
+Dr. Carroll first allowed himself to be bitten by the mosquitoes, not
+the _anopheles_ but another variety known as the _stegomyia_. He fell
+ill with a bad attack of yellow fever, which very nearly cost him his
+life. Later, in the yellow fever hospital, Dr. Lazear deliberately
+allowed a mosquito to feed on his hand. In four days he was down with
+the disease in so acute a form that he died of it--a true martyr, if
+ever there was, to the cause of science and the welfare of mankind.
+These and other experiments proved conclusively that yellow fever, like
+malaria, is transmitted by mosquito bites, but it was still uncertain
+how soon after biting an infected person the mosquito becomes itself
+harmful and how soon a person stricken with malaria is able to infect a
+healthy mosquito. So further experiments were necessary, and volunteers
+were invited to offer themselves for this service. Everybody in the army
+knew what had happened to Doctors Carroll and Lazear, but in spite of
+this plenty of willing martyrs appeared. The first to present themselves
+were two young soldiers from Ohio, John R. Kissinger and John J. Moran.
+Dr. Reed talked the matter over with them, explaining fully the danger
+and suffering involved, and stating the money consideration offered by
+General Wood. Both young men declared that they were prepared to
+undergo the experiment, but only on condition that they should receive
+no pecuniary reward. When he heard this declaration, Dr. Reed touched
+his hat with profound respect, saying, "Gentlemen, I salute you!"[8]
+Kissinger took the disease from the mosquito bites, and recovered. A
+room was prepared for Moran, a sort of mosquito den into which fifteen
+gnats, all suffering from yellow fever, had been admitted. Major Reed
+describes what happened:--
+
+      At noon on the same day, five minutes after the mosquitoes
+      had been placed therein, a plucky Ohio boy, Moran by name,
+      clad only in his night-shirt and fresh from a bath, entered
+      the room containing the mosquitoes, where he lay down for a
+      period of thirty minutes. Within two minutes of Moran's
+      entrance he was being bitten about the face and hands by the
+      insects, that had promptly settled down upon him. Seven, in
+      all, bit him at this visit. At 4.30 p.m. the same day, he
+      again entered and remained twenty minutes, during which time
+      five others bit him. The following day, at 4.30 p.m., he
+      again entered and remained fifteen minutes, during which
+      time three insects bit him; making the number fifteen that
+      had fed at these three visits. On Christmas morning, at 11
+      a.m., this brave lad was stricken with yellow fever, and had
+      a sharp attack, which he bore without a murmur.
+
+But still the demonstration was not complete. It was necessary to prove
+by equally undeniable evidence that yellow fever is not conveyed by
+contagion with the clothes and persons of infected people. These
+experiments were even more trying and heroic than those which preceded.
+A small wooden hut, 14 by 20 feet, was prepared, and into this was
+stored a large amount of bedding and clothes which had been used and
+worn by persons suffering from the fever. The building was carefully
+guarded against the intrusion of mosquitoes, and a temperature of
+seventy-six degrees, with a sufficient moisture, maintained. For twenty
+consecutive days Dr. Clarke and his men went into this room, handled,
+wore, and slept in the contaminated clothing, although the stench was so
+offensive as to be almost appalling. They emerged from the ordeal in
+perfect health, proving beyond possibility of dispute that the disease
+was not contagious, and that the mosquito was the sole method of
+transmission.
+
+When distributing the credit for the new channel of world-traffic
+through the isthmus of Panama, let us not forget Dr. Lazear who
+sacrificed his life and the many others who cheerfully risked their
+lives to establish truths and facts without which the construction and
+continued operation of the canal would almost certainly have been
+impossible.
+
+One mosquito may look very much like another, but the _stegomyia_ and
+the _anopheles_ differ in many important respects. The latter finds its
+most favourable breeding-places in stagnant pools of fresh water, such
+as are left by the heavy rains of the isthmus. It is essentially a gnat
+of the country-side. The _stegomyia_, on the other hand, inclines to a
+more frivolous town life. Cisterns and tanks and other receptacles for
+storing water are his favourite haunts. In length of life and power of
+flight the species also differ, though these details are not yet fully
+ascertained. The _stegomyia_ is said to live three months. Dr. Cornish
+states that it becomes dangerous only by attacking man during the first
+three days of yellow fever, and that, even then, twelve days elapse
+before its bite is infectious. Six days after a man has been bitten by
+an infected _stegomyia_ he falls ill with yellow fever, and for the next
+three days he is capable of transmitting it to the healthy mosquito. Mr.
+Bishop informs us that if there is no fresh case of yellow fever within
+a period of sixty days after the latest one in an epidemic, it is a safe
+conclusion that the disease has been stamped out, because there is no
+mosquito alive to carry the parasite. After a period of ninety days all
+doubt on the subject is removed.[9] If a community, therefore, which has
+thus got rid of its last case of yellow fever could be completely
+isolated, yellow fever could never possibly return. It could only be
+reintroduced from outside. It should be possible, with a proper system
+of sanitation and quarantine, to free any district entirely from this
+awful scourge.
+
+The case of the _anopheles_ and his little contribution to human
+suffering is very different. Whereas the victim of yellow fever either
+dies or gets better and quickly ceases to be a source of infection to
+the mosquito, the victim of malaria seldom dies of the disease, but he
+remains infectious to the _anopheles_ for three years. The disease does
+not simply attack new-comers or white people. Natives of the isthmus and
+the West Indies are subject to it, and, indeed, seem to be in a
+chronically malarious condition. It is said that 50 per cent. of the
+population of the isthmus were found in 1904-5 to have the parasite of
+malaria in their systems. It is difficult to estimate or imagine the
+part played by this widespread malady on conditions of life and
+civilization within the tropics.
+
+Sir Ronald Ross, the greatest living authority on the subject, made some
+interesting remarks in an address at the Royal Colonial Institute in
+January of this year. He said:--
+
+      Nothing has been more carefully studied of recent years than
+      the existence of malaria amongst indigenous populations. It
+      often affects every one of the children, probably kills a
+      large proportion of the new-born infants, and renders the
+      survivors ill for years; only a partial immunity in adult
+      life relieves them of the incessant sickness. Here in Europe
+      nearly all our children suffer from certain
+      diseases--measles, scarlatina, and so on. But these maladies
+      are short and slight compared with the enduring infection of
+      malaria. When I was studying malaria in Greece in 1906, I
+      was struck with the impossibility of conceiving that the
+      people who are now intensely afflicted with malaria could be
+      like the ancient Greeks who did so much for the world; and I
+      therefore suggested the hypothesis that malaria could only
+      have entered Greece at about the time of the great Persian
+      wars. One can scarcely imagine that the physically fine race
+      and the magnificent athletes figured in Greek sculpture
+      could ever have spent a malarious and splenomegalous
+      childhood. And, conversely, it is difficult to imagine that
+      many of the malarious natives in the tropics will ever rise
+      to any great height of civilization while that disease
+      endures amongst them. I am aware that Africa has produced
+      some magnificent races, such as those of the Zulus and
+      Masai, but I have heard that the countries inhabited by them
+      are not nearly so disease-ridden as many of the larger
+      tracts. At all events, whatever may be the effect of a
+      malarious childhood upon the physique of adult life, its
+      effects on the mental development must certainly be very
+      bad, while the disease always paralyzes the material
+      prosperity of the country where it exists in an intense
+      form.
+
+The isthmus of Panama was beautifully adapted to the breeding of the
+_anopheles_ and the widest dissemination of malaria. In fact, the canal
+zone taken over by the Americans was perhaps the most malarial strip of
+territory in the world. The heavy rains leave the country covered with
+those marshes and pools from which these little ghostly insects are
+always rising in swarms, ready to carry the germs of disease from the
+sick to the healthy and thus perpetuate and extend the domain of this
+distressing malady. The reader will notice that, as the yellow fever
+victim is only infectious to the mosquito for three days, while the
+malarial person can convey the poison for three years, it is a much more
+practical problem to eradicate yellow fever than to stamp out malaria.
+It is true the causes of malaria are now fully known and the only
+effective methods of propagation ascertained. If one could isolate all
+malarial patients, including all who are capable of transmitting the
+disease, in buildings screened with fine copper-gauze to keep out the
+mosquitoes and thus gradually diminish the area of infection to
+vanishing point, it would not be necessary to deal with the
+breeding-places of the mosquitoes, and man and the gnat might live
+together in perfect amity. But with fifty and even seventy per cent. of
+the people malarially infected, such a heroic course is obviously
+impossible, and one can hope only to diminish to a considerable degree
+the prevalence of the disease.
+
+The first two and a half years of the American occupation of the isthmus
+was spent in looking round and preparing for the great work. It soon
+became evident that the most pressing and immediate task was one of
+cleaning up and sanitation. In July 1904, Colonel W. C. Gorgas, whose
+name will always be associated with the triumphs won over disease at the
+isthmus, became the head of the department of sanitation under the Canal
+Commission. He quickly recognized that everything depended on the
+efficiency and success of his own department. "The experience of our
+predecessors," he wrote, "was ample to convince us that unless we could
+protect our force against yellow fever and malaria we would be unable to
+accomplish the work."[10] When the Americans took over, yellow fever,
+though present, was quiescent, but the figures began almost at once to
+mount up. In December 1904 there were six cases on the isthmus and one
+death. In January 1905 there were nineteen cases and eight deaths, seven
+and one respectively among the canal employees. In May there were
+thirty-three cases, twenty-two on the canal, with seven deaths in all,
+including three employees. In June there was an alarming advance.
+Sixty-two cases occurred on the isthmus, thirty-four of them among the
+employees. There were nineteen deaths, six on the canal. Something like
+a panic then set in among the Americans engaged on the canal works. Many
+threw up their positions, and the homeward-bound steamers were filled
+with employees fleeing from this real "yellow peril." In the annual
+report of the Commission for 1905 we read:--
+
+      A feeling of alarm, almost amounting to panic, spread among
+      the Americans on the isthmus. Many resigned their positions
+      to return to the United States, while those who remained
+      became possessed with a feeling of lethargy or fatalism,
+      resulting from a conviction that no remedy existed for the
+      peril. There was a disposition to partly ignore or openly
+      condemn all preventive measures. The gravity of the crisis
+      was apparent to all.
+
+This loss of moral tone was the most dangerous symptom of all. A feeling
+of "let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die" gained possession of
+the canal workers, and in the indifference of despair many tore down the
+nettings over the windows of the canal building and began to neglect all
+the sanitary precautions enjoined on them by the department. Evidently a
+calamity was in prospect which would have brought to an end, perhaps for
+ever, American canal ambitions at the isthmus. The restoration of public
+confidence and sense of responsibility seems to have been due largely to
+Mr. Charles E. Magoon, governor of the canal zone. He set himself to
+rebuke and remove the morbid bravado then prevailing. "He began by
+frankly and publicly declaring that he, personally, was afraid of the
+fever, and that in his opinion all non-immunes who professed not to be
+afraid were 'talking rot!' Then he ordered all the window-screens to be
+repaired and kept in place, and announced that if any man was caught
+leaving them open or tearing holes in them, something uncommonly
+unpleasant would happen to him. Now when a man of Judge Magoon's mental
+and physical stature admits that he is afraid, any lesser man is a fool
+to say he isn't; and when a man of Judge Magoon's resolution gives an
+order and prescribes a penalty for its violation, that order is very
+likely to be obeyed."[11]
+
+  [Illustration: _Clinedinst--Washington, D.C._
+  COL. WILLIAM C. GORGAS,
+  Medical Dept., U.S. Army, Head of the Department of Sanitation,
+  Ancon.]
+
+Governor Magoon arrived at the isthmus in May 1905, just as the yellow
+fever epidemic was reaching its climax. From that moment he and Colonel
+Gorgas, to whom he gave the most complete support, set themselves to
+fight the fever. The first thing to do was to get all the patients
+within screened buildings, whether the hospital or their own homes, so
+that no _stegomyia_ mosquitoes could saunter in and take the poison.
+Then the towns of Colon and Panama were handed over to a campaign of
+spring-cleaning such as the world has never witnessed. Then the canal
+building was thoroughly fumigated with pyrethrum powder or sulphur, and
+not simply the official building but every single house in the city of
+Panama was similarly disinfected. Dust and refuse were everywhere burnt.
+A very efficient system of inspection was adopted, and a rigid
+quarantine enforced against all foreign places whence the yellow plague
+could be imported into the zone.
+
+But more important than the immediate expedients were the more
+permanent sanitary improvements carried out in Colon and Panama. These
+towns were repaired with brick or cement, and provided with what they
+had never yet enjoyed, a proper system of drainage. Waterworks were also
+constructed outside the towns, and a supply of pure water made available
+for every household. Hitherto water had had to be stored during the dry
+season in tanks and cisterns, in which the _stegomyia_ mosquito revelled
+exceedingly. These were now no longer necessary, and stagnant water,
+wherever it collected in the town, was drained away. In order to
+expedite these splendid reforms, Governor Magoon withdrew the workers
+from the canal and concentrated all efforts on the sewers and
+waterworks. So speedily was the work carried forward that the water was
+turned on for public use from the main in the Cathedral Plaza on July 4.
+
+The results of this drastic campaign were soon apparent in the dwindling
+of the yellow fever returns. In July there were still forty-two cases
+and thirteen deaths on the isthmus, with twenty-seven cases and ten
+deaths among the employees. August showed a great improvement, with
+twenty-seven cases and nine deaths on the isthmus, and twelve cases and
+only one death on the canal. The improvement continued through
+September, October, November, and in December only one case was reported
+on the isthmus and one on the canal. Three months having elapsed since
+the last case, and, therefore, every _stegomyia_ which could possibly be
+infected with malaria having departed this life, the epidemic was
+entirely past and over. As I have pointed out, there cannot possibly be
+any return of it under these conditions unless the infection is brought
+from without. And if any new cases are at once isolated and screened
+from afternoon calls of the mosquito, the outbreak may be easily and
+infallibly suppressed. We may say, therefore, that the yellow spectre at
+the isthmus has been shorn of all its terrors.
+
+Malaria is, however, a very different proposition. A corresponding
+crusade has been carried on for six years against the little _anopheles_
+gnat, the little criminal who carries the malarial poison. His happy
+breeding-grounds are in open country marshes and pools, and there is no
+lack of these in the canal zone. It was impossible to deal with the
+entire three-quarters of a million acres of that territory, but wherever
+the canal workers were settled determined war was waged against the
+mosquitoes. It should be remembered that the _anopheles_ can fly only
+about a hundred or two hundred yards. The jungle was therefore cleared
+away for a few hundred yards round each village and settlement, marshes
+and pools in this area were drained off, and into all the ditches where
+stagnant water had collected oil was poured, which so effectually turns
+the mosquito's stomach that it never recovers. Some 1,200 acres of the
+zone were thus treated, and of course the regulations as to
+house-screening applied to malaria no less than to yellow fever. The
+employees were also supplied freely and generously with quinine.
+
+The result has been not the eradication of malaria, but the reduction of
+the cases to about one-third the number at which they stood in 1906. Yet
+even so, among the 40,000 employees on the canal during the year ending
+June 30, 1912, there were 7,000 malaria cases in the hospitals, with 32
+deaths, 22 of these being white people. The heavy rainfalls at the
+isthmus will probably prevent the complete sanitation of the country in
+this respect, for the simple reason that the destruction of the
+_anopheles_ mosquito or the eradication of the malarial germ can never
+be complete. There will always be people going about with the malarial
+organism in their blood, and always _anopheles_ mosquitoes ready to
+become infected with it and to carry the infection about. But, as we
+have seen, much can be done by the means described to reduce the ravages
+of the disease. In 1906, out of a working force of 26,000, there were
+21,739 cases of malaria. We have seen how this figure had been brought
+down in 1912. In 1906 it was almost certain that any white person coming
+to reside at the isthmus would catch malaria. Now it is quite possible
+to live there in perfect health, quite free from any malarial infection.
+
+It may be useful to mention that the entire death-roll among the
+employees on the Panama Canal and railway from the American occupation
+down to June 30, 1912--that is, about eight years--was 5,141, of whom
+284 were Americans. Of this total, 4,119 died of disease and 1,022 from
+violence or accident. During the same period 49 American women and 87
+American children died.[12] Sir Ronald Ross, as I have said, was told by
+the British Consul at Panama in 1904 that the French lost in the nine
+years of their occupancy some 50,000 lives, principally from malaria and
+yellow fever. This may be an over-estimate, but there is no doubt that
+the American figure shows an enormous improvement on the French.
+
+It is easy to conclude that what has been done in sanitation at the
+isthmus of Panama may be done anywhere else in the tropics, where
+malaria and yellow fever prevail. That may be true, but we must also
+remember that the work of Panama had behind it all the wealth and
+resources of a mighty republic of 90,000,000 citizens. The expenditure
+on these hygienic purposes at the isthmus has been enormous, though not
+a penny has been wasted. Down to the end of December, 1912, the total
+outlay of the Department of Sanitation was $15,500,000. Waterworks,
+sewers, etc., accounted for another $2,500,000, so that we get a grand
+total expenditure on sanitation of $18,000,000. This will certainly rise
+to $20,000,000 before the canal is finished, so that for the ten and a
+half years of its construction there will have been an annual
+expenditure for all health purposes of $1,900,000. It is not likely that
+there will be many tropical areas of this kind with so large a sum
+available for the luxury of scientific sanitation. Again, it must be
+noticed that the administration had special advantages at the isthmus.
+It exercised something like military authority. It had absolute powers
+of deportation, and could enforce its regulations as it pleased. And in
+considering the statistics it must also be borne in mind that not only
+the physical but the moral and mental health of the work-people at the
+isthmus was promoted in every way. We shall look into the life of the
+Panama construction camps in the next chapter. The social interest and
+amusement provided for the employee must have counted for something
+beside the sewering and screening and mosquito-hunting. All the same,
+the success achieved at Panama is full of hope and promise for tropical
+life in the future. Colonel Gorgas writes encouragingly:--
+
+      I think the sanitarian can now show that any population
+      coming into the tropics can protect itself against these two
+      diseases (malaria and yellow fever) by measures that are
+      both simple and inexpensive; that with these two diseases
+      eliminated life in the tropics for the Anglo-Saxon will be
+      more healthful than in the temperate zones; that gradually,
+      within the next two or three centuries, tropical countries,
+      which offer a much greater return for man's labour than do
+      the temperate zones, will be settled up by the white races,
+      and that again the centres of wealth, civilization, and
+      population will be in the tropics, as they were in the dawn
+      of man's history, rather than in the temperate zone, as at
+      present.
+
+Apart from the question of disease, it is far from certain that the
+white man can ever remain as "fit," as capable of bodily labour, in
+equatorial regions as in his native temperate conditions, or that his
+descendants will also maintain the same standard of health and strength.
+Ordinary non-professional opinion would perhaps discount Colonel
+Gorgas's forecast as a little too optimistic.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[8] "Sanitation of the Isthmus." Mr. J. B. Bishop in _Scribner's
+Monthly_, February 1913.
+
+[9] _Scribner's Monthly_, February 1913, p. 248.
+
+[10] _Journal American Medical Association_, July 6, 1907.
+
+[11] "Four Centuries of the Panama Canal."
+
+[12] See _Scribner's Magazine_, February 1913, p. 251.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+LIFE AT THE ISTHMUS.
+
+
+Before we go on to describe the canal and its method of construction, we
+must look at the sort of social life and civil administration which has
+prevailed since the Americans arrived. Construction camps in tropical
+climes are not usually distinguished for order and good morals. The
+Americans determined to make an exception at Panama. They had a
+perfectly free hand and the enjoyment of all sovereign rights at the
+isthmus, and were able to construct a brand-new little state on the most
+approved and ideal principles. We have seen what instructions were given
+by President Roosevelt to the first commission. An entire administrative
+system had to be established within this little plot 10 miles wide and
+50 long. Laws had to be framed and civil government established, with
+all the needful accessories of judicial courts, police force,
+fire-brigades, customs and revenue service, post-offices, public works
+and financial department. The administration carried what is known as
+"paternalism" to all lengths. That is, it did all the catering and
+providing itself, and left little or nothing to private companies. Of
+course, everything had to be imported, for the little territory itself
+produced nothing. Whole villages and settlements with all the
+accessories of social life had to be built along the line of works. Over
+2,000 structures, including offices, hospitals, hotels, messes,
+kitchens, shops, storehouses, and living quarters, were constructed, and
+more than 1,500 buildings taken over from the French, which were made
+available by necessary repairs.
+
+Colonel Goethals gives us a brief insight into the work of the
+Commissary Department of the Panama Railroad:--
+
+      The Commissary Department of the Panama Railroad Company was
+      enlarged until it is now [1911] a great department store,
+      supplying to the employees whatever may be necessary for
+      their comfort and convenience. Manufacturing, cold-storage,
+      and laundry plants were established, and turn out each day
+      about 90 tons of ice, 14,000 loaves of bread, 2,400 rolls,
+      250 gallons of ice-cream, 1,000 pounds of roasted coffee,
+      and 7,500 pieces of laundry. Four or five refrigerator cars,
+      loaded with meats, vegetables, and such fruits as can be
+      obtained, are sent out on the night freight to distant
+      points, and every morning a supply train of about 16 cars,
+      of which number six to eight are refrigerator cars, leaves
+      Cristobal at 4.30 to distribute foodstuffs and laundry to
+      the local commissaries along the line, where the employees
+      make their purchases, and where the hotels, messes, and
+      kitchens secure their supplies for the day.
+
+A graphic and representative picture of one of the construction
+settlements along the canal was given by the correspondent of _The
+Times_ at Panama.[13] He chose "Emperador," or "Empire," as the typical
+village. This is the headquarters of the central division of the
+construction work, and is situated about halfway along the great
+Culebra Cut. The correspondent writes:--
+
+      According to the census just completed, it contains 7,152
+      inhabitants, of whom 1,757 are whites, 3,701 negroes, 1,569
+      mestizos, 101 Chinese, and 24 East Indians. North of the
+      main street is a section called the "native town,"
+      apparently because it is inhabited by natives of other
+      countries than Panama, but really because here was situated
+      the native hamlet alongside which the French built their
+      construction camp in 1881. It is occupied by the part of the
+      population not employed by the government, and here are the
+      American saloons, the Spanish _cantinas_ and restaurants,
+      Chinese shops, East Indian fancy-work shops, and negro
+      tailoring and shoemaking places. On the south side of the
+      American settlement are the labour "camps," consisting of
+      barracks and eating-places. All the buildings are of wood,
+      constructed to last not over ten years; and none are large,
+      excepting the administration buildings and the club-house.
+      On three sides of the village are the huts of the labourers
+      who prefer the half-jungle life with its freedom; and here,
+      with discomfort and squalor and liberty, is the only
+      picturesque part of the settlement; all else is orderly, of
+      one pattern, almost smug. On the fourth side the village is
+      limited by the canal itself.
+
+      In the centre of the village is the commissariat, where the
+      canal and railroad workers buy their food and clothing. Here
+      congregate every morning the housewives of the village to do
+      their shopping, and at night, after work, the men, to
+      complete the family purchases. There is a similar store in
+      each canal village--eighteen in all. The commissariat does
+      away with the middleman's profit and buys in such large
+      quantities, and for cash, that it obtains the lowest prices,
+      while the many ways in which the materials purchased can be
+      used prevent waste. If there is cause for complaint on the
+      part of any class in the canal workers, that class is the
+      bachelors, for they are discriminated against in the matter
+      of quarters. But good provision is made for their meals, at
+      the so-called "hotels" for the white employees, and the
+      messes and kitchens for Spanish and negro labourers.
+
+Another remarkable evidence of how the canal administration stands _in
+loco parentis_ to all its work-people is that it has provided twenty-six
+churches and maintains fifteen ministers of religion. This is
+interesting because it shows how the state, when conducted on
+common-sense principles, may provide for religious instruction without
+causing any offence or inflicting any injustice. The administration
+treated all denominations with perfect impartiality. Of the fifteen
+ministers it supported, four were Episcopalian, four Baptist, three
+Roman Catholic, one Wesleyan, and one Presbyterian. But this was not the
+entire provision of churches and chapels on the isthmus. There were
+fourteen other churches not under direct government control, but
+assisted by the government in many ways. Of the forty in all, thirteen
+were Episcopalian, seven Baptist, seven Roman Catholic, two Wesleyan,
+and eight undenominational.
+
+As I have pointed out, the moral sanitation of the isthmus was cared for
+as well as the physical. For example, in September 1905, a man living in
+the canal zone was charged with running a roulette table. He pleaded
+that he owned a concession from the Republic of Panama. That excuse was
+not allowed, and he was sentenced to fine and imprisonment for
+transgressing one of the canal zone laws. Gambling, which had always
+been one of the Panamanian vices, was quite forbidden within the zone.
+Remembering the descriptions given of the state of morals at the isthmus
+during the French occupation, one cannot help being struck with the
+contrast afforded by the American regime. Criticisms of the canal
+scheme, of climatic and social conditions in the zone, appeared in the
+early days from time to time. Mr. Johnson quotes an example which is so
+amusing as to bear repetition:--
+
+      A land as feverish to the imagination as to the body is
+      Panama. It is a land making a fitting environment to the
+      deeds of conspiracy, piracy, loot, cruelty, and blood that
+      have principally made its history for centuries. This
+      gloomy, God-forsaken isthmus is a nightmare region. One
+      descriptive writer has truly said of it that it is a land
+      where the flowers have no odour, the birds no song; where
+      the men are without honour and the women without virtue. He
+      is not far wrong. The birds, brilliant as is their plumage,
+      have no musical notes. The dense forests teem with
+      bright-hued parrots, parroquets, and other birds, which
+      squeak and scream but do not sing. There are beautiful
+      orchids to be found in the swamps and jungles--fair to look
+      upon, but they have no odour. The oranges have green skins
+      instead of golden, the plantains must be fried to make them
+      fit to eat, the reptiles and insects are often venomous, and
+      myriads of parasites are ever ready to invade the human body
+      and bring disease and death. In the atmosphere itself is
+      something suggestive of the days of the old pirates and
+      their fiendish cruelties and orgies. There is no life in the
+      air; it is depressing, damp, miasmatic, and intensely hot.
+      For a great part of the year thunder-showers succeed each
+      other all day long and half the night, with sheet lightning
+      all around the horizon after dark. There is practically no
+      twilight, day passing almost instantly into night. It is no
+      wonder that this uncanny land has made its residents
+      degenerate into plotters, revolutionists, murderers, and
+      thieves. Its aspect is one of darkness, treachery, and
+      curse.
+
+President Roosevelt had something to say on these recurring criticisms
+in a message to Congress in January 1906. He wrote:--
+
+      From time to time various publications have been made, and
+      from time to time in the future various similar
+      publications, doubtless, will be made, purporting to give an
+      account of jobbing or immorality or inefficiency or misery
+      as obtaining on the isthmus. I have carefully examined into
+      each of these accusations which seemed worthy of attention.
+      In every instance the accusations have proved to be without
+      foundation in any shape or form. They spring from several
+      sources. Sometimes they take the shape of statements by
+      irresponsible investigators of a sensational habit of mind,
+      incapable of observing or repeating with accuracy what they
+      see, and desirous of obtaining notoriety by widespread
+      slander. More often they originate with or are given
+      currency by individuals with a personal grievance. The
+      sensation mongers, both those who stay at home and those who
+      visit the isthmus, may ground their accusations on false
+      statements by some engineer who, having applied for service
+      on the commission and been refused such service, now
+      endeavours to discredit his successful competitors, or by
+      some lessee or owner of real estate who has sought action or
+      inaction by the commission to increase the value of his
+      lots, and is bitter because the commission cannot be used
+      for such purposes, or on the tales of disappointed bidders
+      for contracts, or of office-holders who have proved
+      incompetent, or who have been suspected of corruption and
+      dismissed, or who have been overcome by panic and have fled
+      from the isthmus. Every specific charge relating to jobbery,
+      to immorality, or to inefficiency, from whatever source it
+      has come, has been immediately investigated, and in no
+      single instance have the statements of these sensation
+      mongers and the interested complainants behind them proved
+      true. The only discredit adhering to these false accusations
+      is to those who originate and give them currency, and who,
+      to the extent of their abilities, thereby hamper and
+      obstruct the completion of the great work in which both the
+      honour and the interest of America are so deeply involved.
+      It matters not whether those guilty of these false
+      accusations utter them in mere wanton recklessness and
+      folly, or in a spirit of sinister malice to gratify some
+      personal or political grudge.
+
+The soundness and purity of the canal zone administration has long ago
+been established beyond all question and cavil. The Americans have given
+an example to the world how a great work of this kind, involving the
+gathering together of a large multitude of workers from many races and
+nations, may be carried on without those moral and physical evils which
+have marked too many enterprises of the kind. In fact, the way in which
+the Americans have arranged and controlled the life of the canal zone
+stands quite as much to their credit as the skill and determination they
+have shown in the actual construction of the canal.
+
+But we have said nothing yet about the workers themselves on the canal.
+The Americans, on taking over the work from the French, found about 700
+West Indian negroes engaged in excavating the Culebra Cut. From this
+contingent as a nucleus a much larger army of workers was built up. The
+numbers rapidly grew. In December 1905 there were 5,000 employees; in
+1906, 24,000; in 1908, 31,000; the highest figure being reached in 1910,
+when there were 50,000 workers available for duty. Of the employees,
+speaking roughly, one-seventh have been white Americans, all, of course,
+skilled workers, one-seventh European labourers, and five-sevenths West
+Indian negroes. The British West Indies, especially Barbados, have
+continued to be the main source of labour supply. But the West Indian at
+the outset left a great deal to be desired in his work and efficiency.
+In 1905 complaints were made on the subject by the chairman of the
+canal commission to the President of the United States. In 1906 the
+chief engineer reported:--
+
+      The criticisms of the character of the common labour which
+      were made in last year's report still hold good. Our labour
+      consists almost entirely of West Indian negroes, and their
+      efficiency is very low, although we have a few of this class
+      who are fairly steady workers--by this it is meant that they
+      average to work all the time, but the great body of them do
+      not. The majority work just long enough to get money to
+      supply their actual bodily necessities, with the result
+      that, while we are quartering and caring for twenty odd
+      thousand of these people, our daily effective force is many
+      thousands less. Preliminary steps have been taken toward
+      securing a large number of Spanish labourers direct from the
+      north-west provinces of Spain, also for the securing of a
+      trial shipment of Cantonese Chinese, as it is believed that
+      the introduction of labourers of different nationalities
+      will be beneficial.
+
+The Chinese project was frustrated through the influence of trade unions
+in the United States, backed up by representations from the Pacific
+coast states. The West Indian labourer quickly began to earn a better
+report. It was found that his inefficiency was largely due to
+insufficient and improper food. He speedily improved when turned on to
+the generous and nourishing diet provided in the zone. In order to be
+certain that he had the full advantage of the provided meals, the price
+of them was very wisely deducted from his wages. Moreover, the American
+foremen soon began to learn that the men from Barbados, Trinidad, and
+elsewhere were British subjects and could not be treated as though they
+were southern state "coons." With a better understanding and more
+sympathetic treatment of the black employees, much more work was got out
+of them, and a good deal of the credit for the building of the Panama
+Canal is due to the 30,000 workers[14] who have been recruited mainly
+from the British islands in the West Indies.
+
+But the southern European contingent has been found to be excellent
+material. It was thought that the work-people of Spain, Italy, and
+Greece would take more easily to navvying work in the tropics than
+people from more northerly regions of the temperate zone. The results
+were, on the whole, satisfactory. The Greeks were, it is true, not equal
+to the Italians or the Spaniards, and very few of them were recruited
+for canal work. The Italians, also, though several thousands of them
+were engaged, proved rather hard to handle. They were bitten with
+collectivist ideas, and inclined to act on trade union lines. The
+Spaniard was, in every way, the most satisfactory workman introduced
+from Europe. He was taken in an unsophisticated state directly from his
+village in Galicia or Castile. He was tractable and orderly, and quick
+and ready to learn. Hard labour under the tropical sun and in the hot
+damp of the isthmus seemed to have no exhausting or enervating influence
+whatever upon him. The Spaniard shows no sign of settling down on the
+isthmus. He either goes home with his savings or on to railway work in
+Brazil. Some 9,000 have been directly recruited, but this number does
+not include all the Spanish labourers whose muscle has helped to the
+completion of this great work.
+
+A word or two should be said about the wages earned on the canal. The
+West Indian recruit was offered 6-1/2d. an hour for common labour and an
+eight-hour day, in addition to free quarters, medical care, and
+repatriation. Meals were supplied to him at the rate of 1s. 2-1/2d. per
+day. Later the pay of all not under contract was reduced to 5d. per
+hour, and the price of the three meals to 1s. 1-1/2d. Negro artisans,
+such as carpenters, masons, blacksmiths and others, of whom there were
+some 5,000 employed in connection with the canal works, received pay
+varying from 8d. to 22d. per hour. There were in 1912 4,400 negro
+artisans receiving 8d. an hour or more, while 400 received 1s. an hour,
+and the work was constant.
+
+The European labourer, in addition to free quarters, received $1.60 per
+eight-hour day, and more for overtime work. He was charged 40 cents a
+day for his three meals, which left him a minimum net wage per day of
+$1.20, or a little less than thirty shillings a week. Many, however,
+received more, and a good number of Spanish work-people must have gone
+home with a nice little nest-egg in their pockets.
+
+The skilled labour was done almost entirely by United States employees,
+though the "gold roll," as it was called, included at first some
+Europeans. The pay was excellent, the social life, with its gymnasia,
+billiard-rooms, concerts and so forth, attractive, and the commissariat,
+with its three good meals at a fixed charge, quite up to the standard of
+a good hotel. The billets on the isthmus were therefore popular, and
+about 7,000 Americans on an average have been in employment there.
+
+As I have pointed out, the responsibility for the construction of the
+canal was vested in the President of the United States, who acted
+through an executive commission resident in the canal zone. The work was
+organized in a large number of departments, each responsible for a big
+task. These were excavation and dredging; locks and dams; machinery and
+buildings (also responsible for paving and other improvements in Colon
+and Panama); labour, subsistence, and quarters; material and supplies;
+sanitation (responsible also for hygiene in Panama and Colon, which
+towns are technically outside the zone); civil administration; the
+Panama railroad. There were also some smaller divisions, such as
+accounts and an office of a purchasing officer in Washington, nearly all
+the supplies for the canal being obtained in the United States. It
+should be added that the Republic of Panama is responsible for the
+policing of the two big towns, but the department of civil
+administration of the Panama Canal Commission employed 200 police, 88 of
+which were native West Indians.
+
+This busy hive of labour will soon present a very different aspect. With
+the approach of the canal to completion the numbers of the workmen will
+gradually be reduced. A drastic process of sifting and selection will be
+carried out among the Americans employed on the works. Only about 2,500
+men will be necessary to operate the canal, when it is in full working
+order. These will be established at the locks and other important
+points. In fact, the canal authorities recommend a complete depopulation
+of the isthmus except, of course, the terminal cities and the operating
+stations on the canal. Otherwise, they think, a large expense for
+sanitation will be necessary which might thus be avoided. But the
+question of defence must not be forgotten. It will certainly be found
+advisable to maintain a pretty large American garrison at the isthmus,
+and to the population we have mentioned perhaps even 8,000 American
+troops must be added. The busy scenes still prevailing in the canal zone
+will now soon have disappeared like a dream, and the future traveller
+who looks from the ship-rail over the shining waters of Gatun Lake or
+beyond to the vast and silent tropical forest will have difficulty in
+reconstructing the spectacle which the narrow lands presented during the
+ten strenuous years of construction.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[13] _The Times_, September 26, 1912.
+
+[14] This is the figure of official recruiting. Very many more came to
+the isthmus of their own accord.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE PROBLEM OF CONSTRUCTION.
+
+
+We may now begin to consider the canal itself, the problems which its
+designers had to solve, the methods of construction, and the features of
+the completed work. As we have seen, the first two and a half years were
+a time mainly of preparation for the titanic enterprise of excavation
+and construction. In fact, it might have been better if the work during
+that period had been entirely restricted to scavenging, sewering, and so
+forth. The labourers were hurried a little too fast to the isthmus,
+before the isthmus was properly cleaned up to receive them. Hence the
+yellow fever panic and difficulties which might have been avoided. The
+people of the United States were responsible for this over-haste at the
+start. The great thing, they cried, is to "make the dirt fly." They
+wanted evidence that the steam-navvies were actually at work in the bed
+of the canal and that the task was well in hand. In fact, the public at
+home took an interest in the canal operations which was sometimes
+embarrassing. Some newspaper man at the isthmus would report an accident
+or unforeseen difficulty, probably with a good deal of exaggeration, an
+anxious excitement sprang up among the people, and special commissions
+had to go to the isthmus in order to investigate the true state of
+affairs and if possible restore confidence at home.
+
+As the reader knows, the Americans had no clean slate on which to write
+at Panama. They succeeded two French companies which had been at work
+for twenty years. True, the New Panama Canal Company which succeeded the
+Lesseps Company had not greatly perspired over the undertaking. It had
+kept a certain amount of work going, chiefly in order to maintain its
+concession. All the same, the French had ploughed a pretty deep furrow
+between Colon and Panama, and much of the work they had done was
+fortunately available whichever type of canal should be adopted,
+high-level or tide-level. They had carried out a good deal of dredging
+for the channel through the tidal flats at either end of the canal, and
+they had made a very visible impression on the "continental divide" at
+what is known as the Culebra Cut. Altogether the French companies
+excavated 81,548,000 cubic yards. The Americans inherited from their
+predecessors a large amount of machinery and tools, in addition to a
+great deal of work well done. Much of the machinery, even of the Lesseps
+Company, was found to be in serviceable condition, and operations could
+be continued with it, though the extent and efficiency of the plant was,
+of course, as time went on, greatly increased.
+
+The main problem which the American engineers had to solve was how to
+deal with the Chagres River. On the tide-level scheme, that violent and
+capricious stream, which in the rainy season was navigable for half its
+length of 100 miles, would have had to be diverted into another channel
+or ponded back in its upper waters by a high dam at Gamboa, some of the
+overflow of which might perhaps have been permitted to pass into the
+canal. But, as we have seen, the Chagres would have to be utilized and
+at the same time controlled if the high-level plan was adopted. A river
+which is capable of rising 35-1/2 feet in twenty-four hours needed a
+great deal of regulation and discipline before it could be used as the
+feeder of the upper reaches of a lock canal. The only way to do this was
+to diffuse its waters over a vast artificial lake which it would keep
+full, but in which its floods and current would be effectually tamed.
+This could only be done by a huge dam intercepting the course of the
+river in its lower reaches, at some point before it entered the
+Caribbean Sea. When the New Panama Canal Company changed its plans and
+decided for an elevated waterway, it was intended to construct such a
+barrier at Bohio, a point much higher up stream than Gatun, the site
+ultimately chosen by the American engineers. The Isthmian Canal
+Commission which reported in 1901, also arranged for a dam at Bohio to
+control the Chagres River. On this plan the river would have been
+intercepted much higher up, and the artificial lake would have been much
+smaller. But when the Americans finally decided on the high-level type
+in 1906, the site of the proposed dam was shifted from Bohio to Gatun,
+nearer the river's mouth, which involved the inundation of a much vaster
+area of country. This position for the dam was first suggested by a
+French engineer, Godin de Lepinay, who, in a paper read before the
+congress of engineers in Paris in 1879, advocated a lock canal with a
+dam controlling the Chagres River at Gatun. This, then, was the biggest
+problem peculiar to the high-level scheme, for the cutting through the
+"continental divide," though an even more titanic labour, would have had
+to be accomplished whatever type of canal had been adopted.
+
+No feature of the construction has been subject to so much criticism and
+anxious solicitude as this Gatun dyke. On it depends the maintenance of
+Gatun Lake and the supply of water for the canal. If the dam fails,
+everything fails. The real cause of the difficulty was the foundation
+upon which this big artificial hill had to be laid. The great dam at
+Assouan in Egypt is based upon the eternal granite, upon which masonry
+of natural stone is built. It is, therefore, part and parcel of the
+solid framework of our planet, and will probably last as long. The Gatun
+dam is, however, founded upon the alluvial deposits of the Chagres
+River. This alluvium consists of gravel firmly cemented with mud and
+clay, and is unquestionably water-tight. These deposits go down in
+places to a depth of 280 feet before the solid rock is reached. The dam
+had, therefore, to be laid down on the top of them.
+
+Now this foundation, though water-tight, is soft. It would have been
+impossible to place upon it a massive structure of rock or concrete. The
+deposits would have given way under its weight. The only plan was to
+dump down in the valley an earthen dam, making it very broad so as to
+distribute the weight over as large a space as possible of the alluvium
+underneath. A steep slope would have been impossible, for the weight of
+the central portion would have pushed the clay and gravel outwards, and
+the whole mass would have subsided. The earth-dam was to block the
+valley through which the Chagres had hitherto flowed uninterruptedly to
+the sea. This valley is a mile and a half wide, and this is, therefore,
+the length of the dam. Its base is 2,100 feet wide. It is 398 feet
+through at the surface of the water, 100 feet wide at the top, and was
+to be 115 feet above sea-level. The last figure has, it seems, been
+brought down to 104 feet, which will be an advantage, as the weight upon
+the foundations will be proportionately less.
+
+In the middle of the dam the level of the lake is controlled by a
+channel called the "spillway," with walls and floor of concrete, by
+which the surplus waters will be sluiced off into the old bed of the
+Chagres River and so passed on to the sea. The entrance to this channel
+is closed with falling gates or doors. This safety-valve will no doubt
+be capable of dealing with the biggest and quickest rise of the
+lake-level that is ever likely to take place. It can pass off 137,000
+cubic feet of water a second, the water issuing at a speed of 35 feet a
+second. But, to complete the security, the big culverts of the mighty
+Gatun locks close by can be turned open, and 170,000 cubic feet a second
+carried off there. Indeed, as regards the Gatun Lake the anxiety, if
+there be any, is that the water-supply will be insufficient rather than
+dangerously excessive.
+
+The level of the lake is to be kept at 85 feet above mean
+sea-level--that is, the dam, or a considerable length of it, will be
+exposed to what is called a "head" of water of 85 feet. The lake itself
+will be 164 square miles in extent. There have been many rational
+anxieties on the sufficiency of the dam. A certain American senator,
+however, who visited the works during the construction, worried himself
+rather unnecessarily on this last figure. Colonel Goethals was showing a
+congressional delegation round the works, and in the course of the
+survey they came to the dam with the broad expanse of water behind it.
+"Colonel," he said, "how is it that so small a body of earth as the
+Gatun dam can hold in check such a tremendous body of water as the Gatun
+Lake?" The chief engineer explained that the pressure of a body of water
+is determined by its height and not by its volume. The inquirer seems
+not to have been satisfied with the statement of this hydrostatic law.
+Senator Knox, afterwards Secretary of State, then came to his aid.
+"Senator," he said, "if your theory were true, how could the dykes of
+Holland hold in check the Atlantic Ocean?" This was a clincher, and the
+sceptic joined in the laugh at his own expense.
+
+All the same, the Gatun dam has two extremely responsible and heavy
+duties to perform. It has to withstand the horizontal thrust of a head
+of 85 feet of water so as not to be carried bodily down the Chagres bed
+into the Atlantic. And it has to block up the valley so effectually that
+the water of the lake shall not percolate through at any point. There is
+every reason to believe that, in spite of all alarums and excursions
+during its construction, it will fulfil both these requirements. Its
+composition and construction may be briefly described. Two bulwarks of
+big rocky fragments were built up on either outer line or "toe" of the
+structure. This rough material was obtained from the lock site, or
+Mindi, or the Culebra Cut twenty-six miles away. The area between these
+piles is filled with silt, and water pumped into it by hydraulic dredges
+from the Chagres valley. The surplus water is carried off through pipes.
+The sodden silt remains and is packed down and consolidated by
+atmospheric pressure. Such a "hydraulic fill" is impervious to water,
+the thrust or "head" of which is very quickly lost in the minute
+interstices or pores of the material. It will be seen how such a
+structure differs from a dam of concrete or stone masonry. It is
+porous, while at the same time impervious to water.
+
+The future traveller through the Panama Canal will probably never guess
+the immensity of the labour that has gone to the building of the Gatun
+dam. Already, indeed, it looks so much like a part of the natural
+landscape that it might well escape special observation altogether. Yet
+nothing less than 21,145,931 cubic yards of material were laid
+down--enough to make a wall of earth three feet high and three feet
+thick reaching nearly halfway round the world. The spillway itself
+contains 225,485 cubic yards of concrete.
+
+It will be noticed that in the dam proper there is no core of masonry or
+puddled chalk or clay whatever. It was at one time intended that there
+should be. I have alluded to the alarmist rumours that were raised again
+and again at Panama and created much uneasiness in the United States.
+These were especially concerned with the great dam, and that word must
+have frequently been on the lips of the engineers in more than one
+significance. Every possible test was applied to determine the exact
+character of the underlying materials, to ascertain whether there was
+any connection between the swamp areas to the north and south through
+the deposits in the gorges which the earthwork was to bridge, to prove
+the ability of the material below to support the structure, and to find
+out whether suitable material for the dam could be found in its
+neighbourhood. "As the result of all these investigations," wrote
+Colonel Goethals,[15] "it may be briefly stated that the underlying
+material is impervious to water; that it possesses ample strength to
+uphold the structure that will be placed upon it, and, the subsoil being
+impervious, that there is no connection between the swamps above and the
+sea below."
+
+In order to make assurance doubly sure, Colonel Goethals planned the dam
+so as to include triple interlocking steel sheet-piling across the
+valley, driven down to bedrock, and decided to carry the dam to a height
+of 135 feet. Even so, the news of a collapse was wired home, and this so
+impressed President Roosevelt that he sent a commission of engineers to
+the isthmus accompanied by President-elect Taft. The investigations had
+a different result from what had been expected. Instead of being
+dissatisfied with the size and strength of the dam, the engineers
+declared that it was being built too high and that the steel piling was
+unnecessary. It must be admitted, therefore, that the efficiency of the
+Gatun dam has been subjected to the most rigorous tests, and that no
+further anxiety on the subject need be felt.
+
+With the blocking of the Chagres outlet at Gatun, the waters of the lake
+have gradually accumulated until they cover an area of 164 square miles.
+Not only the Chagres itself but its tributaries, the Trinidad and
+others, are thus ponded back. The reservoir extends up a number of long
+and winding arms, and is thus very irregular in shape. The bed of the
+channel itself was cleared of brushwood and trees, but the rest of the
+valley was thickly overgrown. As the waters rose, therefore, and
+gradually submerged this primeval forest, a rather dismal spectacle was
+presented of decay and destruction. The lake has, indeed, completely
+altered the aspect of the country. Villages and even small towns, whose
+names had come down from the days of the old navigators, lie buried for
+ever beneath the waters of Lake Gatun. Even now the great expanse of
+water with its wooded islands looks like a natural feature of the
+landscape rather than yesterday's creation of engineering enterprise.
+The vessels in transit will, of course, keep to the dredged and buoyed
+channel, but the channel will itself be invisible, and the traveller,
+after tossing on the restless Caribbean Sea, will enjoy the full
+sensation of a cruise over a landlocked fjord or lake. Lake Gatun is
+indeed twice the size of Lago Maggiore and four-fifths the size of Lake
+Geneva. The journey from Gatun to Bas Obispo, where the waterway again
+assumes the appearance of a canal and enters the Culebra gorge, is 22
+miles, but the same 85-foot level is maintained right to the locks at
+Pedro Miguel, where the waters of Lake Gatun are again retained by a dam
+connecting the walls of the lock with a hill to the west. The rest of
+the lake is held in by the natural configuration of the country, the
+only outlets being at the Gatun spillway and, of course, through the
+locks.
+
+But we must not overlook the main purpose of the lake, which is to
+supply the water for the canal and the lockages. For this purpose
+everything, of course, depends on the rainfall at the isthmus, and the
+question arises whether this may be relied upon to replenish the canal
+with the needful water-supply. Colonel Goethals estimates that in an
+average dry season 58 "lockages," or transits of the canal, per day
+would be possible, which is a greater number than the twenty-four hours
+of the day would permit, allowing vessels to follow each other at
+intervals of one hour. Happily, a resource is still left if the supply
+of water should show signs of proving insufficient. At Alhajuela, on the
+Chagres River, some nine or ten miles above Obispo, there is an
+excellent site for a dam, forming a reservoir where some of the surplus
+water of the rainy season could be stored and supplied to the canal as
+required in the dry months. Details of the construction of such a dam
+were prepared in connection with a former canal-scheme, and would be
+available in case of need.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[15] _The National Geographic Magazine_, February 1911.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE CULEBRA CUT.
+
+
+The most famous section of work on the canal has been that at the
+vertebra or "continental divide," which runs along the isthmus on the
+Pacific side and had to be pierced through by any canal running from
+Colon to Panama. This tremendous work, known as the "Culebra Cut," from
+the name of one of the hills, extends for nine miles from Bas Obispo to
+Pedro Miguel. Mr. Bryce has truly said, referring to this section, that
+"never before on our planet have so much labour, so much scientific
+knowledge, and so much executive skill been concentrated on a work
+designed to bring the nations nearer to one another and serve the
+interests of all mankind."[16] The bottom of the canal in the cut, as in
+the channel through Lake Gatun, is 40 feet above sea-level. The highest
+elevation of the original surface of the ground above the centre line of
+the canal was 312 feet above sea-level, so that the total excavation
+along this saddle was 312 minus 40, or 272 feet. This was, however, not
+actually the highest point of excavation. Gold Hill, close to the canal
+line, is 534 feet above sea-level, and from the top of this hill a new
+and steeper slope had to be made. The surface of the water is 85 feet
+above sea-level, and so is 227 feet below the original saddle at its
+highest elevation. We have already noticed that a tide-level canal would
+have involved an excavation 85 feet deeper, and the width of the cutting
+would have had to be immensely wider. The slides and breaks which have
+rendered the American excavation so much more difficult lead one to
+suppose that the tide-level cutting might have proved impracticable.
+
+All the work at Culebra performed by the French was available for their
+successors. The French companies accounted for 18,646,000 cubic yards of
+material on this section. They had already cut down 152 feet below the
+original surface at its highest elevation, and the cliff they had cut
+in the face of Gold Hill was 374 feet in vertical height. It is well to
+mention such figures, as some people imagine that the French wasted all
+their time and resources at Panama. It may be added that the bottom
+width of the channel adopted by the French engineers was 74 feet,
+whereas that of the American canal will be 300 feet.
+
+Many descriptions have been given by visitors of the spectacle presented
+in this long and deep gash through the mountains during the progress of
+the excavations. From these and the numerous photographs taken at that
+stage the traveller will be able to reconstruct the scene--the two
+hundred miles of railroad construction track, laid down tier above tier
+at different levels; the thousands of men busily at work; the roar and
+smoke of the dynamite tearing the rock into fragments; the mighty
+steam-shovels like great dragons burying their iron teeth in the surface
+of the bank, engulfing a huge mouthful, then swinging round and belching
+it all into the dirt trucks, to be carried off to the dumping-ground at
+Gatun near the Atlantic or Balboa at the Pacific end of the canal. At
+Culebra, Colonel Goethals made the "dirt fly" to the full satisfaction
+of public opinion in the United States. All sorts of devices and
+machinery were employed to hasten and economize the process. For
+example, there was the Ledgerwood Unloader. Railway trucks provided with
+flaps were used, these flaps making a single platform of the whole
+train. At the rear of the train was a plough which could be drawn by a
+wire rope attached to a drum carried on a special car in the fore part
+of the train. When the train arrived at the dumping-ground the drum was
+started, and the plough, advancing from the rear, swept the 320 cubic
+yards and rock from the sixteen cars in seven minutes. Then there was a
+"track-shifter," invented by an employee on the isthmus, which lifted
+and relaid the railway lines as the spoil-tracks had to be shifted. This
+powerful engine raised the track and ties clear of the ground and
+deposited them from three to nine feet sideways.
+
+The "spoil trains" were treated with all the respect which is accorded
+to the fastest mail trains of the day on an English main line. They
+followed one another from the cutting at intervals of three minutes, and
+any delay, of course, balked the mammoth steam-shovel of its gluttonous
+meal on the stones and rubble of the mountain-side. Any cause of delay
+was at once reported by telephone to the superintendent of
+transportation at Empire, and the obstruction was immediately dealt
+with. By this persistent concentration on the main object the dirt has
+been made to fly not only more speedily but more cheaply.
+
+One of the most serious causes of anxiety and difficulty along the canal
+line were the "slides" and "breaks" which kept occurring in the Culebra
+Cut. To use a condensed Americanism, the sides would not "stay put."
+Large masses of material would slide or move from the banks into the
+excavated area, closing off the drainage, upsetting the steam-shovels,
+and tearing up the tracks. A very unpleasant phenomenon was the lifting
+of the shovels in the bottom of the canal due to the bulgings of the
+earth there. It is not necessary to enter into the distinction between
+"slides" and "breaks," or into the learned disquisitions that have been
+written about them. It is sufficient for us to note that they added
+immensely to the amount of material which had to be got out of the
+Culebra gorge. Colonel Goethals tells us that of the 14,325,876 cubic
+yards removed during the year 1909, 884,530 cubic yards, or 6 per cent.,
+were due to slides; that in 1910 of 14,921,750 cubic yards removed,
+2,649,000, or 18 per cent., came from slides or breaks that had
+previously existed or that had developed during the year.
+
+It might have been imagined that these discouraging additions to the
+work would have seriously delayed progress on the canal and put forward
+the date of its completion. But able and economic organization triumphed
+over all these lets and hindrances. At the beginning of the American
+excavations the engineers estimated that 103 million cubic yards of
+"dirt" had still to be removed, and that this work would take nine years
+to accomplish. But that estimate of material proved to be greatly below
+the mark. Enlargements of the canal and the unforeseen collapses in the
+Culebra Cut brought up the total to 195 million cubic yards. It is a
+remarkable evidence of the efficiency and economy of the American
+organization that this immense task will have been completed in about
+six years of actual full-swing work.
+
+Some idea of the way in which Colonel Goethals made the dirt fly may be
+gathered from the fact that in the first five years of his directorship,
+down to April 1912, he removed 160 million cubic yards of material. "If
+all this material," writes Mr. Showalter, "could be placed in a solid
+shaft of the shape of the Washington Monument, with a base as large as
+an average city block, it would tower more than six miles skyward,
+overtopping the earth's loftiest mountain peak by more than a mile.
+Again, if it were to be loaded on to the big Lidgerwood dirt cars used
+on the canal, it would make a string of them reaching over two and a
+half times around the earth, and requiring a string of engines reaching
+from New York to Sac Francisco to move them." It is indeed a remarkable
+achievement that, while the amount of material to be removed was
+increased by about 90 per cent., the time of removal was cut down by 30
+per cent. Nor has the increase of the work added to the estimate of
+cost. The total cost of the completed canal was fixed in 1908 at 375
+million dollars. Yet, in spite of the increased excavations, enough of
+this sum, it is calculated, will be left over to build a new
+breakwater, and perhaps a big storage reservoir at Alhajuela on the
+upper reaches of the Chagres River. In the Culebra Cut, despite the
+landslides, the cost of excavation has actually been reduced by more
+than one-third.
+
+  [Illustration: Culebra Cut, from West Bank, showing Shovels at Work.]
+
+The pessimists have of course been busy with these landslides in the
+"Cut." They predicted that the canal along this section would always be
+exposed to danger from that source. But here, too, every precaution has
+been taken. The engineers have given a much lower slope to the sides of
+the canal, which is therefore wider at the top than had been originally
+planned. The slopes will also be sown with creeping grasses and other
+plants, which will bind down the surface soil. When the forty-five feet
+of water are in the canal, the bottom will be held down by the weight,
+and the bulgings no longer take place. Moreover, any earth that, in
+spite of all precautions, still manages to slide into the canal should
+be easily dealt with by the big 20-inch suction dredges, which can be
+brought up through the locks and set to work. So we need not trouble
+much about the stability of things along this nine-mile section through
+the Culebra Mountains.
+
+Here as elsewhere it is possible to give only a very general idea of the
+difficulties which were encountered and overcome in the course of
+construction. The drainage of the "Cut" during the work was in itself a
+heavy and important task. It was necessary to keep out the water of the
+surrounding country and to rid the excavated area of water collecting in
+it. A system of diversion channels, carrying off the Obispo River and
+its tributaries, effected the first object, and the second problem was
+solved by gravity drains and pumps. On the whole, this mighty trench
+through the isthmian hills is not only the biggest thing to the credit
+of a nation which delights in bigness, but the greatest achievement of
+its kind the world has ever seen.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[16] "South America," p. 26.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE LOCKS.
+
+
+The Panama Canal belongs to the "age of concrete." All other vast works
+of construction, such as the Pyramids of antiquity and the Assouan Dam
+of to-day, have been built of live natural rock. At Panama
+everything--locks, wharves, piers, breakwaters--has been constructed of
+concrete. The Americans have not only built these incomparable piles of
+masonry; they have manufactured the material out of which they are
+built. This circumstance makes the rapid completion of the canal all the
+more wonderful. Not less than four and a half million cubic yards of
+artificial stone have been produced for the built portions of the canal
+and its accessories. This amount of concrete, we are informed, would
+make an ordinary sidewalk nine feet wide by six inches thick reaching
+more than twice round the earth.
+
+The broken stone which is one of the ingredients of concrete was
+quarried and transported from Porto Bello--a name famous in the annals
+of West Indian romance--20 miles to the east of Colon; while the sand
+came mostly from Nombre de Dios, also a celebrated place 20 miles
+further to the east, the Atlantic terminal of the old paved
+trans-isthmian road along which the Spanish mule convoys brought the
+silver of the Incas from Panama. Millions of yards of stone came from
+Porto Bello. Hundreds of bargeloads of sand came from Nombre de Dios and
+from islands in the Atlantic and Pacific. Myriads of barrels of cement
+were shipped from the United States to Cristobal, an outskirt of Colon,
+thence carried by barges to Gatun or by railway to the Pedro Miguel and
+Miraflores lock sites. Dozens of mighty "mixers" were ready to receive
+these diverse materials. Each of these could accommodate ten tons of
+sand, cement, crushed stones, and water. This indigestible mixture the
+machine would toss and churn round for a minute or so in its interior
+and then belch it all out in the shape of unhardened artificial stone.
+
+The belief in concrete among the builders of the Panama Canal has been
+almost a superstition. They invented a sort of cement gun to shoot sand
+and water against the sides of the Culebra Cut, so as to form a coating
+of solid artificial rock, but the experiment rather deserved than
+achieved success. Of course all such structures as lighthouses were
+built wholly of concrete, and it is reported that even barges were
+constructed of this adaptable material. As regards concrete and its
+nature and behaviour nothing was taken for granted. Every means was
+taken of testing such important matters as the effect of sea-water on
+this material, the time it takes for these huge masses of artificial
+stone to settle, and many other questions on the answer to which the
+permanence and stability of the locks and the entire waterway would
+depend. The Panama Canal, writes Mr. Showalter, is "the greatest effort
+man ever has made, and perhaps ever will make, to simulate the processes
+of geologic ages, and do in days what Nature required unreckoned years
+to accomplish."
+
+These remarks about concrete naturally lead us to the subject of the
+Panama locks, the magnificent stairway at Gatun, the single-step locks
+at Pedro Miguel (or, as the worker quickly Anglicized it, Peter Magill),
+and the double-step flight at Miraflores. The most impressive of these
+is the colossal duplicated three-step flight at Gatun, up which the
+vessel in transit is lifted from the end of the sea-level
+seven-mile-long entrance channel through Limon Bay to Gatun up to the
+surface of Gatun Lake, 85 feet above the level of the sea. This giant
+staircase has been constructed in a cutting through the hill which
+retains at this end the waters of the artificial lake. A tremendous
+amount of excavation, upwards of 5,000,000 cubic yards, was necessary,
+and the locks, which are constructed entirely of concrete, contain about
+2,046,100 cubic yards of that material. The chambers of all the locks in
+the canal will have a usable length of 1,000 feet and a width of 110
+feet. These dimensions should prove large enough for the largest ships
+not only existing but likely to be constructed for many years to come.
+They satisfy the requirement of the Spooner Act that the canal shall be
+"of sufficient capacity and depth to afford convenient passage for
+vessels of the largest tonnage and greatest draft now in use, and such
+as may reasonably be expected." More than 95 per cent. of the ships now
+afloat are less than 600 feet in length, so that a good margin is
+allowed. We may be certain that the American government has given the
+closest attention to the question of the length and breadth of the
+lock-chambers, for the canal, we must remember, is primarily a military
+passage for the purpose of transferring, if need be, the entire American
+fleet from the Atlantic to the Pacific seaboard. The locks of the Kiel
+Canal, it may be added for purposes of comparison, have an available
+length of 492 feet and a width of 82 feet.
+
+The vessel, then, in order to gain the level of Gatun Lake from the
+Atlantic entrance, has to pass through a flight of three successive
+locks. The maximum lift is 32 feet, or about four feet higher than at
+any other locks now in use. All the locks along the Panama Canal are
+duplicated--that is, there are two parallel sets with a common
+centre-wall--so that two ships could be simultaneously put through both
+flights in the same or in opposite directions. This "double-tracking"
+is in itself one of the many precautions taken against accidents at the
+locks. There are no locks in the world where these precautions are so
+minute and numerous. It is all of course in the interests of the owners
+to inspire the maximum of confidence in maritime circles. Complete
+efficiency in the operation of the canal, absolute safety for the
+vessels and cargoes entrusted for ten or twelve hours to its keeping,
+are the elementary conditions of success. Each lock through which the
+vessel passes is equipped with two pairs of mitre gates--that is, double
+swinging doors--the biggest lock-gates in the world; but in all cases
+the uppermost locks have a second pair of gates, so that if some unruly
+vessel were to ram open one set of gates there would still be another
+set ready to receive it. But even this is not all. Heavy chains are
+stretched across the channel with the ends attached to hydraulic
+paying-out machinery. These chains and their attachments are capable of
+bringing to a dead stop a vessel of 10,000 tons moving at the rate of
+five miles an hour. And still the precautionary devices are not
+exhausted. Let us suppose that all these barriers were broken down,
+though such a disaster is almost beyond the bounds of things possible.
+At the head of each flight of locks there are provided great cantilever
+swing-bridges which can be thrown across the channel in case of
+accident. From these bridges a series of nickel-steel wicket girders
+could be let down. The lower ends of these girders would drop into a
+sort of sill at the bottom of the rushing waters. The girders would then
+act as small perpendicular runways, down which large steel sheets on
+rollers would be let down, gradually damming back the escaping waters.
+
+And lastly, in order to avoid all recourse to these emergency
+contrivances, it is ordained that no vessel shall enter any chamber of
+any locks under its own steam. Nearly all the accidents that happen in
+locks are due to the vessels being worked independently of the lock
+authorities when passing through. Captains may be as anxious as possible
+to avoid mistakes, but there is many a slip possible between an order
+and its fulfilment. So the lock operators are not going to be
+responsible for the safety of a vessel which is not entirely under their
+own control. None will be allowed to negotiate the locks under its own
+motive-power. A series of electric towing-stations will be set up on the
+side walls of the locks. When a vessel approaches it will be brought to
+a standstill outside the locks. Then four of these towing engines will
+be fastened to it by means of hawsers--two at the stem, in order to draw
+the vessel into the locks, and two at the stern, to check its speed and
+bring it to a standstill when necessary. And this control will of course
+be exercised all through its passage to the upper or lower levels. We
+should certainly not hear of any accidents in the lock-chambers of the
+Panama Canal.
+
+  [Illustration: Gatun Locks, looking South-West, showing North End of
+  the Locks.]
+
+It is expected that a vessel will be passed through the three locks at
+Gatun in about fifty minutes, though some delay may be caused in the
+approach. On the Atlantic side the water of the canal will be smooth,
+and the ship will be in some degree sheltered from the winds, so that
+there should be no difficulty in the approach from that direction.
+Coming from Lake Gatun to the locks the vessel may experience a little
+rough water, though there is seldom a great force of wind there, and the
+lake will be free from currents. As regards the Pacific side, the ocean
+there fully corresponds with its name. It is always calm, and not the
+slightest difficulty may be anticipated from either winds or waves or
+currents.
+
+Over thirty miles away at the southern extremity of the Culebra Cut the
+vessel in transit will be lowered from the high-level lake 30 feet down
+to the surface of another artificial lake much smaller in content, held
+at a surface-height of 55 feet above sea-level. These are the
+single-step duplicate locks known as the Pedro Miguel or "Peter Magill."
+The construction of these locks required 770,000 cubic yards of cement.
+On the west side of these locks is the other dam which, with the mighty
+Gatun dam at the other end, holds up the waters of Lake Gatun. This
+smaller dam is also of earth, and is about 1,400 feet long and 40 feet
+wide at the top. It is subjected to a maximum "head" of water of 40
+feet, but the average is from 25 to 30 feet. The length of the lake,
+which is known by the pretty name of "Miraflores," between the Peter
+Magill and the next set of locks, is about 2,000 yards, and the lake
+itself covers about 1,200 acres. Its waters are held up at 55 feet
+above sea-level by two dams at the Miraflores locks.
+
+These are the third and last set of locks for a ship proceeding from the
+Atlantic to the Pacific. They are in two steps, or, to use the more
+technical expression, "two in flight," and they drop the vessel from the
+Miraflores Lake at 55 feet elevation down to sea-level. It must be
+noticed, however, that the fluctuations in the tide of the Pacific end
+are about 20 feet, and that the height of the lake is given for mean
+tide. In other words low water during "spring" tides is 10 feet below
+the average sea-level. The maximum lift for these locks therefore will
+be 65 feet. There are two dams holding up the waters of the Miraflores
+Lake, one to the west of earth, and one to the east of concrete. The
+former is 2,300 feet long and 40 feet wide at the top. The average
+"head" to which it is subjected is 30 feet, the maximum 40. Its
+construction is similar to that at Gatun. The concrete dam is about 500
+feet long, and is provided with regulating works similar to and of the
+same dimensions as those at Gatun, the crest in this instance being 39
+feet above mean tide-level, with seven openings, allowing a discharge
+of 7,500 cubic feet per second. The locks themselves will require
+1,312,000 cubic feet of concrete. I should add that these dams at Pedro
+Miguel and Miraflores are, unlike their big brother at Gatun, founded
+upon the solid bedrock. There has, therefore, been no question as to
+their permanence and stability. Moreover, as will have been noticed, the
+pressure of water is only about a half of that at Gatun.
+
+The relaying of most of the old Panama railroad was proceeding _pari
+passu_ with the construction of the canal. Two sections of the old line,
+one from Colon to Mindi at the Atlantic end, the other from Corozal to
+Panama at the Pacific end, could be used for the new. All the rest had
+to be built. The greater portion of the old track was, indeed, submerged
+beneath the waters of Lake Gatun. The line is also being doubled
+throughout almost its entire length. It was originally intended to carry
+the line through the Culebra Cut along a berm 10 feet above the water
+surface, to be left for this purpose during the excavations of the
+channel; but the "slides" interfered with this project, and a new line
+to the east of the Cut was selected. The heavy embankments along the
+railway were among the most useful and convenient "dumps" for the
+material taken out of the Culebra cutting. As a great part of the
+railroad passes through the lake, culverts of reinforced concrete are
+provided to equalize the water on both sides of the embankments. South
+of Miraflores the new railway passes through a tunnel 800 feet long, and
+a striking feature of the canal is a steel bridge across the Chagres
+River near Gamboa, almost a quarter of a mile long. We need not dwell on
+the excavations of the tidal stretches of the canal on the Atlantic and
+Pacific ends or through Lake Gatun. A good deal of the French work was
+available at the tidal levels, but a vast amount of excavation had still
+to be done by steam-shovels as well as dredges, rocky elevations being
+found in both channels. Below the Miraflores locks a million and a half
+cubic yards of rock had to be removed. There will be some tidal current
+at the Pacific end, but as the sea-level section here will be 500 feet
+wide, the current will never run faster than about one foot per second.
+The sea is practically tideless at the Atlantic terminal, the variation
+being only 2.5 as a maximum, whereas at the Pacific it is 21.1.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE COMPLETED CANAL.
+
+
+We may now begin to consider the canal as a whole and in its completed
+state. From deep water in Limon Bay, 41-foot depth at mean tide, to deep
+water outside Panama, 45-foot depth at mean tide, is just about 50
+miles. The greater part of the canal is at high elevation, only 15 miles
+of it being at sea-level. We shall note the varying depths and widths of
+the channel when we take our imaginary journey along it. Here it is
+enough to say that the minimum width will be 300 feet, the minimum depth
+41 feet, the breadth and depth being, however, for the greater portion
+of its course, greater than these dimensions. Its highest point above
+sea-level, as the reader already knows, is 85 feet--that is, 85 feet at
+the surface of the water, and 40 feet at the canal bottom. The depth
+along this stretch is therefore 45 feet. The Panama Canal, though not
+so long as the Kiel and Suez Canals, is very much broader and deeper.
+Suez is 108 feet wide and 31 feet deep as _minima_; Kiel, 72 feet and
+29-1/2 feet. The Manchester Ship Canal is 120 feet by 26 feet. In length
+Panama, with its 50 miles, comes third, Suez being 90, Kiel 61, and
+Manchester 35-1/2 miles long.
+
+During the building of the canal the department of construction and
+engineering was arranged in three divisions--the Atlantic, embracing the
+engineering construction from deep water in the Caribbean Sea to include
+the Gatun locks and dam; the central division, extending from Gatun to
+Pedro Miguel; and the Pacific division, from Pedro Miguel to deep water
+in the Pacific Ocean. For the ordinary student, however, the channel
+divides naturally into four sections, the Atlantic level, the lake, the
+cutting, and the Pacific section (in two levels separated by locks).
+
+The invisible channel of the waterway begins at the mouth of Limon Bay,
+about eight miles from Gatun locks. Limon, also known as Colon or Navy
+Bay, is about three miles wide and three and a half miles long from
+north to south. It is shallow, from three to seven fathoms deep, and
+seems to be steadily growing shallower. This is not surprising, as it is
+fully exposed to the "northers," which blow with terrific force from the
+Caribbean, and no doubt carry into the bay a good deal of detritus from
+the bottom of the sea. The heavy rains of the isthmus must also scour
+the land perpetually down into the bay. On the east side of the bay is
+the flat Manzanillo Island, a mile long by three-quarters broad, on
+which stands the city of Colon. This town, which was once known as
+Aspinwall, owes its existence to the Panama Railway, of which it is the
+northern or Caribbean terminus. Its position on the railway gave it an
+advantage over the old town of Chagres, a little distance along the
+coast to the west, which, though once a flourishing port, has now fallen
+on evil days. Near Colon is Cristobal, the new Atlantic terminal of the
+canal.
+
+  [Illustration: Gatun Upper Lock, looking North from Lighthouse.]
+
+Without some protection the entrance to the canal would have been
+exposed to the extremely violent storms which occur in the Caribbean
+during the winter months. During these storms vessels cannot lie safely
+in Colon harbour, and could not safely enter or issue from the canal.
+So a breakwater two miles long has been run out from Toro point in an
+easterly direction, covering the extremity of the canal. A glance at the
+map will suggest a thought that this barrier will not provide sufficient
+protection, and that another breakwater will have to be run out from the
+eastern shore. Such a further protection will be provided if the need
+should arise.
+
+At this point then, west of Colon and at the mouth of Limon Bay, our
+vessel enters the buoyed submarine channel of the canal and speeds
+onwards along the first section of the waterway, 500 feet in
+bottom-width and 41 feet deep, towards the locks at Gatun. But the locks
+are not yet visible. It is not until the fifth mile--that is, at
+Mindi--that a bend of the canal opens that gigantic structure to view,
+and by that time the vessel has left the broad waters and is enclosed
+within banks. The experience which awaits the traveller who has looked
+forward with some excitement to see the world's greatest wonder of
+to-day has been vividly imagined by Mr. Bryce. Our late American
+Ambassador writes:--
+
+      The voyager of the future, in the ten or twelve hours of his
+      passage from ocean to ocean, will have much variety. The
+      level light of the fiery tropic dawn will fall on the houses
+      of Colon as he approaches it in the morning, when vessels
+      usually arrive. When his ship has mounted the majestic
+      staircase of the three Gatun locks from the Atlantic level,
+      he will glide slowly and softly along the waters of a broad
+      lake which gradually narrows toward its head--a lake
+      enclosed by rich forests of that velvety softness one sees
+      in the tropics, with vistas of forest-girt islets stretching
+      far off to right and left among the hills; a welcome change
+      from the restless Caribbean Sea which he has left. Then the
+      mountains will close in upon him, steep slopes of grass or
+      brushwood rising two hundred feet above him as he passes
+      through the great Cut. From the level of the Miguel lock he
+      will look southward down the broad vale that opens on the
+      ocean flooded with the light of the declining sun, and see
+      the rocky islets rising, between which in the twilight his
+      course will lie out into the vast Pacific. At Suez the
+      passage from sea to sea is through a dreary and monotonous
+      waste of shifting sand and barren clay. Here one is for a
+      few hours in the centre of a verdant continent, floating on
+      smooth waters, shut off from sight of the ocean behind and
+      the ocean before--a short sweet present of tranquillity
+      between a stormy past and a stormy future.
+
+The Gatun locks, each chamber of which is a sort of "canyon of cement,"
+will almost oppress the imagination with the sense of immensity. At the
+foot of the locks the vessel will surrender its own volition and entrust
+itself wholly to the canal operators. It will be attached to the
+electric apparatus ashore and gently towed into the lock-chambers. In
+less than an hour it should have climbed the three gigantic steps and be
+afloat on the surface of the lake, 85 feet above sea-level. The
+traveller might fail even to notice of himself the great dam which abuts
+on the locks to the west. He may be surprised to hear that the whole
+being of the canal depends upon that earthwork, and that with the
+Culebra Cut it absorbed the greater part of the labour and skill and
+solicitude of the canal-builders. The Gatun dam has indeed been so
+adopted and transfigured by Nature that it appears only a part, and not
+a very conspicuous part, of the landscape. Nor would our traveller,
+without previous information, guess the history of the great expanse of
+water which stretches to right and left up many a distant arm or loch
+and round many a picturesque island, and over which his vessel, once
+more resuming its own power and control, begins to advance. The buoys
+alone indicate that the channel, the true and well-wrought link between
+the two oceans, still holds its course through the bed of the lake. Mr.
+Bryce has pointed out what a pleasant interlude in a long ocean journey
+will be afforded by this placid glide of 22 miles over the inland lake
+from Gatun to Gamboa. The bottom widths through the lake are 1,000 feet
+for 16 miles, 800 feet for 4 miles, and 500 feet for about 3 miles.
+
+At Gamboa the vessel enters the eight-mile section of the Culebra Cut.
+Here again, though the traveller in future days will need no reminding
+of the enterprise represented by this tremendous trench driven through
+the backbone of the isthmus, he will have to imagine the busy scene
+during the days of construction which will then have disappeared. He
+must try to reproduce what was little less than a manufacturing town at
+Gorgona, just near the entrance to the Cut, where stood the machine
+shops, boiler shops, smith shops, car shops, pattern shops, where
+repairs of all kinds were made and machines of all sorts and sizes
+constructed. He should think of that model residential town to the west
+of the Cut where the chief engineer and his assistants lived, surrounded
+by the quarters of the men, each dwelling protected with its fine wire
+netting to exclude the mosquitoes, the whole settlement scrupulously
+clean and bright with well-kept lawns and flowerbeds. All this will have
+passed away with the crowds of workers who interrupted for a dozen years
+the stillness of the primeval forest. Nature and silence will in a large
+degree have resumed their sway, but the world will not forget the debt
+it owes to that conquering industrial army which divided the land here
+in order to unite the nations.
+
+Through the cutting the bottom width of the canal is 300 feet. Having
+accomplished the eight or nine mile passage through the deep gorge, the
+vessel reaches the end of the high-level section at the Pedro Miguel
+locks. Here she is gently lowered 30 feet down to the bosom of little
+Miraflores Lake, held at 55 feet above sea-level. The length of this
+subsection is about a mile and a half, and it ends at the Miraflores
+locks, where the ship is lowered by two steps to the level of the
+Pacific. Then follows the last stage of this eventful transit--the
+eight-mile tidal section along which the vessel glides between low
+swamps to her own element of deep sea-water beyond the new port of
+Balboa, west of Panama, whose wharves are being constructed from the
+waste material of the inland excavations. The new breakwater which runs
+out from Balboa to Naos Island suggests wind and storm. But eternal calm
+reigns along these shores, and the object of the breakwater is to
+protect the line of the canal, not from heavy seas, but from the
+silt-bearing currents from the east which set at right angles to the
+channel. Constant dredging was necessary to prevent the bed of the canal
+becoming filled with this sediment. The dyke has proved very effectual
+for this purpose.
+
+Such is the Panama Canal which has for so many centuries been the desire
+of the nations, and which is now one of the permanent geographical
+features of the globe. It is so well and truly constructed that nothing
+short of an earthquake could ever seriously damage it. The question
+naturally arises whether this ultimate danger needs to be seriously
+considered. Panama is rather suspiciously close to a region where
+geological conditions are not remarkable for stability. The earthquake
+at Kingston a few years ago was as destructive a calamity as those of
+Messina and San Francisco. Costa Rica, too, almost an isthmian country,
+enjoys a very bad reputation for this kind of friskiness. Panama,
+however, seems happily to lie outside the zone of such disturbances.
+Slight earthquake shocks have been felt, probably only the reflections
+of severer shocks elsewhere. But there is no record or tradition of a
+really serious convulsion. There is, indeed, one visible and reassuring
+evidence of the self-possession of the earth's surface in this region.
+To the east of the modern city of Panama is the site of old Panama, of
+which the lofty tower of the old cathedral--a pathetic and picturesque
+object--is still standing. This shows that there has been no serious
+earthquake here for the greater part of four centuries. Still, the
+danger--great or small--does exist, and it threatens a high-level canal,
+with its elaborate lock-machinery and masonry, far more than it would
+have affected a canal at sea-level. No very severe convulsion might be
+necessary to throw one of these locks out of gear, and the entire canal,
+therefore, out of operation for a considerable time. But against such
+perils there is no guarding, and every precaution having been taken
+against foreseeable and preventable dangers, all else must be left to
+the disposal of that Providence "which by his strength setteth fast the
+mountains," "who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not
+be removed for ever."
+
+  [Illustration: Gatun Upper Lock--West Chamber.]
+
+It seems incredible that the canal should ever be in danger of injury or
+destruction from the attack of any civilized Power, because all nations
+are apparently interested in its preservation. What, then, is the
+meaning of these slopes which are being prepared for forts and batteries
+at either end of the canal? "With the two great forts at the two ends
+of the canal," writes Mr. Showalter, "fitted with four 14-inch guns, six
+6-inch guns, and twelve 12-inch mortars, with twelve companies of coast
+artillery, one battery of field artillery, four regiments of infantry,
+and one squad of cavalry, there is not likely to arise a time when these
+fortifications, backed up by the American navy, will fail to command a
+proper and wholesome respect from other nations." Yet if the object were
+simply to maintain the neutrality of the canal, the best course would
+seem to have been to leave the canal entirely unfortified, as is the
+case at Suez, and trust to the moral influence of the great Powers and
+their common interest in keeping the canal free and open to the world's
+traffic. Obviously the idea of making the canal zone a big military camp
+and arsenal is not so much to "police" the passage as a great
+international waterway, but to defend it and the zone as a position of
+immense strategic importance to the United States. President Hayes, in a
+message to the Senate in 1880, spoke of the canal as "the great ocean
+thoroughfare between our Atlantic and Pacific ports, and _virtually a
+part of the coastline of the United States_." The words I have
+italicized seem to show that the United States regard the new passage
+rather as wholly proprietary, like those of Kiel and Corinth, than as
+international in status, like the Suez Canal.
+
+In the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty there is no specific reference to
+fortification. The only allusion to the defence of the canal occurs in
+the second subsection of the third clause: "The United States shall be
+at liberty to maintain such military police along the canal as may be
+necessary to protect it against lawlessness and disorder." The
+Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty is rather more specific in its provisions on
+this subject, though even that instrument seems scarcely to have
+contemplated an armament and garrison on the large and permanent scale
+intended at the isthmus.[17]
+
+England has, however, acquiesced in the proposed fortification. The
+decision is not likely to be challenged in any other quarter. The United
+States have built the canal with their own money and enterprise. They
+are more closely and immediately interested in the passage than any
+other Power, and so long as they fulfil their undertaking to afford
+equal treatment in tolls and other respects to the commerce of all
+nations, nobody is likely to protest against the presence of American
+men and guns at the isthmus.
+
+Indeed, there is some force in the plea that the complete neutralization
+of the canal would be inconsistent with American control and operation.
+In time of war the Americans would have had either to refrain from using
+the canal for their warships (an unthinkable proposition) or to permit
+their enemy or enemies to use it on equal terms. This would have meant a
+rather painful experience for the American engineers, managers, workmen,
+and others on the isthmus. They would have been obliged to put the
+enemy's vessels through the canal, and thus commit a sort of legalized
+treason against their own government by giving "aid and comfort" to the
+enemy. So it comes to this--that the canal will be neutral at all times
+except when the United States are themselves a belligerent. Then it will
+become part and parcel of the sovereign dominions of the great American
+Republic.
+
+But the United States will have to stand all the ulterior possibilities
+of this position. If they were at war the canal would be at once liable
+to attack. In fact it would invite attack as a very vulnerable point in
+their armour. It has been truly said that the canal zone will have all
+the disadvantages, without any of the advantages, of an island. It will
+be entirely dependent on imported supplies and isolated from the centre
+of American power. If the American fleet lost the command of the sea
+even for a short time, the enemy could land troops at any part of the
+isthmus, march them against any point of the extended canal line and
+inflict on the United States a wound in a very sensitive, if not a vital
+region. So that instead of simply doubling the efficiency of the
+existing American fleet, by enabling it to be transferred swiftly and
+bodily from the western to the eastern coast, it may rather add to the
+naval responsibilities of the States and compel a considerable increase
+in their sea-power. To Englishmen, however, this development of the
+power and resources of the United States ought to bring no feelings but
+those of pleasure and satisfaction. In view of the great secular
+struggle between East and West for supremacy in the Pacific, which some
+people think will fill the pages of future world history, anything that
+strengthens the position and prestige of Anglo-Saxondom as the main
+guardian of Western ideas and principles should be welcome to all the
+members of that race.
+
+It is estimated that the fortification of the canal will cost about
+$12,000,000. This added to the $375,000,000, the estimated cost of
+construction, will bring the entire bill up to the round and goodly sum
+of $400,000,000 or L80,000,000. This puts all other expenditure on
+artificial water-channels into the shade, as the Suez Canal cost only
+L19,000,000, the Manchester Ship Canal L15,000,000, and the Kiel Canal
+L8,000,000. As regards this expense and the possibilities of revenue
+returns, Colonel Goethals has written an interesting passage:--
+
+      Much has been said and predicted as to the commercial value
+      of the canal to the United States. In this connection it
+      must be remembered that the commercial shipping of this
+      country never required the canal. The trip of the _Oregon_
+      in 1898 settled the question of the advisability of
+      constructing an isthmian canal, and had the canal been built
+      at that time, thereby saving that trip around the Horn,
+      there is no question that it would have been agreed
+      generally that the canal, even at an expenditure of
+      $375,000,000, was worth while.
+
+      In whatever light the Panama Canal is viewed, it will have
+      paid for itself if in time of war or threatened war a
+      concentration of the fleet is effected without that long,
+      tedious, uncertain route followed by the _Oregon_.
+
+      It will practically double the efficiency of that fleet,
+      and, notwithstanding the fact that we are a peaceful nation,
+      our outlying possessions make the Panama Canal a military
+      necessity, and it must be so recognized. From this point of
+      view the debt should be charged to the account which
+      necessitated its construction, and whatever revenues are
+      derived from other sources are so much to the good. The
+      traffic that will utilize the canal depends upon the tolls
+      that will be charged, and the President has asked the
+      Congress for legislation which will enable the establishment
+      of rates.
+
+      There is another policy which, if adopted, will have a
+      material bearing on the revenues of the enterprise. Through
+      the Panama railroad a large expenditure of money has been
+      made for providing the present working forces with supplies
+      of all kinds. Though the railroad has been reimbursed for
+      this plant through fixed charges on sales, it should not be
+      abandoned, but utilized for furnishing shipping with its
+      needed supplies. Suitable coaling plants should be erected
+      for the sale of coal to vessels touching at or passing
+      through the canal. In addition, since oil is now used on a
+      number of ships plying in the Pacific, such fuel should also
+      be on hand for sale by the canal authorities.
+
+      The extensive machine shops now located at Gorgona must be
+      moved before the completion of the canal, and they should be
+      established in connection with a dry dock that will be
+      needed for commercial purposes, and utilized as a revenue
+      producer for the canal. This policy also needs
+      Congressional action.
+
+      With properly regulated tolls, and with facilities for fully
+      equipping, supplying, and repairing ships, the Panama route
+      would offer many advantages and bring to it a sufficiently
+      remunerative return to pay, not only the operating expenses,
+      but to gradually absorb the debt which the United States has
+      incurred by its construction.
+
+We shall return to the question of tolls in a later chapter.
+
+  [Illustration: Pedro Miguel Locks, from Hill on East Bank.]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[17] See _ante_, page 71.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+PANAMA AND THE ISTHMUS.
+
+
+It may be convenient to deal here with a few detached questions before
+inquiring into the commercial and maritime changes likely to be produced
+by the canal. The reader understands the position of the United States
+at the isthmus. They control a zone of territory ten miles wide running
+across from Panama to Colon. These two towns are, however, not included
+politically, though they are geographically, within the zone. This
+narrow strip of territory with its precious canal runs right through a
+foreign country in which the social and political conditions existing
+must be a matter of importance to the canal-owners. One cannot help
+wondering how long this state of things is likely to continue. Panama,
+the youngest of the South and Central American republics, is no better
+than the rest in its governmental principles. Indeed, the republic had
+scarcely got into being when it was threatened with a military
+revolution. A pompous and polysyllabic self-importance, coupled with a
+levantine standard of business and financial ethics, scarcely promises a
+long continuance of the present political relations with a great
+republic which is not likely to see its achievement at the isthmus in
+the smallest degree prejudiced or endangered.
+
+Some interesting little details of Panamanian manners have been
+reported. For example, Chinese immigration is forbidden by law, yet,
+strange to say, most of the retail trade of the isthmus is in Celestial
+hands. This is because the law against immigration gave the opportunity
+for the formation of a syndicate with the collusion of the authorities,
+by which Chinese were introduced at a rate of $200 entrance fee. The
+judicial standards which prevail in this little Bumbledom may be
+gathered from another story. The mate of a British ship was recently
+sentenced to twelve years' hard labour for manslaughter, because he was
+held responsible on no evidence whatever for the loss of a ship and the
+lives of several relatives of _those serving on the jury_.
+
+It is scarcely to be expected that a people for whom ideals and
+standards of this kind are good enough will take much trouble to develop
+their country. An efficient and responsible administration might make a
+good deal of these narrow lands between the two oceans, a territory of
+33,000 square miles, larger, that is, than Scotland or Ireland. It is
+perhaps as well that the construction of the canal has not made many
+Panamanian fortunes or produced any great boom in trade. Otherwise the
+withdrawal of the industrial army from the zone might have had the
+effect produced when the French canal works were shut down. A grievous
+famine desolated the whole country. This is not likely to happen again.
+The zone has been largely an independent and detached enclave, such as
+never existed during the French occupation, when the Panamanians became
+dependent for work and wage on the industrial invaders. The American
+canal employees have done very little shopping in Panama and Colon,
+because they could buy every necessity and luxury duty-free in the
+United States government stores. Some trade may be lost owing to the
+departure of the workers, but it is hoped that this will be more than
+replaced by the growing stream of tourists who will come to visit the
+"big ditch," and increased business brought by the shipping which will
+pass through the canal.
+
+With a little thrift and enterprise the Panamanians might have profited
+much more from the long period of construction. They might have supplied
+the zone with a good many more articles. As it was, the only
+contribution the country made to the zone or to the towns was about
+28,000 head of cattle killed annually. The country is almost entirely
+dependent on imported supplies, only a small fraction of which it pays
+for by exports. Here is a little instructive table of the Panamanian
+commerce:--
+
+          Imports.      Exports.
+ 1908    L1,561,362    L365,410
+ 1909    L1,751,261    L300,495
+ 1910    L2,008,679    L353,866
+ 1911    L1,980,488    L179,941[18]
+
+The excess of imports over exports looks rather alarming, but it is
+adequately explained by the British Consul at Colon as "a measure of the
+commercial value to Panama of its transit trade and of the trade with
+canal employees and tourists." The great bulk of the imports is consumed
+in the two towns of Panama and Colon, for, as in most of the South
+American republics, the interior is undeveloped and therefore
+self-supporting, being still in the "pack-mule" stage of civilization.
+
+In 1911 the imports into Panama from the United States amounted to
+L1,024,589, from the United Kingdom to L454,541, and from Germany to
+L223,845. France, Italy, and Spain exported to Panama smaller
+quantities. The exports from Panama to the United States amounted in
+1910 to L301,684 (1911, first six months, L150,990); to the United
+Kingdom, to L33,055 (1911, first six months, L15,921), with smaller
+values to Germany and France. The reader will be interested to learn
+what sort of things Panama exports. Here, then, is a list of the
+principal exports for 1910, the last full year available:--
+
+                            1910.                       L
+ Bananas                   Bunches     3,643,900     184,257
+ Cacao                      Kilos         18,021         940
+ Cocoanuts                    "        6,305,238      31,534
+ Cocobolo                     "        1,203,522       7,132
+ Gold                         "            2,748      26,995
+ Hides                        "          567,454      16,973
+ Horns                        "            6,893       1,410
+ Ivory Nuts                   "        2,102,743      26,527
+ Mother-of-pearl shell        "          625,008      10,183
+ Rubber                       "        6,305,238      31,534
+ Sarsaparilla                 "           32,553       2,099
+ Skins                        "          257,740       4,750
+ Tortoise shell               "            3,829       3,334
+
+The United Fruit Company has now, in the province of Bocas del Toro,
+32,000 acres of bananas under cultivation and 1,000 acres planted in
+cacao, with about 165,000 trees; the bananas being exported to the
+United States, and the chocolate to the United States and Europe. There
+should be a considerable increase in rubber production during the next
+few years, as 150,000 rubber trees have been recently planted in this
+province, and these will soon be ready for tapping. Nearly all the
+rubber exported at present is taken from the wild trees growing in the
+virgin forests of this province. A curious article of exportation is the
+ivory nut, or _tagua_, which in value now comes next after bananas.
+These nuts are collected by Indians on the Caribbean coast, brought to
+Colon, and there bought by merchants and shipped to New York and
+Hamburg. They are used to make the big buttons which are now so
+fashionable, and probably a good many English girls who are wearing
+coats "made in Germany," are carrying about a number of these ivory nuts
+which not long ago were lying on the tropical shores of the Caribbean.
+The timber exports from Panama would grow rapidly with proper
+exploitation. Exports of mahogany, cedar, and cocobolo have already
+begun.
+
+The gold exports come mainly from the mines of the Darien Company, a
+French company which has been working for years. The whole isthmus is
+strongly under suspicion of gold. All the streams show evidence of it,
+and prospectors are always searching the Darien country and the
+provinces of Los Santos and Veraguas for the saint-seducing metal. No
+other minerals are worked in the isthmus. There are "coal-deposits" of a
+sort in the canal zone, but the coal is of no commercial value.
+
+The only railway at present existing in the republic is that between
+Colon and Panama, the entire stock of which is owned by the United
+States government, and is worked as a company under the laws of the
+state of New York. This line, which has had to be largely reconstructed
+owing to the course of the new canal, was opened in 1855. It is rather
+surprising that it should not have been more extensively employed for
+traffic between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of America. As a matter
+of fact, it was the main highway of transcontinental traffic until 1869,
+when the Missouri River was first linked up with the Pacific coast by
+the Union and Central Pacific Railroads, and the first continuous line
+across the States came into existence. After that date the traffic fell
+off very rapidly. The causes of this decline are various. To begin with,
+the great trunk-lines across the States competed ruthlessly with the old
+isthmian route, getting control of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company,
+which was for long the only regular line between the west coasts of the
+United States and Panama. Then the French and American construction work
+has seriously interfered with the route by limiting the amount of
+commercial freight that could be handled across the isthmus.
+
+Another cause of depression has been the opening of the Tehuantepec
+route in South Mexico. In 1906 the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company
+made an agreement with the Tehuantepec National Railway, which runs
+across the isthmus, and withdrew its vessels from the old Magellan
+route, establishing regular services between New York and Puerto Mexico
+on the Atlantic side, and on the Pacific between Salina Cruz, the
+Pacific terminal of the canal, and the west coast ports of the United
+States and Hawaii. The route so organized was opened in 1907, and has
+proved very successful, chiefly owing to the enormous increase in the
+sugar exports from Hawaii. The intercoastal traffic by Tehuantepec from
+New York to Pacific ports advanced from 114,900 tons in 1906 to 295,800
+tons in 1911, and from Pacific ports to New York from 32,000 tons in
+1906 to 162,500 in 1911.
+
+All this competition hit the Panama route very badly. The Atlantic to
+Pacific traffic by that railroad rose from 25,914 tons in 1906 to 46,394
+tons in 1910, and the Pacific to Atlantic from 24,937 tons to 32,482
+tons between the same years. But in 1911 there came a sudden expansion
+to 96,420 tons (Atlantic to Pacific), and to 115,508 tons (Pacific to
+Atlantic), owing largely to the development of shipping services on both
+isthmian terminals. In fact, the commercial freight has had to be
+seriously held up and restricted in the interests of canal construction
+and the shipment of canal material.
+
+The reader will perhaps ask whether the Tehuantepec route is likely to
+compete seriously in the future with the Panama Canal. The distance from
+New York to San Francisco is 1,016 nautical miles less _via_ Tehuantepec
+than _via_ Panama, and from New Orleans 1,573 miles less. The difference
+to Honolulu in favour of the Tehuantepec transit is almost exactly the
+same. But the difference in time will be a good deal less than these
+figures indicate. The cargo has to be transferred from shipboard to
+railroad on one side of the isthmus of Tehuantepec and retransferred on
+the other. This means on the average about four days' delay. At Panama,
+a vessel can pass through the canal in half a day, or, reckoning other
+causes of detention, coaling, etc., the total isthmian transit should
+not take more than one day. Then there is the question of expense. The
+cost of transferring freight at Tehuantepec could not be less than $2.50
+per cargo ton. A Panama toll of $1.20 per vessel ton, net register,
+would be equivalent to about $0.60 per cargo ton, giving Panama an
+advantage of $2 over Tehuantepec. And the inconvenience and damage
+resulting from transhipment, from which a through service through the
+canal is free, will also be a considerable point in favour of the
+waterway. It is not likely, however, that Tehuantepec will be ruined by
+the opening of the canal. Considerable short-distance coasting trade is
+sure to continue along that route, and it will share in the general
+benefit of the developments which await Isthmian and Central America.
+
+Has Panama any danger to fear from its old rival the Nicaraguan canal
+project? The United States seems to have forestalled this possible
+challenge of Panama's monopoly of water transit over the isthmus. Just
+as I write comes the news of a new treaty between the United States and
+Nicaragua, securing to the former, for the payment of $3,000,000, the
+exclusive rights to construct a canal through Nicaraguan territory. The
+United States are reported also to have obtained under the treaty
+possession of Fonseca Bay, one of the few places on the west coast of
+Central America affording ample deep water facilities.
+
+Moreover, the Colombian Charge d'Affaires in London recently made the
+following communication to the press:--
+
+      I have received from my government the following information
+      respecting certain propositions made to Colombia by the
+      government of the United States, which the government of
+      Colombia has not accepted. The American propositions were as
+      follows:
+
+      1. That Colombia should grant the United States an option
+      for the construction of an interoceanic canal, starting from
+      the Gulf of Uraba on the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean,
+      through the region of the Atrato River.
+
+      2. That Colombia should give to the American government the
+      right to establish coaling stations in the islands of San
+      Andres and Providencia, which are located in the Caribbean
+      Sea.
+
+      3. In consideration of the above, the United States to pay
+      to Colombia $10,000,000 and to use their good influence for
+      the settlement of pending differences between Colombia and
+      Panama. Also to grant Colombia preferential rights for the
+      use of the canal and the settlement by arbitration of the
+      claims of Colombia against the Panama Railroad Company.
+
+      The government of Colombia declined to accept the above
+      proposals, insisting, at the same time, that all questions
+      pending between Colombia and the United States should be
+      settled by arbitration.
+
+It is evident that the United States are not going to permit any
+competitive canal scheme in Central America if they can help it.
+
+What will be the effect of the opening of the canal on Panamanian
+prosperity? The local merchants fear that the system of state-supply,
+which has prevailed in the zone during the constructional period, will
+be continued after completion and extended to the shipping which will
+pass through the canal, and that coal and ship-chandlery will become
+American government monopolies. Much depends on whether the Panamanian
+merchant will be allowed to import freely through Colon and compete in
+the supplying of the ships in transit.
+
+No serious development can be expected in Panama until the country is
+better provided with railways. The only other line in contemplation is
+one from Empire, on the Culebra Cut, to David, a town close to the
+Pacific near the far western frontier, in the province of Chiriqui. This
+line would be 289 miles in length, and branches from it are proposed to
+Anton, 5 miles, and to Los Santos, about 67 miles.
+
+It is pretty safe to prophesy that the blue streak through the isthmus
+of Panama will have a gradual but sure effect on the politics of Central
+America. The need to protect the canal, and to surround it with orderly
+conditions, social and political, will compel a good many states to put
+themselves to amendment or force the big republic responsible for the
+canal to provide them with good government whether they like it or not.
+If the United States had to intervene in Cuba in order to put down
+anarchy or misrule, they may be persuaded by an even stronger necessity
+to intervene in the affairs of Central America in the defence of the
+Panama Canal. It would be no surprise, especially after recent events in
+Mexico, if the south-western frontier of the States gradually advanced
+down the broad and narrow isthmus until it reached and passed the line
+of the canal. This would be quite in accordance with the law which makes
+it almost inevitable that a great and well-governed Power should absorb
+weaker states along its borders, especially when these are unable to
+keep their houses in order.
+
+There is always the danger that foreign Powers will intervene in the
+affairs of these republics in the interests of their bondholders, and
+this would compel in turn the intervention of the United States in order
+to make good the Monroe doctrine, which is directed against any such
+foreign interference in American affairs. In order to avoid these
+complications Mr. Taft actually proposed not long ago to refund the
+debts of Honduras and Nicaragua, placing the custom-houses under the
+control of American officials. The object was partly to secure loans
+advanced by American bankers, but partly also to satisfy European
+bondholders and to make the politics of these republics more stable.
+Nothing came of this significant project. But I should not care to
+ensure, except at a very high premium, the permanence of the political
+arrangements now existing in these regions when the Panama Canal is in
+working order and becomes more and more essential to the safety and
+prosperity of the great republic. The canal may in the long run be not
+"virtually" but actually "a part of the coastline of the United States."
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[18] Six months.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE NEW OCEAN HIGHWAYS.
+
+
+I have already mentioned that England and Europe gained much more from
+the opening of the Suez Canal than the United States. Before the Suez
+Canal was opened, the voyage both from Liverpool and from New York to
+Asia and Australia was made _via_ the Cape of Good Hope. Liverpool had
+then an advantage over New York of 480 miles in the journey to all
+Asiatic and Australian as well as East African ports. When the Suez
+Canal was opened the route to Asia was _via_ the Mediterranean and Red
+Seas for both Liverpool and New York. But New York is 3,207 miles from
+Gibraltar, while Liverpool is only 1,283, so that Liverpool has had an
+advantage of 1,924 miles instead of 480, as formerly, on the voyage to
+Asiatic ports. In other words, Liverpool gained a competitive benefit
+of 1,444 miles from the opening of the Suez Canal.
+
+Now let us take the voyage to Australia from New York and Liverpool.
+From New York the journey is still made _via_ the Cape of Good Hope, but
+from Liverpool chiefly _via_ Suez. Liverpool is 1,622 miles nearer than
+New York to Australia _via_ Suez, but only 480 miles nearer round the
+Cape. Liverpool therefore has owed a competitive "pull" of 1,142 miles
+over New York to the Suez Canal.
+
+Let us remember, therefore, that the Suez Canal has largely diminished
+the advantage which the western route sought by Columbus and his
+successors would once have conferred upon England and Europe in the
+voyage to the Far East. The opening of the Panama Canal will readjust
+the balance which was tilted against the United States when the Suez
+Canal was opened in 1869. The United States will gain far more than the
+western ports of Europe from the new highway through the American
+isthmus. Speaking broadly, Suez was a British, Panama is an American
+proposition.
+
+There are so many facts and figures in connection with the changes in
+distances and sea-routes as the result of the construction of the Panama
+Canal that it may save the reader's attention to lay down a few more
+obvious effects in succession. We can then go on to look at the subject
+in closer detail.
+
+1. The canal reduces the distance between New York on the eastern and
+all ports on the western seaboard of America _north of Panama_ by 8,415
+geographical miles. The saving from New Orleans is much greater.
+
+2. Liverpool is brought 6,046 miles nearer to all ports on the western
+seaboard of America (of course including Canada) north of Panama.
+
+3. The saving between New York and the Pacific ports of America _south
+of Panama_ depends how far south those ports are. But on the average the
+shortening of distance is 4,709 miles. The saving varies from 8,415
+miles at Panama to about 1,004 miles at Punta Arenas, the strange little
+town on the Straits of Magellan. New Orleans and the Gulf ports benefit
+still more.
+
+  [Illustration: OCEAN ROUTES]
+
+4. Liverpool is brought on an average about 2,600 miles nearer to
+Pacific ports of America _south of Panama_. The shortening of distance
+varies from 6,046 miles at Panama itself down to zero at a point
+between Punta Arenas and Coronel (the most southerly commercial port of
+Chile).
+
+5. All the Pacific ports of the Americas are, _via_ Panama, 2,759 miles
+nearer to New York than to Liverpool.
+
+6. The Panama Canal will not bring any port in Australia or the East
+Indies, nor any ice-free port in Asia or Asiatic islands, nearer to any
+European port. Of all ports on the western Pacific coasts, only those of
+New Zealand and a few very chilly ones in Siberia will be brought nearer
+to Liverpool.
+
+7. All of Asia and all of Australia, with the exception of New Zealand,
+will be nearer Europe by way of the Suez Canal than by way of the Panama
+route.
+
+8. Nearly all Japan, Shanghai, Hong-kong, the Philippines, New Guinea,
+all Australia (save a far western strip), and all New Zealand are
+brought nearer the Atlantic and Gulf ports of the United States and the
+Atlantic ports of Canada.
+
+9. The relative distances from New York and Liverpool to the Atlantic
+coast of South America (nearly all way down), to Africa, and to Asiatic
+ports south of Hong-kong are unchanged.
+
+10. It is New York and not Liverpool which is now nearer to Yokohama,
+Sydney, and Melbourne. Wellington, in New Zealand, formerly equidistant
+between the two great ports, is now 2,739 miles nearer to New York than
+to Liverpool. Sydney, which was formerly over 1,500 miles nearer
+Liverpool (_via_ Suez) than New York (_via_ Cape of Good Hope), now
+becomes 2,424 miles nearer New York (_via_ Panama) than Liverpool (_via_
+Suez).
+
+11. Nearly the whole of the Atlantic seaboard in the Old World and the
+New is brought nearer to the Pacific ports of the United States and
+Canada.
+
+12. The Panama Canal cannot invade the main traffic field of the Suez
+route--the countries of Southern Asia, East Africa, the Red Sea, and the
+Persian Gulf. The competitive region of the two canals lies east of
+Singapore.
+
+  [Illustration: THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA]
+
+The reader will gather from the last proposition that the scene of the
+new battle of the routes will lie in the Western Pacific, and this
+probably will also be the scene of the main industrial and commercial
+competitions of the future. It is in these regions, Australasia and
+the countries along the Pacific Asiatic coasts, that the traffic zones
+of the Suez and Panama Canals touch or overlap. The positive effect on
+relative distances from American and European ports is of great
+importance to commercial developments in these regions. Let us look at
+the geographical results of the Panama Canal a little more closely. On
+pages 252, 253 are two tables transcribed from the official report of
+1912 on Panama Canal Traffic and Tolls, by Mr. Emory R. Johnson.
+
+The following tables are given by Dr. Vaughan Cornish:--
+
+                                                             Reduction
+                                                               miles
+ New York to--                                                (geog.).
+
+ Yokohama       { by Suez                             13,564 }
+                { by Panama                            9,835 } 3,729
+
+ Shanghai       { by Suez                             12,514 }
+                { by Panama                           10,855 } 1,629
+
+ Sydney         { by Cape of Good Hope                13,658 }
+                { by Panama (_via_ Tahiti)             9,852 } 3,806
+
+ Melbourne      { by Cape of Good Hope                13,083 }
+                { by Panama (_via_ Tahiti)            10,427 } 2,656
+
+ Wellington,    { by Straits of Magellan              11,414 }
+   N.Z.         { by Panama                            8,872 } 2,542
+
+ Hong-kong      { by Suez                             11,655
+                { by Panama                           11,744
+
+ Manila         { by Suez                             11,601 }
+ (Philippines)  { by Panama _via_ San Francisco              }    16
+                {   and Yokohama                      11,585 }
+                { by Panama, Honolulu and Guam        11,729
+
+Comparative distances (in nautical miles) from New York and Liverpool to
+New Zealand, Australia, Philippines, China and Japan, _via_ Suez and
+Panama Canals.
+
+ ----------+--------------------------+-------------------------+----------
+           |      New York _via_      |     Liverpool _via_     |Difference
+           |       Panama Canal.      |       Suez Canal.       |in favour
+    To     +----------------+---------+---------------+---------+of Suez -,
+           | Ports of Call. |Distance.| Ports of Call.|Distance.|Panama +.
+ ----------+----------------+---------+---------------+---------+----------
+ Wellington|Panama and      |   8,851 |Aden, Colombo, |         |
+           | Tahiti         |         |  King George  |         |
+           |                |         |  Sound, and   |         |
+           |                |         |  Melbourne    |  12,889 |  +4,138
+ Sydney    |        "       |   9,811 |Aden, Colombo, |         |
+           |                |         |  King George  |         |
+           |                |         |  Sound,       |         |
+           |                |         |  Adelaide, and|         |
+           |                |         |  Melbourne    |  12,235 |  +2,424
+ Adelaide  |Panama, Tahiti, |  10,904 |Aden, Colombo, |         |
+           |  Sydney, and   |         |  and King     |         |
+           |  Melbourne     |         |  George Sound |  11,142 |  +238
+ Manila    |Panama, San     |  11,548 |Aden, Colombo, |         |
+           |  Francisco, and|         |  and Singapore|   9,701 |  -1,847
+           |  Yokohama      |         |               |         |
+ Hong-kong |        "       |  11,383 |       "       |   9,785 |  -1,598
+ Shanghai  |        "       |  10,839 |Aden, Colombo, |         |
+           |                |         |  Singapore,   |         |
+           |                |         |  and Hong-kong|  10,637 |  -202
+ Tientsin  |        "       |  11,248 |Aden, Colombo, |         |
+           |                |         |  Singapore,   |         |
+           |                |         |  Hong-kong,   |         |
+           |                |         |  and Shanghai |  11,377 |  +129
+ Yokohama  |Panama and San  |   9,798 |       "       |         |
+           |  Francisco     |         |               |  11,678 |  +1,880
+ ----------+----------------+---------+---------------+---------+----------
+
+Distances (in nautical miles) from Liverpool _via_ the Panama and Suez
+routes to Australia, New Zealand, the Philippine Islands, China, and
+Japan.
+
+ ----------+---------------+---------+---------------+---------+----------
+           |               |         |               |         | In favour
+    To     |  Suez Route.  |Distance.| Panama Route. |Distance.|of Suez -,
+           |               |         |               |         | Panama +.
+ ----------+---------------+---------+---------------+---------+----------
+ Adelaide  |Aden, Colombo, |         |Panama, Tahiti,|         |
+           |  and King     |         |  Sydney, and  |         |
+           |  George Sound |  11,142 |  Melbourne    |  13,478 |  -2,336
+ Melbourne |Aden, Colombo, |         |Panama, Tahiti,|         |
+           |  King George  |         |  and Sydney   |  12,966 |  -1,312
+           |  Sound, and   |         |               |         |
+           |  Adelaide     |  11,654 |               |         |
+ Sydney    |Aden, Colombo, |         |Panama and     |         |
+           |  King George  |         |  Tahiti       |  12,385 |  -150
+           |  Sound,       |         |               |         |
+           |  Adelaide, and|         |               |         |
+           |  Melbourne    |  12,235 |               |         |
+ Wellington|Aden, Colombo, |         |      "        |  11,425 |  +1,564
+           |  King George  |         |               |         |
+           |  Sound, and   |         |               |         |
+           |  Melbourne    |  12,989 |               |         |
+ Manila    |Aden, Colombo, |         |Panama, San    |         |
+           |  and Singapore|   9,701 |  Francisco,   |         |
+           |               |         |  and Yokohama |  14,122 |  -4,421
+ Hong-kong |       "       |   9,785 |      "        |  13,957 |  -4,172
+ Tientsin  |Aden, Colombo, |         |      "        |  13,822 |  -2,445
+           |  Singapore,   |         |               |         |
+           |  Hong-kong,   |         |               |         |
+           |  and Shanghai |  11,377 |               |         |
+ Yokohama  |       "       |         |Panama and San |         |
+           |               |  11,678 |  Francisco    |  12,372 |  -694
+ ----------+---------------+---------+---------------+---------+----------
+
+As figures are rather confusing and difficult to retain in the memory,
+let us find a more graphic way of indicating this zone in the Western
+Pacific where the chief conflict of canal and commerce is likely to take
+place in the future. Let us mark out a block of sea and land between the
+lines of latitude 40 deg. north and 40 deg. south and the lines of longitude
+120 deg. east and 160 deg. east of Greenwich. This zone includes Japan and
+Korea, Shanghai and the Philippines, New Guinea, and all Australia
+except the farthest western coastline. New Zealand lies outside it. Now
+along its western margin, the Suez and Panama routes to New York are
+equal in length. Along its eastern margin, which lies outside Japan and
+Australia (_not_ New Zealand), and only traverses the scattered islets
+of the Pacific, the Suez and Panama routes to Liverpool are equal in
+length. Now look down an imaginary line near the centre of the zone but
+running rather west of north and east of south. Along this line all
+places are the same distance from New York and Liverpool by Panama and
+Suez respectively.
+
+Can we, then, roughly forecast the changes in ocean trade-routes which
+will result from this new channel of communication between East and
+West? For this purpose we may divide the world traffic into three
+parts--firstly, that part of it which the canal is almost certain to
+secure; secondly, that for which it will have to fight with competitive
+routes; thirdly, that which it will have no chance of securing.
+
+As regards the first, Panama will almost certainly attract most, if not
+all, the traffic which flows from the eastern American and Gulf ports to
+Hawaii and the west coast of North and South America, and of the traffic
+from the United Kingdom and the west of Europe to the whole western
+seaboard of America. We have already seen the regions where the Panama
+Canal will have to compete with the existing routes. Roughly, they
+comprise Pacific Asia, a part of the East Indies, and Australasia. These
+regions represent an enormous volume of traffic from which Panama will
+have to try to detach as large a share as possible. The third part is
+the main traffic-field of Suez--that is, Southern Asia, East Africa, the
+Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf. No efforts on the part of Panama, no
+reductions of canal tolls, could possibly lure any of this traffic from
+its determination to Suez; the competitive region of the two canals
+lies all east of Singapore, and the greater part of the commerce of that
+region with Western Europe will still continue to move _via_ Suez.
+
+The question of tolls at Panama is, of course, very important in its
+bearing upon the future popularity of the canal. It would certainly not
+have done to make the Panama charges higher than those at Suez. These
+latter have been reduced as from January 1, 1912. They are now 6.25
+francs ($1.206) per net ton for loaded vessels. The passenger tolls are
+10 francs a passenger above twelve years of age, and 5 francs for each
+child from three to twelve years old. If these figures had been exceeded
+at Panama the traffic there would have suffered. On the other hand, the
+attempt to attract traffic by a great reduction on tolls would have
+involved a loss on the assured traffic between the eastern and western
+coasts of America which would have more than counterbalanced the
+probable gain.
+
+Mr. Taft's proclamation fixing the Panama tolls will be found at the end
+of the book. It will be seen that the charge of $1.20 is almost
+identical with the Suez toll. There are, however, to be no passenger
+tolls at Panama. It must not be forgotten that the Suez Canal could very
+well afford to lower its charges to meet the new competition. A dividend
+of 30 per cent. leaves a considerable margin for this purpose.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+And we must remember that tolls, however important, are not by any means
+the only determinants of traffic-routes. All sorts of commercial and
+freight considerations come into play. For example, the shortest way
+from Japan to the eastern coasts of North America will be _via_ Panama.
+Fully loaded vessels will certainly go that way. But the ship that
+leaves the land of the cherry blossom only partly loaded and wanting to
+make up a full freight may choose the route past Asia and through the
+Suez Canal as being more likely to serve that object.
+
+Then the cost of coal is an important point. Other things being equal,
+shipowners will select the routes by which coal is cheapest and the
+coaling stations nearest each other. With plenty of cargo coming along
+and good freight rates it is desirable to reserve as little bunker space
+as possible. I cannot go into this question at any great length, but in
+the competition with the Suez route it will be quite as important to
+have abundant and cheap coal at Colon (the pun is accidental!) and
+Panama as to keep the transit dues moderate.
+
+But we have not yet exhausted the motives which may help to prompt the
+choice of one route rather than another. There is the question of
+climatic conditions--storms and winds and currents. In this respect
+Panama should have a decided advantage over Suez. The Red Sea, as
+everybody knows, is red hot. This is not good for some sorts of cargo,
+and so terrible is the heat at times that the stokers are said to be
+unable to maintain the steam at full pressure. This may involve an
+appreciable delay in the 1,310-mile run from Suez to Aden. Moreover,
+from a temper and character point of view, the North Pacific and
+Caribbean are distinctly superior to the Indian Ocean and the North
+Atlantic. The deliverance which the Panama Canal will afford to many
+vessels and steamship lines from the perils and savageries of "Cape
+Stiff," as the sailors call the Horn, or the reefs and currents of
+Magellan's Straits, is in itself one of the blessings of the new route.
+Travellers tell us that the biggest ocean rollers in the world are found
+on the Pacific coast of America just a little north of the southern
+straits. For these reasons insurance rates _via_ Panama are likely to be
+lower than those round the far south of the American continent.
+
+There is good reason to believe that the Panama Canal will pay its way
+without imposing any new burden on the taxpayers of the United States.
+It will probably not produce the dividends of the Suez Canal. It will
+have cost four times as much, and is unlikely for many years to command
+quite as large a volume of traffic. The increase in the traffic at Suez
+has been enormous during the last fifteen years, owing largely to the
+development of the resources of the Far East with the help of western
+capital. The net tonnage of vessels passing through the canal in 1911
+was 18,324,794, and the total passengers were 275,651. All forecasts of
+the traffic _via_ Panama must, of course, be speculative, but it may be
+mentioned that the net register tonnage of vessels that might have
+advantageously used a Panama Canal in 1910 is officially estimated at
+8,328,029.
+
+Before discussing the more economic and commercial results likely to
+follow from the opening of the canal, there are one or two subsidiary
+questions we may consider. Is the Panama Canal likely to be used by
+sailing vessels? The prevailing idea is that it will be no more
+practicable a route for such craft than the Suez Canal. Winds, tides,
+and currents have much more to say to the sailing vessel than to the
+steamer, and the terminals of the canal, especially on the Pacific end,
+are not always easy of approach to wind-driven ships. One effect of the
+opening of the Panama Canal will be to hasten the decline of these
+old-fashioned and more beautiful craft. It must not be imagined that the
+"windjammer" or "limejuicer," in the sea-going vernacular, has already
+nearly disappeared from the seven seas. A great deal of the world's
+commerce is still carried on in such vessels. They still battle their
+way round the Horn laden with the timber of Oregon or British Columbia
+and the nitrates of Chile. But the unsuitability of the Panama transit
+for sailing vessels will unquestionably lead to their quicker decline.
+It is interesting to see how steam has gradually ousted sail in the
+world's shipping. In 1873-4 the sea-going sail tonnage of the world was
+14,185,836 tons. This declined to 11,636,289 in 1888-9; to 8,693,769 in
+1898-9; and to 6,412,211 in 1910-11; while steam tonnage increased from
+4,328,193 in 1873-4 to 41,061,077 in 1910-11. For many reasons, climatic
+and economic, we may safely assume that the Panama Canal will be
+confined exclusively to "steam circles." Steamers will be substituted
+for the "limejuicers" in every canal-using line, and the snowy canvas
+will be banished to other regions. Hitherto, such freights as coal,
+lumber, grain, nitrate of soda, and sugar have been considered specially
+suited for sail transportation, because they are shipped as full vessel
+cargoes and do not require rapid transportation or delivery. But even
+such cargoes are certain to be largely transferred to the steamship when
+it is realized that the Panama Canal is "no road" for sailing vessels.
+
+Another interesting question is the probable effect of the canal on the
+American mercantile marine. The ocean-going merchantmen of the United
+States engaged in the foreign trade are practically non-existent,
+though the "coasting" trade, which includes the trade of Hawaii and the
+Philippines with the United States, is strictly reserved to American
+vessels, ships flying foreign flags being entirely excluded. But these
+latter, which are in the main British, carry on all the foreign trade of
+the United States with South America, New Zealand, Australia, Northern
+China and Japan. It is almost unbelievable that in 1908 there was not a
+single steamship flying the flag of the United States between the United
+States ports and those of Brazil, the Argentine, Chile, or Peru. The
+mails from New York and the other Atlantic ports of the American
+republic go, or went until quite recently, _via_ Europe, though New York
+is 370 miles nearer Brazil, etc., than the Old World coasts.[19] The
+reasons for this want of a foreign-trade mercantile marine are chiefly
+the greater cost of shipbuilding in the United States and the
+requisitions with regard to wages and food of the American trade-unions.
+The result of the high standards of comfort thus imposed has been that
+the cost in wages and food to run American ships under American
+conditions across the Pacific is double that in European or Japanese
+steamers. It is scarcely to be wondered at, therefore, that some people
+in the United States regard the Panama Canal as a very disinterested
+gift from the United States to humanity at large, especially perhaps to
+Great Britain and Japan--as an example of altruism run mad. But while
+the United States may not be ready to reap the full advantage of the
+canal at the start, it is highly probable that its opening will lead to
+a rapid growth in the United States merchant service. A larger coasting
+fleet will be required with larger vessels, and this will lead to a
+general development of the larger classes of shipbuilding.
+
+At present no vessels are permitted to fly the American flag unless
+American-built. A large number of American-owned vessels are therefore
+registered under the flags of some foreign nation. As the United States
+begins to compete in cheapness and efficiency of shipbuilding with other
+countries, the chief motive for this foreign registration will be
+removed. Great Britain cannot expect to be the chief carrier of United
+States trade for ever. This is indeed one of many directions in which
+the opening of the Panama Canal may tend rather to the disadvantage than
+to the benefit of the United Kingdom. There is no reason why the United
+States should not build up a mercantile marine as swiftly as Germany and
+Japan have done. England will have to consider seriously this and many
+other probable effects of the canal closely touching her most important
+interests.
+
+I will conclude this chapter with an interesting little fact which may
+already have occurred to the reader. From the moment the Panama Canal is
+opened it will be possible for the first time to sail all round the
+world from England wholly in the northern hemisphere and without
+crossing the Equator. Who will be the first circumnavigator along the
+all-northern trail?
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[19] Many persons may have expected these countries to be much nearer
+New York. They do not realize that _nearly all South America lies east
+of North America_. Washington is on the same meridian as Callao on the
+coast of Peru. Antofagasta and Iquique, the chief nitrate ports of
+Chile, have the longitude of Boston. The eastern point of Brazil lies
+2,600 miles east of New York, and is _equidistant from New York Bay and
+the English Channel_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE CANAL AND THE AMERICAS.
+
+
+The likely effects of the Panama Canal on international commerce and the
+development of the world's resources is so big a subject that one can do
+little more than indicate the larger probabilities. The influence of the
+canal on the British Empire must be left to another chapter. Here we
+shall have to consider mainly the case of the United States, the country
+which stands to gain far more than any other from this new link between
+East and West.
+
+The most obvious result of the new event, as it was the main object of
+the canal's construction, must be the immensely quickened all-sea
+communication between the eastern and western coasts of North America.
+The motive for the building of the canal was military rather than
+commercial. It was rendered necessary by painful experience during the
+Spanish-American War of the effects of the 14,000-mile sea journey
+between the two seaboards of the republic. But the commercial results
+will not be the less important because they were not foremost in the
+object and motive of the canal-builders. It is pretty clear that what we
+may call the main developmental effect of the canal will be felt along
+that Pacific coast of the Americas which has been so long shut out from
+the great centres of industrial enterprise in the New World and the Old.
+
+We are so accustomed to regard the United States as a fully developed
+and fully equipped country that we forget how slowly her population and
+industries advanced westward from the Atlantic coasts. Even now it
+cannot be said that the railroad communications between the east and the
+Pacific states beyond the great mountain-divide of the Rockies are fully
+equal to the carriage of the produce which is or should be exchanged
+between east and west. The transcontinental lines have scarcely yet
+furnished a cheap and satisfactory connection between the Pacific coast
+states and their largest and most natural markets. Hitherto the
+railways have had to compete with only three alternative routes: (1) the
+all-sea route round Cape Horn for sailers, and through Magellan Straits
+for steamers; (2) the route _via_ Panama, with railroad transit over the
+isthmus; (3) the route _via_ Tehuantepec, with railroad transit over
+that isthmus from Puerto Mexico on the Gulf to Salina Cruz on the
+Pacific. The new canal will be a much more formidable competitor. It is
+highly important that the industries of the United States should have
+the benefit of this healthy tug-of-war between railroad and canal, and
+the government is perfectly justified in keeping that competition open,
+even to the length of forbidding the use of the canal to ships owned,
+controlled, or operated by railway companies.
+
+There is no fear that the Panama Canal, even if it prospers exceedingly,
+will ruin the transcontinental railroads. The report of the Isthmian
+Canal Commission in 1901 made some interesting remarks on this subject,
+and they are as pertinent to-day:--
+
+      The competition of the canal will affect, first, the volume
+      and rates of the through business of the Pacific railroads,
+      and secondly, the amount of their local traffic. At the
+      beginning of their existence these railways depended almost
+      entirely upon their through traffic; but their chief aim
+      throughout their history has been to increase the local
+      business, which is always more profitable than the through
+      traffic; and although the great stretch of country crossed
+      by them is still in the infancy of its industrial
+      development, the local traffic of some, if not all, of the
+      Pacific roads has already become of chief importance. A
+      vice-president of one of the railway systems states that
+      since 1893 "the increase in business of the transcontinental
+      lines has not come from the seaports, but from the
+      development of the intermediate country." The canal can
+      certainly in no wise check the growth of this local traffic,
+      and the evidence strongly supports the belief entertained by
+      many persons that the canal will assist largely in the
+      industrial expansion of the territory served by the Pacific
+      railways.
+
+      If this be true, the proximate effect of the isthmian canal
+      in compelling a reduction and readjustment of the rates on
+      the share of the transcontinental railway business that will
+      be subject to the competition of the new water route, will
+      be more than offset by the ultimate and not distant
+      expansion of the through and local traffic, that must
+      necessarily be handled by rail. It seems probable that the
+      increase in the population of the country, and the growth in
+      our home and foreign trade, will early demonstrate the need
+      of the transportation service of both the canal and the
+      railways.
+
+The reduction of freight through the use of the canal is sure to give a
+big stimulus to many leading industries of the Pacific states. One of
+the most important is the lumber industry. California and Oregon are
+very rich in forests of pine, spruce, cedar, and redwood, the last being
+much in demand in Atlantic countries. A good deal of this timber is
+exported to Europe and the eastern states, and it has all to be carried
+in sailing ships round Cape Horn. It is calculated that the opening of
+the Panama Canal will reduce the freight by 50 per cent., which means
+that all this Pacific coast timber will be correspondingly increased in
+value. The exports eastwards are sure to advance rapidly with the new
+means of transport. Grain, wine, and fruit will benefit, and the
+manufactured goods from the industrial states of the east will flow
+through the same channel to the western states in an ever-increasing
+volume.
+
+Every staple industry of the United States will feel the new stimulus,
+and England and Europe generally are certain to feel the pressure of
+this new competitive power of the American republic. In cotton and iron
+goods especially the exports from the eastern and southern states are
+bound to forge ahead. Manufactured cotton goods exported from the
+southern states have had to be carried by rail to the western ports, and
+thence by steamer to China and Japan, or else eastward by the Suez
+Canal, sometimes even _via_ England or Germany. We may imagine what a
+boon the Panama Canal will be to this trade, and how conveniently it
+will lie for the Gulf ports and all their raw and manufactured exports.
+American iron and steel will also be immensely strengthened for
+competition with those of England and Europe in the markets of China,
+Japan, British Australasia, and along the coast of South America. We
+need not describe in detail effects which are likely to be felt over the
+entire range of American industry.
+
+The United States appears, indeed, to be on the verge of tremendous
+developments. In a paper read before the Royal Colonial Institute,[20]
+that well-known physical geographer and economist, Dr. F. B. Vrooman,
+gave us a hint of further American enterprises in civil engineering,
+after the Panama Canal is opened:--
+
+      The isthmian canal is but a part of the greater American
+      waterways project. As soon as this is finished it is
+      possible that the United States will start in a large way
+      with the project of the artificial canalization of the
+      Mississippi with its 16,000 miles of already navigable
+      waters and a drainage basis of 1,280,000 square miles. The
+      cutting-through of an ocean-ship canal to the Great Lakes
+      will make seaport towns of the Canadian cities on the Lakes
+      Ontario, Erie, and Superior. The Saskatchewan and the Red
+      River can be canalized for 1,000 miles, and a short haul
+      from Winnipeg will open the whole Saskatchewan valley from
+      near the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains--downstream, but
+      for this short portage--all the way to the Gulf of Mexico,
+      and thence to Panama and the Pacific ports. Every
+      transcontinental freight-rate in Canada and the United
+      States will be reduced, and perhaps some in the middle
+      interior. As this great southern movement starts up the
+      industries of the southern states will receive a new
+      impulse. The Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea will
+      spring into a new life, together with the West Indies and
+      Central America and the vast and fertile interior drained by
+      the Orinoco and the Amazon.
+
+
+CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AMERICA.
+
+But there are no countries which will hear the call of the canal so
+nearly and clearly as those of Central and Southern America. It is
+astonishing how that forty-mile wide land barrier between the two
+oceans has isolated all the western shore of the continent. The Panama
+Canal Railroad has done very little to modify the situation. The Pacific
+coast of America has looked westwards over its waste of waters, and has
+scarcely been reached by the industrial and economic forces at work
+behind it in the Old and New Worlds. Its trade has been carried on
+mostly with Europe, and especially England, in sailing vessels that have
+plodded round the distant Horn. An interesting example of this
+geographical and commercial detachment of the west coast of Central and
+South America is furnished by the port of Mazatlan in Western Mexico.
+From this place there are considerable exports of logwood and mahogany.
+But thirty times as much of this lumber has gone to Europe as to the
+east of the American continent. On the opposite or eastern side of
+Mexico is Tampico, where the returns of trade are just the reverse, the
+United States being the largest customer for its exports. Despite the
+old Spanish paved roads across the isthmus at Panama, by which the
+silver and pearls of Peru and the Pacific were conveyed to Nombre de
+Dios and Porto Bello, for shipment to Spain, despite the sixty years of
+the little Panama Railway, the American continent even in its narrowest
+parts has been something like an impenetrable screen between east and
+west. Four centuries of continued agitation and effort to get the water
+through show how seriously this physical divorce has been felt, and give
+an earnest of the large results which are sure to follow the completion
+of the task.
+
+There have been other reasons for the backward development of western
+South America. To begin with, the Spanish, not a progressive and
+pioneering race, laid their hands on these countries four hundred years
+ago, and have held them politically or racially ever since. This would
+not in itself have kept out the Anglo-Saxon or the German. But these
+countries have not yet been greatly needed as an outlet of the surplus
+populations of Europe. Even the United States is very far from being
+filled up, and Canada is likely to be giving away farms for many years
+to come. The Teutonic race, to which above all others the trusteeship of
+Western civilization is committed, has left these Spanish Americas,
+with their revolutions coming almost as frequently and regularly as the
+seasons, comparatively unvisited. As yet the North European emigration
+to the southern continent has been mainly confined to Argentina and
+Southern Brazil.
+
+In one respect the isthmian breakwater has been profitable to these
+states of the Pacific coast. It has sheltered them largely from the
+negro element which has spread so widely over the West Indies and the
+southern United States. But Japan and China are already there, and the
+yellow will be laid on more and more thickly unless these countries are
+brought quickly within the zone of Western ideas and enterprise. And
+that process is likely to begin with the opening of the canal.
+
+The backwardness of these regions is indeed almost unbelievable. Most
+people think of them as producing mainly nitrates and revolutions. But
+their possible resources and products are illimitable, and are only
+awaiting the organized capital of the West to be made available for
+human service. As yet these Latin republics are in their middle ages of
+development. There are few railways, only one continuous
+transcontinental line having been completed between Valparaiso, through
+Mendoza, to Buenos Aires. Their internal communications are carried on
+mainly by the pack mule, as they have been since the days of Pizarro and
+Valdivia. Each country, of course, has a foreign trade, but the people
+of the interior, the Indians or mixed breeds, live in isolated
+communities which are self-sufficing, raise their own food and make
+their own simple manufactures, knowing little or nothing of the products
+of foreign countries.
+
+The whole coast and its hinterland is engaged almost solely in what are
+known as "extractive" industries--that is, in mining or agriculture. The
+exports consist mainly of foodstuffs and raw materials, nitrate, ores of
+copper, silver, and gold, grain, sugar, cotton, cocoa, coffee, wool,
+hides, rubber, and woods. With these the people pay for their
+manufactured goods, and these come mainly from Europe, and chiefly also
+from the United Kingdom. The mineral wealth of the northern parts,
+especially the Andean plateau, is still enormous, though vast quantities
+have been extracted. For centuries the Andes furnished the civilized
+world with most of the bullion used for its current coinage. Between
+1630 and 1803 Peru alone sent out L250,000,000 worth of silver. Bolivia
+has contributed L800,000,000 worth; the famous mines of Potosi alone
+accounted for L600,000,000 worth of this metal. The nitrate works of
+Chile are in the hands of Englishmen and Germans, and American and other
+foreigners hold the sugar plantations of Peru. But, as I have said, the
+range of production is enormous and only awaits the stimulus of imported
+capital. To give one example of the variety of products, it is said that
+the Aconcagua valley in Chile would alone furnish annually from its
+vineyards 1,000,000 gallons of claret, if the grapes were not used to
+produce a local drink named "chica." There is no sign of the exhaustion
+of any of the natural products of these regions. Even the nitrate of
+soda, that most valuable of fertilizers, though it is being shovelled
+out at a great rate, covers about 220,000 acres, or about 400 miles from
+north to south, and is sufficient to last for a very long time to come.
+
+Nitrate, minerals, wheat, barley, wool, hides--these are the main
+exports of the Pacific west, the returning imports being cotton goods,
+machinery, steel rails, woollens, coal, and all sorts of miscellaneous
+manufactures and supplies. But, as I said, the trade has been almost
+wholly with Europe, England enjoying a very predominant position. The
+United States have competed with Europe at great disadvantages. The
+trade has been mostly carried on in sailing vessels. Now such craft, to
+get from New York to South America, have been obliged to sail eastwards
+almost as far as the Canaries in order to catch the trade winds and
+weather Cape St. Roque on the coast of Brazil. The sailing vessel from
+Europe, on the other hand, sails right past the Canaries, and can give
+the American ship ten days' start in the journey to any part of South
+America south or west of the most easterly point of Brazil. If the
+reader will turn back to the chapter on the new distances he will see
+how the little streak of blue water at Panama will alter all this. Take
+one little fact to illustrate the change. Callao, on the coast of Peru,
+is, before the opening of the canal, farther by steam from New York than
+is the South Pole, but the Panama Canal will bring the city 1,000 miles
+nearer to New York by steam than San Francisco will then be. The canal
+will reduce the distance from New York to the Chilean nitrate port of
+Iquique by 5,139 miles (nautical), to Valparaiso by 3,747, to Coronel
+(farther south) by 3,296, to Valdivia (about 1,000 miles north of
+Magellan's Straits, nearly at the farthest southern limit of the
+commercially important part of western South America) by 2,900. Take
+Iquique, an important North Chilean nitrate port. By Panama this place
+is 4,004 miles from New York, but 6,578 from Liverpool. Their respective
+distances _via_ Magellan were 9,143 and 9,510.
+
+It looks, therefore, as though the United States, with its new
+advantages, which begin when the first vessel is passed through the
+Panama locks, would have a good chance of securing for the future the
+main share of the South American trade. Its cotton, iron and steel
+goods, electrical machinery, etc., will be able to compete on very
+different terms with those of England and Germany. Cotton manufactures
+have reached Chile and the other countries of Pacific South America by a
+rather absurdly roundabout route. The raw cotton has been grown in the
+southern parts of the United States, carried to Europe for manufacture,
+and brought back to South America _via_ the Straits of Magellan. These
+goods will, we may be sure, tend in future to go direct from the
+American factories _via_ New York, Charleston, or New Orleans, without
+trans-shipment, thus saving about 7,000 miles of transportation. A very
+small part of the American trade with these countries has passed by the
+Panama railroad. The rates charged by the steamers which have picked up
+the goods for the west coast at Panama have been kept so high as to be
+practically prohibitive. It has actually been cheaper to send goods from
+the United States by way of England or Germany--that is, a journey of
+14,000 miles--than by way of Panama, a journey of three or four
+thousand. One of the surest results, then, of the Panama Canal opening
+will be a rapid development of the Pacific coasts of America, especially
+of South America, and a great expansion of trade between these countries
+and the United States.
+
+The effect of the canal on the Atlantic coasts and hinterland of South
+America will naturally be less striking. There has never been much
+interchange of trade between the two coasts of the southern continent,
+for the simple reason that their products are not complementary but
+mostly identical. Most of the trade of the eastern coast states is with
+the countries of the North Atlantic. But some trade to the more
+northerly and tropical parts of this coast is certain to flow through
+the canal. Lumber from the Pacific coasts of North America is used in
+Atlantic South America, and a part of this trade, which is likely to
+grow in extent, will be passed through the canal. It should be noticed,
+however, that the temperate reaches of the eastern coast of South
+America farther to the south will be nearer the Pacific coasts of the
+United States and Canada _via_ the Horn and the Straits of Magellan
+owing to the big easterly projection of Brazil.
+
+We must leave the probable effects of the Panama Canal on the British
+possessions in America to another chapter. It has not been possible to
+deal with prospective commercial developments in great detail. Only some
+general idea could be given of the vast changes and developments in
+progress. On the day on which I am writing the Washington correspondent
+of _The Times_ summarizes the meaning and effect of the Panama Canal in
+three rather formidable words. He says it "symbolizes commercial
+Pan-Americanism." The canal is going to help America to keep its trade
+more to itself. It represents in commerce and economics what the Monroe
+doctrine represents in politics. It will immensely assist the United
+States to become the chief industrial supplier of the great continent,
+with the other states mainly as agricultural or mining annexes. One
+incident in the furthering of this ambition was the attempt to conclude
+a treaty of reciprocity with Canada, the effect of which, as Mr. Taft
+admitted, would have been to make Canada such an "annexe" of the
+republic. The Canadian people, however, realizing the ulterior political
+and commercial effects of such a treaty, refused to ratify it. Canada,
+in fact, belongs to another political and economic system. She gives
+valuable trade-preference to the manufactures of the mother-country in
+the Old World, and there is happily no reason to believe that she will
+abandon the Imperial ideals for the objects of continental
+Pan-Americanism. After all, the citizens of Canada and the United States
+are mostly of the same stock, speaking the same language and cherishing
+the same great traditions. The two branches of the Anglo-Saxon family
+ought to be able, while each maintaining its own life and growth, to
+remain happily side by side, sharing in the new prosperity which the
+world owes to this latest achievement of the great republic.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[20] March 19, 1912.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE CANAL AND THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
+
+
+One of the most important results of the Panama Canal, one which is
+likely to have the largest influence on future political history, seems
+scarcely to have been noticed by writers on this subject. I have shown
+how much nearer Australia and New Zealand are brought to New York than
+to Liverpool, owing to the isthmian passage. They are brought of course
+proportionately nearer to the eastern provinces, which are also the
+governmental headquarters of Canada. But the moving away, so to speak,
+of these great countries from England, and their closer approximation to
+the great and growing branches of the Anglo-Saxon stock in America, has
+the effect of locating the centre of gravity of the English-speaking
+races more firmly and permanently than ever in the New World. When
+Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have grown for another quarter of a
+century, and the United States have reaped for so long the advantage in
+wealth and power of the new waterway, the little islands of the United
+Kingdom may begin to appear as a detached and distant fragment, rather
+than as the "heart and hearth," of the British Empire and the
+English-speaking world. In the eighteenth century, when the English
+plantations in America began to develop their manufactures and had
+increased rapidly in population, the question was discussed in England
+how long she could continue to control an oversea empire, likely to be
+in time more populous and prosperous than the home-country itself, from
+these far-away islands of the Old World. It was actually suggested at
+that time that the King of England should carry his crown and throne
+where the most part of his subjects were congregated. That suggestion is
+not likely to be repeated. We have found a way of harmonizing local
+self-government with imperial unity. But the position of England in her
+empire is sure to be greatly modified as time goes on, and the Panama
+Canal, by bringing these vast and undeveloped continents and isles of
+the far south-west so much nearer to North America than to the imperial
+centre, cannot fail to have some influence in this direction. From a
+commercial point of view, its effect will be to increase the value and
+importance of those trade preferences which Australia gives the home
+country in her markets.
+
+Probably no single country in the world, certainly no portion of the
+British Empire, stands to gain so tremendously from the opening of the
+canal as British Columbia. England has not yet realized what enormous
+resources are locked up in this province of the furthest west, which
+looks out from a hundred harbours to the Pacific and across to the
+awakening East. The long haul across the continent, the interminable
+sea-trail round the Horn, twice crossing the equator, kept British
+Columbia, until lately, outside the thought and interest, not only of
+Englishmen, but even of the Canadians of the administrative East. Even
+with the gradual filling of the empty middle and west, geography would
+have continued to be against British Columbia. But the Panama Canal
+makes all the difference. This province will no longer look vaguely and
+dreamily to the western sea-spaces and a still half-slumbering Orient.
+She will suddenly find herself at one end of a sea-route which will
+shorten her distance from New York by 8,415 miles and from Liverpool by
+6,046 miles.
+
+Her timber and other produce will no longer toil wearily in the holds of
+the "windjammer" down the whole length of Northern, Central, and
+Southern America. There at Balboa, less than halfway down, is the
+entrance of the long-desired short-cut to the world-centres of progress
+and enterprise. The electric thrill of this new circuit will be felt not
+only along the havens and fjords of the British Columbian coast, but
+nearly a thousand miles inland. We may say that almost the whole western
+half of Canada, where the golden wheat frontiers are ever advancing,
+will face about and henceforth look west instead of east. All the corn
+and produce of Alberta and Western Saskatchewan will flow, not eastwards
+as heretofore, but to the Pacific shores, there to be shipped for
+transit _via_ the canal to the southern and eastern United States, to
+the north and east of South America, and to the Old World over the
+Atlantic. Even the eastern and western fronts of the Dominion will feel
+the grip of a new link, which may serve important naval and defensive
+interests for Canada.
+
+The new Pacific outlet will have many advantages over the eastern. For
+one thing, it is always ice-free, whereas the eastern route is icebound
+for five months in the year. Even now, I understand, it is appreciably
+cheaper in winter to send wheat from Calgary to Liverpool by Vancouver
+than by St. John's, New Brunswick. The freight-rate between British
+Columbian and United Kingdom ports should be at least halved when the
+canal is in operation. Of all cities in any clime or hemisphere,
+Vancouver seems to stand most surely on the threshold of a new and
+mighty future. She will have "greatness thrust upon her." Her citizens
+are preparing for the spacious days that are about to set in. A "Great
+Vancouver" will probably arise from the nine local municipalities, to
+provide an area and administration worthy of the dawning era. Dr. F. B.
+Vrooman eloquently voiced the sentiment of the great port and of British
+Columbia at a recent luncheon of the Progress Club at Vancouver. He
+said:--
+
+      We are on the verge of nothing less than a revolution of the
+      world's commerce, and industry, and finance, which now, as
+      sure as fate, are destined to be transferred to the lands of
+      the Pacific Ocean. It is not only revolution. It is such a
+      revolution as never has been and never again can be
+      foreordained before chaos primeval for this twentieth
+      century of the Christian era, for there are no more
+      hemispheres to cut in two. There are no more oceans, with
+      half the water area on the world and twenty million square
+      miles more than all the land surface of the globe, to be
+      suddenly transferred into the arena of world trade. There
+      are no more continents with the widest reaches, the richest
+      resources, and the densest populations of the world to be
+      awakened and developed after Asia has achieved its
+      resurrection.
+
+      Therefore I say to you that there has got to be one port at
+      least in the British Empire big enough to be equal to the
+      greatest opportunity the world ever offered any city since
+      time began. And if that city is not destined to be
+      Vancouver, it will be for one, and for only one,
+      reason--because the men of Vancouver have been too timid and
+      feeble, too shortsighted and too little to take hold of what
+      the good God has offered them.
+
+I have already alluded to the question of coal in connection with the
+new canal. All the new routes will have to be cheaply and abundantly
+"coaled," or they will be at a great disadvantage in the competition for
+traffic with Suez. The Isthmian Canal Commission of 1899-1901 pointed
+out that the coaling stations at San Francisco, Seattle, and Vancouver
+will in the future bear about the same relation to the route _via_ the
+Panama Canal to the Orient as the coaling stations at or near the Suez
+Canal bear to the route from Europe _via_ Suez to the Orient. Among the
+Pacific Islands, at Colon and Panama, and among the West Indies coal
+will have to be stored in big quantities for the tramps and liners and
+warships which will soon be drawn along these seaways by the new canal.
+British Columbia has coal illimitable, and this interest alone ought to
+be quickly and mightily developed in the coming years. Happily there are
+men of imagination and public spirit in this great Pacific province of
+the empire who understand what the canal means to it in future wealth
+and welfare, and are preparing its people to take advantage of the new
+opportunities. Let an eloquent British Columbian, Dr. Vrooman again,
+open for us the broad and bright prospect:--
+
+      New markets will be found on the Atlantic for British
+      Columbia lumber and paper. This new large demand will
+      increase the price. But the saving of freight is an enormous
+      item. The present freight-rates from Vancouver to Liverpool
+      are sixteen dollars per 1,000 feet. The canal will give
+      British Columbia a rate of about eight dollars per 1,000
+      feet. This difference per 1,000 will add to the value of
+      British Columbia timber destined for Europe. But it is for
+      more reasons than this that British Columbia is destined to
+      be a vast Imperial industrial workshop. While her
+      agricultural and horticultural possibilities are far beyond
+      what is generally supposed, British Columbia is in natural
+      resources and raw materials of industry one of the richest
+      areas on the globe. But above all is she rich in mechanical
+      power--water-power and coal. These are about to be opened up
+      and developed. Their development soon will be beyond
+      computation, for, roughly speaking, there is not an
+      investment in British Columbia to-day which will not be
+      directly increased in value by the new canal; but also much
+      indirectly in the impetus given to development. This one
+      thing--this canal--costing us nothing--will double,
+      quadruple, and quintuple values out there in a few brief
+      years. With easier access will come new trade, and new
+      demands will create new products, and soon the innumerable
+      water-powers of British Columbia will start the wheels of a
+      thousand new industries. The illimitable resources of the
+      province will be opened up, developed, and utilized at home
+      or shipped abroad. The value of every town lot and of every
+      acre of land of the 395,000 square miles of the province
+      will be greatly enhanced; town sites will be hewed out of
+      the forests, and the forests themselves--every stick of wood
+      of their 182,000,000 acres of forest and woodland--will be
+      increased in value directly, by reason of cheaper shipping
+      alone, to the extent of several dollars per 1,000 feet; and
+      in the items of lumber and wood-pulp alone the Panama Canal
+      will make as a free gift to British Columbia considerably
+      more than the United States is spending on the whole canal.
+
+      The mines of British Columbia, which have already produced
+      over L70,000,000, will leap forward with renewed prosperity.
+      Her fisheries, which have produced L21,000,000, will be more
+      extensively developed and, let us hope, be made again a
+      British asset--since they are wholly in the hands of the
+      Japanese, who not only send their earnings home to Japan,
+      but are criminally wasteful in their methods. The coal
+      deposits of the province, which promise to be the most
+      extensive in the world, will, with immense deposits of iron,
+      be opened to the world's markets. It is said that the
+      coal-fields of one small district in the Kootenay are
+      capable of yielding 10,000,000 tons of coal a year for over
+      seven thousand years, and a new district has been discovered
+      within a twelvemonth which the provincial mineralogist told
+      me on Christmas Eve was the most important economic
+      discovery ever made in British Columbia, where there are
+      known to be 1,000 square miles of the best of anthracite,
+      and which is probably the richest known anthracite district
+      in the New World west of Pennsylvania.[21]
+
+The references to coal are especially interesting in this passage. It is
+an evidence of the public alertness in this matter that the British
+Columbian government has just appointed a special commissioner "to
+investigate and report upon all circumstances and conditions incident to
+the production and sale or other disposition of coal in British
+Columbia."
+
+It may be certain, therefore, that the opening of the canal will be
+followed by a rapid growth of exports from Canadian ports, serving a
+thousand miles of hinterland, many of the vessels returning laden with
+the manufactures of the eastern United States and Europe, both streams
+of traffic flowing through the isthmian canal. But we must not overlook
+the growth in passenger traffic. The sea-passage round by the canal from
+Europe to the Pacific states of North America will be much cheaper and
+to many people more pleasant than the fatiguing transcontinental railway
+journey. Fresh brain and muscle will enter Canada by its western
+portals, new needs will arise, new industries spring up, a new aeon of
+progress and enterprise begin on the far Pacific slopes when the first
+vessel mounts and descends the mighty steps of this wonder-working
+isthmian highway.
+
+
+THE WEST INDIES.
+
+But there is another region of the British Empire which will benefit
+only less, if less at all, than the Pacific province of Canada. The West
+Indies will feel at once the throb of a new life and interest when the
+canal is thrown open to the world's traffic. These "pearls of ocean,"
+the oldest of England's oversea possessions, have lain hitherto in what
+the Americans call a "dead end." They are thrown across the entrances to
+a land-girt sea, the Mediterranean of the New World, from which there
+has hitherto been no exit to the west or the south, but only a return by
+the same passages to east and north. A glance at a map will show how
+these islands, the Greater and Lesser Antilles,[22] cluster round the
+Atlantic end of the canal and beset all the possible sea-routes from
+east and north and south-east. Every vessel that makes from the Atlantic
+for the canal entrance or quits the canal for the Atlantic will have to
+pass through this star-thick storied archipelago.
+
+The islands naturally fall into two groups, with the names I have just
+mentioned. The Greater Antilles, lying further to the west and
+north-west, consist of Jamaica, the Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos
+Islands, these last being administered by Jamaica. To this group
+belongs, geographically and historically, the mainland colony of
+British Honduras, a territory rather larger than Wales, whose great
+value England has scarcely begun to appreciate. The Lesser Antilles,
+stretched like a jewelled coronet round the eastern entrance to the
+Caribbean, consist, north to south, of the Virgin Islands, St. Kitts and
+Nevis, Antigua, Montserrat, Dominica (these forming the Leeward Islands
+Confederation), St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Vincent, Grenada, Trinidad, and
+Tobago (the Windward Islands). With this group goes naturally British
+Guiana, on the continent east of the Spanish Main, a territory much
+larger than Great Britain, which should also begin to develop its vast
+resources more adequately when the canal is opened.
+
+These islands, being largely inhabited by black people, cannot be
+entrusted with complete self-government like purely white communities.
+They are under various forms of what is known as crown colony
+government. For example, Trinidad and the Windward Islands are under the
+complete control of the British Colonial Office, while Barbados and
+Jamaica enjoy a large measure of self-rule. But this division into a
+large number of small governments without any connection with each
+other is extremely expensive, and proposals have been made for a
+federation of the British West Indies either in one great system,
+including them all, with British Honduras and Guiana thrown in, or in
+two systems embracing respectively the Greater and the Lesser Antilles.
+
+England, it must be confessed, has treated her splendid West Indian
+empire very badly. In order that she might have sugar "dirt-cheap" at
+home she allowed the great staple product of the isles and mainland,
+cane-sugar, to be brought to the verge of ruin by the competition of
+European bounty-fed beet-sugar. Happily there was a statesman of strong
+imperial sympathies in England, Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, who arranged the
+Brussels Sugar Convention with certain Powers of Europe, all of which
+agreed to suppress their own bounties and to impose countervailing
+duties on bounty-fed sugar imported from countries outside the
+convention. This gave the West Indies a fairer chance of competition,
+and they quickly felt the benefit. But the convention was always opposed
+in England by certain industries in which sugar is used and is therefore
+wanted as cheap as possible, and notice has recently been given,
+despite the protests and alarms of the West Indies, that England intends
+to withdraw from the convention. And this, too, without any sort of
+compensation for the sugar-islands, which had begun to rely upon the
+protection against unfair competition afforded by that instrument.
+
+England has withdrawn her garrisons and, what is still more serious,
+almost her entire navy from the West Indies. When the terrible
+earthquake occurred at Kingston in Jamaica in 1907, there was no English
+ship-of-war anywhere near to render help and to maintain order, and this
+duty had to be performed by vessels of the American fleet. Five days
+after that disaster the correspondent of _The Times_ wrote: "It is
+difficult to describe the sense of humiliation with which an Englishman
+surveys Kingston harbour this evening--two American battleships, three
+German steamers, a Cuban steamer, and one British ship; she leaves
+to-night, and the white ensign and the red ensign will be as absent from
+Kingston harbour as from the military basins of Kiel and Cherbourg." And
+this is what England calls ruling the waves and being mistress of the
+seas! Later in the same year she had another lesson. Rioting broke out
+in St. Lucia, once, but no longer, an important naval base. It was a
+whole week before an English cruiser arrived, though a Dutch man-of-war,
+the _Gelderland_, was anchored in the spacious harbour of Castries, St.
+Lucia's capital.
+
+This, one must allow, is a slovenly way of conducting a great empire. If
+these methods are pursued after the Panama Canal is opened, the results
+will be disastrous. A complete change will have to be made in the
+attitude of England and the Colonial Office to the British West Indian
+Islands. For these islands, instead of being tucked away in a sort of
+cul-de-sac, or inland lake, will henceforth be thrown right across or
+alongside the main highways of the world's ocean-traffic. Look again at
+the map and see how the most direct sea-route from New York, the eastern
+states and Canada to Colon and Cristobal comes down through the Windward
+Passage, between Cuba and Haiti, and then right past the eastern end of
+Jamaica, quite close to the magnificent bay on which Kingston stands.
+
+Look again and see how the routes from Liverpool, Southampton, and the
+Old World pass through the Lesser Antilles, either Leeward or Windward,
+further east. The most direct of these trails passes through the Virgin
+Islands, the most northerly group, and one of these is said to possess a
+harbour of which a good deal might be made. But this is not by any means
+the only line of approach to the entrance of the canal. A more southerly
+route near Barbados or Trinidad might be chosen, and certainly would be
+chosen by vessels intending to call at ports along the old Spanish Main.
+
+Trinidad will indeed lie right across the direct route from ports on the
+Pacific coasts of the United States and Canada, as well as from the Far
+East, to Brazil and the Atlantic coast of South America--a trade which
+may well grow to very large proportions, considering the vast
+undeveloped resources of the Orinoco and Amazon basins. Valuable
+deposits of petroleum have also been discovered in Trinidad, and this
+should add greatly to the wealth and importance of that island as oil
+replaces coal for fuel. Oil-bunkering stations will be wanted at many
+points in the West Indies.
+
+Trinidad and Kingston seem likely to benefit most from the traffic to
+and from Cristobal, the new Atlantic terminal of the canal. Both are
+splendidly equipped by Nature to act as coaling and repairing stations
+as well as centres for the distribution of goods. Kingston has a superb
+harbour, and so also has Port of Spain (the capital of Trinidad) in the
+Gulf of Paria, a natural landlocked harbour in which the fleets of the
+whole world could lie in safety--and, it is important to add, outside
+the hurricane zone. Trinidad lies right athwart the mouths of the
+Orinoco River. The years that are coming will see a tremendous
+development of the resources of these rich tropical basins, and Port of
+Spain is a natural port of exit and entry for the trade of regions where
+Raleigh sought the fabled Manoa or El Dorado.
+
+It is too soon to try to indicate in detail the effects which the Panama
+Canal is likely to have on the trade and production of the islands
+themselves. The sugar industry is reviving under the influence of the
+Treaty of Reciprocity concluded between a large number of the islands
+and the Dominion of Canada. Probably the sugar for the tea-tables and
+apple-tarts of Vancouver, and a good many places far to the north and
+east, will be brought from the West Indies to Vancouver. But the islands
+will benefit more directly and immediately through the immense growth of
+traffic in the Caribbean Sea, the supply of coal and other necessities
+to this increased shipping, and in general through the publicity the
+islands will enjoy, which will mean a growing invasion of
+"globe-trotters," and consequently a big development of agricultural
+resources and an influx of new capital.
+
+An almost certain and immediate result of the new route, I may say in
+passing, will be a large increase of the tourist traffic to England and
+Europe from the western coasts of North and South America. When the
+fares are lowered, and the traveller can do the journey wholly by water,
+without the trouble of changing from railroad to steamer, we may be sure
+that a rapidly growing tide of passengers will set eastwards as well as
+westwards through the canal.
+
+But, to return to the West Indies, every nation is preparing to develop
+or establish in these regions harbours and coaling-stations and other
+facilities for its trade. For example, a Danish company proposes to
+establish connection between Copenhagen and San Francisco through the
+island of St. Thomas, one of the Virgin group. At St. Thomas, by the
+way, is shown the castle of Edward Teach, or "Blackbeard," the very beau
+ideal of a skull and crossbones pirate who, according to "Tom Cringle's
+Log," wore a beard in three plaits a foot long, and a full-dress purple
+velvet coat, under which bristled many pistols and two naked daggers
+over eighteen inches long, and who had generally a lighted match in his
+cocked hat with which he lit his pipe or fired a cannon, as the occasion
+demanded. "One of his favourite amusements when he got half-slewed was
+to adjourn to the hold with his compotators, and, kindling some
+brimstone matches, to dance and roar as if he had been the devil
+himself, until his allies were nearly suffocated. At another time he
+would blow out the candles in the cabin and blaze away with his loaded
+pistols at random right and left.... He was kind to his fourteen wives
+as long as he was sober, and never murdered above three of them." This
+very improper, but picturesque, gentleman was run down at last by H.M.
+frigates the _Lime_ and the _Pearl_ to a creek of North Carolina, where,
+with thirty men in an eight-gun schooner, he made a desperate fight for
+life, killing and wounding more than the number of his own crew, and
+dying where he fell, faint with the loss of blood, overcome by superior
+numbers alone. Whether "Blackbeard" ever inhabited the castle at St.
+Thomas may be questioned, but the island ought to benefit from the
+canal, as it lies right across the main entrance to the Caribbean from
+the Atlantic.
+
+The German steamship lines are awake to the new opportunities, the
+Hamburg-Amerika preparing for the new emigrant traffic between Europe
+and Western America. Germany, it is said, is negotiating for a
+coaling-station in Hayti, which, with its two negro republics, stands to
+profit immensely from the new conditions. No one has troubled much about
+this splendid island of late. It has had a dark and terrible history.
+Discovered by Columbus, who called it _Hispaniola_, it was occupied by
+the Spanish adventurers who found alluvial gold there. Then it became
+the headquarters of the "buccaneers" who succeeded to the gallant and
+courtly sea-rovers of the Elizabethan period and became formidable
+about the year 1630. One of these buccaneers was that Henry Morgan who
+sacked the old town of Panama in 1671, and then became quite a
+respectable character, governor of Jamaica, and dubbed knight by Charles
+II. It was in Hispaniola, or Hayti, that this species of Western viking
+got their name. The island had been depopulated by the Spaniards, but
+the cattle and hogs they had introduced became wild and repopulated the
+land in their own kind. Thus Hispaniola became a splendid provisioning
+base for the ships of the buccaneers. They hunted the cattle and
+preserved the meat, smoke-drying it in the Indian fashion. This industry
+was called _boucanning_, and from it the buccaneers were named.
+
+Hispaniola was the mother colony of the Spanish Empire in the West
+Indies which has now wholly disappeared, very unfortunately for Spain in
+view of the enhanced value these islands will now soon acquire. In 1795
+it was ceded to France, and soon afterwards the emancipated slaves
+gained possession of the island, and after a period of anarchy and
+bloodshed established their independence. It is divided into two negro
+and mulatto republics, Hayti and San Domingo, and, as might have been
+expected, has sunk to the lowest depths of possible human degradation.
+Fetishism, human sacrifice, and even cannibalism prevail in this
+sea-girt Paradise, placed right among the possessions of the most
+civilized Powers of the world and now across the main ocean routes from
+the West to the United States, Canada, and the Old World. Can anybody
+believe that beautiful Hispaniola, an island 30,000 square miles in
+extent, whose economic and strategic value will be increased a
+hundredfold in the years that are coming, will long remain under this
+blighting shadow of ignorance and barbarism? Here certainly the Panama
+Canal will work a beneficent political change.
+
+France, too, is beginning to look up her possessions and opportunities
+in the Caribbean. Here her two islands, Martinique and Guadeloupe, are
+placed most conveniently for her ships coming westwards from Havre,
+Bordeaux, and St. Nazaire, while Tahiti and New Caledonia will pass them
+on over the Pacific to the Far East. M. Gilquin, writing in _La vie
+Maritime_, says:--
+
+      In Martinique, Guadeloupe, New Caledonia, and Tahiti our
+      commerce--that is to say, exports and imports together--was,
+      in the year 1909, ninety millions of francs; this rose to
+      one hundred and twenty-two millions in 1910, and it is
+      probable that when we get the figures for 1911 they will be
+      found to be even more favourable. It is certain that with
+      the opening of the Panama Canal a great increase in traffic
+      will take place, and possessing, as we do, ports so
+      advantageously placed on the principal lines of route, we
+      should benefit extensively by that development of traffic
+      between Europe and the western coasts of both North and
+      South America. In order that we may reap the benefit,
+      however, of the situation of our colonial harbours, it is
+      necessary that these be taken in hand at once and rendered
+      fit for the commerce they will be called upon to handle.
+
+And what is England doing to prepare for the new epoch in these regions
+where she has planted her flag on so many rich and beautiful islands,
+strung like pearls of necklace and tiara over these warm tropical seas?
+We hear of Jamaica providing a new site for coaling and ships' repairs
+near Kingston, of harbour improvements at Port of Spain (Trinidad) and
+St. George (Grenada), of oil-bunkering stations at Barbados and St.
+Lucia. All this is good, but England will have to enter upon a very
+different policy for the future with regard to her West Indian empire.
+She must show that she values her priceless inheritance in and round the
+Caribbean; that she is determined to maintain her position, to promote
+her commerce, and to further the interests of all her subjects in these
+regions.
+
+What the West Indies need in order to be able to take the new
+opportunity by the forelock are organization and combination. Schemes
+have been proposed for federalizing the constitution of the
+islands--placing them, that is, under a strong central government for
+those purposes that are common to them all. There are many difficulties
+in the way of such proposals. The nearest island of the Greater Antilles
+is 1,000 miles away from the nearest of the Lesser, so that Nature seems
+to have pronounced for the present against any federal scheme embracing
+all the islands. But space is always shrinking. Wireless telegraphy and
+aeroplanes may make 1,000 miles an inconsiderable distance for such
+political purposes. The Leeward Islands have already been organized
+under a single federal government, and it ought to be possible to extend
+the system. Moreover, the islands and the colonies on the continent are
+learning the value of common consultation and action in such matters as
+quarantine, and they meet together in annual agricultural conferences.
+
+We need not wait for a formal and complete federal constitution. Some
+central council for consultation on the best means of taking advantage
+of the new opportunities, some central fund for promoting common
+objects, such as advertising the wonderful attractions of the islands
+and preparing for the birds of passage that will soon be coming from
+every civilized country in the Old and New World--all this is possible
+now. It is important, too, that the West Indian colonies should have
+some assembly or council through which they can address the Imperial
+Power with a single voice. England can give these colonies invaluable
+help. She can assist them to develop those steamship and telegraphic
+communications between the islands which are still so inadequate. She
+can indicate the best locations for harbours, coaling and repairing
+stations, and the other facilities which the new traffic will require.
+In view of the certain growth in wealth and prosperity, the colonies
+ought to be able by contributions among themselves to provide a
+substantial fund for objects they can carry out in common for the
+advantage of each and all.
+
+Some valuable information and very practical suggestion will be found in
+the report of the West Indian Commission presided over by Lord Balfour
+of Burleigh which was issued in 1910. Besides recommending a system of
+reciprocal trade preference between Canada and the West Indies, the
+commissioners made important proposals with regard to steamship and
+telegraphic communications. They favoured the public ownership and
+operation of the West Indian cables and possibly of the whole system
+northward to Halifax. They wrote:--
+
+      The single cables now connecting Halifax with Bermuda and
+      Bermuda with Jamaica ought either to be duplicated or
+      supplemented by wireless. A cable should be laid between
+      Bermuda and Barbados, with a branch to Trinidad, and perhaps
+      another to British Guiana. The cables which run from Jamaica
+      to the eastern islands and British Guiana, sometimes single
+      and sometimes duplicate, are very old. The bed of this part
+      of the Caribbean being trying for cables, we believe it
+      would be found advantageous in most cases not to renew them,
+      but to replace them by wireless installations. If these were
+      well arranged, they might form a satisfactory connection
+      between the eastern islands and Jamaica and an alternative
+      route to Bermuda, and render unnecessary duplication of the
+      suggested Bermuda-Barbados cable. While it is desirable to
+      connect British Honduras with Jamaica, we consider that the
+      probable volume of traffic would not warrant the cost of a
+      cable. We therefore recommend the employment of wireless for
+      this purpose. Small installations should also be supplied
+      to the outlying Leeward and Bahamas Islands.
+
+England will have to foster the welfare of her possessions in these
+regions as she has never done before. The Brussels Convention forbade
+her to give any preference to sugar produced in her own dominions. But
+she is about to step out of that agreement, and will be at liberty, if
+she thinks fit, to encourage by preferential favours the one great
+staple for which these colonies can find no substitute. There may be
+differences of opinion on the fiscal question, but surely everybody must
+agree that the naval power and political prestige of the British Empire
+must be represented in the Caribbean Sea by something rather more
+impressive than two small and obsolete cruisers. If England is to
+maintain her position against the severer competition she will now have
+to face, if she is to get her share of the new commerce now in prospect,
+she will have to give her traders, and shippers, and merchants all the
+confidence and encouragement which her flag should inspire. One or two
+well-equipped naval bases, a squadron of up-to-date cruisers for police
+and patrol work in the Caribbean and down the Pacific coasts of America,
+are indispensable. There must be no more earthquakes and destructions of
+British cities with never a British vessel to bring the sorely-needed
+help, no more riots in British islands with only a Dutch warship
+standing helplessly by.
+
+Both British Columbia and the West Indies have complained with reason of
+the absenteeism of the British fleet from their shores. The necessity
+for concentrating all our naval power in the North Sea to meet the
+German menace has no doubt been the cause of these withdrawals from the
+outer sea-marches of the empire. But at any cost this wrong will have to
+be righted in the future. The West Indies and British Columbia are just
+the two portions of the empire which the Panama Canal may benefit most
+and most immediately, and they have a right to expect the support and
+co-operation of the imperial government wherever it can be given. All
+the Powers of the world will be afloat on the Caribbean and along the
+Pacific sea-trails to Balboa. Let the white ensign return to these seas
+and shores as an earnest to all that the same national spirit that won
+for England her political and commercial supremacy avails to maintain it
+now and in the new era which is just dawning.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[21] From the already-quoted paper read before the Royal Colonial
+Institute, March 19, 1912.
+
+[22] Marco Polo, following Aristotle's nomenclature, had given the name
+of "Antilla" to an island off the eastern coast of Asia. The name was
+transferred by Columbus, or Peter Martyr, to the islands of the
+Caribbean.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+THE NEW PACIFIC.
+
+
+Some readers may perhaps think that these forecasts of the results of
+running a canal through the isthmus of Panama are somewhat exaggerated.
+It is sufficient to point out to such a critic how different the course
+of American and world history might have been if Nature had left a
+practicable channel between the two Americas. The effect of erecting an
+artificial passage there in these days may be even greater than at
+present we can imagine. Some of these results will be apparent at once;
+others may take decades or even centuries to materialize. Many of the
+commercial and political results which have followed the construction of
+the Suez Canal were quite unforeseen in 1869. We may be similarly
+mistaken in our forecast with regard to the Panama Canal. Mr. Bryce
+suggests that if a dozen experts were, in 1914, to write out and place
+in the libraries of the British Museum and of Congress their respective
+forecasts bearing on this subject, sealed up and not to be opened till
+A.D. 2000, they might make curious reading in that year. We may
+venture to predict that the results of Panama will be much more profound
+and revolutionary than those of Suez. The Panama Canal, says Mr. Bryce,
+is "the greatest liberty man has ever taken with Nature." It will
+involve a far greater shifting of centres of gravity, political and
+commercial, a more radical readjustment of ideas and points of view than
+the Suez Canal.
+
+As the past four hundred years have belonged to the Atlantic, the
+present century and others to come may belong to the Pacific. That area
+of 70,000,000 square miles may become the main theatre of the
+rivalries--commercial, political, and racial--of the most powerful
+nations of East and West. Some believe that the world is advancing to
+that loud and fateful day when East and West will fight out their long
+difference in some naval and aerial Armageddon on and above this
+miscalled Pacific. Without straining our imaginations to this extent, we
+may well observe that the canal brings Eastern and Western
+civilizations into much closer contact and competition than before. Mr.
+Kipling has informed us that East is East and West is West, and never
+the twain shall meet; and a still earlier author, desiring to give the
+penitent sinner the uttermost consolation, declared that the Lord
+removes his transgressions from him "as far as the east is from the
+west."
+
+The new canal rather diminishes the force of such similitudes. It is not
+simply that the east of Canada and the United States, as representing
+Western civilization, is brought much closer to China and Japan; that
+the passage from West to East which the early navigators vainly sought
+is now thrown open. The important thing is that the Pacific is going to
+be the scene of commercial and political rivalries in which the slowly
+awakening people of China and the already wide-awake people of Japan
+will take part. All the Pacific Ocean westward to 160 degrees of
+longitude east of Greenwich is brought nearer to England and the western
+coasts of Europe. The entire ocean right back to the western extremity
+of Australia is brought closer to the governmental and industrial
+centres of the United States and Canada.
+
+English people have been thinking "Atlantically" up to now. The Pacific,
+held at an unimaginable distance by a broad continent or an abyss of
+ocean, has been known to them chiefly through stories of adventure among
+its coral islands familiar to their childhood. Yet England is the
+greatest Pacific Power in the world. British Columbia alone has a
+Pacific sea-front longer than the United States, and holds 383,000
+square miles, an area as large as France and Spain put together. And yet
+the population of that vast and fertile province is only 134,000. And
+what of the lonely continent that bounds this oceanic abyss in the far
+south-west? Australia, without New Zealand, is about 3,000,000 square
+miles in extent, and has to-day a white population of about 4,600,000,
+or about 4,700,000 people all told. The northern part of this mighty
+island-continent, known as the "Territory," 560 miles wide, 900 miles
+long, and 523,620 square miles in extent, a region of great potential
+wealth, has a total European population of 1,274! And to the north and
+north-west there are a billion (1,000,000,000) brown and yellow people,
+packed together in crowded islands and territories, whose mere
+overspill would quickly fill that delectable island-continent to the
+south where England has done so little to make good her nominal title to
+sovereignty by actual and effective settlement.
+
+Such a possession, an empire in itself, held so precariously and
+offering such a ceaseless temptation to swarming land-hungry hordes, is
+rather a weakness than a strength to England on the threshold of the new
+era. And from all this Pacific region and its adjuncts where she has
+secured all the empty and desirable plots and pegged out so many claims
+for posterity, she has had to withdraw her fleets, as Rome had to draw
+in her legions from the outer provinces to defend the central heart of
+her empire. We may hope that this North Sea danger, so embarrassing and
+disastrous in its strategic needs to a power like England, whose empire
+is scattered over every ocean and continent, may disappear through the
+growth of better relations between the German and Anglo-Saxon branches
+of the Teutonic race. To that stock more than any other is committed the
+defence of Western and Christian ideas, and the great issues of the
+future may compel a Pan-Teutonic alliance, embracing the British and
+German Empires and the United States.
+
+England has two responsibilities in the Pacific--the one to herself and
+her empire, and the other to Christendom and Western civilization. If
+she is true to the former, she cannot well be false to the latter. She
+must bring her fleets back to this great ocean and assert an influence
+in its politics proportionate to her territorial domains and the extent
+of her commerce in those regions. But there are objects more important
+than the interests of any single Power. The entire coast of the Pacific
+from Behring Straits to the Horn, and round south by New Zealand and
+Australia, must be kept "white"--reserved, that is, for the Occidental
+and Christian races. Perhaps the United States may one day so far modify
+the Monroe doctrine as to welcome Germany to a sovereign foothold among
+the unstable politics of South America, in order to strengthen still
+more the outposts of Christian civilization in the Western hemisphere.
+
+It is possible to talk great nonsense about what is called the "yellow
+peril." No sensible person imagines that the nimble Japanese, the
+inscrutable Chinaman, and the subtle Hindoo are suddenly going to rise
+as one man and throw down the gage of challenge to Christianity and the
+West. East, like West, has its own political and religious divisions;
+nevertheless it is impossible to foresee what the results of the
+Oriental resurgence may mean, and England and the United States, and
+perhaps Germany, may some day have a joint responsibility in the Pacific
+compared with which their rivalries among themselves may seem trifling
+and irrational.
+
+But I do not wish to end this little book with presages of future
+discord. We must all hope that the Panama Canal will prove a new and
+powerful influence for peace, that it will bring even East and West
+together, not in strife and suspicion, but in friendship and a better
+mutual understanding. There is surely a human interest and sympathy
+transcending even those racial divisions which may seem most
+insuperable. The great nation which has given this splendid gift to the
+world should ask no better or more selfish reward than that it may
+contribute to the welfare and progress of humanity at large.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX I.
+
+THE ISTHMIAN CANAL CONVENTION (COMMONLY CALLED THE HAY-PAUNCEFOTE
+TREATY), 1901.
+
+
+1. The high contracting parties agree that the present treaty shall
+supersede the aforementioned (Clayton-Bulwer) convention of April 19,
+1850.
+
+2. It is agreed that the canal may be constructed under the auspices of
+the government of the United States either directly at its own cost, or
+by gift or loan of money to individuals or corporations, or through
+subscription to or purchase of stock or shares, and that, subject to the
+provisions of the present treaty, the said government shall have and
+enjoy all the rights incident to such construction, as well as the
+exclusive right of providing for the regulation and management of the
+canal.
+
+3. The United States adopts as the basis of the neutralization of such
+ship canal the following rules substantially as embodied in the
+Convention of Constantinople, signed the 28th October, 1888, for the
+free navigation of the Suez Canal; that is to say:
+
+First.--The canal shall be free and open to the vessels of commerce and
+of war of all nations observing these rules, on terms of entire
+equality, so that there shall be no discrimination against any such
+nation or its citizens or subjects in respect of the conditions or
+charges of traffic, or otherwise. Such conditions and charges of traffic
+shall be just and equitable.
+
+Second.--The canal shall never be blockaded, nor shall any right of war
+be exercised nor any act of hostility be committed within it. The United
+States, however, shall be at liberty to maintain such military police
+along the canal as may be necessary to protect it against lawlessness
+and disorder.
+
+Third.--Vessels of war of a belligerent shall not revictual nor take any
+stores in the canal except so far as may be strictly necessary; and the
+transit of such vessels through the canal shall be effected with the
+least possible delay in accordance with the regulations in force, and
+with only such intermission as may result from the necessities of the
+service. Prizes shall be in all respects subject to the same rules as
+vessels of war of the belligerents.
+
+Fourth.--No belligerent shall embark or disembark troops, munitions of
+war or warlike materials in the canal except in case of accidental
+hindrance of the transit, and in such case the transit shall be resumed
+with all possible despatch.
+
+Fifth.--The provisions of this article shall apply to waters adjacent to
+the canal, within three marine miles of either end. Vessels of war of a
+belligerent shall not remain in such waters longer than twenty-four
+hours at any one time except in case of distress, and in such case shall
+depart as soon as possible, but a vessel of war of one belligerent shall
+not depart within twenty-four hours from the departure of a vessel of
+war of the other belligerent.
+
+Sixth.--The plant, establishment, buildings and all works necessary to
+the construction, maintenance and operation of the canal shall be deemed
+to be parts thereof for the purpose of this treaty, and in time of war,
+as in time of peace, shall enjoy complete immunity from attack or injury
+by belligerents, and from acts calculated to impair their usefulness as
+part of the canal.
+
+4. It is agreed that no change of territorial sovereignty or of
+international relations of the country or countries traversed by the
+before-mentioned canal shall affect the general principle of
+neutralization or the obligation of the high contracting parties under
+the present treaty.
+
+5. The present treaty shall be ratified by the President of the United
+States by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and by
+His Britannic Majesty; and the ratifications shall be exchanged at
+Washington or at London at the earliest possible time within six months
+from the date thereof.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX II.
+
+THE PANAMA DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 1903.
+
+
+The transcendental act that by a spontaneous movement the inhabitants of
+the isthmus of Panama have just executed is the inevitable consequence
+of a situation which has become graver daily.
+
+Long is the recital of the grievances that the inhabitants of the
+isthmus have suffered from their Colombian brothers; but those
+grievances would have been withstood with resignation for the sake of
+harmony and national union had its separation been possible and if we
+could have entertained well-founded hopes of improvement and of
+effective progress under the system to which we were submitted by that
+republic. We have to solemnly declare that we have the sincere and
+profound conviction that all the hopes were futile and useless, all the
+sacrifices on our part.
+
+The isthmus of Panama has been governed by the Republic of Colombia with
+the narrow-mindedness that in past times was applied to their colonies
+by the European nations--the Isthmian people and territory were a source
+of fiscal resources and nothing more. The contracts and negotiations
+regarding the railroad and the Panama Canal and the national taxes
+collected in the isthmus have netted to Colombia tremendous sums which
+we will not detail, not wishing to appear in this exposition which will
+go down to posterity as being moved by a mercenary spirit, which has
+never been nor is our purpose; and of these large sums the isthmus has
+not received the benefit of a bridge for any of its numerous rivers, nor
+the construction of a single road between its towns, nor of any public
+building nor of a single college, and has neither seen any interest
+displayed in advancing her industries, nor has a most infinite part of
+those sums been applied toward her prosperity.
+
+A very recent example of what we have related above is what has occurred
+with the negotiations of the Panama Canal, which, when taken under
+consideration by Congress, was rejected in a summary manner. There were
+a few public men who expressed their adverse opinion, on the ground that
+the isthmus of Panama alone was to be favoured by the opening of the
+canal by virtue of a treaty with the United States, and that the rest of
+Colombia would not receive any direct benefits of any sort by that work,
+as if that way of reasoning, even though it be correct, would justify
+the irreparable and perpetual damage that would be caused to the isthmus
+by the rejection of the treaty in the manner in which it was done, which
+was equivalent to the closing of the doors to future negotiations.
+
+The people of the isthmus, in view of such notorious causes, have
+decided to recover their sovereignty and begin to form a part of the
+society of the free and independent nations, in order to work out its
+own destiny, to insure its future in a stable manner, and discharge the
+duties which it is called on to do by the situation of its territory and
+its immense richness.
+
+To that we, the initiators of the movement effected, aspire and have
+obtained a unanimous approval.
+
+We aspire to the formation of a true republic, where tolerance will
+prevail, where the law shall be the invariable guide of those governing
+and those governed, where effective peace be established, which consists
+in the frequent and harmonious play of all interests and all activities,
+and where, finally, civilization and progress will find perpetual
+stability.
+
+At the commencement of the life of an independent nation we fully
+appreciate the responsibilities that state means, but we have profound
+faith in the good sense and patriotism of the Isthmian people, and we
+possess sufficient energy to open our way by means of labour to a happy
+future without any worry or any danger.
+
+At separating from our brothers of Colombia we do it without hatred and
+without any joy. Just as a son withdraws from his paternal roof, the
+Isthmian people in adopting the lot it has chosen have done it with
+grief, but in compliance with the supreme and inevitable duty it owes to
+itself--that of its own preservation and of working for its own
+welfare.
+
+We therefore begin to form a part among the free nations of the world,
+considering Colombia as a sister nation, with which we shall be whenever
+circumstances may require it, and for whose prosperity we have the most
+fervent and sincere wishes.
+
+ Jose Agustin Arango,
+ Federico Boyd,
+ Tomas Arias.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX III.
+
+THE PANAMA CANAL CONVENTION (COMMONLY CALLED THE HAY-BUNAU-VARILLA
+TREATY), 1904.
+
+
+The United States of America and the Republic of Panama being desirous
+to insure the construction of a ship-canal across the isthmus of Panama
+to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the Congress of the
+United States of America having passed an Act approved June 28, 1902, in
+furtherance of that object, by which the President of the United States
+is authorized to acquire within a reasonable time the control of the
+necessary territory of the Republic of Colombia, and the sovereignty of
+such territory being actually vested in the Republic of Panama, the high
+contracting parties have resolved for that purpose to conclude a
+convention and have accordingly appointed as their plenipotentiaries--
+
+The President of the United States of America, John Hay, Secretary of
+State, and the government of the Republic of Panama, Philippe
+Bunau-Varilla, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the
+Republic of Panama, thereunto specially empowered by said government,
+who after communicating with each other their respective full powers
+found to be in good and due form, have agreed upon and concluded the
+following articles:
+
+
+Article 1.
+
+The United States guarantees and will maintain the independence of the
+Republic of Panama.
+
+
+Article 2.
+
+The Republic of Panama grants to the United States in perpetuity the
+use, occupation and control of a zone of land and land under water for
+the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation and protection of
+said canal of the width of ten miles extending to the distance of five
+miles on each side of the centre line of the route of the canal to be
+constructed; the said zone beginning in the Caribbean Sea three marine
+miles from mean low water mark, and extending to and across the isthmus
+of Panama into the Pacific Ocean to a distance of three marine miles
+from mean low water mark, with the proviso that the cities of Panama and
+Colon and the harbours adjacent to said cities, which are included
+within the boundaries of the zone above described, shall not be included
+within this grant. The Republic of Panama further grants to the United
+States in perpetuity the use, occupation and control of any other lands
+and waters outside of the zone above described which may be necessary
+and convenient for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation
+and protection of the said canal or of any auxiliary canal or other
+works necessary and convenient for the construction, maintenance,
+operation, sanitation and protection of the said enterprise.
+
+The Republic of Panama further grants in like manner to the United
+States in perpetuity all islands within the limits of the zone above
+described and in addition thereto the group of small islands in the Bay
+of Panama, named Perico, Naos, Culebra, and Flamenco.
+
+
+Article 3.
+
+The Republic of Panama grants to the United States all the rights, power
+and authority within the zone mentioned and described in Article 2 of
+this agreement and within the limits of all auxiliary lands and waters
+mentioned and described in said Article 2 which the United States would
+possess and exercise if it were the sovereign of the territory within
+which said lands and waters are located to the entire exclusion of the
+exercise by the Republic of Panama of any such sovereign rights, power
+or authority.
+
+
+Article 4.
+
+As rights subsidiary to the above grants the Republic of Panama grants
+in perpetuity to the United States the right to use the rivers, streams,
+lakes and other bodies of water within its limits for navigation, the
+supply of water or water-power or other purposes, so far as the use of
+said rivers, streams, lakes and bodies of water and the waters thereof
+may be necessary and convenient for the construction, maintenance,
+operation, sanitation and protection of the said canal.
+
+
+Article 5.
+
+The Republic of Panama grants to the United States in perpetuity a
+monopoly for the construction, maintenance and operation of any system
+of communication by means of canal or railroad across its territory
+between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
+
+
+Article 6.
+
+The grants herein contained shall in no manner invalidate the titles or
+rights of private landholders or owners of private property in the said
+zone or in or to any of the lands or waters granted to the United States
+by the provisions of any Article of this treaty, nor shall they
+interfere with the rights of way over the public roads passing through
+the said zone or over any of the said lands or waters unless said rights
+of way or private rights shall conflict with rights herein granted to
+the United States, in which case the rights of the United States shall
+be superior. All damages caused to the owners of private lands or
+private property of any kind by reason of the grants contained in this
+treaty or by reason of the operations of the United States, its agents
+or employees, or by reason of the construction, maintenance, operation,
+sanitation and protection of the said canal or of the works of
+sanitation and protection herein provided for, shall be appraised and
+settled by a joint commission appointed by the governments of the United
+States and the Republic of Panama, whose decisions as to such damages
+shall be final and whose awards as to such damages shall be paid solely
+by the United States. No part of the work on said canal or the Panama
+railroad or on any auxiliary works relating thereto and authorized by
+the terms of this treaty shall be prevented, delayed or impeded by or
+pending such proceedings to ascertain such damages. The appraisal of the
+said private lands and private property and the assessment of damages to
+them shall be based upon their value before the date of this convention.
+
+
+Article 7.
+
+The Republic of Panama grants to the United States within the limits of
+the cities of Panama and Colon and their adjacent harbours and within
+the territory adjacent thereto the right to acquire by purchase or by
+the exercise of the right of eminent domain, any lands, buildings, water
+rights or other properties necessary and convenient for the
+construction, maintenance, operation and protection of the canal and of
+any works of sanitation, such as the collection and disposition of
+sewage and the distribution of water in the said cities of Panama and
+Colon, which, in the discretion of the United States, may be necessary
+and convenient for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation
+and protection of the said canal and railroad. All such works of
+sanitation, collection and disposition of sewage and distribution of
+water in the cities of Panama and Colon shall be made at the expense of
+the United States, and the government of the United States, its agents
+or nominees shall be authorized to impose and collect water rates and
+sewage rates which shall be sufficient to provide for the payment of
+interest and the amortization of the principal of the cost of said works
+within a period of fifty years, and upon the expiration of said term of
+fifty years the system of sewers and water works shall revert to and
+become the properties of the cities of Panama and Colon respectively;
+and the use of the water shall be free to the inhabitants of Panama and
+Colon, except to the extent that water rates may be necessary for the
+operation and maintenance of said system of sewers and water.
+
+The Republic of Panama agrees that the cities of Panama and Colon shall
+comply in perpetuity with the sanitary ordinances whether of a
+preventive or curative character prescribed by the United States, and in
+case the government of Panama is unable or fails in its duty to enforce
+this compliance by the cities of Panama and Colon with the sanitary
+ordinances of the United States the Republic of Panama grants to the
+United States the right and authority to enforce the same.
+
+The same right and authority are granted to the United States for the
+maintenance of public order in the cities of Panama and Colon and the
+territories and harbours adjacent thereto in case the Republic of Panama
+should not be, in the judgment of the United States, able to maintain
+such order.
+
+
+Article 8.
+
+The Republic of Panama grants to the United States all rights which it
+now has or hereafter may acquire to the property of the New Panama Canal
+Company and the Panama Railroad Company as a result of the transfer of
+sovereignty from the Republic of Colombia to the Republic of Panama over
+the isthmus of Panama, and authorizes the New Panama Canal Company to
+sell and transfer to the United States its rights, privileges,
+properties and concessions, as well as the Panama Railroad and all the
+shares or part of the shares of that company; but the public lands
+situated outside of the zone described in Article 2 of this treaty now
+included in the concessions to both said enterprises and not required in
+the construction or operation of the canal shall revert to the Republic
+of Panama except any property now owned by or in the possession of said
+companies within Panama or Colon or the ports or terminals thereof.
+
+
+Article 9.
+
+The United States agrees that the ports at either entrance of the canal
+and the waters thereof, and the Republic of Panama agrees that the
+towns of Panama and Colon shall be free for all time, so that there
+shall not be imposed or collected custom-house tolls, tonnage,
+anchorage, lighthouse, wharf, pilot, or quarantine dues or any other
+charges or taxes of any kind upon any vessel using or passing through
+the canal or belonging to or employed by the United States, directly or
+indirectly, in connection with the construction, maintenance, operation,
+sanitation and protection of the main canal, or auxiliary works, or upon
+the cargo, officers, crew, or passengers of any such vessels, except
+such tolls and charges as may be imposed by the United States for the
+use of the canal and other works, and except tolls and charges imposed
+by the Republic of Panama upon merchandise destined to be introduced for
+the consumption of the rest of the Republic of Panama, and upon vessels
+touching at the ports of Colon and Panama and which do not cross the
+canal.
+
+The government of the Republic of Panama shall have the right to
+establish in such ports and in the towns of Panama and Colon such houses
+and guards as it may deem necessary to collect duties on importations
+destined to other portions of Panama and to prevent contraband trade.
+The United States shall have the right to make use of the towns and
+harbours of Panama and Colon as places of anchorage, and for making
+repairs, for loading, unloading, depositing, or transshipping cargoes
+either in transit or destined for the service of the canal and for other
+works pertaining to the canal.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+Article 23.
+
+If it should become necessary at any time to employ armed forces for the
+safety or protection of the canal, or of the ships that make use of the
+same, or the railways and auxiliary works, the United States shall have
+the right, at all times and in its discretion, to use its police and its
+land and naval forces or to establish fortifications for these purposes.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX IV.
+
+PANAMA CANAL TOLL RATES.
+
+
+By the President of the United States of America, Washington, November
+14, 1912.
+
+
+A PROCLAMATION.
+
+I, William Howard Taft, President of the United States of America, by
+virtue of the power and authority vested in me by the Act of Congress,
+approved August twenty-fourth, nineteen hundred and twelve, to provide
+for the opening, maintenance, protection and operation of the Panama
+Canal and the sanitation and government of the canal zone, do hereby
+prescribe and proclaim the following rates of toll be paid, by vessels
+using the Panama Canal.
+
+1. On merchant vessels carrying passengers or cargo one dollar and
+twenty cents ($1.20) per net vessel ton--each one hundred (100) cubic
+feet--of actual earning capacity.
+
+2. On vessels in ballast without passengers or cargo forty (40) per
+cent. less than the rate of tolls for vessels with passengers or cargo.
+
+3. Upon naval vessels, other than transports, colliers, hospital ships,
+and supply ships, fifty (50) cents per displacement ton.
+
+4. Upon army and navy transports, colliers, hospital ships and supply
+ships one dollar and twenty cents ($1.20) per net ton, the vessels to be
+measured by the same rules as are employed in determining the net
+tonnage of merchant vessels.
+
+The Secretary of War will prepare and prescribe such rules for the
+measurement of vessels and such regulations as may be necessary and
+proper to carry this proclamation into full force and effect.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Panama Canal, by J. Saxon Mills
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