Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 November 1895 — CANAL MUST WAIT. [ARTICLE]

CANAL MUST WAIT.

Great Nlcaragtiun Project Given a KtngiierlnK llackset. According to the New York Herald a serious blow has boon dealt tho Nicaraguan Canal Company’s project for the

construction of a waterway cross tho Isthmus by tho roport of tho Nicaraguan Cniial commission. Inevltublo delay and n further und moro (borough Investigation of the entire subject nro declared to bo necessary before-even the engineering feasibility of any canal across Nicaragua can be decided upon. The report Is at sueli vnrianee with the numerous rumors nnd predictions which have from time to time been published concerning it that it will enuso groat surprise nnd disappointment nuiong those who have hoped for a generally favorable report, nnd who have, therefore, placed credence in these rumors, which usually stated "on the highest nuthority” that the commission favored the route proposed by the company nnd placed the cost of the canal at übout $110,000,000. The report points out that it is nolther practicable nor advisable to attempt the construction of the Nicaragua Canal upon the data nt present nvnilable, and that the undertaking would be fraught with hazards too obvious to disregard. That the necessary knowledge may be hafi of the physical and topographical conditions affecting the construction nnd maintenance of a canal across Nicaragua, upon which to form ,a final judgment ns to the feasibility, permanence and cost, the commission recommends an appropriation by Congress of $350,000 for extensive additional surveys nnd examinations, covering a period of eighteen months. With the data at hand, however, the commission makes a provisional estimate of the cost of $133,472,893, or nearly doublo that of the Maritime Canal Company’s unconditional estimate of $60,893,660. The commission makes its estimate “provisional,” for the commissioners say the existing data are Inadequate as a basis for estimating the cost of many structures. Home portions of the work may cost more, others loss. The report says the official estimate by the company of $69,803,060 is insufficient for the work; thnt “in several important cases the quantities must be greatly increased, and in numerous cases the unit prices do not make proper allowance for the difference in cost of work between the United States and Nicaragua.” The general trend of the entire report is certainly very unfavorable to the canal company. The commission refrains from any direct criticism of the company!* prospectus, but its report shows that certain features, which the company has persisted in assuring the public through Congress were knowu to be absolutely safe and feasible, if put in execution might jeopardize the practicability of the whole system, and possibly destroy forever the hope of a canal by means of the Han Juan River and Lake Nicaragua.