Fayette Observer, Volume 1, Number 15, Connersville, Fayette County, 23 September 1826 — Page 1

Vohu 1 Concvscn uYuva- SaVv&ay, September 23, 182(. Number 15.

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CANAL OF NICARAGUA.

ie same time, a hieduv useful insect. Iv

the following article, translated from the LiUrai of Gu item al 1. and w hic'i wo published this dav, that oar readei s mav be acquainted

with the history of the opening of the propo?ed canal between the Pacis'e and Ailaatic O-

lais, and ti c expenses nre about one million jit mint be known that it i? a condition of the fifteen years during which the house of P.arcatiduhalf. .contract, that the. undertaker shall supply all Slav was to receive half of the proceeds

the canal, only the period of seven ii

concede I to that of Palmer. By the prop'

purpose, two Iiundred ;als presented to ther resident of the IlepubLe.

the nation was to acknowledge t'ae capital la

aim a nan. v-oiaiuti, mai the. undertaker shall supply all The State of Nic viiAcr-i, of the Republic of This is the only means which oilers, to pre-Jthe stuns requite for the fortifications Unit the of Central America, has taken the lead in the im- vent the People from being hurthened w ith Government may think necessary ;aud it is also 'co provement of her resources by a bold, hut at J heavy contribution'', and for lessening those ja condii ion, that, for this purpose, two hundred 'fa!

; Inc. i now exist. 1 be opening ot tiie canal ituou-and iloilars shall be tdaced at Grenada

will immediately produce to the Republic two 'loi the lirst expenses of the Goveriimeut.within

or tun e millions oi dollar.-, and m the : course ot seven months, and that the canal shall not be

opened until the works cf the fortification shall

oo completed. Wlitr wilUhen Nicaragua be more safe; now, or when there shall exist upon

ire Hoarders ot the canal two thousand cannon

r.icv, years, nine inanonr, or more. -ides, by the very act of opening it, commerce will increase astonishingly in all the

cear.s. through the state of Nicaragua, will bel:ns -ud the duties thereon will replenish the

1 earned the views of the Cosiness in relation iaatlouui treasury, and the wealth of all the ; pi: nt -d in a J vantn-reous nosition? The instances and after

to the undertaking, it?, importance, and the ha: jettison beingaugnicntcd, they w ill be in their .ol otlir points, like Giberaltar3occuuied en ac-imount of

turn m a situation to cotilrioute; the arts, com- cout cm their importance, prove first, that m merce. and agriculture, will neccssarii be i:i-past times, a spirit of conquest prevailed; but

i leased by the canal. TherecanuotbeaGovornjwe must acknowledge that the fpirit of com

ment more unjust than that which should increase the eonti ibutions without increasim the

py consequences expected to result from ilcompletion. To the United States, in a commercial point of view, this undertaking i- of some consequence, and its accomplishment devoutly to be wished. From what we learn ;fthe icources of the country to which the prove-l canal will open an easy communication. a trreat trade will hereafter be can ltd on,-

with proper efforts to streugtb.cn their already plata ot' the deficit are certain, and since fact?

tave re Ho opposition towards us. we may benefit largely of the advantages to the deri cdi from a participation in said trade. B)st. 'a!. "The opening of this canahsaid the committe who reported on that subject, is. ricxt to oar independence, cur greatest blessiirr. Tiie un

dertaking of joining the two oceans will signal- jand by ceitain data, it is known that Buenos

re tiie century, and the Congress which put it j Ay res aioue exported more produce toLugland. m execution. It will produce the blessings ofjin that year, than Mexico, Columbia, Peru, and

ration il wealth, because it will attract to the

merce, ha succeeded; secondly, thnt it is al-

vvav success try to live watchful.because every

resources of the citizens. Let this beheld in re-tthmg is possible to cupidity and ambition; but mem'orancc. jnot because riches excite the desire of robbers. These ideas are not vain fears, sine the ouhl the strange idea of roinrr iu raps, and

may also be cite J which will prove the facility

of condemning ourselves to misery,be adopted,

to avoid the danger et being robbed? 7 hirdly

which exists, to give a prodigious increase toithat aggression should be feared, even without

the canal being opened, since they have already occurred. Fourthly, that Nicaragua, without troops, and without the love of independence,

martime revenue. The Republic of Buenos Ayres received, in the year 1!21, from maritime duties, Uva millions and about three hunderd thousand dollas

Republic, commerce, industry; and promote ..jrmulture. Ir. eifect, cur produce is not exported at present, because the charges of conveying it prevent it ; foreigners. with capital and enterprize, r!o not come, because the Northern coasts are u.n.ealthy, and tiie roids almost impassable; .ur 1 rem lias uncultivated, and our lands

vested in the canal as a debt, and pay it at all

events, by assessments on the People; and now there is nothing of this, but onlv two thirds cf the proceeds of the canal is made answerable

for it, the other third immediately accruing to the Republic, without spending one maraxui i.

itterwards ?he is to receive the whole a

nt of the tolls that mav be established.

finally letus mention, net to be diffuse, that

in 1824, the contract was to have been settled, which was only delayed because the provisional Executive power, on transmitting the proposals, spoke of the necessity of providing fcr fortifications, in virtue of which they decreed, and have now been contracted for; that in the last Legislature the negotiation for the canal was about to be pressed forward, and the term appointed to hear proposals, shortened, because it was known that other canals out ef our Republic were contemplated. And in effect, if

any negocration should be opened before, we should no longer hae proposals; or, if there

which did not then exist, was able to repel lLVshould be any, they would be verv disadvanta-

000; &. will it not now, when its inhabitants arejgeou?, because a second canal would not offer warlike, lovers of liberty and its institutions, re -the advantages of a first, which would perhaps pel a greater number.' Let us remember that 'be the only one.

Chili, together and th it the quantity of Rriglish , the patriots of Nicaragua have lately risen, Let m resolve at once on a work which may

goons introduced into Buenos Ayres is double e'e, without resources, organized an army of it-elf alone be of rreatbeneiit to the Common-

that imported into thee four Republics, which which frustrated the nlans of the nerverse. even 'wealth. The United States of the North have

inlinit'dy surpass it in extent, produce, and I'he women dying in defence of the indepen-'entertained the project of uniting the two seas riches. This proceeds fr ,m ike ivi'sr u:jr-jder.ee which they saw menaced. Fifthly, we bv a canal of a thousand leagues, uniting the

cours hetzecen foreign cvuntrus and t'uit city : il ui'. jdo not expect, as was the case in some of these (Colombia and the Missis-sipsi rivers; and wc zcrth othtr nctr-us vicu it calculated lh t'u:t zritk points which are mentioned as having been coa-jtremble at the ideaof cutting through a plain cf

live league'. The benefit we shall derive from the canal is

England jnsi stat d. And this iuteocour.-c arises ' qucred, that cur officers will betray us. Formtrom the circumstance that the capital of thatidependence, we exposed ourselves to be attack-

w iih out value, since very little produce is suili-S KepuV.c is situated on the margin of the River jed ; and it never could ha e been a good argu-'too great to bo delayed any longer. May the neat for the consumption of the interior; and, La Plata, whose least width 'ster,m I its great-iment to advise to slavery frexn fear of losing maticn see as soon as possible those hone; reali

zed, which they conceived on proclaiming their 'independence! Mav the Congress and the Sen-

V m a wow, me uepumic now presents an unf fivorable aspect in its latent resDiirces. because, under the Spanish dominion, we were purp: ekept from any intercourse with tiie rest of I .he world. By the opening of the canal, the dav will saou come when husbandmen shall hae their pro hi o. witb.ont auv oxoene, at t'ae margin cf TiUigab!e waters, to be exported through ; the ports of the South, where many other canals, which interest will open, will soon be xouvated. The Republic will I o peopled wi'b ; h us ands of emigrants, whom the advantage- ' rcur soil will invite, and thev will brinir wuth ft. cm capital, and a knowledge of the arts. Airland will become valuable, and present the tratigeof gardens overflowing with abundance. Ivugenre will disappear forever, even from anion'; the poorest classes and instead of a thousand obstacles which now impede the ad-

iid proceeds from the rivci I'doerly.

ommercial regulations in our ports, and the contidence in them

same occurs in all parts of the globe. There will be no motive of complaint in this particular. It is an established point in this decree.

est lorty 1:

Parrana being navigable to the dirtance cf six It is imagined that all nations will resist the

hundred league, and al-o from the won-flaw w Such taxes the tolls on the canal. All ate achieve this work, and then mav they glo-

derful ramification of navigable strea.ns, which nations now receive the laws which establish Iry that the nation has not in vain deposited its

tinally mute in thf- river La Plata. Let us have ivi i- and canals, and ue shall have rapid communications; h t us have rapid communications, and uehallhave an active cemmerce. let us have an active c.ommercc.aud poverty v. ill no longer c.iit among us. and our Ti v.-ary will be richer than that of the river La Plata. But. :df e all, let us have a canal, w hich -hall unite the tuo seas, aiid the

commerce of the whole world will llow in thcius. and this is

mid.-t of us. an;l will leave, in its passage5ihosc 'erty.

millions wnich ue vant. And b.ow doc- it happen, then, that some

THE VAMPIRE We will now take a view of the Vampire.

which orders the canal to be opened, that the -As there was r. free entrance to the vampire

pasjatre through it shall be common to all na-jinthe loft " here I slept, I h?dmnnv a fine op

tions, without any exclusion or privclege. portunity of paying attention to this nocturnal The refore, it is for the interest of all, that the Furgeon. He docs not always live on blood.

passage between the two seas should belong lu

new guarantee of cur prop-

per;or: or,p;.-ea project whiidi alone can and

will cieute national prosperity? This proceed

ficuna jiu-illaniuuty of ideas, or from false ! more brilliant than Rulid.

The point, that it would be more convenient

that the canal should be opened by the government or by national companies, than by for

eigners, has also been urged, with arguments 'blossom of awarri nut tree which was grateful

When the mocn shone Fright, and the fruit ef the banana tree xvas ripe, I could see him approach and eat it He would also bring into the loft, from the forest, a green round fruit, something like the guava, and about the size of a nutmeuT. There was something also in the

sub-

notions on economy. And the. truth is, be

Fhis was not a

iect to hae been taken into consideration; it

ministration, and the snail like progress with which prosperity, under the influence of newtorn 1. Forty, advances, every thing will present the smiling image of animation and happiness. The blees-ings are incalculable, and the im- , agh.utstm is bewildered with the t'attering expectations which are anticipated from the openingof the canal of Nicaragua, and, above all, the interest of that State, impoverished by

the war which the. enemies of liberty wacred a-

gainst it,reaflers that undertaking more urgent

I rom the day on which rround shall be first

broken on the line of the canal, streams of wealth will begin to flow into Nicaragua, and t no man need want employment; the work being concluded, Nicaragua will be the most faj mous ort in the earth the picture of felicity, I and the centre of abundance.

! Nor can the advantages which are to result to the treasury of the nation be estimated. At

tl time, its revenue arises from maritime du

ties, from tobacco, from gun-powder, and from the pot-otiice. Their proceeds, however, are not sutticent to cover the estimated expenses of the year, by eight hundred thous t;id dollars. ThU sum is to be assessed equally on the difierent States. For in-tance, it mav fall to the , lot ot Hon luras and Nicaragua to pay ten thousand dollars per month, and to Guatemala and Salvador about twenty-five thousand. Within j two years it will be necessary to pay the prini cipal and interest of the foreign bin, and then we may he sure that the deficit will be more tiian double, and the contingents of the States moie than double also. They will have to raise these sums from the People: and in such a case, and the art izan, the husbandman, kc. must individually pay six dollars or more. Furthermore, the States of Honduras and

Nicaragua are represented to be unabled to

I subnst with their revenues. Can they then send six thousand dollars per month to the Treasury of the Federation?. It is evident that I . thcyconnot; and unncr such circumstances

what is to be done? The Federatiou must I crdite, or augment, one of its revenues, I wlnoh is that of maritime duties, and return to I the States the duties on tobacco and other ar-

f tides. It is now said that this maritime reven

ue produces only three hundred thousand dol

cause the bp:n.iaru have leit among us, as an nati reen already determined by the lormer

inheritance, the narrowness of spirit and the j Congress in the afore mentioned decree. We misery of con erting into schemes and contro-jought. hon ever, to say, that it is already an

versial disputes the most advantageous pro-jouraileu axiom that such works ought not to

jects.

It it said that, in the Congress, the opinion of the special committee that reported upon the

proposals which the Gov eminent had receiv ed respecting the opening of the canal, was opposM The Representatives vho advocated the idea of opening the canal, acted rightly, when, referring to the order of the former Congicvs,

they stated that il had resolved, by a deciee of the ldth June, 1C-25, that the canal should

be opened ; that, in consequence of this decree, proposals had heed solicited ; that these had been made, and that it would be a public deccp tion to resolve now that the work should not be undertaken. That the point whether the open ing of the canal was proper,and that this should not be made by the. Government, was settled;

that the only question now was, which of the

bo undertaken bv the Government alone, but

that they ought to be entrusted to individual interests, f uevcr active. We might cite, in support of this truth, a thousand economists.

and Rentham himsell, a manuscript lrom whom1 we have now under our eyes, relative to the manner of carrying into effect the canal of Nicaragua. In iVmer times, when the true

principles of the science of economy were unknown, it resulted to the disadvantage of the interests of nations that Governments should open roads and canals on their own account. This is not the cace any where at present; the importance of such an undertaking is calculated upon broad principles. Advantages are granted to whoever effete to take on his own account, which work afterward remains to the nations, or never remains, as has been

proposals were admissible. And, finally, thai' the case of the canal of Languedoc, the pro-

the surveys would give the. result of the prac- ceeds of w hich arc in behalf of Requet, the

ticabihty of the undertaking, no expense fal- engmeer w ho planned. I rat.cc has thougut

ling upon the Republic, in case it should not be practicable, as the enterpi i.ing undertakers would have no right to indemnity for the

expenses ot the survey. j Rut let us consider, although it is now unseasonable, the grounds ef those w ho feared the opening of the canal. It is said that this work w ill call the attention of other nations, and that, being so interesting and desirable, it will invite aggression. Tiie examples of Gibraltar and other points, are cited, and especially that ofan invasion which was made with 12,000 men m the Province of Nicaragua, not long since. This work will call the attention of all nations, as is now, in fact, the case: they speak,

and the have spoken throughout the world, ot the importanceof Nicaragua, on account of the facility of communication between the two seas through the country. Ry what nation

has invaded Nicaragua, although it was con

vulsed, the fortress of SanCarlof was almost destitute of a garrison? If any fear were to be had, it were that Nicaragua should remain

as it is, because its territory being very disira

ble, there does not exist those fortifications

which will be built together with the canal: as

to him: for, m coming up Waratilla creek in a

mooniighi night, I :aw several vampires fluttering round the top of the Sawarri tree, and every now and then the blossoms which they had broken cfffeil into the water. They certainly did net drop ciTnaturally : for on examining several of thorn, they appeared freh end blooming. 5o I concluded the vampires pulled them from the tree, cither to eat the in-

cipient irUit, or to catch tr.C insects winch oite: take up their abode in flowers. The vampire in general measures about twenty-six inches lYtin wing to wing extended, though once I killed one which measured thirty-two inches. He frequents old abandoned houses and hollow trees; and sometimes a cluster of them may be seen in the forest, hanging head downwards from the branch of a tree. The vampire has a curiou membrane, which rires frcin the ncse, and gives a very singular appearance. It has been remarked before, that there arc two ppecics cf vampire, in Guiana, a larger and smaller. The larger sucks men and other animals; the smaller seems to confine itself chiefly to birds. I learnt frem a gentleman, high up the river Domcrara, that he was completely unsuccessful with his fowls, on account of the

lie showed me some that

erself rewarded formoretl.au eighty million rmnller vampire, lie showed me seme that (reals, which it cst for having that chaimclihad been sucked the night before, and they f communication for her commerce. were scarcely able to walk. Some years ago.

ol

ol

To say that, as cities have beiui built ar.d in

dependence established, a canal, which is less considerable, might also be completed, i not to know the kind of work which is undertaken; and enthusiasm and patriotism are not sutlicicnt for works which require millions; and is

not to know , also, that he may not sleep m the open air, and it was not possible that each merchant should open a rod of canal for his vessel. Certainly the house that undertakes this work must expect great advantages; but it ii in return for great risks, and the former must always be proportioned to the latter. However, it cannot be denied that the committee hav e made an immense abatement of the advantages with w hich the undertaker might have flattered himself, whether we consider the proposals which the President of the Republic had receiv ed, or those which the provisional Exec

utive power had admitted and agreed to. For instead of thirty-five years of privclege

for steam-boats, for which the former conten

ded, twenty only is conceded; anil insteael ol

I went to the riv cr Paumaron with a Scotch gen

Rem an, by name Tarbet. We hung our hammocks in the thatched loft of a planter's house. Next tiiornirvf I heard this gentle man mutter

ing in hi hammock, and now and then letting fall an imprecation or two. jut about the time

he ought to have been saying Ins morning pravers. "What is the maUcr, Sir? "said J, soft! v : i s an v t h in g a mis. P - W ha t's i he mat tc r ?

answered he, surlily; why the vampires nave been sucking me to death As soon as there was light e nough I w ent to hi hammock and saw it much 'stained with blood. -'There,' said he, thrusting h'n foot out of the hammock, "se how these infernal imps have been drawing my life's blood. On examining bis frot. I found the vampire had tapped his great toe: there was a wound somewhat less than th:it made by a leech; the blood was still oozing from it, 1 conjectured he might have lost from ten to twelve ounces of blood. Whilst examining it, I think I put him in a worse humour by remarking, that a European auxgeca

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