Jasper Republican, Volume 1, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 June 1875 — The Isthmus Canal. [ARTICLE]

The Isthmus Canal.

The United States Isthmus Explorinf Expedition has returned to Colon, and reports that its labors were eminently successful in running a line for a ship canal across the Isthmus of Darien. There are now three routes designated for passing ships from ocean to ocean, and all of them have their advantages. The most northern route is the Tehuantepec; tbe middle, the Nicaragua, and the southern crosses the Isthmus of Darien. From one of the locations engineers declare that a practicable path can be chosen to shorten tbe distance from ports on this continent to those of Asia. At the present time all ships starting from the eastern side of North or South ca have to pass far south around Cape* Horn before they can run either north for ports along the coast or start sheets for islands in the Pacific or points in Japan, China or other parts of Asia. This is a ruinous waste of time, especially when the Cape of Good Hope has been practically blotted off the nautical charts by the Suez Canal, which is now in working order. In a short time all the facts in relation to the three projected routes will be laid before the country in an official shape, and the next Congress may be asked to take some steps in regard to the matter. That a canal can be cut from ocean to ocean is conceded. The opinions of engineers settle that point. Of course there are impediments of no trifling character in the way, but they can be removed by the hand of science. The Suez Canal has been constructed ; there is a tunnel beneath the Alps; the cable speaks with “most miraculous organs” from under fathoms of deep sea waves. In a few years it is expected that cars will be speeding from France to England with a depth of water above them sufficient to float the largest man-of-war. If these works are possible why not a ship canal from ocean to ocean across the waist of this continent? The croakers declared the Suez Canal could not be built. They predicted it would soon be choked with the shifting sand of the desert They have proved false prophets. The same men put in print their estimates to convince the public that the Suez Canal wouldjmake no returns of a satisfactory financial character. The business foots up in a totally different direction. In

the year 1878 the working expenditures of the Sum Canal amounted to 28 per cent, of the gross receipts. Hie revenue for that year waa $2^830, 000, of which the preferred charges absorbed $2,845,000 leaving $1,485,000 for a share dividend, which is 8f per cent. In 1872 there were 1,082 vessels passed through the canal, representing 1,489,000 tons. In 1878 the vessels increased to 1,178 and the tons to 2,085,000. Again in 1874 there was an advance both by vessels and ton nage. The former amounted to 1,264 and the latter to 2,424,000. The British standard* of commercial growth is ap plied to the advance of the canal’s business, which is “ a minimum increase of 5 per cent per annum.” Less than this would have added one-half of 1 per cent each year to the dividends of the company. If the affairs of the Suez Canal Company exhibit such results as those given from official sources there need be no fear for the cash returns from a work that would pass vessels from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. If the Suez Canal is a success its parallel enterprise will not be a failure. These facts are sufficient to draw attention to the report of the Darien expedition, which will soon be made public and induce a more careful consideration of the whole subject. —Philadelphia Timet.