Isthmian Canal
An important question which has arisen recently is the location of the future Isthmian canal. Shall it cross at Nicaragua or Panama?
The House of Representatives, on January 9th, 1902, chose the former, the best reasons being:
The saving of two days in the voyage between our Atlantic and Pacific ports;
Its healthier climate, and the alleged lesser cost of construction.
The Engineering Magazine, on the other hand, sums up the advantages of the already-undertaken Panama canal as follows:
It is three-fourths shorter, and could be maintained at a cost of $1,350,000 a year less than the Nicaragua canal, is exempt from fifty miles of dangerous river navigation, and its completion would require but half the amount necessary to build the Nicaragua canal.