| ORIENTAL PORTS | LONDON, VIA SUEZ. | SAN FRANCISCO DIRECT. | SAVING BY SAN FRANCISCO. | SAVING BY LONDON. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MILES. | MILES. | MILES. | MILES. | |
| Melbourne | 11,281 | 7,902 | 3,379 | |
| Yokohama | 11,504 | 7,520 | 6,984 | |
| Shanghai | 10,469 | 5,555 | 4,914 | |
| Hong Kong | 9,669 | 6,355 | 3,314 | |
| Manila | 6,939 | 6,135 | 3,504 | |
| Singapore | 8,239 | 7,785 | 454 | |
| Penang | 7,856 | 8,165 | 306 | |
| Calcutta | 7,946 | 9,665 | 1,719 | |
| Ceylon | 8,646 | 9,378 | 2,732 | |
From the above table it is evident that England will have a formidable rival for the trade of the East in the Pacific ports, and the interior which they will be called on to supply.
It is manifest that an intermarine canal is not impracticable to American talent and energy. It can undoubtedly be executed by international coöperation. It is demanded by the common interest, commercial, political, and social, of all peoples. It is supported by humanitarian considerations, immediate in their influence, broad and practical in their relations to the interests of society.
The chief obstacle to its execution is its cost, which would be nearly double that of the Suez Canal. Mr. Kelly estimates that 3,090,000 tons would pass through the American canal yearly. Assuming that its total cost will be 150 millions of dollars, the revenue from tolls, at the rate of one cent per ton per mile, would amount to nearly twenty per cent. of the entire outlay.
No work, so costly nor fraught with such stupendous consequences, has ever been attempted by man. The history of civilization is the history of the efforts of man to assert the right and to increase the means of individual development. The monuments of science, skill, and industry, left by ancient nations to perpetuate the names and conquests of Kings and Pharaohs, were wrung by oppression from suffering men.
To us is left the opportunity for a more extended organization—a combined world movement—in the interest of science and religion, for the extension of liberty, and for the diffusion of civilization among the races of mankind.
Less than the cost of one year of war, will establish for all time—only to be shaken by a paroxysm of nature—this enduring monument of peace and good will, and will secure to the United States a conquest pregnant with vast moral and political possibilities. It is an object worthy of consideration.
Fifty years ago the Pacific Railroad, the Panama Railroad, the [Mt. Cenis Tunnel], the International Telegraph and the [Suez Canal], were visionary schemes. It seemed the acmé of poetical fiction when the poet spoke of girdling the earth in forty minutes, as the work of supernatural agency. Sir Humphrey Davy, making science the basis of fiction, attempted to arrive at some conception of the composition of distant planets and the nature of their inhabitants. We can now send a message across the Atlantic in a minute, and know with certainty something of the composition of planets, stars, and nebulæ. These achievements have become the common property of the civilized world.
The piercement of the Isthmus does not involve greater practical nor intellectual difficulties. Neither science, ability, nor energy, is wanting. Conviction of its utility, sufficiently wide spread to secure the popular good will, and leading to a national movement in favor of combined international action, will secure the early completion of this great marine highway.
To secure popular favor it seems only necessary to exhibit the material advantages which must flow from its execution. Some of the facts, showing how far the completion of the canal would affect the commerce of the world, have been stated.