England owns the greater part of the Suez Canal, which joins the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. This Canal, you will see by looking at the map, makes a short cut to Asia, and saves ships the long journey round Africa and the Cape of Good Hope.
England finds this Canal very useful; it makes a great deal of money for her, and she would like to have just as large a share of the Nicaragua Canal That is at least what the Senators say.
When the Treaty was mentioned in the Senate, Senator Morgan at once demanded that his Nicaragua Canal Bill should be acted upon.
His bill provides that the United States Government shall furnish the money for the Canal, and in return shall own nearly the whole of it, and have the right to say who shall have charge of its affairs.
No sooner had his request been made in the Senate, than a protest came from Mr. Rodriguez, the Minister for the Greater Republic of South America, who was received by President Cleveland a week or two ago.
He said that Nicaragua would not consent to any such arrangement, and would not allow the United States to have so much control of the Canal. He added that if Senator Morgan's bill were passed, Nicaragua would not allow the building of the Canal to go on without entirely new arrangements.
The Senators are very angry about this. They think that Nicaragua has been told to say this by England, to prevent the matter of the Canal being settled before the Arbitration Treaty is made with England.
They say if the Treaty is accepted in its present form, and ratified before the Nicaragua Canal Bill is passed, England will have the right to take a hand in the Canal question.
An interest in the Nicaragua Canal would give England a right to use both the short water-ways of the world, and, with her great navy, it would give her rights that might be very dangerous to us.
The excitement about the Canal has taken away all hope of the Treaty being acted upon by Congress this session. When it does come up, the Senators intend to have it so worded that the Nicaraguan affairs cannot be interfered with by England.