THE PANAMA CANAL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2030, 7 January 1889, Page 2

THE PANAMA CANAL

-t r-^r (Por mall steamer at Auokland) Thc-o was a acooa of excitement at the i cftice of the Panama Canal O >mpany on Dec 13 ; the oruah of people to obtain shares was groatnr than on tho day previous. At 4 p.m. Ooaite do Leaaeps appeared, and mounting a table said : — "My friends, tho sobtgrlpUon is osfe, and our adversaries are confounded. We do not need the halp of financiers ; you have saved yourselves by your own exertions; the 3»nal Is made" Here Dd L?sneps v/&* bo overcome thai he wept. OhoorlDg, weeping, and with many oongratuhttions, all present shook hiinds with him. Wben the excitement had partly subsided, the n&ws went ron d that 410,000 bonds hatl been Bubeorirjed for m Paris, and the same number In the Provinces Marseilles alone took 86.000. An ofHaitkl of the Company, w^.o replaced De Loissps, anoourpe^ that the subaorlptlcn lisle would be kept open t { Saturday, at nqon, Largo numbers immediately renewed their BHbspriptions^, the receiving clerks being completely over-taxed. Nejc 1 ; day another exoltlug sceoe ooourred at the Company's offioa, When a call for Da Laasepo nan made, Us .eon appeared and announced that only 180,000 bonds had boon subscribed for, and tho Company Vould the7e?o*Q boqln'v?i<tarnlog the depoiltn on tho 14th. Rbferring to his father's remarks on the 12'^h, he said, " My father Is ypuogor m spirit thau I ; h{s reraarka were raidp qn tha etfortgth flf a hopeful report mad.) to him. 1 ' The reauU U bankruprdy or the winding qp of th« Oompuny.. Panama qharea touohed 137 francs 60 oento during the day, but c'ovd at 156 franos 25 cents.

Thero was Bomi talk of an American syndicate, representing a capital of $65,000,000, taking up the Canal enterprise.'' Dd Lesseps and his collaagaes reai^nod their posts on Deo. 15. The Tribune of the appointed M. Hue Bindelot and M. Normandie as jadiolal liquidators. Of the Committee appointed by the Chamber of Deputies to consider the Canal Bill, eoventeon are opposed to It, two In favor, and three reserve their opinions, Tho debate m tho Chamber of Deputies qn Doo. I§, on 11. peynal'e J^ill authorising tho Cpmpnriy to euspond payment of interest on its bonds for three months, was long ai?d excited k Pathetic appeals for aid were mado pn thp ono \\nnd. and bitter denunciation of the mismanagement on the other. M. Paqldo Oassiignao dofondod tho Company, while M.trieraud, who had opposed it from tho beginning, assailed tho cQterpri^3 and its managers mercilessly. The Committees advertise that the r» port on the Bill was adopted by 202 to 118. Great unetvdness existed at Panama iv regard to oanal matters. Tho fl>ods otused by the overflow of tho Ghagres river wore reported to be subsiding on December 15th, but railway communication is still interrupter].