THE PANAMA CANAL.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 284, 25 July 1888, Page 6

THE PANAMA CANAL.

On Juno 23id, Panama Canal lotteiy shares weie .selling rapidly, and the whole issue made to that date taken up. Out of the 720 millions of irancs ottered, 36,000,000 go to the bunkers on commission, 25,000,000 ha\e been .-.pent in getting the neces&ary authority fiom the Chamber for the enterprise, and 7000,000 ha\e been squandeied in biibing the pi ess to keep its hands ofl. M. Credit Lyonnais succeeded in secuiing the stock ot the bonus No exposure of the crooked practices uf the promoteis of the bitter hopelessness oi De Les&eps checked the ru.sh of the public to invofc in the lottery. The .shares tell 52 francs on June 26th. The "Deba's" attributed the decline to operations of a ring trying to effect the loan which closed on that date. "Le Temps "' &ay.s the opponents of the loan madedespeVateoflorts to prevent its buccebs. The loan closed on June 26th. The subscription-, so far, amount to 32,500,000 franc*. A correspondent ot the Exchange Telegraph Company, London, wiitingfrom Paris, says that about two-thirds had been sub&ciibed, and the remaining third will be taken by a syndicate of banker?. A Router telegram says- the subscriptions are more satisfactory than expected, although the loan is not en irely covered. The syndicate of bankers referred to offer to advance money on the 120,000,000 francs of unsold bonds, paying one-sixth of the nominal value down. De Lesseps submitted to the Panama Canal Board on June 29th, the resolution concurring in the issue of two million lottery bonds, the whole issue of two millions amounting to £28,000,000. Panama shares closed 4^ higher on the 29th. _On the 30bh June, De Lesseps issued a circular which confirms the statement that subscriptions have been received for 8,000,000 bonds, and adds aa that ai-rge-

ments have been made with a group of financial house to complete the loan by paying the first instalments and deposits in rentes or other Government stock to form a guarantee of 112,000,000. According to the "Panama Star and Herald " of June 6, the locks aro now beingconstructed for De Lesseps 1 Canal, but aro not designed to bo a permanent feature. They aro adopted through necessity of completing work and opening the Canal within the required time. The building of theselocks requires the outlay of prodigious sums oi money. They number ten, and are located live on the Pacific and fivo on the Atlantic side of the Isthmus. The general width of the canal proper is a very small fraction over 61 teet. Jn tho work of canal- building there are now Gm ployed 5,000 labourers, and on the locks about 1,000 skilled labourers, besides a small army of cleiks.