THE PANAMA CANAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8163, 24 July 1906, Page 4

THE PANAMA CANAL.

Though a majority uf consulting en--iineen lavonr the sea level for the I'auama Canai, President Koosovclt referred their reports to a Comuii.sfcion, vhiih ailrisci' i lat it lm a lock canal, che recent S;: ■ ''rancisto disaster being n factor in tl. ■ recommendations of the committee. r'i» majority of the committee eousii, i that or on " .n time of war might seriously damage the locks, if a ock canal was oon.-tnicted. It wis also thought that u sea level waterway *'ould lm more serviceable for the passage of warships. The extra cost would be sixty million dollars ffl2.olH),oooi. President Roosevelt advocated the construction of a lock canai. In a letter to Congress the President stated : I submit herewith the letter of the Secretary of War, transmitting the report af tho board of consulting engineer., upon the Panama Canal, and the report A tho Isthmian Canal Commssion thereon, together with a letter written to che chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission by Chief Engineer Stevens. Both the board of consulting engineers ind the canal commission divide in their report. The majority of tho board jf consulting engineers, eight in number, including the five fnieign engineers, favour a sea leve. canal; and >ne member of the canal commission, Admiral Endicott, takes the same viovv. Five of tho eight American members o( the board of consulting engineers and ive member of the Isthmian Canal Commission favour the lock canal, and .0 does Chief Eng'neor Stevens. The Secretary of War recommends a lock ;anal pursuant to tho recommendation if the majority of the board of consulting engineers and of the majority ■if the canal conimiieion. After careful study of the papers submitted and fu I and exhaustive consideration of the *hole subject, I concur in this recommendation. SOO AND SUEZ CANALS. It will be noticed that the American 3ngineers upon tho consulting board and tpon the c"2"mis.sion, by a more than ! to 1 majo-itf, favour the lock canal, »hercas the .'oieign engineers are unfed against it. I thing this is partly o bo explained by the fact that the croat traffic canal of the old world is he Sues caml, a eea level canal, w-hero-is the great traffic- canal of the new vorld is the Sanlt Ste. Marie Canal, a lock canal. Although the latter, the ?00, is closed to navigat'on during the winter months, it carries annually three .imes the traffic of the Suez canal. In ny opinion, the very able argument of :he majority of tho board of consulting •ngineers k vitiated by their failure k •y proper heed to tho les-ons taught •v the c ■•v.- : 'uction and operation o! he Soo iri-i !. It must be borne ,n nmd. as tlie ecramia>iun points out hat there is no question of building vhat has been picturesquey terms the 'Straits of Panama"—that is, awat'-r----ray through which the largest ve.s-fl-xmld go with safety at unintcrr.♦ t<-r! ligh speed. Both the sea lere! and* the imposed lock canal would be tco r.arow and shallow to be called with any •pwating of the great lock canal, the ioo, a more important artery of traffic han the great sea level canal, the Juea, goes to support the opinion of >ss. After being built, it wwld he lie sea level canal. Morcoverr, the *nthfu'nerß a strait, or to have any of .be properties of a wide, deep water •asier to enlarge the lock canal than he minority of the consult ng hoa«1 tctnal cost of maintenance would be trip. Both of them would be canals. jure and simple. Each type has certain lise#rantages and certain advantages int in my judgment the disadvantage* re fewer and the advantages very much greater in the case of a lock canal, as ircjwsed in the papers forwarded herevith, and I call special attention to the 'sthmian Canal Commission as to the act that the chief engineer, who will io mainly responsible for the success of his mighty engineering feat, and who ias therefore a poeiuar personal inter -t in judging aright, is emph.itioallv md earnestly in favour of the lock inal project and against the sea leve' •roiect. ADVANTAGES OF EACH. A careful study of the repmts sec o establish a strong probability t! he following are the facts:— Tho sea level canal would lie sligV cm exposed to damage in tho event nl '.ar; the running expenses, aiinit fron ho heavy cost of interest upon the iinount employed to buifd it. would lie oss; and for small ships the time of ransit would probably be less. 1 pin he other hand, tho lock canal at a eve! if eighty feet or thereabouts would not «ost much more than half as- much to >n:ld and could be built in about hall he time, while there would be leas ri-k nunected with building it, and for arge ships the transit would be quicker, vhile, taking itno account the interest ipon the amount saved in building, the )f engineers and the majority of the mperior safety, feasibility, and desirvbility of building a lock canal at Paniina.

The law now on om Statute Books «cms to contemplate a lock canal. In my judgment a leck canal as herein recommended is advjsable. If the Congress directs that a sea level canal be ■onstnioted, its direction will, of course. ■>o carried out. Otherwise the canal ■ri'l bo built on substantially the pliin for a lock canal outlined in "the accompanying papere, suoh changes being iiade, of course, as may be found actud!y necessary, including po-flbly t!ie change recommended by the Secretary ■:t War as to the ste of the dam upon the Pacific side.

Tennyson thought the age too matter of fact when his nephew sissured him Chat what were p;p]i!;irly called "fairy rings" were due merely'to tho growth of si particular kind of fnmni.s. Mr Brink, the chi.-l importer, evidently shares in Tennyson's Minpaihv with r/retty superstitions, for 'it wa.s on th<*e grounds that ye.-teni.ay at the Winter School he entered his protect agains-t attempting to teach physical science toj-ouTif; children. " They have no rrgtrt.' he said. ■' to know that wind is «ir in -motion, but should lie able to hear tihe voice of a fairv m every breeie."