The Daily News. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1911. A NEW ROUTE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 155, 29 December 1911, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1911. A NEW ROUTE.

The great steel steam shovels are rapidlybiting their way through the shaky isthmus of Panama, and already, so the cables tell us, a new sea service from Eastern Canadian ports via the Panama Canal is contemplated. The French failed to bite through that isthmus after sinking millions of pounds in the undertaking and ruining thousands of people. It was not necessary to France nationally that she should complete the vast undertaking, and so she ceased to carry it on. The United States were, as always, quick to see any commercial advantages that might accrue in carrying on the great work by which the earth is made smaller, but because of the enormous sums sunk in the operations, although these operations have been made so much easier by engineering advance since the failure of de Lesseps, it is unlikely that the canal will for many generations pay for itself. The necessity of carrying through the canal from the United States' national standpoint is largely strategic, for the defensive command of this short cut means that one fleet may do the work of the two which would be necessary if the isthmus were not bisected. The defensive advantages given to the Uniied States by the great canal arc probably the chief reason for its undertaking, although, as is promised, the route will be open to the mercantile fleets of the world in times of peace, and will, therefore, represent an advantage to the whole world. Fortunately, in these days of cinematographic records, one is able to understand the gigantic nature of an undertaking such as this, and is able to admire not only the ingenuity of man but the extraordinary doggedness with which he pursues his ends in the face of every known difficulty. In the digging of this huge ditch through formation that is absolutely appalling to the engineer not an absolute genius, the highest attributes of the American character have been brought to bear. Xot only has the engineer been bound to make allowance for every conceivable natural disaster in a country where, as one of the engineers said, "earthquakes are two for a cent," and the rain and the humidity exceeds even that of Taranaki, but he has had to call every branch of science to his aid in I lie undertaking. Everywhere along the route of the canal which is being so rapidly completed the Americans have built model residence towns, in which science has been able successfully to fight the diseases common to the region and which formed in the days of de Lesseps the chief handicap to progress. It has been stated—but, of course, there is no means of verifying the statement—that the death-rate among workers engaged on the giant canal is lower than that among the meat workers of Chicago. Apart from the linking of the oceans and thus greatly aiding commerce, the opeiiing 0 f

tho canal will have its effect on Xew Zealand, and it is not at all improbable that Xew Plymouth may become one of the ports of call along the great new route. A study of the map will convince the reader that there is no port so favorably situated in Xew Zealand as Xew Plymouth for this purpose, ami with the .great developments promised in this town, and with its supplies of oil fuel, it is probable that Xew Plymouth's elaim as a port of call in Xew Zealand will not be overlooked. The possibility has been mooted that the United States may levycharges for the use of the canal in keeping with the gigantic expenditure involved in the undertaking, but to indict a prohibitory charge would deter the great shipping companies from a frequent use of it, and it is unlikely that Uncle Sam will quarrel with the dollars. The United States must in the future play a most important part in the history of the world, and the fact that she has increasingly powerful, although juvenile neighbors, makes it necessary for her to take every defensive advantage. Her determined behaviour in putting the Panama Canal through despite every obstacle is one of her insurance* against the future. In thus insuring herself she confers an inestimable boon on the commerce of the world and adds another wonder to the collection in a world of wonderi.