THE PANAMA CANAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1885, 30 April 1889, Page 4

THE PANAMA CANAL.

In an editorial on March 25th the New York Times says: —“The captain of a British steamer, who recently inspected the line of unfinished canal, reports that the banks are littered, with many pieces of valuable machinery that have never been used, and over which grass is growing. This shows that the administrators who control I 'the affairs of the bankrupt company are as careless and negligent as the officers of the company were throughout the years when the canal diggers were at work: Large quantities of very costly machinery were brought to the Isthmus every year, only to be left to rot and rust m the mud. If the inside history of the Company could be laid bare an almost unequalled extravagance, carelessness, and even corruption, would undoubtedly be revealed. The money paid for supplies and machinery that were thrown away or never used would yield now a dividend, small, but still acceptable, to the holders of the Canal obligations. Advices to the 16th say the Canal collapse has seriously affected the Trans-Isthmian railway. Only two freight and two passenger trains run now each way daily. 1200 laborers had gone to work on the Contra Costa R.R., and WOO persona left Panama during the jflonth. Commercial matters all over the Isthmus are in a bad condition, and there is little business transacted. Colon (Aspinall) storekeepers and dealers had united in a petition to reduce all kinds of taxes. Owing to the complete stoppage of all kinds of trade the city of Panama had followed suit. Governor Aycardi bad issued a decree suspending the payment of the debt of the former State of Panama, and effecting other economies rendered necessary.