Chapter VII: The Cost of the Canal

OF the existing canals for ocean-going ships, that of Suez was built by a company as a commercial undertaking to earn dividends by tolls. It cost $90,000,000.

The Manchester Ship Canal was partly commercial, partly industrial, _i.e._, the large contribution of the city of Manchester was made not as a financial speculation, but in order to promote an undertaking likely to develop the industries of the city. This canal, partly commercial, partly industrial, cost $75,000,000.

The Kiel Canal has further a military purpose, providing a short line of communication for warships. It cost $40,000,000. The Panama Canal is commercial, industrial, and military, and will cost more than all the above put together.

Up to June 30, 1908, the United States Government have spent $126,047,062 on the Panama Canal, made up as follows:--

Payment to New Panama Canal
Company $40,000,000, and to
Republic of Panama $10,000,000 $50,000,000

Expenditure on work prior to July
1, 1907 43,172,408

Expenditure on work July 1, 1907-June
30, 1908 32,874,654
-----------
Total 126,047,062

The amount authorised to be appropriated by the Act of June 28, 1902, was $135,000,000, plus $50,000,000 purchase money, that is to say, $185,000,000 in all, for "the canal, harbours, and defences."

What the total cost will be is unknown, but Colonel Goethals stated in evidence (January, 1908) that the Canal would cost at least $250,000,000, and possibly as much as $500,000,000.

The combined cost of the Suez, Manchester, and Kiel Canals has been $205,000,000.

The following important ship canals have been completed for smaller sums:--

U.S.S. St. Marie (somewhat more than) $6,000,000
Canadian ditto nearly 4,000,000
Amsterdam 10,000,000
Corinth (about) 5,000,000
Cronstadt (about) 10,000,000
Welland (Lake Erie-Lake Ontario) 24,000,000
----------
Total 59,000,000

Adding these figures to those already given, we have a grand total of $264,000,000 for the cost of nine of the greatest existing ship canals, which is about the same as the lowest current official estimate for the final cost of the Panama Canal.

In the case of a commercial company undertaking such a work as the Panama Canal, the charge for compounded interest increases as the unremunerative years advance at an appalling rate, which would surprise anyone not versed in the cumulative capability of figures which increase in "geometrical progression."

Fortunately it is not necessary for the United States to reckon the cost of the Canal in this way, and the Government have been in a peculiarly advantageous position for financing the Canal.

The bonds bear interest at 2 per cent., and in December, 1907, were slightly above 103. As all American banks have to deposit gold with the United States Treasury it evidently pays to take up and deposit these bonds, which reckon as gold, receiving 2 per cent. interest.

Moreover, the small amount of securities with Government guarantee in America renders such issues convenient, so that the Government can raise money more cheaply than with us, although for industrial purposes the rates may be higher.

At the present time the payments of Government pensions in connection with the Civil War are yearly diminishing at a rapid rate. Finally, there has been in the Treasury a large surplus of cash. Thus from one cause and another the expenditure already incurred has not yet been felt.

* * * * *

As I write the last lines of the account in which I have endeavoured to state the salient facts relating to a great undertaking at only moderate length, I recall our departure from Colon harbour on the R.M.S. _Orinoco_ homeward bound. I confess that after the Canal Zone most places seem only half alive, and I long to be back where one can watch human activities so great and so intelligent, while the spirit is soothed by the balmy air which blows warm and fragrant from the tropical forest.

May the arduous labours of the Isthmian Canal Commission be crowned with success!

INDEX

A

Abbott, Brigadier-General Hy. L., 76
Alhajuela, 77
America, South, possibilities for white peasantry, 148-9
_Anopheles_ mosquito, _see also_ Malaria, 132, 137
Antwerp, port of, _see_ Distances
Arango, Mr. R.M., 77
Aspinwall, W.H., and colleagues construct Panama Railway, 30
Asiatic ports, _see_ Distances
Australia, _see_ Distances

B

Barbadians as labourers, 104
Bohio, abandoned site of dam, 70

C

California, rush of gold-seekers to, 29
Canal, Panama, national and commercial status defined, 39-43
" " tide-level schemes, 52, 54-55
" " curvatures of, 60
" " time of transit through, 64
" " date of completion, 95-6
" Suez, opened 1869, 30
" " effect on value of Panama route, 30
" " dimensions and cost, 59, 173
Caribbean Sea, Spain unable to protect her ships in, 27
Chagres, River, course of, 48
" " sudden rise of, 51
Charles V. of Spain, canal project, 26
Children, white, health of, on Isthmus, 143
Climate of the Isthmus, 140-2
Clubs for employees, 143
Colombia (formerly New Granada), treaty with United States, 1846, 28
" Senate of, does not accept offer of United States, 1903, 38
" want of sea-power, 39
Colon, protection from "northers," 78
" yellow fever in, 129
Columbus discovers Bay of Limon, 25
Commission, Isthmian Canal, Report of 1901, 36-37
" " " a second appointed, 113
" " " a third appointed, 114
Congress, appoints Isthmian Canal Commission, 1899, 25
" "Spooner" Act of, 37-58
Congress, Act of, sanctioning 85-foot-level canal, 1906, 53
Constantinople, conquest by Turks, 1453, 25
Contract Construction of Canal, proposed by Second Commission, 114
Cortes searches for a strait, 26
Culebra, view of works from, described, 84-90
" Cut, form and dimensions of, 81-84
" " amount excavated in, 94
Currents in Canal advanced as objection to tide-level scheme, 55
" tidal, below Milaflores, 66

D

Dam, Bohio, abandoned, 70
" Gamboa, controlling feature of tide-level scheme, 54, 57
" Gatun, as proposed in minority report of Board of Consulting
Engineers, 56-58
" " plans of, April, 1908, 70-74
" Milaflores, 69
" Pedro Miguel, 69
De Lesseps, Ferdinand, forms First Panama Canal Company, 1879, 31
" " plan for tide-level canal, 52
Depew, Senator, on the cost of operating American ships, 168
Dimensions of Panama and other Canals, 59-61
Distances, Shortening of, by Suez Canal, 160
" " " by Panama Canal, 153-165
" " " to Pacific Coast of North America, 155,
156
" " " to Pacific Coast of South America, 155,
156
" " " to Asiatic ports, 158, 159, 161, 162
" " " Australian and New Zealand ports, 158,
161, 162

E

Employees, number of, on Canal Zone, 112
Engineers, French, ability of, 32
" Board of Consulting, Majority Scheme for tide-level
canal, 53-55
" " " " Minority Scheme for high-level
canal, 56-70
" names of chief, 113-115
" Corps of, U.S.A., and public works, 115
Excavation, amount of, by French Companies, 94
" " " by American Commission, 94

F

Fever, Yellow, 121-132
" " geographical distribution of, 130-131
" Malarial, _see_ Malaria
Floods of the Chagres River, 51
" control of, 54
Forests, tropical, insulate the Canal Zone, 39
Fortifications for defence of the Canal, 40, 78
French Companies, excavation accomplished by, 94
" Engineers, ability of, 32
" Investors, 31-32

G

Gallinger, Senator, on the lack of U.S. steamships trading with
foreign ports, 167-8
Gamboa, site of controlling dam of the tide-level scheme, 54
Gatun dam, _see_ Dam
" Lake, 56, 69
" locks, _see_ Locks
Germany, steamships of, cost of operating as compared with American
steamships, 169
Goethals, Colonel George W., Corps of Engineers, 20
" " " " appointed Chairman of Commission and
Chief Engineer, April, 1907, 115
"Gold Roll," _see_ Labour, skilled
" " Europeans on, 110
Golden Hill, highest original level at, 82
Gorgas, Colonel W.C., M.D., head of Department of Sanitation, 113,
125, 126, 130
" " " " on the future of the white race in the
tropics, 144-5
Gorgona, workshops at, 97
Grant, President, recommends construction of Isthmian Canal, 1869,
34
Greeks as labourers, 107
Gulf ports, _see_ Distances

H

Hamburg, _see_ Distances
Harbours, at terminals of Canal, 78
Havana, yellow fever at, 123
Hotels, Commission's, for employees, 111

I

Indies, East, original objective of Canal project, 26
Ismailia, effect of malaria at, 14
Italians as labourers, 107, 108
" as peasantry in the tropics, 149

J

Jamaica, effect of Canal on position of, 164
Jamaicans as labourers, 104
" as policemen, 105
Japan, steamships of, to use Canal, 169
" _see_ Distances

K

Kiel Canal, dimensions of, 59-61
" " cost, 173
Kingston, _see_ Jamaica

L

La Boca, tide at, 65
" " scheme for locks abandoned, 67
Labour on the Isthmus, Chinese proposed, 106
" " " West Indian, 101-106
" " " European, 106-110
" " " skilled, 110-112
" white, in tropical countries, 140-150
" Panamanian, 134
Limon, Bay of, discovered by Columbus, 25
Liverpool, _see_ Distances
Lock at Pedro Miguel, depth of water above, 68
" gates described, 63
Locks, dimensions of proposed, 60, 62
" at Gatun, distance from deep water, 62
" " Gatun, course of Canal below, 62
" " depth of water above, 68
" at Milaflores, variable lift of, 65
Longitude, meridians between which distances _via_ Suez and Panama
are equal, 162

M

McKinley, President, 35
Magellan, Straits of, discovered 1520, 26
Malaria, 132-137, 146
Manchester Ship Canal, cost of, 173
Manila, distance from New York _via_ Suez and _via_ Panama, 159
Marines, U.S., force of on Isthmus, 118
_Mauretania_, s.s., dimensions of, 59, 60
Meteorology of Isthmus, 76
Mexico, war of United States with, 28
Milaflores, _see_ Dams and Locks
Mississippi, basin of, 164

N

Naos, Isle of, 67, 92
New Granada, treaty of U.S. with, 28
New York, _see_ Distances
New Zealand, _see_ Distances
Nicaragua, canal route through, 28, 37

O

Obispo, change in course of Chagres River at, 48
_Oregon_, battleship, voyage of, 1898, 34
Organisation, efficiency of, in 1907 and 1908 compared, 86-88

P

Panama Canal Company, First, formed 1879, 31
" " " " in liquidation 1889, 33
" " " New, formed, 33
" " " " accepts offer of $40,000,000, 37
" " " " work of, 50
" Isthmus of, topography, 47
" Province of, revolts, 38
" Railway, completed 1855, 29
" " purchased by First P. C. Company, 32
" " relaying of, 97
" Republic of, independence guaranteed by U.S., 38, 39
Pedro Miguel, _see_ Dams and Lock
Peru, Spanish possessions in, protected by Isthmus, 27
Police, force of, 117
Pneumonia among negroes in the tropics, 139
Plague, bubonic, 139

R

Rainfall on the Isthmus, 51
Reed discovers cause of yellow fever, 124
Rio Grande, valley of, 49
Ross, Ronald, discovers cause of malaria, 123
Roosevelt, President, 53, 96
Root, the Hon. Elihu, 168

S

St. Lawrence, the, a supposed route to China, 26
San Blas route, 36
Sanitation, Department of, 118, 125, 128, 133, 139
Sea-power, importance of, in Isthmian affairs, 39
Societies, benevolent, in the Canal Zone, 144
Spaniards as navvies and as peasantry in tropics, 108-110, 149
Spanish War, voyage of _Oregon_ during, 34
Steam shovel, rate of loading by, 91
Steamships available for Canal transit, 165-169
" relative cost of operating American and European, 169
_Stegomyia_ mosquito, mode of infection by, 124
Stephens, John F., chief engineer 1905-1907, 113-114

T

Tide, range of, at La Boca, 65
Tolls on the Panama Canal equal for all nations, 43
Tourists, attractions for, on the Isthmus, 89
Track-shifter, the, 91
Transportation of spoil in Culebra Cut, 91-93
Treaty between U.S. and New Granada, 1846, 28, 38
" " " Great Britain (Clayton-Bulwer) 1850, 29
" " " Great Britain (Hay-Pauncefote) 1901, 19, 37,
40
" " " Republic of Panama, 1903, 39, 40, 42
Tropics, future of white race in, 140-150

U

United States, civil war in, interrupts Canal scheme, 30
Unloader, the, for dirt-cars, 91

W

Wages on the Isthmus, _see_ Labour
Wallace, John F., chief engineer, 1904-1905, 113
Water supply for high-level canal, 74-77
West Indians, relations with American employers, 102-104
" " immunity from yellow fever, 122
" " _see also_ Labour
White race, future of, in tropics, 140-150
Women, white, life of, on Isthmus, 142

Y

Y.M.C.A. and management of clubs, 144

Z

Zone, the Canal, 19

UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, THE GRESHAM PRESS, WOKING AND LONDON.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Panama Canal and its Makers, by Vaughan Cornish

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