Report of special committee on inter-oceanic canal

CO

p

?

-n
P

BANCROFT
LIBRARY

•o-

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

THE

OP

an Jrrancisca,

OF

SPECIAL COMMITTEE

ON

rJ/. LAWRENCE MERRY, Chairman,
C. J. DEMPSTER, Secretary.

SAX FRANCISCO:

DEMPSTER BROS., PRI>TEUS, No. 9 BOND STREET.
1880.

THE

BOARD OF TRADE

OF SAN FRANCISCO,

1880.

J. S. TABER, PRESIDENT.
JAMES DUFFY, 1st Vice-President.

&4

' -,

SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON THE

INTER-OCEANIC CANAL.

WM. LAWRENCE MERRY, of Merry, Faull & Co.,

Chairman.

C. J. DEMPSTER, of Dempster & Keys,

Secretary.

W. W. DODGE, of W. W. Dodge & Co.

Louis SACHS, of L. & M. Sachs & Co.

LEVI STRAUSS, - of Levi Strauss & Co.

PREFACE.

At the Annual meeting of The Board of
Trade of San Francisco held on the 2d of Feb-
ruary 1880, President J. S. Taber made the fol-
lowing remarks :

"This brings to mind another important question of
transportation involved in the idea of an inter-oceanic canal,
connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, which is now
receiving so much attention from eminent engineers in
various parts of the world and from our own government,
which has already expended a large amount of money in
surveys. Its special interest to San Francisco, and whether
across the Isthmus of Panama or Nicaragua, seem to be
proper subjects for our consideration. Its importance to
this coast will be a matter of the near future, and it might
be studied up with much profit. A committee for this pur-
pose would find much interesting data to present, and I
trust it will receive your earnest enquiry, and a committee
be chosen."

In accordance with which suggestion Captain
W. L. MERRY offered the following resolution:

Resolved, That a committee of five members of this Board
be appointed by the Chair to consider the question of an
inter-oceanic canal in its bearings on the Pacific coast, and
to investigate, from a commercial standpoint, which project-
ed route should meet the approval of San Francisco mer-
chants; said committee to report to the Board at a special
meeting to be called for that purpose.

4 PREFACE.

In support of his resolution, he spoke as
follows :

I am pleased to act on the suggestion of our President
that the subject of an inter-oceanic canal be taken up by
the Board as a matter of paramount interest to the pros-
perity of our State and the Pacific Coast. This Board,
representing millions paid annually for freights, and in-
timately connected with the commercial prosperity of this
Commonwealth, will do itself honor by placing itself on
record in favor of this great work. California, more than
any other State in our country, and San Francisco more than
any other city in the world, should do all they can to aid in
this great enterprise. The day on which we can land the
varied products of our soil at European ports in thirty days,
and on our own Eastern seaboard in eighteen days, without
breaking bulk, and at reasonable freights, will witness an
immense advance in the prosperity of our Pacific States.

This association of merchants will fall short of its duty
if it fails to assist this great work by its influence and en-
couragement. True, there may be no immediate profit re-
sulting to us, but in the life of a commercial community, the
few years necessary to construct this great highway will be
a short period. Many of the gentlemen now present will
live to see this great work completed, and recall with pride
their approval of its inception. Our Government has already
expended a large amount on surveys for this purpose, and
at the proper time, I shall appreciate the privilege of calling
the attention of the Committee to the results of the prelim-
inary work already accomplished.

The resolution was carried, and Captain W.
L. MERRY, W. W. DODGE, C. J. DEMPSTER, LEVI
STRAUSS and Louis SACHS appointed as the Com-
mittee ordered.

COMMITTEE REPORT.

SAN FRANCISCO, April 7th, 1880.

Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Board of
Trade of San Francisco :

Your Special Committee on the Inter-Oceanic
Canal, appointed at your Annual meeting on
February 2nd, 1880, have, since that date, heard
all the oral testimony obtainable on this Coast,
and examined all the official surveys of our Gov-
ernment appertaining to the subject, as well as the
journals of the Inter-oceanic Canal Convention
held at Paris in 1879. We have considered the
matter from an impartial standpoint. We are
deeply impressed by its great importance to the
material interests of our Country and especially
to the Pacific Coast, and we have publicly invited
a free expression of opinion on the part of all
concerned. Our conclusion, reached after much
thought and mature consideration, is that the pro-
jected Inter-Oceanic Canal via Nicaragua, as sur-
veyed ~by the, United States Naval Expedition of
1873 should receive our decided preference, for the
reasons stated herewith:

6 COMMITTEE REPORT.

A. The Nicaragua Inter-Oceanic Canal can
be constructed at a cost which can be safely esti-
mated as less than one-half that of the Low-Tide
Level Canal via Panama, and is commercially prac-
ticable and available.

B. Its location is greatly preferable on ac-
count of its adaptability to the use of vessels un-
der canvass, (or using canvass as an auxiliary,)
while it can be made equally practicable for the
use of steamships of the largest tonnage.

C. It passes through a Country rich in re-
sources, with two magnificent Lakes rendering
the work accessible to a large territory, the
commerce of which will greatly assist in pay-
ing the cost of maintaining the Canal after this
region shall have received the development which
must ensue from its construction.

D. The most competent Engineers in our
country assert, and the careful surveys ordered by
our Government prove, that the projected Nicara-
gua Inter-oceanic Canal offers no engineering
problems which are not comparatively easy of
solution at an expense within the limits by us
assigned, and, as it can be demonstrated that it
will be a paying investment, capitalists will not
hesitate to furnish funds for its construction.

COMMITTEE REPORT. 7

For more detailed information as to the
points herein considered, we present the Mem-
orandum appended hereto, to which we crave ref-
erence.

WM. LAWRENCE MERRY, Chairman.
C. J. DEMPSTER, Sect'y.
LEVI STRAUSS,
W. W. DODGE,
Louis SACHS.

MEMORANDUM.

EXHIBIT A.

Cost of Construction. We have paid particu-
lar attention to this vital question. We find the
Nicaragua Survey by Commander Lull, U. S.
Navy worthy of implicit confidence. Every foot
of ground has been carefully and laboriously sur-
veyed with instruments of precision, and a detail-
ed estimate made of the cost of each division, the
whole amounting to $52,577,718, to which, adding
25 per cent for contingencies we have $65,722,147.
Desiring to make a conservative estimate, and
inclined to allow the widest limit for error, as well
as for the increased dimension of locks hereafter
to be specified, we admit & possible cost of $100,-
000,000 or nearly double the original estimate.

We do not intend to question the accuracy
of our official surveys by adopting nearly double
the net estimate as our view of the possible cost.
On the contrary the surveys have evidently been
carefully and conscientiously made; probably as
much so as if made for a contract. In fact, we
have it in evidence, that Chief Engineer Menocal,
who made these estimates, has subsequently done
subaqueous blasting in the San Juan River, at a
cost of $2.50 per cubic yard for which he had al-

COST OF CONSTRUCTION. 9

lowed $5.00 per cubic yard in the Government
Report. But we are estimating on a Commercial
basis, and, having in view the increased size of
locks recommended, and the apparently inevitable
financial result, in respect to the cost of all works
of this character heretofore completed, we must
conclude from a cautious mercantile standpoint,
that one hundred millions is not too high an esti-
mate of possible cost. It is also proper to state
that the same remarks as to cost apply with
greater force to the Panama Low Tide Level Canal.
The estimate for the Panama Low Tide Level
Canal has been publicly announced at 843, 000, 000
francs (approximately $169,000,000,) this includ-
ing a contingency estimate of a little less than ten
per cent. European and American engineers of the
highest standing acknowledge that the peculiar
features inevitable in excavation below the sea
level prevent any accurate calculation of the out-
lay which may prove necessary. Considering the
Engineering problems so difficult of solution on the
Panama Low Tide Level Canal, notably the diver-
sion of the Chagres where the Canal crosses it 68
feet below its present bed, and the construction of an
artificial Lake to hold its immense flood waters,
and admitting the same limit of error as in
the Nicaragua Survey, we have a total cost
so enormous that it cannot be considered commer-
cially practicable. Indeed we confidently assert
that an estimate of $300,000,000 which is as low

10 COST OF CONSTRUCTION.

as a conservative judgment will accept, cannot be
considered commercially practicable.

Excessive as this estimate of possible cost
may appear to the advocates of the Panama Canal
it will be noted that the ratio of increase is less
than we have applied to the Nicaragua Survey \
which has to deal with problems less difficult of
solution. Considering that the estimate of cost
fixed by the Technical Commission at Panama
does not include interest during the period of con-
struction, payment to the Panama Railroad, or
to Lieut. Wyse for the Concession, we must re-
gard the ten per cent allowed for contingencies-
as totally inadequate. It appears to us that the
contingency estimate for building the Panama.
Canal below the sea level should be greater than
in estimating for the Nicaragua Canal above the
sea level, whereas it is estimated at fifteen per
cent less. The cost of these works being essen-
tially a technical question we approach the sub-
ject with much deference, and only because we
are obliged to do so in order to settle the Com-
mercial practicability which must be controlled
thereby. We also note that Works of this charac-
ter have seldom been constructed within estimates,
contingencies included, while the cost has frequent-
ly been doubled. The Suez Canal estimated at
forty million dollars cost ninety -one and a half mil-
lions. We also refer to the Croton Water Works
as another instance of the inaccuracy of original

DRAINAGE. 11

estimates on. projects of this character. For the
demonstration of this question in detail we beg
reference to Exhibit D.

In this connection we may be allowed to
quote the remarks of Commander Lull, U. S.
Navy in his report of the U. S. Survey of the
Panama Canal, 1875, page 24. They appear to
us important and will be specially approved of by
many old Californians who "know how Jloods be-
have" in the rainy season.

"One of the most vitally important questions
to be considered in discussing the subject of the
construction of a canal across the American' Isth-
mus is that of drainage; and, singularly enough,
among European writers on the subject, scarcely
any attention has been given to it. Taking the
Suez Canal as a standard for comparison, they
almost without exception cling to the idea of a
canal without locks ; in other words, a cut below
the level of the sea. Such a channel would be
burdened, not only with the discharge of the
springs developed in the cut, and whose number
and force in a land so saturated with moisture
would be beyond comparison with those of any
hitherto-constructed work, but must also become
the ultimate drain of the surface of a very consid-
able portion of adjacent territory. It would,
during the rainy season, if not indeed at all times,
be a wild torrent, unfit for the passage of ships,
and must speedily become filled with bars and

12 ADVANTAGES OF LOCATION.

other obstructions from the detritus furnished by
its own current."

EXHIBIT B.

Location. The location of this great work is
a factor of vital importance. The Nicaragua
Canal would be entitled to the preference of
Americans because it would save about eight hun-
dred miles on both oceans between our Northwest
Coast and our Eastern Seaboard and Europe. But
we are considering a Canal for the service of all
the Maritime World, and, discarding our own
preferences as Americans, we still recognize the
Nicaragua Canal as the most advantageously situat-
ed for the World's Commerce. In the use of
wind, Nature has given us a motive power too
cheap and too efficient to be discarded. Even in
screw steamships of latest construction this fact is
recognized; all using it as a valuable auxiliary
motive power, and even as aiding in the develop-
ment of steam power by furnishing efficient
draught for furnaces. For hundreds of miles

o

oceanward from Panama almost unremitting
calms prevail. Maury has written that were an
earthquake to sever the continent at the Panama
Isthmus, sailing ships would prefer going around
the "Cape of Storms" to essaying a passage
through the Gulf of Panama. It is a notable fact
that notwithstanding the development of steam

ADVANTAGES OF LOCATION. 13

power which has increased its economy fully one-
third, sailing ships have increased in still greater
ratio. To them the Panama Canal would be
practically useless, and no project unadapted to
their use can be entertained by the Commercial
World, which requires a Canal as much for the
ships already constructed as for those of the
future.

The Nicaragua Canal offers no such disad-

o

vantage. With its Pacific terminus almost out
of the region of tropical calms, it is accessible
to sailing ships with comparatively limited delay,
and would be extensively used by them. Iron
sailing ships in passing through it would be cleans-
ed by the action of fresh water, thereby increasing
their subsequent speed, and steamships would leave
it with boilers filled with fresh water without cost
or detention. ,

EXHIBIT C.

Local Resources. The importance of this branch
of the subject cannot be over estimated. The Pana-
ma Isthmus can have comparatively no resources.
Even the material for construction is mostly lacking.
Nicaragua is a country of great resources, and con-
tains within its borders all the material for canal
construction except iron, for which, however, no
search has been made. Should our country and
Nicaragua see fit to make a Treaty of Reciprocity

14 LOCAL RESOURCES

simultaneous with the commencement of the Canal,
by the time it is completed, Nicaragua would her-
self pay a large portion of the cost of mainten-
ance, and, in any event, when this magnificent
country, becomes connected, by means of this work,
with the Commercial World, a constantly increasing
local commerce, would aid in making the project
a profitable one. Valuable woods, the finest cacao
in the world, coffee, cotton, cochineal, indigo,
sugar and India rubber are among its native pro-
ducts— all articles that ourselves and all Europe
need, and will gladly pay for, offering us in return
a large field for the manufactured products of
our country. Certainly this is an argument of
the most forcible nature in the consideration of
this question. If the Inter-oceanic Canal would
be an advantage to Nicaragua, Nicaragua would
even be more of an advantage to the capitalists
investing in this great highway of Nations.

EXHIBIT D.

Facility of Construction. We enter upon this
branch of the subject with some diffidence, be-
cause we are not engineers, but as the Projector
of the Panama Low Tide Level Canal publicly
admitted at the Paris Canal Convention of 1879,
that he is not himself an engineer, we approach
the discussion, feeling that, after using our best
judgement, we can rely on eminent English and

FACILITY OF CONSTRUCTION. 15

American Engineers who have publicly and official-
ly endorsed the Nicaragua Canal. We see no valid
objection to the use of locks, since they are already
in use in this country of a capacity large enough for
largest class ships. We have, however to insist, as a
necessity of the case that the locks of the Nicaragua
Canal shall be lengthened to the dimensions of that
recently built by G-en. Weitzel, of the U. S. Engin-
eer Corps, at the St. Mary's Canal; 515 feet long,
or even 550 feet long, with proportionate width.
Locks of the length required by our recommenda-
tion would pass a large portion of the vessels using
the Canal, two at a time, thereby economizing
labor and increasing its capacity. While it is
is true that the locks of 400 feet length estimated
for, will accommodate most ships now in use, we give
due weight to the fact that the largest ships
are the cheapest freight carriers, and we would
have canal locks large enough for all that are
likely to be built hereafter. The increased cost
will not be material, and the advantage will be
great. The liability to earthquakes as an ob-
jection to the use of locks we do not consider im-
portant, although it is a danger both at Panama
>and Nicaragua; so remote that it need not be
considered in either place.

It is proposed to construct the Locks of the
Nicaragua Canal with concrete, which affords great
facility for repairs and for which the best materials
abound in that country. Numerous works in

16 FINANCIAL RESULTS.

Central America built of this material a century
or more ago attest its durability. The Panama
Canal with its enormous dam to control the floods
of the Chagres, and its tidal lock at the Pacific
terminus offers objections as regards earthquakes,
equally or more serious than the locks of the Nica-
ragua Canal. We see no reason why the philoso-
phy that Nature teaches, should not be made use
of to conquer the obstacles that Nature places be-
fore us, and we claim that it is better and more
reasonable, to carry a ship over a summit by means
of lift locks, than to build a sea level cut at
an incalculably increased cost, which must necessa-
rily receive the drainage of a country with an
average precipitation of 124 inches annually.

At Aspinwall the rain fall in 1872 was 170^0
inches.

At Suez the annual' average is less than 2
inches.

Dismissing this branch of the Exhibit we
come to the final test of all Commercial Problems.
Will it pay ? We can conscientiously answer with
the lights before us; By Nicaragua it will pay—
by Panama it will not pay.

Ten years since the estimated tonnage that would
use the American Inter-oceanic Canal was placed
by the best official authority in the country at 4,100-
000 tons per annum. Careful estimates made by
your Committee place it at 5,250,000 tons at this
time. We are informed by Count De Lesseps
that he calculates upon 6,000,000 tons, the

FINANCIAL RESULTS. 17

difference being perhaps caused by assigning the
use of the Canal to ships that we place as likely
to continue on previous routes. Thus, the English
direct commerce with Australia would, in our
opinion, only use the Canal on their homeward
voyage, and would continue to go from England to
Australia via the Cape of Good Hope or via Suez.
The De Lesseps estimate of 6,000, 000 tons appears
the more excessive when it is considered that he
claims steam as the exclusive motive power by
sea hereafter, discards sailing tonnage, and then
includes this sailing tonnage in his estimate.

Desiring, as we have done in all our conclu-
sions, to estimate conservatively, we allow for a
tonnage of 5,000,000 tons per annum. Five
million tons annually represents about 2,780
vessels which would make 8 vessels daily, pass-
ing through the Canal — four each way. It will
be readily seen that the capacity of the Nica-
ragua Canal would be fully four times the esti-
mated tonnage, notwithstanding the use of locks.
Admitting the cost at the extreme figure of $100,-
000,000, and with a toll of $2.00 per ton we have
a yearly income equal to 10 per cent, on the cost.
Allowing the very liberal estimate of $2,000,000
per annum for maintenance, we have a net income
equal to 8 per cent, on the investment, indepen-
dent of the increasing local revenue, as the interior
of Nicaragua is developed; an important factor in
our favor, to aid which we would include in the

18 RECOMMENDATIONS.

general plan, the connecting of Lake Managua
with Lake Nicaragua by a canal of 10 feet draught,
which could 'be built at a very moderate cost,
Nature having already done a considerable part of
the work.

We would also recommend the construc-
tion of a Dry Dock in Lake Nicaragua, con-
tiguous to the Canal, capable of admitting the
largest ships that can pass through it, and with
Dockage rates publicly fixed at as low figures as
possible. This would encourage ships navigating
toward the Canal and meeting with any mishap,
to continue on their voyage, and thereby save the
great expense frequently incurred by deviation.
It would also afford facility for repairs of the local
tonnage which would soon navigate Lakes Mana-
gua and Nicaragua.

Commerce should not be charged over $2.00
per ton for the use of the canal, if our Coast
is to reap the benefit it is entitled to expect
from such a work, and this is the maximum
tonnage charge considered advisable by experts
who have been examined by your Committee.
After all, the insuperable objection to the Panama
Low Tide Level Canal is the toll necessary to pay
for its construction which has been announced
at $3.00 per ton, while De Lesseps publicly
stated at the Paris Convention of 1879 that
he could, if necessary, make ships pay 20 francs
per ton, which, allowing even a moderate contin-

RECAPITULATION. 19

gency in his estimates, he would have to charge,
to declare any dividends.

We beg to call your attention to the fol-
lowing points in our statement. First, we ad-
mit a cost nearly double the net estimate made by
our Government Engineers for the Nicaragua
Canal. Second, we reduce the probable tonnage
that would use it 250,000 tons below our own
close estimate, and 1,000,000 tons below the esti-
mate lately made public for the Panama scheme.
Third, we ignore the income from the local com-
merce which would be rapidly developed. Fourth,
on this basis we show 8 per cent, profit with a toll
of 82.00 per ton, allowing $2,000,000 per annum
for maintenance. We respectfully submit that
we can present this financial problem to the world
with prospects of success, and that the Nicaragua
Inter-oceanic Canal will pay.

GENERAL REMARKS.

We would urge the absolute necessity of
regulating the tonnage tax for the use of this
Commercial Highway by means of an Inter- Na-
tional Convention in which all the maritime nations
of Europe and America shall be represented; the
tonnage tax thus levied being unchangeable
except by a majority of all the Signatory Powers,
and intended to pay a liberal percentage on the
absolute cost of construction only.

20 TONNAGE TAX.

Inasmuch as Nicaragua will receive substan-
tial and increasing benefit from the day this great
enterprise is inaugurated, it being in effect, an ex-
tensive system of internal improvements without
expense to its citizens, we do not consider that the
Government of that Republic should claim any
special privileges which would seriously decrease
the revenues of the Company constructing it, but
should restrict their requirements in this particu-
lar to the free use of the Canal for their Naval
vessels, a reduction of 25 per cent on tolls payable
by the Internal Commerce of the Republic, and
the use of the Panaloya Canal, connecting Lake
Nicaragua with Lake Managua, at a toll which
will only pay the cost of maintenance.

We cannot too strongly commend to the at-
tention of this Board the importance of the fore-
going suggestions.

Ten different routes have been examined by
able, disinterested and skillful officers in the ser-
vice of our Government, and where they have
been found practicable, close instrumental surveys
have followed: the last of these being the Lull
Survey for the Panama Canal in 1875. The re-
sult of all these laborious examinations, is the
officially expressed preference given by the best
engineering talent in the United States to the
Nicaragua Route. The Commercial World is
ripe for the execution of this great and beneficent
work, and having every indication of pecuniary
success, abundant capital, under proper guarantees,

PROMPT ACTION NECESSARY. 21

will be forthcoming. Your Committee do not
sympathise with those who would place impedi-
ments in the path of the illustrious Projector of
the Panama Canal. Although, as far as they are
able to judge, a work of stupendous magnitude,
if the capitalists of Europe choose to place their
means at his disposition for this purpose, we should
wish him success, and we cannot but honor his
energy and his confidence. If the spirit of
American enterprise no longer finds exponents in
the construction of what we conscientiously re-
commend as being, in our judgement, a better
route, we have no moral right to prevent others,
with more energy, from undertaking so beneficent
an enterprise, and, if the Panama Canal costs, as
we think it will, far more than at present estimat-
ed, once it is constructed, it cannot lay idle, and
a tonnage charge must be made which ships can pay,
even if it prove unremunerative to the investors.
The same energy which Count De Lesseps dis-
plays, would probably, if applied to the Nicara-
gua Canal, result in its completion within five
years, and, we are confident, at about one third the
cost. It would be a source of lasting regret how-
ever, if the commencement of the Panama Canal
should prevent the construction of that in Nicara-
gua, and, in the event of the abandonment of the
former, indefinitely deprive the Commercial World
of any Canal whatever. Both routes have now
been surveyed with instruments of precision.

22 RESULTS.

The time for action has arrived.

Our Commonwealth, our Pacific Coast, de-
mand cheap transportation; both languish on their
onward march for the want of it. During the year
which sees our first grain laden ship leave our
wharves for Europe via the Nicaragua Canal, the
Farmer will find every acre that he tills largely
enhanced in value; the Merchant will find himself
two months nearer the great marts of Europe.
European immigrants can reach us in less than 30
days time at a cost of about $35 and our material
prosperity will receive such an impetus as we little
dream of.

Let us not then dismiss this subject as an
Utopian dream. Had the Gentlemen present
examined it as have your Committee, you would
no longer ask cui-bonof To the end that the labors
of your Committee shall bear the fruit they should
do, we have prepared a Memorial to Congress, now
in session, urging them to place our State on record
as crying aloud for this great work. Gentlemen,
there is honor to this Board of Trade in the per-
sistent urging of the construction of the Nicaragua
Inter-oceanic Canal — there is prosperity in it for
our Producers; there is profit in it for our Mer-
chants! God speed the day when the Pacific shall
be wedded to the Atlantic ! It will be a happy day
for us, for our children, for our Country, and for
the World !

In conclusion your Committee ha^e to thank

CONCLUSION. 23

Senator Booth for valuable documents. Also to
Count De Lesseps and Lieutenant Leutze, U. S.
Navy for giving us their time and experience in
the surveys under discussion, and the many gentle-
men experts whom we have called upon for evi-
dence in Committee. The subject has occupied
much of our time and thoughts and its interest
has so grown upon us that we could wish every
merchant in this Board would inform himself fully
on a matter of such vital interest to our country
and the commercial w^orld.

The documents appertaining thereto are now in
the Library of the Board, and to them we invite
the attention of all our Members.

DESCRIPTION OF ROUTE.

Capt. Merry, Chairman of the Committee,
made the following remarks on a motion to adopt
the foregoing report:

Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Board of
Trade:

The importance of the Inter-oceanic Canal as a factor
in the prosperity of this Commonwealth demands at our
hands a rigid and impartial investigation of the merits of the
route we have decided as alone commercially practicable.
Certainly a canal without locks and on sea level is a great
desideratum, but when we cannot attain this end in a com-
mercially practicable manner, it appears proper to avail our-
selves of the resources of Philosophy and Science to over-
come the obstacles that Nature has placed in our path.

What portion of this great work Nature has already ac-
complished in Nicaragua is illustrated by the fact that,
during the rainy season a steamer of 400 tons can enter the
San Juan river at its Colorado branch and approach within
12^- miles of the Pacific. While standing on the upper
deck of a steamer on Lake Nicaragua I have seen the set-
ting sun almost until it dipped into Pacific waters.

The restoration of the Harbor of Grey town is probably
the most difficult task in the construction of the Nicaragua
Canal, but with the amount appropriated therefor and the
contingency estimate added thereto, it can doubtless be ac-
complished.

DESCRIPTION OF ROUTE. 25

The construction of the canal through the alluvial delta
of the San Juan River offers no Engineering difficulties of
note. After passing this delta, in following the river valley
to the junction of the San Carlos River some heavier cut-
ting must be done, but no engineering obstacles of import-
ance present themselves. From the junction of the San
Carlos the river is itself converted into a slack water navi-
gation by the construction of four dams, after the river
bottom has been improved and deepened where necessary.
These dams are passed by three short canals fitted with a
lift lock in each. The upper portion of the San Juan River
has only 8 inches fall to the mile, and is essentially a natural
canal above Castillo Rapids, to the Lake.

The navigation of the Lake offers no special peculiari-
ties, but is free from hidden dangers, and deeper than is
necessary except near the mouth of the river, where it has
been shoaled by silt for about seven miles, an average of
8 feet, which can easily be removed by dredging. The
general depth of the Lake is 5 to 16 fathoms, averaging
about 9 fathoms on the line of the Canal Lake Navigation.

We have now arrived at the cut from the mouth of the
little Rio del Medio, on the lake, to Brito on the Pacific, a
distance of 16^ miles, with the maximum elevation of 134
feet above the Lake (a sharp peak) and an average cut of
about 40 feet through a fixed soil and occasional rock, but all
covered with vegetation. The Lake being 107£ feet above
the Pacific, 10 lift locks of lOf feet each are constructed, by
which means the ship reaches the harbor of Brito on the
Pacific. Here we have to increase the limited area of the
harbor and fully protect it by a breakwater which will
afford access to the Canal in smooth water. The appropria-
tion for this purpose appears reasonable, but may need all
the margin allowed to complete the work. These are the
main features of the Nicaragua Canal and they offer no ob-
stacles that cannot be overcome with comparative ease, in
fact, as Lieut. Leutze has j ustly observed, "nothing is called
for here that has not been done before."

26 OUR SPECIAL DUTY.

Even the Nicaragua Ship Canal is doubtless a work of
great magnitude, but it should be measured by the results
it will produce. Dynamite and Dredging Machinery are
also powerful agents, and American genius will furnish
means to greatly reduce the manual labor otherwise neces-
sary in such a work.

Let us now inquire why we should agitate this subject
at all. This is a young Mercantile Community, and many
here present will live to see the completion of this great
work ! The day when we can reach European Ports in 25
days and our Eastern Seaboard in 15 days, without break-
ing bulk, and at rates of freight as low as they now average
to Hong Kong will witness an enormous impetus to our pros-
perity. It is plainly our duty as a Mercantile Association,
representing the business interests of this Coast to do what
lays in our power to encourage the prosecution of this great
work ! We shall do ourselves honor and our State ser-
vice if we awake to the great advantages which are being
placed within our grasp. Few such opportunities occur in
the Mercantile experience of a life time. California beyond
any state in the Union, and San Francisco beyond any city
in the world should urge the commencement of this benefi-
cent enterprise, and, as a representative mercantile body
we should not wait until other kindred associations declare
themselves. We are the most interested, why should we
not be the most active in urging the attention of our Govern-
ment and the Commercial World to this project, so rich in
results to our Commonwealth, the Pacific Coast and our
Country ?

TO THE
CALIFORNIA DELEGATION

IN THE

rff

The Board of Trade of San Francisco beg re-
spectfully to call your attention to the Memorial
which we have prepared for presentation to the
Honorable Senate and House of Representatives
on the subject of the Nicaragua Inter-oceanic
Canal bespeaking therefor your cordial sympa-
thy and active support. The Board feel assured
of your interest in attaining a result so beneficent
to all your constituents, and that, when the proper
time arrives, your great influence will be found
urging a work so essential to the prosperity of
the producers as well as the merchants of our
Commonwealth and the entire Pacific Coast. ,

With the assurance of our high esteem, we sub-
scribe ourselves,

Your Fellow Citizens
THE BOARD OF TRADE OF SAN FRANCISCO.
by J. S. Taber, President.

James Duffy, 1st Vice-President.

C. F. Wyman, Secretary.

f WM. LAWRENCE MERKY, Chairman
Committee, a j DEMPSTER, Secretary.

Inter-oceanic W' W'

Canal. LEVI STRAUSS,

Louis SACHS

MEMORIAL.

TO THE HONORABLE

©he j&watc ami um0e of

IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:

The Board of Trade of San Francisco represent-
ing over fifty millions of active capital controlled
by two hundred and twenty -four business firms,
respectfully call your attention to the great and
urgent necessity existing for the construction of a
Ship Canal to connect the Atlantic and Pacific
oceans. Your Memorialists have attentively con-
sidered this great question in the interests of our
Commonwealth, our Pacific Coast and the whole
Commercial World. They have availed themselves
of all the official information obtainable on the sub-
ject; they have examined professional experts on
the surveys already made, as well as competent
navigators respecting the practical benefits attaina-
ble thereby. After impartial and careful considera-

MEMORIAL. 29

tion of the subject, and without any interests except
as above stated, your Memorialists desire as a com-
mercial body, deeply interested in the practical so-
lution of this great enterprise, to place on record
their firm conviction that, in point of Economy of
Construction, availability for Commercial purposes
and certainty of returns for the capital invested, ttie
Nicaragua Route for an Inter-oceanic Canal as
surveyed by Commander Lull, U. S. Navy, in
1873 offers the greatest advantages, and should
therefore receive the unqualified endorsement of
our Government and the Capitalists of the world.

Our Pacific Coast suffers, and is retarded in
its onward march of Industrial and Commercial
development, for the want of cheap transportation,
and your Memorialists look upon the Nicaragua
Inter-oceanic Canal as the only available project
which holds out to our producers and our merchants
the prospect of permanent relief — in the desid-
eratum of cheap freights to the Great Nations
inhabiting the shores of the Atlantic. The mil-
lions of Europe and our own Countrymen on our
Eastern seaboard want the varied products of our
soil, but we are debarred from the benefit which
should thereby accrue to our Pacific Coast by the
expanse of a continent and by the "Cape of
Storms."

Your Memorialists therefore pray that, when
an organization with proper guarantees, applies to
you for recognition and official encouragement, the

30 MEMORIAL.

Government of our country will assume the pro-
tection, and support with its moral influence, the
execution of this great work, upon which so much
depends. Your sanction and your encouragement
will make this essentially an American enterprise,
and afford such a guarantee of success as will at-
tract the capital of Europe to complement our
own. Our Coast, our Country and the World are
ready for this great and beneficent enterprise.
On the shores of the Pacific the sentiment of
American Nationality and Patriotism appeals to
you with the assurance of your cordial sympathy
and support.

THE BOARD OF TRADE OF SAN FRANCISCO.
by J. S. Taber, President.

James Duffy, 1st Vice-President

C. F. Wyman, Secretary.

Committee.

on

Inter-oceanic
Canal.

WM. LAWRENCE MERRY, Chairman
C. J. DEMPSTER, Secretary,
W. W. DODGE,
LEVI STRAUSS,
Louis SACHS.

DISTANCES. 31

NICARAGUA INTER-OCEANIC CANAL.

DISTANCES ON THE LINE.

Miles.

Canal between Lake Nicaragua and Brito,

on Pacific Ocean, 16??

Canal between Lake Nicaragua and Grey-
town on Atlantic Ocean, 4511

Slack water Navigation River San Juan, 63?

Lake Nicaragua Navigation, 56'

?00

Total Length, 180.76

DISTANCES SAVED IN NAVIGATION

BY
NICARAGUA INTER-OCEANIC CANAL.

Miles.

New York to San Francisco, 9800

England (Lizard) to San Francisco, 6953

New York to Callao, Peru, 6220

" Valparaiso, Chile, 3720

"•Hong Kong, China, 8245

" Yokohama, Japan, 7905

" Melbourne, Australia, 3120

Liverpool to Gulf of Fonseca, C. A. 6500

" Callao, Peru, 3200

" Valparaiso, Chile, 1500

32 COMPARISON OF ROUTES.

NICARAGUA.

1. Longer Canal and lift locks to attain lake
level of 107f feet.

2. About half cost of Panama.

3. Passes through a country of great but
only slightly developed resources.

4. Fresh water and splendid inland harbor.

5. Materials for construction and maintenance
mostly in the country.

6. Accessible to sailing ships with slight
delay.

7. Free from financial claims against the
parties constructing it.

8. Route through a country with 58 inches
average annual rainfall and, by reason of the lake
receiving the drainage, not liable to floods.

9. Lift locks remotely liable to damage by
earthquakes.

10. Two days to pass through.

11. Saving about 800 miles between East and
West Coast United States Ports, and losing about
180 miles to and from South American West
Coast Ports, for steamers. Loss to sailing ships
in latter case, little or none.

.•• . . . •••.•. ;•. i.^i l .%

COMPARISON OF ROUTES. 33

PANAMA.

1. Short Low Tide Level cut, with tidal lock
at Pacific terminus.

2. About double cost of Nicaragua compara-
tively.

3. Passes through a country of comparative-
ly no resources.

4. Salt water and no harbors except at the
termini.

5. Materials for construction and maintenance
mostly to be imported.

6. Inaccessible to sailing ships without great
delay by reason of calms.

7. Required to pay Lieut. Wyse 10,000,000
francs for concession and Panama R. R. Co., 100,-
000,000 francs for value of railroad.

8. Route through a country with 124 inches
average annual rainfall, and liable to very high
floods, endangering the Canal works thereby.

9. Chagres dam remotely liable to damage by
earthquakes, and to destruction by floods in rainy
season.

10. One day to pass through.

11. Losing about 800 miles between East and
West Coast United States Ports, and saving
about 180 miles to steamers to and from South
American West Coast Ports. Gain to sailing
ships in latter case little or none.