About the same time a railway company was formed in the United States
which secured a concession from the Republic of Colombia for the
purpose of constructing the railway system across the Isthmus, which is
now known as the Panama Railroad. This railroad was completed in 1856,
and this addition to the means of transportation to the Pacific Coast
again indefinitely postponed the necessity for canal construction.
In 1861 the United States drifted into the Civil War, and once more
the subject of canal construction was forgotten. After the close of
the Civil War the transcontinental railroads, headed by the Union and
Central Pacific Companies, pushed their lines westward until they
reached the Pacific Coast, and as soon as the first railroad had
crossed the continent active opposition to canal construction began to
show itself in the American Congress.
The transcontinental railroads, fearing opposition in transportation,
from that day until the Spooner bill was passed, June 28, 1902,
maintained an active lobby at Washington, and whenever canal
legislation was suggested, having for its object the construction of an
Isthmian Canal at any point, this railroad opposition manifested itself
in every form, and no doubt canal construction by the United States was
postponed for many years by that agency.
However, in 1889, Congress authorized the incorporation of a company
known as the Maritime Canal Company of the United States, and under
that authority Hiram Hitchcock, of New York, as president, together
with Warner Miller and several other capitalists, proceeded to raise
about six million dollars, which was actually used in obtaining
franchises and concessions from Costa Rica and Nicaragua for a canal
route through these countries. Some money was also spent in doing
necessary preliminary work.
The Maritime Canal Company was a favorite in the United States for a
great many years, principally because it was championed by Senator J.
T. Morgan, of Alabama. Senator Morgan made this the dearest project
of his later life, and no doubt his last years of public service were
embittered by his failure to secure Government co-operation for the
building of the canal through Nicaraguan territory.
[Illustration: PRESIDENT AMADOR’S RESIDENCE, PANAMA.]