URBI ET ORBI
The astronomical, mechanical, and topographical difficulties resolved,
finally came the question of finance. The sum required was far too
great for any individual, or even any single State, to provide the
requisite millions.
President Barbicane undertook, despite of the matter being a purely
American affair, to render it one of universal interest, and to request
the financial co-operation of all peoples. It was, he maintained, the
right and duty of the whole earth to interfere in the affairs of its
satellite. The subscription opened at Baltimore extended properly to
the whole world—_Urbi et orbi_.
This subscription was successful beyond all expectation;
notwithstanding that it was a question not of lending but of giving the
money. It was a purely disinterested operation in the strictest sense
of the term, and offered not the slightest chance of profit.
The effect, however, of Barbicane’s communication was not confined to
the frontiers of the United States; it crossed the Atlantic and
Pacific, invading simultaneously Asia and Europe, Africa and Oceanica.
The observatories of the Union placed themselves in immediate
communication with those of foreign countries. Some, such as those of
Paris, Petersburg, Berlin, Stockholm, Hamburg, Malta, Lisbon, Benares,
Madras, and others, transmitted their good wishes; the rest maintained
a prudent silence, quietly awaiting the result. As for the observatory
at Greenwich, seconded as it was by the twenty- two astronomical
establishments of Great Britain, it spoke plainly enough. It boldly
denied the possibility of success, and pronounced in favor of the
theories of Captain Nicholl. But this was nothing more than mere
English jealousy.
On the 8th of October President Barbicane published a manifesto full of
enthusiasm, in which he made an appeal to “all persons of good will
upon the face of the earth.” This document, translated into all
languages, met with immense success.
Subscription lists were opened in all the principal cities of the
Union, with a central office at the Baltimore Bank, 9 Baltimore Street.
In addition, subscriptions were received at the following banks in the
different states of the two continents:
At Vienna, with S. M. de Rothschild.
At Petersburg, Stieglitz and Co.
At Paris, The Credit Mobilier.
At Stockholm, Tottie and Arfuredson.
At London, N. M. Rothschild and Son.
At Turin, Ardouin and Co.
At Berlin, Mendelssohn.
At Geneva, Lombard, Odier and Co.
At Constantinople, The Ottoman Bank.
At Brussels, J. Lambert.
At Madrid, Daniel Weisweller.
At Amsterdam, Netherlands Credit Co.
At Rome, Torlonia and Co.
At Lisbon, Lecesne.
At Copenhagen, Private Bank.
At Rio de Janeiro, Private Bank.
At Montevideo, Private Bank.
At Valparaiso and Lima, Thomas la Chambre and Co.
At Mexico, Martin Daran and Co.
Three days after the manifesto of President Barbicane $4,000,000 were
paid into the different towns of the Union. With such a balance the Gun
Club might begin operations at once. But some days later advices were
received to the effect that foreign subscriptions were being eagerly
taken up. Certain countries distinguished themselves by their
liberality; others untied their purse-strings with less facility—a
matter of temperament. Figures are, however, more eloquent than words,
and here is the official statement of the sums which were paid in to
the credit of the Gun Club at the close of the subscription.
Russia paid in as her contingent the enormous sum of 368,733 roubles.
No one need be surprised at this, who bears in mind the scientific
taste of the Russians, and the impetus which they have given to
astronomical studies—thanks to their numerous observatories.
France began by deriding the pretensions of the Americans. The moon
served as a pretext for a thousand stale puns and a score of ballads,
in which bad taste contested the palm with ignorance. But as formerly
the French paid before singing, so now they paid after having had their
laugh, and they subscribed for a sum of 1,253,930 francs. At that price
they had a right to enjoy themselves a little.
Austria showed herself generous in the midst of her financial crisis.
Her public contributions amounted to the sum of 216,000 florins—a
perfect godsend.
Fifty-two thousand rix-dollars were the remittance of Sweden and
Norway; the amount is large for the country, but it would undoubtedly
have been considerably increased had the subscription been opened in
Christiana simultaneously with that at Stockholm. For some reason or
other the Norwegians do not like to send their money to Sweden.
Prussia, by a remittance of 250,000 thalers, testified her high
approval of the enterprise.
Turkey behaved generously; but she had a personal interest in the
matter. The moon, in fact, regulates the cycle of her years and her
fast of Ramadan. She could not do less than give 1,372,640 piastres;
and she gave them with an eagerness which denoted, however, some
pressure on the part of the government.
Belgium distinguished herself among the second-rate states by a grant
of 513,000 francs—about two centimes per head of her population.
Holland and her colonies interested themselves to the extent of 110,000
florins, only demanding an allowance of five per cent. discount for
paying ready money.
Denmark, a little contracted in territory, gave nevertheless 9,000
ducats, proving her love for scientific experiments.
The Germanic Confederation pledged itself to 34,285 florins. It was
impossible to ask for more; besides, they would not have given it.
Though very much crippled, Italy found 200,000 lire in the pockets of
her people. If she had had Venetia she would have done better; but she
had not.
The States of the Church thought that they could not send less than
7,040 Roman crowns; and Portugal carried her devotion to science as far
as 30,000 cruzados. It was the widow’s mite—eighty-six piastres; but
self-constituted empires are always rather short of money.
Two hundred and fifty-seven francs, this was the modest contribution of
Switzerland to the American work. One must freely admit that she did
not see the practical side of the matter. It did not seem to her that
the mere despatch of a shot to the moon could possibly establish any
relation of affairs with her; and it did not seem prudent to her to
embark her capital in so hazardous an enterprise. After all, perhaps
she was right.
As to Spain, she could not scrape together more than 110 reals. She
gave as an excuse that she had her railways to finish. The truth is,
that science is not favorably regarded in that country, it is still in
a backward state; and moreover, certain Spaniards, not by any means the
least educated, did not form a correct estimate of the bulk of the
projectile compared with that of the moon. They feared that it would
disturb the established order of things. In that case it were better to
keep aloof; which they did to the tune of some reals.
There remained but England; and we know the contemptuous antipathy with
which she received Barbicane’s proposition. The English have but one
soul for the whole twenty-six millions of inhabitants which Great
Britain contains. They hinted that the enterprise of the Gun Club was
contrary to the “principle of non-intervention.” And they did not
subscribe a single farthing.
At this intimation the Gun Club merely shrugged its shoulders and
returned to its great work. When South America, that is to say, Peru,
Chili, Brazil, the provinces of La Plata and Columbia, had poured forth
their quota into their hands, the sum of $300,000, it found itself in
possession of a considerable capital, of which the following is a
statement:
United States subscriptions, . . $4,000,000
Foreign subscriptions . . . . . . . $1,446,675
——————
Total, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,446,675
Such was the sum which the public poured into the treasury of the Gun
Club.
Let no one be surprised at the vastness of the amount. The work of
casting, boring, masonry, the transport of workmen, their establishment
in an almost uninhabited country, the construction of furnaces and
workshops, the plant, the powder, the projectile, and incipient
expenses, would, according to the estimates, absorb nearly the whole.
Certain cannon-shots in the Federal war cost one thousand dollars
apiece. This one of President Barbicane, unique in the annals of
gunnery, might well cost five thousand times more.
On the 20th of October a contract was entered into with the manufactory
at Coldspring, near New York, which during the war had furnished the
largest Parrott, cast-iron guns. It was stipulated between the
contracting parties that the manufactory of Coldspring should engage to
transport to Tampa Town, in southern Florida, the necessary materials
for casting the Columbiad. The work was bound to be completed at latest
by the 15th of October following, and the cannon delivered in good
condition under penalty of a forfeit of one hundred dollars a day to
the moment when the moon should again present herself under the same
conditions—that is to say, in eighteen years and eleven days.
The engagement of the workmen, their pay, and all the necessary details
of the work, devolved upon the Coldspring Company.
This contract, executed in duplicate, was signed by Barbicane,
president of the Gun Club, of the one part, and T. Murchison director
of the Coldspring manufactory, of the other, who thus executed the deed
on behalf of their respective principals.