He then discussed the comparative claims to excellence. In the first
consideration, after classifying the several grand divisions of future
ocean traffic, and noting especially the needs of the United States, he
claimed that while there was little to choose, in this respect, between
Nicaragua and Tehuantepec, either was far superior to Panama.
In the second particular he maintained that owing to the characteristics
of the Panama Canal and the practical impossibility of enlarging it
hereafter, excepting at stupendous cost, it could not serve the purposes
of the future, although it might, if completed, supply present need. He
praised the ingenuity of the plans for the Ship Railway, but emphasized
the fact that it will be the _movement of the traffic_, not merely the
lifting and supporting of ships in transit, that will test the system,
and suggested that even the beautiful application of mechanical force
which had been contrived might be powerless to insure the high grade of
service which is an absolute necessity. In this connection the general
features of the Nicaragua Canal, in its latest form, were referred to,
and the opinion expressed that even were all difficulties in the way of
the Ship Railway eliminated, it could not be superior to the canal in
respect of adaptiveness.
In point of political security he claimed that both Tehuantepec and
Nicaragua were reasonably free from doubts, with the advantage in favor
of the latter, while at Panama no security, for United States interests
at least, could be counted on, without the liability of a military
expenditure far exceeding the cost of the canal itself.
The matter of comparative cost of construction and operation was
discussed generally, and in conclusion the author stated that "this
all-important question is still an open one, of which the future needs of
our country justify and demand at this time a most searching scrutiny,
and moreover our interest and the interest of mankind require that before
this century closes, the best possible pathway between the Atlantic and
the Pacific shall be open to the navies of the world."
The paper was illustrated with maps and diagrams.
* * * * *