328 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



000,000 francs, while the amount set down under the heading, " clear- 

 ing the surface of wood and stumps, installing machinery, and ex- 

 cavation," amounts to but 115,000,000 francs. This is less than a 

 third of the whole. Mr. Bigelow observes that this " last item only, 

 and that partially, represents work on the canal." He assumes that 

 this 115,000,000 francs represents the cost of about one fifth of the 

 excavation. Now, it has been customary for the critics of the under- 

 taking to argue thus : If one fifth of the excavation costs 308,000,- 

 000 francs, it is easy to see that the whole will cost about 1,800,000,- 

 000 francs, a sum greatly in excess of the estimate of the Paris Con- 

 gress. This estimate was 1,070,000,000 francs.* But the above meth- 

 od of computation is obviously erroneous. Mr. Bigelow, referring to 

 it, says : " It would be very misleading to infer the cost of the work 

 remaining to be done from the apparent cost of what has been done. 

 Fully two thirds of the expenses already incurred are in the form of 

 plant." He points out in like manner that it would be "scarcely 

 more fallacious " to infer that because one fifth of the excavation had 

 been made for 115,000,000 francs, the money required to complete 

 it would be only four times that amount. The work which remains is 

 much more difficult than what has already been done. As the trench 

 descends to lower and lower levels, it becomes more expensive to get 

 rid of the material excavated. 



Another criticism of a somewhat vague and yet serious character 

 is brought against the undertaking. It is said that lavish expendi- 

 tures, a reckless disregard of prudence and economy, have character- 

 ized the work. Upon this point also Mr. Bigelow's testimony is not 

 without weight. He says : " No doubt some of the money has been 

 injudiciously expended, but what great work, whether of a private 

 or public character, has escaped this reproach? Taking the waste 

 through these channels at the largest presumable figures, the incon- 

 siderate expenses of the average individual all over the world would 

 probably represent a larger percentage of his aggregate expenditure." f 



* It is not to be inferred that even so largo a sum as 1,800,000,000 would preclude 

 all chance of reasonable profits. A statement upon this point was made at the Geo- 

 graphical Congress of Hamburg, held in April, 1885. One session was devoted to a 

 lecture upon the Panama Canal, given by a Dutch engineer, Van Nehus. lie said : " Ac- 

 cording to the learned report of the. French economist, Lcvasseur, the probable annual 

 tonnage of the canal would be 7,250,000, and this at the rate of fifteen francs per ton, 

 after deducting 3,000,000 francs for maintenance, would afford an income of 105,750,000 

 francs. This would give a satisfactory interest, even for a stock capital of 2,000,000,- 

 000 francs." 



f "The Popular Science Monthly" for April, 1880, in an editorial discussion of the 

 canal question, makes the following observation. The editor, referring to the fact that 

 the foreign holders of American securities have been not unfrequently, by skillful manip- 

 ulators defrauded of their just dues, says that De Lesseps " defies the world to show that 

 a centime of the funds contributed to the Suez Canal was misappropriated or stolen." 



Of the contrast which, according to the opinion of some, exists between the financial 

 management of Suez and that of Panama no sufficient evidence seems to exist. 



