NICARAGUA. 



NORTH CAROLINA. 



663 



therefrom exceed ten per cent per annum upon the 

 capital stock, the rate of charges shall be reduced so 

 as to yield not more than ten per cent. The eleventh 

 section of the bill id as follows: "The United States 

 shall exercise such control over the canal as is now 

 or may at any time be prescribed by treaty with 

 Nicaragua, and shall enjoy its free use for the trans- 

 portation of troops, munitions of war, and mails, and 

 otherwise in accordance with stipulations of existing 

 treaties. And should the United States see fit, for 

 national reason3 t to temporarily occupy and manage 

 said canal, the right to do so is hereby reserved and 

 secured to the Govemmsnt, upon payment to the 

 stockholders of said canal, at tlie rate of five per 

 cent per annum annually, upon the capital invested, 

 together with the necessary expenses for the mainte- 

 nance of the work." 



In conclusion, the bill provides that any refusal on 

 the part of the company or of its board of directors 

 to comply with the provisions of this act, shall render 

 the company liable to forfeit all rights derived there- 

 from, and that " Congress niay^ at any time, having 

 due regard to the rights of said company, alter or 

 amend this act." 



In answer to the question, " What are the 

 advantages of the Nicaragua route?" General 

 Grant is stated to have replied as follows, 

 about December, 1880: u The Nicaraguan 

 route has the advantage of being farther 

 north, a less distance from the tropics for ves- 

 sels to sail or steam going from the Atlantic or 

 Pacific ports or from Europe, or to the East, 

 with the exception of Australia, where they 

 have to go through the tropics anyhow; and 

 the same is the case with New Zealand. A 

 line of lower levels is found by the Nicaraguan 

 route than any other, and then at the summit 

 is a very large and extensive plain, and the 

 water-shed of that region is to the lake, instead 

 of to the stream which empties into it, so that 

 it receives the water-fall of the heavy tropical 

 rains, and, being of so large an extent, it has 

 but a few feet rise or fall. Its banks reach 

 within twelve miles of the Pacific Ocean, so 

 that a canal could be built from the lake to the 

 Pacific without any water-course running into 

 the canal, or without any water-shed to throw 

 its water into the canal. The outlet of this 

 lake is to the Atlantic side by a large, naviga- 

 ble river. It has no tributaries coming into it 

 until you get well down toward the mouth. 

 Consequently it is not subject to rise or fall, or 

 to overflows, being only, as I remember, about 

 four inches between the highest water in the 

 rainy and the lowest water in the dry season. 

 This river is already navigable for large steam- 

 ers. There are three rapids to go over. By a 

 system of dams, starting the first dam just 

 above where the tributary comes into the river, 

 the San Juan, slack-water navigation could be 

 made for the largest vessels up to the first of 

 the rapids; then by systems of dams and 

 locks there could be slack-water navigation all 

 the way, locking the rapids to the ends of the 

 dams wherever they occur. Then the canal 

 would leave the river from the lower dam and 

 run out to the Atlantic side over ground where 

 it would have no stream running into it and no 

 water-shed to pour its waters into the canal." 



General Grant's opinion in regard to the 



Panama Canal appears to be that the prejudice 

 therefrom to the Nicaragua Company would 

 be but temporary. 



One or two uprisings of a revolutionary 

 character took place during the year 1881 ; 

 but the Government made use of prompt and 

 decisive measures to repress disturbances, one 

 being the expulsion of the Jesuits from the re- 

 public, members of that society being deemed 

 guilty of demonstrations subversive of public 

 order in Leon, and the immediate cause of the 

 riots. 



NORTH CAROLINA. The Legislature of 

 this State, consisting of 83 Democrats and 12 

 Republicans in the Senate and 83 Democrats 

 and 37 Republican s in the House, assembled on 

 the 5th of January, 1881, and remained in ses- 

 sion until the 14th of March. On the 18th of 

 January Governor Jarvis was inaugurated. In 

 his address he enlarges upon the need of immi- 

 gration and the importance of making the re- 

 sources and advantages of the State more fully 

 and generally known. On the subject of the 

 regulation of railroads, he says : 



But while it is imperative to encourage every known 

 method for the development of the resources of the 

 State, it is just as important to guard against anything 

 calculated to retard it. If this be so, then it becomes 

 the duty of the law-making power of the State to see 

 to it that the lines of transi>ortation operating in the 

 State do not, by their discriminating charges, transfer 

 to other States the industries that properly belong to 

 ours. I do not join in the wholesale abuse of the rail- 

 roads that some heap upon them, but I do believe they 

 ought to be required to do exact and equal justice to 

 all sections. This I think to be their interest as well 

 as their duty, and, if they refuse, I have no doubt 

 about the power of the State to compel it. But these 

 lines of railway have been the great agency in the de- 

 velopment of the State, and we ought to be just as 

 careful to see that wo do not treat them unjustly as we 

 are to see that they treat us fairly. The most ami- 

 cable as well as the most effective tribunal to adjust 

 these matters, which has thus far been tried, is a first- 

 class railroad commission. Such a commission, elect- 

 ed by the General Assembly every two years, with 

 proper powers, would, in my opinion, bo of great serv- 

 ice to the people. 



He directs attention especially to the neces- 

 sity of improving the educational system of 

 the State, and says : 



The time for a bold onward movement in the great 

 cause of education is propitious and the surroundings 

 favorable. It is the beginning of an administration 

 with no embarrassments. There are no works of in- 

 ternal improvement to bo provided for. Our public 

 debt, by its adjustment, is small and can no longer 

 frighten us. Less than $150,000 will pay its annual 

 interest. Our rate of taxation is exceedingly low as 

 compared with other States. I have obtained offi- 

 cially the rate in twenty-seven States, and in them all 

 it is "higher than in ours, and in most of them irroatly 

 so. I do not know the rate in the others. Our as- 

 sessment of property for the purposes of taxation, a 

 everybody knows, is exceedingly low. If all tho 

 property was honestly listed and fairly valued at its 

 cash value, tho proix-rty of the State would be at least 

 $800,000,000, instead of the $156,268,241, as now re- 

 turned. Public sentiment has prepared for a largo in- 

 crease of taxation for schools, and will sustain it. 



There were passed nt this session of the Leg- 

 islature 384 bills. The two most important 



