12-t 



COLOMBIA. 



441.073 tons; cleared, 263, of 442.777 tons. In 

 is;>7 were entered at Panama, Colon. Cartagena, 

 and Santa Maria !>23 vessels, of 1.213.110 tons; 

 cleaml. !!!>. of 1.2UU529 tons. British, German, 

 Freiu-li. Spanish, and Italian steamers visit these 

 port>. and American lines connect them with the 

 Gulf and Atlantic ports of the United States. The 

 merchant marine of Colombia in 1S9S consisted 

 of I -teamcr, of 4.">7 tons, and 7 sailing vessels, 

 of 1.770 tons. On the Magdalcna and its tribu- 

 taries affording l.(XM) miles of inland navigation, 

 arc 4'J steamers, of 7,331 tons. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. There 

 are 11 lines of railroad, two owned by depart- 

 ments and tin- rest by companies, which had 389 

 mil.- completed. 270 miles under construction, and 

 So mill's contracted for in 1898. 



The post otlice in 1897 carried 2,794,0(59 letters 

 and postal cards, 1,233,313 papers and pamphlets, 

 and l(il.-J17 packets. 



The telegraphs in 1898 had a total length of 

 8,600 miles. 



The Panama Canal. A company for the con- 

 struction of a canal across the isthmus of Panama 

 \\as formed in IS81 by Ferdinand de Lesseps. 

 After 772..">4.'>.000 francs* had been raised and ex- 

 pended, about half the amount that it was then 

 estimated that the canal would cost, the com- 

 pany went into liquidation in 1889, having failed 

 in the attempt to obtain a popular loan of 600,- 

 000,000 francs. The work was then suspended. 

 In 1893 the Colombian Government gave an ex- 

 tension of the time limit to enable a new com- 

 pany to be formed, and in 1894 a company was 

 formed and work was provisionally resumed and 

 has since been carried on with more or less ex- 

 pedition. An American company was organized 

 in 1899 to complete the canal, which it was esti- 

 mated by the French engineers could be done in 

 ten years at a cost of 512,000,000 francs in addi- 

 tion to what had been expended. Of the $156,- 

 400,000 expended by the original company it was 

 found that only $88,600,000 had been legitimately 

 expended for excavation and construction, the 

 rest having gone to politicians, newspapers, and 

 dishonest promoters and contractors, creating a 

 financial scandal in France which was the greater 

 because the bulk of the subscriptions had come 

 from small investors and the work had been un- 

 dertaken as a patriotic enterprise. The new 

 French company was started with a capital of 65,- 

 000,000 francs, about half of which was cautiously 

 expended on construction in four years, during 

 which attempts were made in vain to induce the 

 French public to invest the funds needed for the 

 completion of the work, not as a tidewater canal, 

 which was the original plan, but with locks. In 

 |s;is an auxiliary company known as the Panama 

 Company of America was organized in the United 

 State-. Congress autliori/ed a new commission to 

 examine the American isthmus at every available 

 point in order to determine the most practicable 

 and feasible route for a ship canal. President 

 McKinley appointed this commission in June, 

 1899. consisting of Hear- Admiral Walker, Colonels 

 Kin-t and Main of the engineer corps of the 

 Tinted Slat.-s army, ami five civil engineers, who 

 lii -t went to Paris to study the plans of the 

 I '.ma ma Company before examining the route and 

 the work done on the spot, the route chosen for 

 the Nicaragua Canal, and other available routes. 

 The directors of the new French company, de- 

 -pairing of rai-ing snllicient capital in France, 

 voted to transfer all its properly, its rights, and 

 it- powers, with tl'.o-e of the auxiliary American 

 company, to a new company that was organized 

 under the laws of the State of New Jersey, which 



undertook to complete the canal with American 

 capital. The Panama Canal Company of America 

 was incorporated on Dec. 27, 1899, for the purpose 

 of acquiring the rights and property of the French 

 Panama Company in the maritime canal across 

 the isthmus and the Panama Railway, which will 

 pa-s into its possession upon the completion of 

 the canal. It obtained powers also to operate 

 ships and steamer lines, to carry mails, passen- 

 gers, and merchandise, to construct wharves, 

 warehouses, and telegraph and telephone lines. 

 and to enter into such arrangements with any 

 governments as may conduce to its objects and as- 

 sist in obtaining rights, grants, and privileges. 

 The capital was fixed at $30,000,000 in the begin- 

 ning, with power to increase. The arrangemei 

 with the new French company was to pay i 

 shareholders partly in money, but mainly in sha: 

 of the American company. The original French 

 company retains only an equity in the shape 

 a percentage of the profits remaining after t 

 payment of all operating expenses and fix 

 charges and a dividend to the stockholders 

 the new company. They will receive 60 per cent, 

 of these surplus net earnings. The capital for tin- 

 completion of the canal, $100,000,000 or over, i- 

 expected to be raised by the issue of bonds, 

 international commission made up of Frenc 

 German, Russian, English, and American enginee 

 whom the French company consulted in dra 

 ing up its plans, estimated the cost of completi 

 the entire canal at something over $102,000,' 

 if the two locks are made of a certain width, or 

 $125,000,000 with wider locks. The extended con- 

 cession from the Colombian Government runs un- 

 til Oct. 31, 1910, a bonus of 3,000,000 francs hav- 

 ing been paid to the Government to obtain t 

 extension. After the American company was 

 corporated and the proposition was definite 

 brought before the French directors, so much o 

 position was developed to the surrender of an e 

 terprise that had absorbed so much French enth 

 siasm and entailed such sacrifices on the Fren< 

 people that the directors were unwilling to sho 

 der the responsibility of carrying out the arra 

 ment, and they all resigned. The trustees of t 

 De Lesseps company in particular were relucta 

 to sanction the total transfer of the entire m 

 agement and control from France to America, 

 new board of directors was chosen on Dec. 3 

 which continued negotiations with the Americ: 

 company. The prospects of the latter depend 

 upon the report of Admiral Walker's commissi 

 giving the preference to the Panama over the Xii 

 ragua route, and the commission in its conside: 

 tion of the Panama route had to be guided in 

 large degree by the knowledge whether the Frenc 

 shareholders would transfer full control to th 

 American company. The commission made 

 careful examination of the work already execute 

 or in progress at Panama in March. 1900, an 

 requested explicit information regarding the guai 

 antees to be offered to the American nation as t< 

 the transfer of all rights, powers, property, and 

 management to an American company. Work 

 was going on in various places, especially wit 

 3,000 workmen in the great Culebra cutting, w hit- 

 before July was brought down to within 4.') met 

 of the level of the sea. 



Rebellion. President Saiiclemente died earh 

 in January. 1900, leaving a precarious and coin 

 plicated political situation. In April a revolutioi 

 was started by the Liberal party under Gen. ('-^ 

 briel Vargas Santos, who was proclaimed provi 

 sional President of Santander, the chief coM'ee 

 grow ing department. The rebels besieged Mncara 

 manga from May 1 1 to May 25, when they ha< 



