78 AMERICAN DIPLOMATIC QUESTIONS 



That lamentable event had furnished the best proof of the 

 utter futility of any private corporation undertaking the 

 * gigantic task of piercing the Central American Cordillera ; 

 none but a Hercules should attempt a labor of Hercules. 

 Aside from reasons relating to the physical side of the ques- 

 tion, the very nature of the project itself appeared to invest 

 it with a national rather than with a private character. 

 The difficulties, political and economic, as well as technical, 

 which surrounded the enterprise, removed all doubt that 

 \ the construction of the canal should be under the auspices 

 lj and protection of the United States Government. The use of 

 1 the canal when completed would necessarily be most inti- 

 ] mately connected with vital interests of the nation. Would 

 I it then be safe to subject to the chances of private ownership 

 an undertaking which involved interests so complex and 

 important ? Public opinion then rapidly shaped itself into 

 a conviction that the canal should be built by the govern- 

 ment in order that it might at last be controlled by the 

 government. 



Further reasons induced the stockholders themselves per- 

 sistently to seek governmental aid for their project. Periodic 

 political disturbances in Central America had caused the 

 Maritime Canal Company considerable embarrassment. A 

 genuine respect for any body of private citizens operating 

 within her borders could scarcely be expected from Nicara- 

 gua's turbulent political factions. At any moment Central 

 America was likely to go to war. Indeed, the efforts of the 

 company to prosecute the work at Greytown had been 

 hampered from the outset by quarrels between Nicaragua and 

 Costa Rica. The news of the annoying delays forced upon 

 the company by these frequent political disturbances reached 

 the United States, and deterred many who were otherwise 

 most enthusiastic in the cause of the canal from risking 

 capital in its development. Even while active work on the 

 part of the contractors was progressing in Nicaragua, the 

 lack of sufficient funds greatly handicapped the Maritime 

 Canal Company's operations. In this awkward predicament 

 the promoters were in doubt as to the proper course to be- 



