THE INTEROCEANIC CANAL PROBLEM' 101. 



priations may from -time to time be hereafter 

 exceed in the aggregate 1140,000,000." 



The passage of this bill in the House marked the desire 

 so generally felt throughout the country that the United 

 States Government should construct an isthmian canal; but 

 its passage was also ill timed, in view of the fact that the 

 Hay-Pauncefote treaty was then before the Senate awaiting 

 confirmation. The provisions of the treaty and of the bill, 

 in so far as they related to the political control of the canal, 

 were diametrically opposed, and the sudden passage of the 

 bill in pointed contempt of the treaty was a measure well 

 calculated to impugn the good faith of the nation. The 

 bill failed to pass the Senate. 



On February 13 (1900), another canal bill was introduced 

 into the House by Mr. Levy of New York, which differed 

 essentially from all previous measures looking to the con- 

 struction of a Central American canal. Following the tenor 

 of the Hay-Pauncefote treaty, which was then before the 

 Senate, it provided for negotiations between the United 

 States and other maritime nations, with a view to securing 

 international cooperation and contribution according to the 

 ship tonnage of the various nations in the construction of a 

 neutralized ship canal. This bill was far too radical to meet 

 with favor in the House. 



A comprehensive glance at the history and development of 

 the canal problem in Central America discloses the following , 

 facts : 



First, it was the object of the early navigators to find a 

 natural strait connecting the two oceans. 



Second, when the absence of such a natural waterway was 

 definitely determined, the purpose was conceived to construct 

 an artificial one. 



Third, a number of projects were considered and discussed 

 looking to this end during the sixteenth, seventeenth and 

 eighteenth centuries. 



Fourth, the United States became interested in the ques- 



