172 AMERICAN DIPLOMATIC QUESTIONS 



ably won over to a neutral canal, and which was supposedly 

 backing the ratification of the treaty, greatly lessened its 

 chances for adoption by the Senate the following session. 



An unusual degree of interest in canal legislation was 

 manifested at the opening of Congress on December 4, 1900. 

 Two important events were looked forward to, the appear- 

 ance of the canal commission's report 1 and an early vote 

 upon the Hay-Pauncefote treaty. The preliminary report of 

 the Isthmian Canal Commission was submitted to Congress 

 with the President's message. It contained in a condensed 

 form the outcome of one and a half years' exhaustive study 

 of all the possible canal routes across Central America. The 

 advantages or disadvantages of these various routes were con- 

 sidered from their physical, political, and strategic points of 

 view. The probable costs of construction were estimated, 

 and the location of each possible route with reference to full 

 and complete ownership by the United States was investi- 

 gated. 



Basing their calculations upon the statistics of entrances 

 and clearances at European, North and South American ports, 

 the commission came to the conclusion that the freight 

 tonnage passing through the canal would be sufficient to 

 warrant its commercial success. To meet the requirements 

 of modern sea-going vessels, in view of their constantly in- 

 creasing size, the report recommended a greater depth and 

 width of channel than ever before proposed. The uniform 

 low water depth of 35 feet, with a bottom width of 150 feet, 

 together with a double system of locks, furnished a more 

 extravagant basis for estimates of cost than had ever before 

 been considered. 



Abandoning all other routes as impracticable, the commis- 

 sion found the probable cost of the Nicaragua and Panama 

 canals each to be about $200,000,000. In the case of the latter, 

 the estimated cost of completion was placed at $142,342,579, 

 but this amount, added to the sum required to buy out the 

 French company already in the field, would make the final 

 cost of the two routes about equal. 



1 For creation of this commission, see page 94. 



