THE EEPUBLIC OF PATiAMA. 815 



as an American railroad corporation, althoiioh it is owned by the new 

 Panama Canal Compan3\ The principal offices of the company are in 

 the city of New York. This company does not confine itself wholly to 

 railroad business, but owns and conducts the line of steamers running 

 between the ports of New York and Colon under the name of the 

 Panama Railroad-Steamship Company. 



The railroad forms a line of land transportation to which converges 

 mai'ine conunerce from many widely separated ports of the world. 

 On the Pacific side steamship lines plying- up and down the west coast 

 of South America, and the Pacific mail steamships touching along the 

 North and Central America coast from San Francisco southward, 

 together with other ships approaching from the Pacific Ocean, have 

 made Panama their terminal port for many years. The port of Colon 

 has an equally extensive ocean shipping business, with not less than 

 nine or ten steamship lines from Spain, France, England, Germany, 

 Italy, and the United States, making it either a terminal port or port 

 of call. In addition to these ocean steamship lines there is a little 

 coasting trade of a local character on both sides of the Isthmus carried 

 on in small sailing vessels. 



The Panama Railroad has always been a prominent transportation 

 line, along which currents of commerce and streams of passenger traf- 

 fic, fed by the steamship lines on the two oceans, have continuously 

 flowed. Latterly a considerable banana trade has also sprung up along 

 the railroad line. 



KELATIOX OF THE ISTHMUS TO THE REST OF THE WORLD. 



The location of the Isthmus is markedly central to that portion of 

 ;:he through commerce of the world which would be served by the 

 Panama Canal. It is practically a halfway station between the ports 

 of eastern Asia, Australia, and the islands between and the ports of 

 Europe. It is believed that the opening of the canal will create a 

 highly stimulating influence upon the trade between the west coast of 

 South America and the ports of the Cnited States — a business which 

 has hitherto been developed chiefl}" with foreign ports. The geograph- 

 ical relation of the Republic of Panama to some of the principal ports 

 of the world is shown by the following statement of the distances in 

 nautical miles to be sailed by steam vessels on the respective trips 

 indicated: 



Miles. 



From Panama to San Francisco 8, 277 



From Panama to Honolulu 4, 605 



From Panama to Yokohama 8, 0(35 



From Panama to Shanghai 8, 985 



From Colon to New York 1 , 981 



From Colon to Liverpool 4, 720 



From Colon to New Orleans 1, 380 



