December 3, 1886.] 



SCIEJSrCE. 



519 



lof contractors, each of whom is bound down to 

 have his portion of the work completed within a 

 given time, the company retaining the power of 

 breaking the contract at a moment's notice should 

 the work prove unsatisfactory. It is confidently 

 expected that the canal will be finished by the 

 end of 1889. 



It only remains for us now to consider briefly 

 aiie importance of the canal for the commerce of 

 the world in general. It is almost unnecessary to 

 speak of the saving in time and money that will 

 be effected when the necessity for the long and 

 perilous voyage round Cape Horn has been obvi- 

 ated. The following table shows, in round num- 

 bers, the distance in miles saved between various 

 ports : — 



Names of porta. 



London or Liverpool to San Fran- 

 cisco 



Havre to San Francisco 



London to Sydney 



Havre to Sydney 



Bordeaux or Havre to Valparaiso. . 



London to Sandwich Islands 



New York to Valparaiso 



New York to Oallao 



New Y''ork to Guayaquil 



New York to San Diego 



New York to San Francisco 



New York to Vancouver 



8,700 

 8,200 

 5,500 

 5,500 

 3,450 

 7,000 

 6,700 

 8,200 

 9,600 

 11,700 

 11,700 

 12,000 



This saving of distance will confer a great ben- 

 efit on merchants and traders, who will thereby 

 be enabled to get their goods more quickly into 

 the market. It will also effect such a saving on 

 insurance, both of goods and shipping, as will 

 cover the extra expense of the dues levied on go- 

 ing through the canal. 



The field for commercial enterprise opened up 

 to the world by means of the Panama canal is 

 immense, comprising, as it does, Peru, Chili, Co- 

 lombia, W. Mexico, California, Oregon, the north 

 of China, Japan, East Australia, and a great part 

 of Polynesia. By request of the International 

 congress of 1879, a report was drawn up by M. 

 Levasseur, estimating the future traffic of the 

 new route. From the statistics at his command, 

 M. Levasseur estimated the total annual traffic at 

 seven and a quarter million tons, of which five 

 and a quarter million represents the traffic be- 

 tween Pacific and Atlantic i)orts ; the remaining 

 two millions, that between Europe and the east. 

 This, however, he states to be only the net ton- 

 nage, which is less than the gross and actual ton- 

 nage by about a third, — a not unimportant con- 

 sideration as regards the revenue of the canal. 

 Thus, dues at the rate of 12s. 6d. per ton will an- 



nually be levied on ten millions aggregate ton- 

 nage ; and the company has an additional source 

 of income in an immense tract of land (1,930 

 square miles) with all the minerals it may contain, 

 — the gift of the Colombian government. 



The Panama canal will have no prejudicial 

 effect on the Suez canal : rather it will be the 

 complement of it. The two great highways of 

 commerce and civilization are absolutely distinct, 

 and there can be no rivalry between the two 

 great maritime canals, — that of the east and that 

 of the west. The Suez canal is the open door be- 

 tween Europe and the north of Africa, on the one 

 hand, and the south of Asia and its archipelago, 

 on the other. The Panama canal opens up a way 

 for Europe and America to carry on their com- 

 merce with the western shores of the great western 

 continents, with the north of China and Japan, 

 and with Australia. 



The commercial revolution eflfected by the cut- 

 ting of the Suez canal will be altogether surpassed 

 by the similar revolution now about to be effected 

 by the cutting of the Isthmus of Panama. The 

 Suez canal could only be used by steamers, and 

 when it was opened the commercial world was 

 not yet ready for it. The Panama canal, on the 

 contrary, may be used by steamers and sailing- 

 vessels alike. The commercial world is eagerly 

 awaiting its opening, and from the very first the 

 advantages it affords will be gladly seized. M, 

 Amedee Marteau, the editor of the Journal de 

 Havre, has devoted an article to the Panama 

 canal, in which he estimates the number of tons 

 that would have passed through it had it been 

 open in 1884. Foimding his conclusions on official 

 documents, he says : — 



" We are in a position to state exactly and pre- 

 cisely, without hypothesis and without exaggera- 

 tion, the amount of tonnage now passing between 

 Europe and America, Asia and Oceania, three- 

 fourths of which must go round by Cape Horn or 

 the Cape of Good Hope, a detour which the open- 

 ing of the Panama canal will henceforward ren- 

 der unnecessary. The total tonnage is as fol- 

 lows : — 



1. Between Europe and the Paciac coasts 2,570,774 tons. 



2. Between Europe and Australia, Oceania, 



Malaysia, and the Philippine Islands . . .2,696,754 " 



3. Between the United States and the ahove 



regions (except San Francisco), besides 



India, China, and Japan 1,619,440 " 



Total 6,886,968 tons. 



6,886,968 tons in 1884 represents 8,539,840 in 

 1888, the average increase of tonnage being six per 

 cent per annum. Eight and a half million tons, 

 paying dues at the rate of 12s. 6d, per ton, would 

 give a revenue of £5,312,500, exclusive of the in- 



