THE TEHUANTEPEC SHIP RAIUVAY 
72 
tepee is an extension of the ^Mississippi river to the Pacific ocean. It 
converts tlie gulf of IMexico into an American lake. In time of war it 
closes that gulf to all enemies. It is the only route whicli our Govern- 
ment can control. So to sj^eak, it renders our own territory circum- 
navigable. It brings New Orleans 1,400 nautical miles nearer to San 
Francisco than a canal via Darien.” 
The Tehuantepec route can Ije made more easily accessible to 
the United States and Mexico by railroad, over which armies and 
munitions of war can he quickly trans})orted. The gulf of Mexico 
is clear of foreign complications, belongs to these two great re- 
})uhlics of the Ncav M’orld, and wdien Cuba shall have become a 
State of the Union, as it may in the near future, we shall hold 
tlie entire circuit of this great sea. If, on the other hand, you 
look upon any Englisli map of the ('aril)bean sea you will notice 
that this great j)ower holds every entrance to it. Belonging to 
(treat Britain there are about twenty-five ditferent countries and 
islands, from British Guiana on the east to British Honduras on 
tlie ivest, which lying directly in front of Panama and Nicaragua 
guard all ajiproach to them. This important fact is not suffi- 
ciently appreciated in our plans for making the Nicaragua canal 
a United States canal, to he controlled, fortified, and defended 
by our com])aratively small nav}" against the preponderating 
naval ]>owers of Eunqie. 
Pn'sident Diaz is so fully convinced of the superior advantages 
of even an ordinal’}' railroad at Tehuantejiec over any other route 
located at more southerly ])oints that, in the face of the comstant 
menace of the Nicaragua jiroject, he has gone forward, in spite 
of stringent financial conditions in IMexico, to complete the 
National Railroad of Tehuantepec, and nmv that it is completed 
to ])rovide ade(piate harbor terminal facilities and equipment for 
a large interoceanic traffic. He looks upon the consummation 
of this great commercial undertaking as one of the most benefi- 
cent works of his long and glorious administration. 
[Note.— The foregoing ariicle is an abstract of a lecture delivered before the National 
Geographic Society, November 22 , 189.>. The lecture was considered so important a 
contribution to the literature of interoceanic communication that it has been printed 
in full as a public document by order of the Senate. See Senate Document No. 34, 54th 
Congress, 1st Session.] 
