THE PROPOSED AMERICAN INTEROCEANIC CANAL 303 



sailing vessel ever passes through the Suez Canal. The enormous 

 precipitation at Nicaragua and at Panama increases the difficulty 

 at the American isthmus. 



Proponents of the American canals imagine, however, that 

 upon the completion of their projects sailing vessels will give 

 place to steamships. That is highly problematical. Sailing 

 tonnage is fairly holding its own in the ports of the globe, es- 

 pecially for long voyages. The following was the composition 

 of the American merchant marine for the year 1898 : 



Tons. 



Tonnage of sailing vessels 2,377,815 



Tonnage of steam vessels 2,371 ,923 



This shows the tonnage of sailing vessels to be somewhat in ex- 

 cess of that of steam vessels. Besides the carrying capacity of 

 sailing vessels considerably exceeds that of steam vessels on ac- 

 count of space occupied on the latter by boilers, engines, and coal. 

 The total tonnage of vessels entered at and cleared from ports of 

 the Pacific coast of the United States in trade with Europe during 

 the year 1898 amounted to 821,010 tons, of which only 1,199 was 

 steam tonnage, the rest being composed of large sailing vessels. 

 Sailing vessels pursuing the Cape Horn route require much more 

 time than would steamers by the canal route, but are much more 

 cheaply operated and afford the important advantage of storage 

 at sea. Besides, steam vessels would incur the expense of tolls 

 on the canal, which at the rate lately current on the Suez Canal — 

 $1.80 per ton — would amount to $7,200 on a 4,000-ton steamer 

 for each passage. Sailing vessels are still largely employed in 

 the trade of Great Britain with Australia and with China and 

 Japan. Such vessels pursue the route via the Cape of Good Hope 

 and never take the Suez Canal route. This is a subject which 

 should be carefully investigated and reported upon by a compe- 

 tent and impartial commission duly authorized by order of Con- 

 gress. There is now a large number of sailing vessels in course 

 of construction in this country and the owners of these vessels 

 face the future with confidence in the success of their ventures. 



The commerce of the western coast of South America, includ- 

 ing Chile, Peru, Ecuador, and the United States of Colombia 

 on the Pacific, is sharply conditioned by that broken and irreg- 

 ular mountain range which extends from Alaska to Cape Horn — 

 the most striking orological feature of the western continent. 

 That part of this range known as the Andes skirts the western 

 shore of South America and practically limits the foreign com- 



