THE INFLUENCE OF THE PANAMA CANAL 



247 



well as the United States, wants to pay 

 for them in manufactures. 



It will be seen, therefore, that the 

 products of the various sections within 

 the canal's "sphere of influence" are of a 

 thoroughly interchangeable character. 



DOES THE CANAL REALLY SHORTEN TRADE 

 ROUTES ? 



Next we must consider the relative dis- 

 tances via the Panama Canal and other 

 existing routes, measured between great 

 trading centers. From Europe we may 

 take Liverpool as a representative point. 

 It represents, with a fair degree of ac- 



curacy, the initial point for the trade of 

 Europe. 



For the western coast of America we 

 may consider the chief ports from Chile 

 to Washington. For the Far East we may 

 consider Yokohama, Shanghai, Hong- 

 kong, Manila, Sydney and Melbourne, 

 Australia, and Wellington, New Zealand, 

 as more or less within the "sphere of in- 

 fluence" of the Panama Canal, while 

 Singapore, Colombo, and the ports of 

 India are so much nearer to both Europe 

 and the United States via the Suez that 

 they need not be considered in a com- 

 parison of distances via the two routes. 



Distances via Panama to Western Ports of America from Liverpool, Nezv York, and New 

 Orleans Respectively (in nautical miles) 



Via Panama to — 



From 

 Liverpool. 



From 

 New York. 



From 

 New Orleans. 



Advantage 0^ 

 New York. 



T er Liverpool. 



New 

 Orleans. 





7,207 



4.633 



4,054 



2.574 



3,153 





6,5/8 



4.OO4 



3,425 



2.574 



3,153 





5-937 



3.363 



2,784 



2,574 



3,153 





5,384 



2,8lO 



2,231 



2,574 



3J53 





6,017 



3443 



2,864 



2.574 



3,153 





9.276 



6,702 



. 6,123 



2,574 



3,153 



San Francisco 



7.836 



5,262 



4,683 



2,574 



3,153 





8,486 



5,912 



5,333 



2,574 



3,153 





8,606 



6,032 



5,453 



2,574 



3,153 



Distances from New York, New Orleans, and Liverpool Respectively to Principal Ports of 

 Eastern Asia and Oceania (in nautical miles) 



New York 

 via 

 Panama. 



New Orleans 

 via 

 Panama. 



Yokohama 

 Shanghai . 

 Hongkong 

 Manila . . . 

 Melbourne 

 Sydney . . . 

 Wellington 



9.798 



9,219 



11,678 



10,649 



10,070 



10,607 



11,691 



11,112 



9.785 



11,548 



10,966 



9,701 



10,028 



9,427 



11,654 



9,811 



9.232 



12,235 



8,540 



7,939 



n,975 



Via Suez, except to Wellington via Magellan Strait. 



THE ADVANTAGES OF" THE PANAMA ROUTE 



It will be seen from the above tables 

 (1) that both New York and New Or- 

 leans will be so much nearer to all of 

 western America than is Liverpool that 

 we may expect that an increasing share 



of the trade of that section will fall to 

 the lot of eastern North America, and 

 (2) that the eastern ports of the United 

 States will be considerably nearer to Yo- 

 kohama, Melbourne, Sydney, and Well- 

 ington than is Liverpool by her shortest 

 route, but (3) that Liverpool will be still 



