564 The National Geographic Magazine 



passed irrevocably from the field of de- 

 bate. There is an industrious and vol- 

 uble band of hired Ananiases moving to 

 and fro in the land whose mission it is 

 to deny this. The burden of their song 

 is: "The canal will never be built at 

 Panama, and everybody connected with 

 the enterprise, including the President 

 and commissioners and engineers, is 

 convinced of it.'' You can hear the 

 members of this band chanting their 

 song, to the accompaniment of their 

 lyres, singly and in chorus, wherever 

 men congregate and wherever a few 

 reporters are gathered together. They 

 are rehearsing for their grand burst of 

 noise when Congress shall have assem- 

 bled. When they are not rehearsing 

 they are putting the words of their song 

 into bogus interviews and other written 

 forms of newspaper publication, which 

 they are sending forth by thousands 

 from their bureaus of publicity in this 

 and other cities. As one contemplates 

 the output of this singular industry, 

 this factory of fiction, he is moved to 

 say of its guiding spirit as Shakespeare 

 says of Captain Dumain : " He will lie 

 with such volubility, sir, that you would 

 think truth were a fool." 



Who is capitalizing this industry ? 

 What is the bountiful source of this 



spouting spring of mendacity ? Is it to 

 be found among the friends of an Isth- 

 mian canal ? Are these supplying funds 

 for the sustenance of such a campaign 

 of misinformation ? What interests, ex- 

 cept those foolishly dreading the com- 

 petition of an Isthmian Canal, would 

 put up money to delay and possibly de- 

 feat its construction ? That there are 

 interests of that kind is not a matter 

 of suspicion or speculation, but of his- 

 tory. 



They have been fighting a canal for 

 more than half a century, and they 

 fought it successfully till Theodore 

 Roosevelt, armed with his " big stick," 

 appeared as its champion. From that 

 moment their efforts have been power- 

 less, but they have not yet discovered 

 the fact. They are wasting their ener- 

 gies and their cash, for behind Theo- 

 dore Roosevelt stand the American 

 people in solid mass and with deter- 

 mined front, shouting as one man : 

 ' ' Give us a canal that will be adequate 

 to meet the demands of the commerce 

 of the world, and give it to us at the 

 earliest possible moment." That, gen- 

 tlemen, is the command which the Com- 

 mission, under the inspiring lead of the 

 President, is obeying to the letter. We 

 are building the "Roosevelt Canal.'* 



RUSSIA IN RECENT LITERATURE 



By General A. W. Greely 

 Chikf Signal Officer U. S. A. 



AT no time in the history of the 

 world have the present condi- 

 tions and future fortunes of 

 Russia excited more interest and been 

 of greater importance than today. It is 



therefore thought that the members of 

 the National Geographic Society will 

 deem timely the presentation of the va- 

 rious phases and aspects of Russian life 

 as depicted in two very interesting vol- 



* Russia. By Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace. 111., maps, pp. xx + 672. 9^ x 6 1 / inches. 

 New and much enlarged edition. Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1905. $5.00 net. 



Russia under the Great Shadow. By Luigi Villari. 111., 330 pp. James Pott & Co. $3-5° 



net. 



