IN HONOR OF THE ARMY AND AVIATION 



273 



the: advantages oe the tehuantepEc 



ROUTE 



The interoceanic problem in our conti- 

 nent was clearly defined in the first half 

 of the sixteenth century by the Emperor 

 and King, Charles V, and by Hernan 

 Cortes, the conqueror. In a letter, a most 

 interesting document in many ways, the 

 Spanish monarch urged Cortes to do all 

 in his power to find a route that would 

 connect the eastern and western coasts 

 of the New World. The captain, in re- 

 ply, gave great hones of success, adding 

 that this would make the King of Spain 

 lord and master of so many kingdoms 

 that he might be properly called King of 

 the World. This was in the year 1533. 



In the midst of his occupations as war- 

 rior and governor, Cortes tried to find 

 this passage, and explored the Coatza- 

 coalcos River to its head-waters in the 

 Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Finding no 

 opening, but being aware that commerce 

 in a more or less distant day would pass 

 through this low, narrow region, he 

 asked for and was granted by the Span- 

 ish Crown a concession of lands in that 

 region, where, in his belief, the outlet 

 would be eventually opened. His de- 

 scendants still continue to hold the lands, 

 which formed part of the marquisate of 

 the Oaxaca Valley granted to the Con- 

 queror. 



When Baron von Humboldt visited 

 Mexico he understood at once the great 

 importance of the Isthmus of Tehuante- 

 pec for the commerce of the world, and 

 gave a graphic form to his idea by calling 

 this part of our country "The Bridge of 

 the World." 



Tehuantepec and Panama are destined 

 to be the great highways of our conti- 

 nent. 



"Mexico," says the eminent Reclus, 

 "is destined to play a prominent part in 

 the future of humanity. The Isthmus of 

 Panama, soon to be changed to a strait, 

 is one of the historic routes of the fu- 

 ture ; the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is also 

 marked as one of the routes to become 

 of universal importance." 



Tehuantepec already affords rapid 

 means of transportation for passengers 

 and merchandise by the railway, 190 

 kilometers in length, lying between Sa- 

 lina Cruz, one of the best ports of the 

 Pacific, and Puerto Mexico, formerly 

 called Coatzacoalcos, where the great 

 port works are nearly completed and 

 ships drawing 30 feet of water may enter 

 freely. 



The 16,200 miles separating Liverpool 

 from Auckland, in New Zealand, have 

 been reduced by the Suez Canal to 14,600 

 miles, still further reduced by the Pan- 

 ama Railway to 13,200 miles, and to 

 12,800 by the Railway of Tehuantepec. 



The Mexican government has left 

 nothing undone to supply the terminal 

 ports of this route with all possible 

 means for facilitating rapid transit for 

 both passengers and freight. The great 

 success attained has shown that the fore- 

 sight upon which the action of the gov- 

 ernment was based was prudent and jus- 

 tifiable, and that, thanks to it, the com- 

 merce of the world receives from this 

 interoceanic route benefits of notable 

 utility. 



You, members of the National Geo- 

 graphic Society, have done a good work 

 As the efficient aids to a sound and pru- 

 dent diplomacy, which strives for the 

 maintenance of harmony among nations 

 by the force of justice, you, I say, labor 

 to the end that nations may better know 

 each other, and proffer the service of 

 science to this noble aim. This is of the 

 greatest possible importance, because one 

 of the grand problems of the present mo- 

 ment is that of conquering the preju- 

 dices that keep apart peoples of different 

 races. 



For this reason, members of the Na- 

 tional Geographic Society, you not only 

 deserve praise from scholars for your 

 scientific and practical work, as shown 

 in part by your most interesting maga- 

 zine, but you should also be entitled to 

 the gratitude of statesmen for your valu- 

 able aid in the harmonizing of interna- 

 tional policies. 



