104 
I beg leave, Sir, to repeat that the mind is bewildered in the attempt to cal¬ 
culate the beneficial results that must accrue to Mexico from the facility with 
which her native products will be exported ; and from her becoming the Empo¬ 
rium of the Commerce of the world ; as also from deriving revenues from duties 
not levied upon the inhabitants of the Republic, and from the vast influx of po¬ 
pulation and capital into the country. 
May your Excellency, therefore, become the Author of these great and nume¬ 
rous benefits to your country, and by acceding to the articles of this Memorial, 
thus sanction the most memorable act of your illustrious and patriotic career. 
Mexico, February 25, 1842, 
Jose de Garay. 
No. 2. 
Edict ordering the opening of the Isthmus , with the Grants therein 
specified; and Contract between the Supreme Government and 
Don Jose de Garay. 
“Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, General of Division, Benemerito of tbfe 
Country, and Provisional President of the Republic of Mexico, to all the inha¬ 
bitants, thereof, Know ye : 
That firm to my purpose of exalting the nation and of rendering the people 
happy; and taking into consideration the propositions which Don Jose Garay 
has presented, and considering that no means are so sure and effectual for pro¬ 
moting the national prosperity as that of creating the Republic the centre of 
the commerce and navigation of ail countries ; and that this must be the conse¬ 
quence of the establishment of an easy and short communication from one ocean 
to the other:—That nature itself offers the means of accomplishing this, without 
opposing any great obstacle, and without the necessity of incurring any vast 
expense, in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec ; inasmuch as there the Cordillera dips 
to such a degree that it may almost be said to disappear ; that there are two 
harbours in those parts, one towards the north and the other towards the south, 
at a short distance from each other, and that a considerable portion of the space 
between them is transitable by means of a navigable river and a lake, and that 
the nature of the intermediate ground is favourable for carrying on such works 
as it may be necessary to undertake, as it abounds in materials for construc¬ 
tion :—And considering that if up to this moment public attention has not been 
properly called to this enterprise (which alone is capable of exalting the Re¬ 
public), this has, perhaps, happened from not having duly calculated its im¬ 
portant consequences, or because the possibility of its execution has not been 
