Part 1 (2/2)
It provided for a depth of 29.5 feet of water and a bottom width of ca.n.a.l prism of about 98 feet, except at special places, where this width was increased. A dam was to be built near Bohio, which would thus form an artificial lake, with its surface varying from 52.5 to 65.6 feet above the sea. The location of this line was practically the same as that of the old company. The available length of each lock chamber was 738 feet, while the available width was 82 feet, the depth in the clear being 32 feet 10 inches. The lifts were to vary from 26 to 33 feet. It was estimated that the cost of finis.h.i.+ng the ca.n.a.l on this plan would be $101,850,000, exclusive of administration and financing.
The Isthmian Commission of 1899-1901 considered the project, reexamined into the facts, and as stated by Professor Burr--
The feasibility of a sea-level ca.n.a.l, but with a tidal lock at the Panama end, was carefully considered by the Commission, and an approximate estimate of the cost of completing the work on that plan was made. In round numbers this estimated cost was about $250,000,000, and _the time required to complete the work would probably be nearly or quite twice that needed for the construction of a ca.n.a.l with locks_. The Commission therefore adopted a project for the ca.n.a.l locks. Both plans and estimates were carefully developed in accordance therewith.
Professor Burr, now in favor of a sea-level ca.n.a.l, _then_ concurred in the report in favor of a lock ca.n.a.l.
Since the Panama ca.n.a.l became the property of the nation a vast amount of necessary and preliminary work has been done preparatory to the actual construction of the ca.n.a.l. A complete civil government of the Ca.n.a.l Zone has been established, an army of experts and engineers has been organized, the work of sanitation and police control is in excellent hands, and the Isthmus, or, more properly speaking, the Ca.n.a.l Zone, is to-day in a better, cleaner, and more healthful condition than at any previous time in its history. A considerable amount of excavation and necessary improvements in transportation facilities have been carried to a point where further work must stop until the Isthmian Commission knows the final plan or type of the ca.n.a.l. The reports which have been made of the work of the Commission during its two years of actual control are a complete and affirmative answer to the question whether what has been done so far has been done wisely and well, and the facts and evidence prove that the present state of affairs on the Isthmus is in all respects to the credit of the nation.
Now, it is evident that the question of plan or type of ca.n.a.l is largely one for engineers to determine, but even a layman can form an intelligent opinion, without entering into all the details of so complex a problem as the relative advantage or disadvantage of a sea-level versus a lock ca.n.a.l. This much, however, is readily apparent, that a sea-level ca.n.a.l will cost a vast amount of money and may take twice the time to build, while it will not necessarily accommodate a larger traffic or s.h.i.+ps of a larger size. A lock ca.n.a.l can be built which will meet all requirements; it can be built deep enough and wide enough to accommodate the largest vessels afloat; it can be so built that transit across the Isthmus can be effected in a reasonably short period of time--in a word, it is a practical project, which will solve every pending question involved in the construction of a transisthmian ca.n.a.l in a practical way, at a reasonable cost, and within a reasonable period of time.
To determine the question the President appointed an International Board of Consulting Engineers. The Board included in its members.h.i.+p the world's foremost men in engineering science, and the report is without question a most valuable doc.u.ment. The President, in his address to the members of the Board on September 11, 1905, outlined his views with regard to the desirability of a sea-level ca.n.a.l, if such a one could be constructed at a reasonable cost within a reasonable time. He said--
If to build a sea-level ca.n.a.l will but slightly increase the risk and will take but little longer than a multilock high-level ca.n.a.l, this, of course, is preferable. But if to adopt the plan of a sea-level ca.n.a.l means to incur great hazard and to incur indefinite delay, then it is not preferable.
The problem as viewed by the American people could not be more concisely stated. Other things equal, a sea-level ca.n.a.l, no doubt, would be preferable; but it remains to be shown that such a ca.n.a.l would in all essentials provide safe, cheap, and earlier navigation across the Isthmus than a lock ca.n.a.l.
For, as the President further said on the same occasion, there are two essential considerations: First, the greatest possible speed of construction; second, the practical certainty that the proposed plan will be feasible; that it can be carried out with the minimum risk; and in conclusion that--
There may be good reason why the delay incident to the adoption of a plan for an ideal ca.n.a.l should be incurred; but if there is not, then I hope to see the ca.n.a.l constructed on a system which will bring to the nearest possible date in the future the time when it is practicable to take the first s.h.i.+p across the Isthmus--that is, which will in the shortest time possible secure a Panama waterway between the oceans of such a character as to guarantee permanent and ample communication for the greatest s.h.i.+ps of our Navy and for the largest steamers on either the Atlantic or the Pacific. The delay in transit of the vessels owing to additional locks would be of small consequence when compared with shortening the time for the construction of the ca.n.a.l or diminis.h.i.+ng the risks in the construction. In short, I desire your best judgment on all the various questions to be considered in choosing among the various plans for a comparatively high-level multilock ca.n.a.l, for a lower-level ca.n.a.l with fewer locks, and for a sea-level ca.n.a.l.
Finally, I urge upon you the necessity of as great expedition in coming to a decision as is compatible with thoroughness in considering the conditions.
The Board organized and met in the city of Was.h.i.+ngton on September 1, 1905, and on the 10th of January, 1906, or about four months later, made its final report to the President through the Secretary of War. The Board divided upon the question of type for the proposed ca.n.a.l, a majority of eight--five foreign engineers and three American engineers--being in favor of a ca.n.a.l at sea-level, while a minority of five--all American engineers--favored a lock ca.n.a.l at a summit level of eighty-five feet. The two propositions require separate consideration, each upon its own merits, before a final opinion can be arrived at as to the best type of a waterway adapted to our needs and requirements under existing conditions.
Upon a question so involved and complex, where the most eminent engineers divide and disagree, a layman can not be expected to view the problem otherwise than as a business proposition which, demanding solution, must be disposed of by a strictly impartial examination of the facts. Weighed and tested by practical experience in other fields of commercial enterprise, it is probably not going too far to say, as in fact it has been said, that there is entirely too much mere engineering opinion upon this subject and not a well-defined concentrated ma.s.s of data and solid convictions. It is equally true, and should be kept in mind, that the time given by the Board to the consideration of the subject in all its practical bearings, including an examination of actual conditions on the Isthmus, was limited to so short a period that it would be contrary to all human experience that this report should represent an infallible or final verdict for or against either of the two propositions.
It is necessary to keep in mind certain facts which may be concisely stated, and which I do not think have been previously brought to the attention of Congress. While the Board had been appointed by the President on June 24, 1905, the first business meeting did not take place until September 1st, and the final meeting of the full Board occurred on November 24th of the same year. This was the twenty-seventh meeting during a period of eighty-five days, after which there were three more meetings of the American members, the last having been held on January 31, 1906. Thus the actual proceedings of the full Board were condensed into twenty-seven meetings during less than three months, a part of which time--or, to be specific, six days--was spent on the Isthmus.
The minutes of the proceedings have been printed and form a part of the final report made to the President under date of January 10, 1906. They do not afford as complete an insight into the business transactions of the Board as would be desirable, and the evidence is wanting that the subject was as thoroughly discussed in all its details, with particular reference to the two propositions of a sea-level or a lock ca.n.a.l, as would seem necessary. Very important features necessary to the sea-level plan were treated in the most superficial way, guessed at, or wholly ignored. I do not hesitate to say that no banking house in the world called upon to provide funds necessary for an enterprise of this magnitude as a private undertaking would advance a single dollar upon a project as it is here presented by the majority of the Board to the American Congress as the final conclusion of engineers of the highest standing. The Board, as I have said, divided upon the question, and by a majority of eight p.r.o.nounced in favor of a sea-level against a minority of five in favor of a lock ca.n.a.l. Let us inquire how this conclusion, of momentous importance to the nation, was arrived at and whether the minutes of the Board furnish a conclusive answer.
As early as the sixth meeting, or on September 16th--that is, after the Board had been only fifteen days in existence--a resolution was introduced by Mr. Hunter, chief engineer of the Manchester s.h.i.+p Ca.n.a.l, requesting that a special committee be appointed to prepare at once a project for a sea-level ca.n.a.l.
_Mr. Spooner._--What was the date of the resolution with respect to the lock ca.n.a.l?
_Mr. Dryden._--October 3d, seventeen days afterwards.
In marked contrast, it was not until after the Board had visited the Isthmus and while the members were on their way home--that is, at sea--on October 3d, that, on motion of Mr. Stearns, a corresponding committee was appointed to prepare plans for a lock ca.n.a.l. The recital of dates is of very considerable importance, for it is evident that there was a decided and early preference on the part of certain members of the Board for a sea-level ca.n.a.l, and that to this particular project more attention was given and a more determined attempt was made to secure data in its defense than to the corresponding project for a lock ca.n.a.l. That is to say, while the special committee for the consideration of a sea-level ca.n.a.l had been appointed on September 16th, the corresponding committee to consider the lock project was not appointed until October 3d, or seventeen days later, with the additional disadvantage of the Board being on the ocean, with no opportunity to send for persons and papers during the short period of time remaining to take into due consideration all the facts pertaining to a lock ca.n.a.l, for, as I have said before, the last business meeting was held on November 24th.
_Mr. Foraker._--Mr. President----
_The Vice President._--Does the Senator from New Jersey yield to the Senator from Ohio?
_Mr. Dryden._--Certainly.
_Mr. Foraker._--I would like to ask the Senator whether on the 16th of September, when this motion was made by Mr. Hunter, if I remember correctly, the Board of Engineers had completed their investigations and explorations on the Isthmus? I did not observe.
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