Public Affairs: Isthmus and Darien
As the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment declares that "all persons, born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof [without an allusion to sex] are citizens of the United States, and of the State wherein they reside," this amendment clearly gives to women the rights and privileges of citizens. No action has since been taken by Congress on the subject; but organizations for effecting that object exist, and the matter will not be allowed to slumber indefinitely, for justice demands such as fundamental law. The right to the exercise of the elective franchise is guaranteed to our colored citizens; do women less deserve the privilege?
A most important event occurred in our country, in May, 1869, which has had a powerful effect already upon commerce, the arts and civilization, national and international. It was the completion of an uninterrupted railway communication, for freight and passengers, across our continent, between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, thereby opening a way for a vast trade, for our countrymen, with China, Japan, and the islands of the Sea. The ceremony of laying the last "tie" and driving the last "spikes," took place on the 10th of May (1869), in a grassy valley near the head of the Great Salt Lake, in Utah. It was performed in the presence of many hundred people of various nationalities, including some of our dusky barbarian brethren. That "tie" was made of laurel-wood brightly polished, its ends bound with silver bands. The "spikes" were three in number. One was of solid gold, sent from California; another was of solid silver, sent from Nebraska; and a third, composed of gold, silver and iron, was furnished by citizens of Arizona. These were driven, after some religious ceremonials; and when the work was completed, the fact was communicated to the people of our continent and across the seas, with the speed of the lightning's flash. That great railway crosses nine distinct mountain ranges, in its passage of about three thousand four hundred miles between New York and San Francisco, by way of Chicago; and the greatest elevation attained in the route is at Rattle Snake Pass, west of the Laramie Plains, where the road is seven thousand one hundred and twenty-three feet above the sea. Other railway--one more northerly and one more southerly--for connecting the two oceans by a bond of iron have been projected.
At the close of the Civil War, the subject of a ship-canal across the Isthmus of Darien to connect the waters of the two great oceans, was brought prominently before the American people. Explorations under the auspices of our Government, for such a purpose, had been attempted long before; but, for a time, nothing had been done. By a treaty concluded on the 14th of January, 1869, between our Government and that of the United States of Colombia, the former was empowered to survey and construct a canal at any point across the great isthmus, excepting along the route of the Panama Railroad, unless with the consent of the owners of that highway. Under the provisions of that treaty, the Government of the United States ordered surveys to be made, and two exploring expeditions were sent out in 1870. One, led by Commander T.O. Selfridge of the Navy, was sent to the lower portion of the Isthmus of Darien. Another, under Captain Shufeldt of the Navy, was sent to the Isthmus of Darien. Another, under Captain Shufeldt of the Navy, was sent to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, further south.
The report of Captain Shufeldt showed that no extraordinary engineering would be required on the Tehuantepec route; but that an elevation of about six hundred and eighty feet would have to be reached by means of locks. By this route the distance between New Orleans and Hong-Kong would be nine thousand miles less than by the way of Cape Horn, and over twelve hundred miles less than by the narrowest part of the Isthmus of Darien.
Commander Selfridge explored three routes across the Darien isthmus at its narrower part, all of which he reported to be impracticable. He also explored a route by way of the Atrato River and the Napipi, one of its tributaries, which he regarded as the best and most feasible in all that region. It includes one hundred and fifty miles of river navigation, and a canal less than forty miles in length, which would terminate at the mouth of the Limon River in Cupica Bay on the Pacific coast. The estimated cost of a canal by that route, including three miles of rock-cutting one hundred and twenty-five feet in depth, is $124,000,000. The highest point of the canal would be one hundred and thirty feet above the sea; and it may be fed by the Napipi River.
Selfridge made his report in 1871; and the next year the President appointed Major-General Humphreys, Professor Benjamin Pierce, Captain Daniel Ammen, commissioners to examine all plans and proposals for an inter-oceanic ship-canal across the isthmus. They are yet (1878) charged with the business while surveys are still in progress. The vast importance of such a work is conceded. The advantages to the commerce of the world is obvious. That commerce demands its speedy completion. The route to the East Indies, even from Liverpool, would be much shortened by it.