PANAMA. THE PANAMA CANAL COMPANY. Columbia's Concession to the French Promoters - Conclusion of the International Conference — Ferdinand de Lesseps Diplomatist and Promoter Froude's Characterization of the French Management - Ruinous Financing From the Outset - The Promoters Feathered Their Nests Comfortably The Organization of the Panama Canal Company - Reckless Estimates of the Cost of Construction - The Stock Is Oversubscribed by the Public The Company Commences the Work of Construction A Simple Undertaking According to de Lesseps - The Company Seeks Authority to Issue Lottery Bonds De Lesseps Weakens Under the Pressure of Difficulties An American Officer Inspects the Operation Signs of Collapse Begin to Be Evident - The French Public Refuses to Subscribe Further Funds A Receiver Takes Over the Panama Canal Company. Whilst the American Interoceanic Canal Commission was investigating the comparative merits of the various isthmian routes, a project for a waterway through the Isthmus of Panama was set on foot in France. In 1875 the subject was discussed at length by the Congres des Sciences Geographiques at Paris, which strongly recommended the immediate prose cution of surveys with a view to decisive action. Following the session of the Congress a provisional company was formed by General Türr and other individuals for the purpose of securing a concession from the Republic of Colombia. This syndicate was composed of speculators whose sole motives were of a commercial nature. They despatched to the Isthmus Lieutenant L. N. B. Wyse, an officer of the French Navy and a brother-in-law of General Türr, with instructions to select a route and negotiate with the Colombian Government for a concession. In making his selection the Lieutenant was to be guided by a consideration for the prime object of the syndicate, which was to make as large a profit as possible from the sale of whatever interests it might acquire. Wyse and his employers were not actuated by any utilitarian sentiments, but merely by a desire to make money out of the scheme regardless of ultimate consequences. The spirit that moved them in the promotion was exhibited by their successors in the conduct of the enterprise, the management of which was "characterized by a degree of extravagance and corruption that have had few if any equals in the history of the world." COLOMBIA'S CONCESSION TO THE FRENCH PROMOTERS. Lieutenant Wyse made a perfunctory survey, commencing at Panama and extending only about two COLOMBIA'S CONCESSION. 471 Neverthe thirds of the way to the Atlantic coast. less, he calculated the cost in detail and claimed that his estimate might be depended upon to come within ten per cent of the actual figures. The Colombian Government entered into a contract with the Lieutenant which in its final form was signed two years later. It gave to the promoters the exclusive privilege of constructing and operating a canal through the territory of the Republic without any restrictive conditions, excepting that if the route adopted traversed any portion of the land embraced in the concession to the Panama Railroad the promoters should arrive at an amicable arrangement with that corporation before proceeding with their operations. On the part of the concessionaires it was agreed that the course of the canal should be determined by an international congress of engineers. The concession was transferred to La Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interoceanique de Panama, generally known as the "Panama Canal Company," and on the fifteenth day of May, 1879, the International Conference met to determine the route. It was composed of one hundred and sixty-four members, of whom more than half were French and the remainder of various nationalities. Forty-two of the members only were engineers. The proceedings were pre-arranged and those who knew most about the subject in hand found that their opinions were least in demand. The following conclusion was put |