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National Geographic : 1899 Aug
Contents
312 THE INTEROCEANIC CANAL Atlantic ports than to Europe, and will bring our Atlantic and Gulf cities nearer than Liverpool and other European cities (their route being through the Suez Canal) to Australia, Japan, and China from Shanghai north. How will these modifications in distances affect our navy, our industries, and our commerce ? We have had some recent illus trations of the way in which an isthmian canal would affect the efficiency of our navy. The battleship Oregonleft San Francisco March 19 and arrived at Jupiter inlet, Florida, May 25, having been 67 days en route. If there had been a canal across the isth mus, the Oregon could have reached Florida in 15 days. She would have saved 52 days' sailing and made the trip in one fourth the time. We are now sending two men-of-war from the Atlantic to the Philippines. It takes these vessels about 50 days longer to reach their destination by rounding South Amer ica than it would by way of an isthmian canal. With the canal constructed we shall be able to accomplish much more with the war ships in our possession, and will need to construct and maintain fewer ships than will otherwise be necessary. If we do not construct the canal, we shall need to put a third of what the waterway would have cost into additional naval vessels. The expense of maintaining these ships would cover more than one third the cost of operating and maintaining the waterway. The effects which the canal will have upon our economic inter ests will be, in general, those which will result from lengthening the radius of the circle within which the industries of our coun try may exchange commodities. Shorter and cheaper transpor tation, such as an isthmian canal will afford, stimulates existing industries by giving them more and larger markets and enabling them to secure more advantageously the raw materials which they require. Improved transportation also leads to the estab lishment of new business enterprises and develops domestic and foreign trade. That the isthmian waterway will affect these general results in the United States may be shown by consider ing how it will change our relation to the lines of the world's commerce and by noting the way in which the canal will affect the industries in the eastern, southern, central, and western sec tions of our country. The leading industrial nations of the world are adjacent to the North Atlantic These countries originate the larger part of the world's commerce; the main streams of international trade
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