Who as a Member of CongressVisited the Canal with theInterstate Committee ofthe House.
THE
PANAMA CANAL
DUNCAN E. McKINLAY
1912
Whitaker & Ray-Wiggin Co.
San Francisco
COPYRIGHT BY
WHITAKER & RAY-WIGGIN CO.
1912
DEDICATED
TO
President William Howard Taft
BY THE AUTHOR.
THE PANAMA CANAL
Of all subjects now occupying the attention of the worldat large, and of importance not only to the State of California,but to all the territory west of the Rocky mountainsand the islands and coasts of the Pacific Ocean, over whichthe American flag floats in sovereignty, none is paramountto the construction of the Panama Canal. The completionof the canal, while a world event, will, of course, be ofpeculiar significance and importance to that portion of theglobe which borders on the Pacific Ocean. Countries,islands, coasts and States that for centuries have beenisolated and far distant by water routes from the centersof population of Europe and Eastern United States, willbe brought thousands of miles nearer to, and consequently,into more intimate social, industrial and business relationswith the more highly organized governments of Europe andAmerica.
In effect, the opening of the canal in 1915 to the commerceand trade of the world will be the realization of thedream of Columbus, who sailed across the Atlantic in 1492to discover a shorter water route between Europe and Asia,and the fulfillment of the prophecy of Baron von Humboldt,who, between the years of 1799 and 1805, explored and surveyeda great portion of Central and South America. Humboldt,as a result of his explorations, predicted that withina reasonable period of time the two largest oceans of theworld, the Atlantic and the Pacific, would be united by an[2]artificial water-way. This water-way, in his opinion, as expressedin a letter to his friend, the German poet Goethe,would be constructed by the little republic at the north, theUnited States, even then beginning to take an importantplace among the powers of the world.
In 1867, the energy and foresight of Seward acquiredAlaska as an addition to American terri