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Show THE FRENCH CANAL COMPANY. The. final proceedings in clearing off ono of tho greatest swindles of modern times have just been takcu in tho Civil Tribunal of tho Seine. These proceedings proceed-ings discharged tho. receivers of the old French Panama Oaual company, authorizing auth-orizing tho payment of one per cent to the stockholders. Thus ends what was at ono timo supposed to bo ono of the grandest enterprises ever known in tho world. Something more than thirty years ago a French syndicate having iho Panama project in view, obtained their concession from the Colombian government govern-ment and organized their company, with an incidental political end in view, tho restoration of tho Bonaparte dynasty in France. That first company com-pany existed only a littlo over a year, when the new company, tho Universal Tnfcroccauic Canal company, was organized or-ganized by Ferdinand dc Lcsscps, on a supposedly purclj' economic and business busi-ness basis, leaving all politics out. Jn the winter of 1S79-S0, Count de Lcsseps visited this canal, and gave out the most hopeful claims as to what he was about to do. Jlis idea was to build a tidewater canal twculy-oight feet deep, in seven or eight yenrs, the cost to bo $132,000,000. The actual work was begun be-gun in February, 1SS1. The first subscription sub-scription called for $60,000,000. More than twico the amount was subscribed, tho stockholders being 102,230 in number, num-ber, and S0,S39 taking only from one to five shares each. Energetic work was pushed thereupon, thousands of men being set at work, and everything was not onhy hopeful, but there seemed to be a certainty attached to tho enterprise enter-prise from tho solidit' of what had been done, backed by the prestige of the success do Lesseps had won in digging, dig-ging, tho Suez canal. Moral and sanitary san-itary conditions, however, were at a desperately low ebb on the Isthmus, disease swept away the laborers by tho thousands, and tho Isthmus became a plague spot of the world. Fronde, who made a personal iubpoction, reported that "nowhere else in tho world was there concentrated in a single spot so much swindling and villainy, so much foul disease, such a hideous dunghcap of moral and physical abomination.''" These quotations and facts, we. get fTom an editorial in iho New York Tribune. Our government, taking1 warning, attended at-tended first to the sanitary conditions, and has kept tho moral atmosphere clean. Tn 1SS7 lf plan to build a twenty-eight-foot sea level canal was abandoned, aban-doned, nnd a project for a fifteen-foot lock canal in twenty years for $.'151,-000,000 $.'151,-000,000 was submitted to the stockholders. stock-holders. Even this stupendous sum was nearly realized by subscriptions of $303,o0.'3,100, but there was a sad discount dis-count on this, and tho company realized real-ized in cash only $201,54(i,740. Thero had bceu tremendous swindling, grafting, graft-ing, commissions, etc., taken out, which reduced tho subscriptions by one-third, lu the meantime the work languished at the canal, and failure was in sight. In Doccmber, 1SSS, the company went into bankruptcy, ;md in the ensuing February the receivership i which has just now' been dismissed, was constituted. Hundreds of French politicians and eminent public men, mnny of them officials, were brought to face criminal charges, but thero was a pitiful lack of convictions, only ten having been brought to trial of the wholo number. Of these two commit ted suicido and one was sentenced to fivo years' imprisonment, but the son-tenco son-tenco was never enforced. A new company com-pany was organized to clear away tho wreck and seo what could bo done. It was this now company, acquiring tho asseis from tho old, that sold tho French rights to the American Government Govern-ment for $40,000,000. The delivery of tho assets and tho payment of the money wore inado moro than threo years ago, when tho United States on-torcd on-torcd into possession. So far as tho French aro concerned, this Panama canal enlorpriso was as tremendous and disastrous a failuro as the United States is going to make out of ,it a splendid success. But in the enso of tho United States, as it was in France, it will bo found that tho estimates esti-mates of cost made beforohand must bo set aside; and whereas no ono has estimated esti-mated tho cost of our Isthmian canal abovo $300,000,000, it will probably be found that $500,000,000 will havo to bo spent before tho canal is thoroughly completed and put into practical operation. |
