lish, were transmitted to Congress by the President on the 4th of December last, and printed as House Executive Document No. 14. It will be seen by a perusal of the final act of that conference (doc. cit., pp. 111-113) that its conclusions were embodied in a series of abstract recommendations or resolutions, seven in number, only one of which makes any proposal to the Governments represented. The sense of the conference was, in fact, that no general proposal should be made by it to the Governments represented, but that the initiative should be left to the Government of the United States, which had called the conference. I have had the honor to consult with the President on this subject, and he is of the opinion that in his annual message, and in communicating to Congress the record of the conference, he had done all that is necessary to bring the matter again within the jurisdiction of Congress (where the project originated), and that it is open to that body to signify its wish as to whether the conclusions reached by the conference shall be brought by this Government formally to the notice of other governments, with an invitation to adopt them for universal use by means of a general international convention to that end. The accompanying draft of a joint resolution in this sense is submitted for the consideration of your committee. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. JOHN F. MILLER, FREDK. T. FRELINGHUYSEN. Chairman Committee on Foreign Relations, Senate. The committee recommend the adoption of the resolution. FORTY-NINTH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION. [See pp. 105, 107, 135, 141, 187, 402, 410, 415, 457.] [Senate Report No. 1628.] Mr. Edmunds, from the Committee on Foreign Relations, submitted the following report: The Committee on Foreign Relations, to which was referred Senate bill 2636, entitled "A bill to incorporate the Maritime Canal Company of Nicaragua," respectfully reports: That in the opinion of the committee the bill ought to pass amended as herewith reported. The committee is of opinion that the instance must be rare and exceptional when it should recommend Congress to pass any act of incorporation other than for local purposes within the District of Columbia or in some Territory, but it thinks that for great national objects and for specific purposes, affecting the welfare of the people of all the States, that Congress may rightfully and properly create a corporation to effectuate the same public objects that Congress might by law provide for being done by the Government itself. The committee is of opinion that this is a case within the principle just laid down. The means of water transit between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans at or near the Isthmus of Panama is obviously a matter of the greatest interest to the industrial, commercial, and political welfare of the people of the United States, and it is, the committee thinks, equally clear that it is in the highest degree desirable, so far as may be done consistently with their obligations to other powers, that this transit should be under the influence if it can not be under the control of the United States. It is well understood that the Republic of Nicaragua and her sister Central American republics have a strong disposition to affiliate their interests with those of our Republic, inasmuch as their political insti tutions are based upon the same theory as our own, and from geographical proximity we are, or should be, their natural friends and allies, desiring to promote in the largest degree their safety, independence, and welfare, which must necessarily be in every respect consistent and in harmony with our own. It is well known that for a long time past the Republic of Nicaragua has been willing and desirous that a ship canal should be built between the two oceans through her territory and in such a way and under such conditions as should promote the common prosperity of all the American republics. From one cause or another the accomplishment of this desire has been continually postponed until at last, it seems clear to the committee, it can hardly be expected that our sister Republic will much longer refrain from doing what she can toward the building of this canal by seeking aid from nations or other people whose commercial and political interests are not altogether in accord with ours. It seems to the committee, therefore, that the least the United States can do is to authorize a corporation composed, as it is believed the names mentioned in the bill do, of highly respectable and responsible citizens of the United States to be a corporation for the purpose of building this canal under any concessions or authority that the Republic of Nicaragua may concede to them. It will be noticed that the bill, as proposed to be amended, provides rigorous security for the due administration of the affairs of the corporation and for the prevention of the diversion of its funds to other purposes than those intended by the act, and that it also provides for the complete authority of Congress to amend or repeal it as the public good may require. It will also be observed that the bill as amended does not draw into question the existence or extent of any supposed treaty obligation of the United States with any power. Looking, therefore, to the large benefits, not only to the United States and the Republic of Nicaragua and her sister republics, but also to the commerce and intercommunication of the whole sisterhood of civilized governments on the globe, the committee recommends the passage of the bill with the amendments proposed, in the hope that the resources and enterprise of private citizens of our country may be enabled to accomplish this great work even if our Government itself is not yet ready to undertake it. All of which is respectfully submitted. GEO. F. EDMUNDS, For the Committee. FIFTIETH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. February 1, 1888. [Senate Report No. 158.] Mr. Frye, from the Committee on Foreign Relations, submitted the following report: Your Committee on Foreign Relations have considered the bill (S. 841) to facilitate the settlement and develop the resources of the Territory of Alaska, etc., and report: That from the present sources of information open to them they are inclined to the opinion (1) That the proposed line of railroad runs through a region utterly unfit for agriculture both in Alaska and in British Columbia. (2) That no line of railroad can be built along the Pacific coast of Alaska. It was determined by the company examining in 1865, 1866, and 1867, touching the feasibility of a telegraph line, that such a line was impossible from Vancouver's Island to Mount Saint Elias. (3) To build a railroad line down from the interior of Alaska along the line of the peninsula would involve an immense outlay and require extraordinary engineering skill. (4) Such a line built could not possibly run six months in the year. The intense cold of the interior, from 40° to 60° below zero for weeks, and some years for months, deep snows, terrible gales drifting and blocking it, sudden freshets pouring the melted snow and ice over the eternally frozen earth, destroying sections of the road, seem to make a railroad entirely impracticable. (5) Along the line of road indicated by this bill no stock or cattle can be kept. (6) No amount of expenditure of money could build a branch of this road to Sitka. (7) It is difficult to see how the public convenience and necessity require this road. For these and other reasons your committee report that the bill ought not to pass. FIFTIETH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. [See pp. 105, 107, 135, 139, 187, 402, 410, 415, 457.] [Senate Report No. 221.] Mr. Edmunds, from the Committee on Foreign Relations, submitted the following report: The Committee on Foreign Relations, to which was referred Senate bill 1305, "A bill to incorporate the Maritime Canal Company of Nicaragua," respectfully report the same back with the recommendation that it do pass, with the amendments as marked in the bill. The committee does not deem it at all necessary to go into any discussion of the great importance to the United States and to the general interests of civilized nations of the proposed work. The committee therefore contents itself with reporting, in connection with this bill, the minutes of the interview between the committee and some of the gentlemen named as incorporators, when the bill was under consideration, and also a copy of the concession made by the Republic of Nicaragua to this association of gentlemen. All of which is respectfully submitted. GEORGE F. EDMUNDS, For Committee. THE MARITIME CANAL COMPANY OF NICARAGUA. [Minutes of an interview between the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, and Hon. Charles P. Daly, Hon. Joseph E. McDonald, Hiram Hitchcock, Capt. Henry C. Taylor, Alexander T. Mason, and A. G. Menocal, on the part of the incorporators of the Maritime Canal Company of Nicaragua, on the 25th day of January, 1888, the committee having under consideration Senate bill 1305, to incorporate the Maritime Canal Company of Nicaragua.] THE MARITIME CANAL COMPANY OF NICARAGUA. COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS, The committee met pursuant to call. Present, Messrs. Sherman (chairman), Edmunds, Frye, Evarts, Dolph, Morgan, Brown, Saulsbury, Payne. The chairman laid before the committee, as pending business, the following Senate bill, and stated that, in obedience to instructions of the committee, Hon. Charles P. Daly and his associates were present at his request. Senate 1305, Fiftieth Congress, first session, a bill to incorporate the Maritime Canal Company of Nicaragua. Senator EDMUNDS. I corresponded with Judge Daly, who drew up the charter of the Maritime Canal Company, and said to him that I thought that it would be desirable for him to make a brief statement to the committee of substantially who the gentlemen are who are engaged in this enterprise proposed; whether it is a real thing and got some bottom and "go" in it, and means business and respectability; and how far they have succeeded in what they are now doing, and what they wish to accomplish if they can have this charter. That is what I suggested to him that probably the committee would like to know. Judge DALY. I may first say in respect to myself that I have been for twentyfive years president of the American Geographical Society, and the subject of a canal to connect the Atlantic and the Pacific has been one to which I have given a great deal of attention. Before the Panama route was undertaken, or, I should say, decided upon by M. De Lesseps, the American Geographical Society instituted an investigation to ascertain which of the proposed routes was the most desirable. It invited persons interested in the various routes to take part in this discussion, and representatives or advocates of each were fully heard. There were many sittings, lasting over several weeks, at which I presided. A stenographic report of everything that was said was taken down, which the society published as part of its proceedings. The conclusion at which I arrived from this investigation was that what is known as the Nicaragua route was the most feasible, the least expensive, and from all points of view the most desirable. In respect to the inquiry as to the character of the gentlemen who ask for this charter, and whose names are embraced in the bill, I do not know them all individually, but I know of them, and know those who are especially active. They are persons of character without exception. There is no person on the whole list whose character is not such as should be associated with such an enterprise. Senator EDMUNDS. Are all these gentlemen who are named in the charter actually and affirmatively concerned in the business, or is it true, as sometimes we have known in our lives, that these names are put in as ornamental? Judge DALY. I will answer that question very satisfactorily. We thought this ought to be a Government undertaking; at least I did, and very many agreed with me; but when we found that the Panama Canal was culminating toward a point we felt assured it would reach, and that our Government was not taking any action, we thought from information we had received that the Nicaragua route would probably be undertaken by some German or English organization, and if the canal was not to be built by our Government, that it ought to be built by American citizens. This was the reason of our organizing. We organized at first somewhat imperfectly to undertake to get a concession. We thought the proper way to do was to get a certain sum of money together, and we arranged what might be called a syndicate in which $300,000 was paid in by gentlemen whose names are in the bill. Having that amount we went down to Nicaragua and got a concession, which was accompanied, of course, by a pecuniary deposit as an assurance of good faith. Having obtained the concession, we organized a surveying party of forty engineers who are now making a final or axial survey, and we have expended already, or will have expended, about the amount we have raised. We are able, however, to raise a further amount from the ability of the persons of the organization. I think I will have sufficiently answered the question when I say that every gentleman on that list has contributed a part of this amount. Most of us subscribed $5,000 apiece and paid it, and there is no one who has not paid $1,000. The enterprise is undertaken in entire good faith. It is undertaken in connection with parties in this country and in Europe, and whenever we are prepared by a charter to launch the enterprise we have very little doubt of succeeding in obtaining the money to construct the canal. As your time is short I wish to be very brief upon this point. Assuming it to be an undertaking of a national character, all we want upon the part of the Government is something in the form of national recognition. We do not ask the Government to give any money toward it. We do not because we think we can raise the sum to build it. We have so much confidence in the work itself that we entertain no doubt of our ability to satisfy the money centers in this country and in Europe, in which money is obtained for such an undertaking, that it is entirely practical and a good investment. We feel that the money will be forthcoming in due time: but we deem it essential that there should be something like a national indorsement of it, and, as the Government has heretofore incorporated companies that have been organized for national purposes, we simply desire such an incorporation and nothing more. Now, it is necessary that there should be certain provisions in the act of incorporation that will satisfy persons abroad, from whom a large part of the money should be raised. There is nothing more difficult in enterprises of this kind than to get money. It is the hardest thing to get, and it is obtained only upon a thorough security. Now, Mr. Menocal has made an estimate of $64,000,000 for building this canal. I am not an engineer or financier, but I take it for granted that we will probably have to expend $100,000,000 for this canal, and that it can be built for that amount; that is why we propose to have the company organized for that amount in the act of incorporation. Now, when we go abroad for the purpose of raising money in addition to what can be obtained in our own country-for we shall not attempt to raise it there until we have obtained a substantial part of the sum here-the question whether we will be successful or not in a foreign loan will be determined by three circumstances. They will first inquire whether, as an engineering project, the canal can be constructed. I say they will ask-they will inquire-but they will not depend upon us for information upon this point. They will next inquire whether it will be a good security for the money advanced. If they are satisfied as to that, the next inquiry will be whether the canal will be sufficiently profitable to justify the risk in making the loan, and for which they will require an additional pecuniary consideration. Being satisfied upon all these points they will, I think, loan the money. The way it is done in enterprises of this kind, and I know of no exceptionenterprises that involve a large amount of money-is to issue bonds in the nature of mortgage bonds. They are a security upon the work as it is finished, and are paid only as the work progresses, and not otherwise. They are not paid in advance; and as a compensation for the risk, in addition to the interest on the loan, a certain amount of the stock will have to be given. That is the way it has invariably been done. That has been the way with our great Western undertakings to the Pacific. One of the first questions they will ask will be whether we have lawful authority to issue bonds as a corporation. If we should tell them what our laws are, they would answer at once: We know nothing about your laws," and it is to guard against this that we have incorporated in the charter the right to issue bonds. 66 The next question would be whether the stock issued for the work as it progresses would be regarded as paid-up stock, and for that reason a provision to that effect is made in the bill. Those are the only two important provisions we have inserted in the bill. We can then say, there is the charter which authorizes us to issue bonds, and also authorizes stock to be issued for property and work done. Now, those are the two essential things to put in the charter. Beyond that we ask nothing but the recognition which is implied by the granting of the charter. I am so considerate of your time, gentlemen, that I do not propose to extend it further than to say that if the Government is willing to take the work off our hands, we are quite willing to give it up. I, however, speak only for myself, and say that I am more interested in the success of this enterprise than any pecuniary advantage I may derive from it. I have been familiar with it and thought over it for many years. I do hope I may live long enough to see this great enterprise accomplished. I attach more importance to it than many do. I consider it one of the great enterprises of the century. I consider it more important even than the Suez Canal, in the future. I do not think we have begun to measure its great advantages to the world and to our country. I have no doubt of its pecuniary success, but I am not a financier and anything on that subject I may say may not have much weight. Senator EDMUNDS. You say you have engineers at work. I would like to know definitely where those engineers are and what they have been doing. We have sometimes been told that a scheme of this kind was in progress, etc., and then, on inquiry, it was only in progress on paper. I should like to know precisely, in a general way, what you have done about sending out engineers, and whether they have gone there and are now there. Judge DALY. That is a very practical question, and I will give a practical answer to it. We have sent out a corps of engineers under Mr. Menocal, the chief engineer here, under a second assistant in charge, with about 40 engineers and 130 laborers. We have sent them out at an expense of about $100,000, and we will have to pay a much larger amount than that as the work goes on. They have commenced the work, and at last advices they have surveyed 10 miles. What is called the canal surveys have already been made. You know very well this survey has been made several times by our Government. But before the work can be begun there must be a final or axial survey, and they are engaged now in that service. They are very practical and experienced men. They arrived there safely, and were very warmly received by the authorities of Nicaragua, through which |