The N. Z. Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY). FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1905. A COMING REVOLUTION.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 5730, 27 October 1905, Page 4

The N. Z. Times.

(PUBLISHED DAILY). FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1905. A COMING REVOLUTION.

vna wrrrcH is iNCoaronATBD the 11 Wellington CrftEPSNDEMT.” ESTABLISHED 1840.

Those of us who may bo alive a decade hence will probably witness the consummation of a more stupendous revolution than has ever before taken place in the history of our planet. By 1915, Science and Labour in combination will have effected a transformation that should entitle our engineers and workers to be placed in the same classification as those who designed, and constructed the canals on Mars. The Martian works are assumed to have been conceived and executed by the inhabitants for the purpose of distributing life-giving moisture over the face of the planet. The Panama Canal, which, according to cable news, is expected to be finished ten years hence, will be a means of directing the vitalising stream of commerce between different parts of the earth. By this mighty undertaking results will be achieved of an importance out of all proportion to the actual physical change on the surface of the globe. A ditch of about 150 ft wide and 35ft in depth, on an isthmus less than fifty miles across, will be a mere scratch on the face of Mother Earth, quite imperceptible from Mars, unless our neighbours there have much more powerful telescopes than we possess; yet the digging of that ditch will alter the whole course of the world’s trade, will change the conditions of life for millions of people, and may prove a more potent cause of the fall of Empires, the decline of great cities, and the rise of new States than any sanguinary revolution or decisive battle that ever took place.

The Government of the United States, which has undertaken the con struction of the Panama Canal, is assured by its consulting engineer that the work will bo completed within ten years from now, provided that 134,000 labourers are employed on it. President Roosevelt, who believes it to be America’s destiny to control the trade of the Pacific, confidently stated a few days ago that the canal would certainly be made, and probably at less cost than had been estimated. The cost of the

ditch, from first to last, ■"ill nevertheless be enormous. About £00,000,000 were expended by tbe company formed to carry out the project of De Lcsscps, and about £3,000,000 more -wore spent by tbe New Panama Canal Company that bought the assets of the original concern, which went into liquidation. Now the American Government lias paid £3,000,000 for the rights and property of the French company, and £2,000,000 for tbe strip of territory to bo occupied by the canal. Add to this, say, £50,000,000 as the cost of completing the work, and we reach a total of £113,000,000, or nearly two and a halt millions sterling per mile! It is not, of course, pure philanthropy that prompts the American Government in its determination to cut the continent in two. ITnclc Sam has “a keen eye to the main chance,” and he “calculates” that he will get more dollars out of the canal project than ho is sinking in it. Trade between America and Eastern Asia will receive a great impetus wbcu this route is opened, and the command that it will give of the eastern seaboard of both North and South America will ho of tremendous advantage to the manufacturers in the States on the Atlantic coast. But the benefits derived from the canal will bo shared in by the whole world. More especially will Australia, New Zealand, and the islands of the West Indies be .affected. The Panama route will bo the shortest line of sea communication between England and colonies. When the canal is opened, the Capo Horn route will probably be abandoned by New Zealand steamers, and the Suez route will not be .so much used for the Australian liners. We shall be brought so much nearer to New York and other eastern American ports that' a great development of trade between them and us will be inevitable. What the ultimate effects of the change may be, it would be rash to predict; but there can bo no doubt tliat our legislation, our business methods, our tariffs and perhaps our relations with the Mother Country will all be seriously affected. In view of the nearnets of the revolution, wo cannot too soon begin to consider how to order matters so that the new conditions shall operate for our good, and shall not bo the means of undermining any of our interests. In the case of the West Indies, benefit will clearly result; but one cannot speak so confidently in the case of New Zealand.

Between two and three months ago, a great change came over the scene of the Panama Canal works. Up till then, the 'policy of “ making the dirt fly ” was being vigorously pursued. A dozen steam shovels were at work on the excavations, and with- fifty men attending to them were doing as , much as five hundred men could accomplish by tho old pick and shovel method. There was talk of importing thousands of negro and Chinese labourers for the purpose of expediting operations, when suddenly tho steam shovels were stopped, numbers of workmen were dismissed, and thousands of others wore taken off the canal works. The reason for practically bringing operations on the canal to a standstill was the paradoxical one that, by stopping all progress for a time, greater progress would he made with them. The thousands of men were put on to tho sanitation works, which the United States Government undertook to carry out, in order to reduce the sickness end mortality from yellow fever, malaria, and typhoid. These diseases have been wont- to exact heavy toll of human life in Panama, and this year hundreds of canal workers were affected by them, and tho others became almost panic-stricken. So before work is prosecuted in earnest by the army of 124 000 workers, drainage and sewage operations are being pushed fox-ward, streets are being pared, wholesome water supply provided, and other sanitary measures are being carried into effect over the whole of the canal zone. Those in authority have, in fact, resolved to begin at tho beginning, by making the country habitable before they import thousands of labourers. There is here evidence of thoroughness of method which offers a better augury of success than was ever held out by the haphazard way in which the original company attempted to realise the magnificent dream of Do Lesseps. The American engineer who says he will finish the canal in ten years evidently means business.