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July 9, 1906.į
between France and the Vatican being no longer of a friendly but rather of a strained character on account of the secular legislation which has been adopted by the Republic, it should (as it is expressed) be considered that "the psychological moment has come when the Vatican should place itself in direct relations with the Chinese Govenment, should forbid indiscriminate interference in lawsuits, and should exercise disciplinary control over its missionaries; and that
"the present position is unsatisfactory and anomalous and does injury to France and other Catholic powers and to the good nanic of the Church, while it leads to constant trouble, much of which Imight be avoided by the appointment of a Legate or Nuncio to Peking".
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The Spectator, in referring the suggestion thus thrown out, says: "We have no doubt that this is excellent advice. The missionaries pay very little attention to any remonstrances addressed to them by the Provincial Governors; but they would be obliged to listen to the POPE's immediate -a view which is a natural representative"- one to adopt, in dealing with the question upon broad general grounds; but which is scarcely warranted by the actual fac's that bave to be dealt with. As respects the undesirability of any special protection being afforded to Catholic Missions either by France or any other foreign nation, most people will be agreed. As was pointed out in these columns some time back when the question was mooted whether Germany might undertake the protection of Christian Missions in China (a course which that nation wisely deemed one which it should not adopt), it would be to the benefit of the Catholic cause in China that anything in "the form of special protection should be relinquished and that Catholic missionaries should be placed in the same position as others, that is, they should have the same and no other protection than that which is afforded by treaty to the subjects of each foreign nation. This is the only true position to adopt. Any special protection becomes a temptation to missionaries to assert an undue independence of the local and provincial authorities and evokes special opposition on their part. It is open to grave question whether this state of things would be in any way improved by the appointment of a Nuncio to Peking. If such an official had sufficient influence with the high authorities at the capital to induce them to endeavour to afford special protec. tion to Catholic Missions, it is almost certain that the provincial authorities would be quite as much irritated by commands in this direction from the central authorities as they have been by the special protection thrown over the Catholic Missions by France, especially as they would well know from what source the orders in any giveu case really emanated. Matters would thus be changed in form, but not in substance. That his Holiness the Pore is likely to be anxious to do ail that is in his power to restrain ill-advised zeal on the part of missionaries of his Church may be taken for granted-but he can do this whether there is a Nuncio at Peking or not.
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What is to be desired is not that a Nuncio be appointed to Peking, but that France should withdraw definitely from her position of Protector of Missions; and there is reason to conclude that it would probably not be a very difficult matter to induce her to abandon a position which, as matters now stand in China, is not likely to be of any advantage to be politically, and has been a constant source of friction and trouble, for which she has obtained no adequate return. If therefore, any action is to be
CHINA OVERLAND TRÅDE REPORT. taken in this matter, it would be well that it should be in the direction ladicated. We do not wish to enter into a discussion as to the jealousies which would naturally be. evoked on the part of missionaries them selves by any special protection being given from Peking to those of one denomination; but this is a point which would undoubtedly arise were the suggestion as now made of the appointment of a Papal Nuncio at Peking taken into serious consideration. Such a step could not be adopted without consultation with the representatives of the Powers, and, if once the subject had to be discussed with them, the difficulties which have arisen at home with regard to the Education Bill would sink into insignifie- ance in comparison with those which would arise upon this very thorny and delicate matter.
THE FAR EAST AND THE PANAMA CANAL.
(Daily Press, 7th July.)
It can hardly be said that the position taken up by the Senate in the United States with regard to the Panama Canal has been persistently marked by either patriotism or commonsense. Its last decision to uphold the building of the Canal with great locks in preference to a level waterway from ocean to ocean, opposed as it is to the evidence of the majority of the experts to whom the affair was referred by the Government, is tinged with neither. The Senate's attitude with regard to this important question, of deep interest as it is to the sea-borne trade of China, may perhaps be best described as skittish. Of course the raison d'étre of the Senate is to act as a check against both PRESIDENT and Chamber; and if this were its only business, and the wider interests of the country at large were matters of a merely secondary importance, it has fulfilled this purpose most effectually. Palpably it is not for us to rail at the internal economy of affairs in the States; to the country itself the account must be rendered; but as in this little affair of the Canal or sea borne commerce will eventually be deeply in- terested, we may be allowed a little space on, the great commercial platform of the world to utter a few words.
It is quite true that in this enormous engineering undertaking, the greatest that the world has yet seen, we have to provide one of the preliminary capital; that is kindly undertaken by the Great Republic. But this being the case, it is equally true that a very considerable part of the revenue will, as a matter of fact, be provided by the China trade. Some folk are indeed sanguine enough to believe that the China trade will be the biggest factor in the income. We have lived to see the wonderful effect on the commerce of the world brought about by the opening of the Suez Canal, which, it is no exaggeration to say, has profoundly The conditions modified Eastern Asia. point to the opening of the Panama Canal having, if possible, a yet more profound effect. The coign of vantage hitherto oc- cupied by the western coast of Europe will then be shifted to the Atlantic and Gulf ports of the United States, and Charleston, Mobile, New Orleans, and Galveston, names up to this scarcely whispered in China, will gradually creep into prominence. possibilities will bring forth new industries, and he would be a sage prophet who could foretell a tithe of the eventual possibilities. Now while the trade of China is gradually preparing itself for such another revolution as that that followed the opening of the Egyptian. Ditch", it can scarcely be alleged that anxiety for the permanency of
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the new Canal is out of place, or that we are overstepping the limits of reasonabl › criticism in alluding to it.
In many respects there is a marked difference in the conditions under which the Practically two works will be undertaken, the Suez Canal lay through ground so level, and soil so easily removeable, that the engineering problems to be faced were removed to a minimum, and scarcely extended beyond the cheapest and most expeditious manner of removing the sand, of which the great desert of Sinai was Climate was a known to be composed. negligible quantity, and the district was practically outside the limits of natural convulsions of any sort. In every one of these particulars the Isthmus of Panama is exactly the reverse. Mountains of several hundred feet in height have to be pierced, and the rock is hard crystalline slates and quartzites. At Suez but a few inches of rain fall in ordinary years, and floods are a thing unknown. The Isthmus of Panama. is one of the rainiest spots in Central America and the place is notorious for. sudden tropical downpours which carry destruction in their train: and the floods of the Chagres River form one of the wost difficult of engineering problems in the world.
The material to be excavated is throughout the hardest of rock, and, as if to accentuate the difficultis of the task, the tropical climate is one of the worst on earth and fevers are both severe and dangerous: so much so that in building the railway which occupies practically the site of the Canal, it was estimated that every sleeper cost a life. These are some of the special difficulties whico have doubtless induced the Senate to come to its decision to save life and expense as far as possible in the construction of the new waterway of the world.
But long though the category of difficul- ties detailed above is, it does not state the greatest difficulty of all, and that is the liability of the land to destructive earth- quakes. The whole of the mountain chain of the Rockies is liable to earth-shakings; and some of the most destructive on record have occurred curing the four centuries in which alone it has been known to science. So common are earth movements that the miner in the mountains west of San Fran- cisco firmly believes that the earth is alive, and that the whole range is bodily sinking. This line of perpetual tremours is continued through Central America to the Cordillera, and it may be said that in the neighbouring province of Ecundor is their most marked focus.
But the other day we alluded to the series of earthquakes consequent on on the the disturbance at Esmeralda 31st January last, and which culminated in the disaster at San Francisco. Earth movements as a matter of fact are a normal feature in these Central American States, and no permanent work can be undertaken without taking this fact into account. According to the lock project it is proposed to impound an enormous body of water in a level reach some 75 feet over sea level, and to confine this at both ends between the [argest locks the world has as yet seen. This work has to be undertaken in no spirit of boasting, but because the size of ships has been annually increasing at a New ratio which as yet exhibits no symptoms of ending. It is easy to imagine what the results of the disturbance due to even an ordinary earthquake would be; such a disaster as that at Esmeralda or San Francisco would entail not only the com- plete destruction of the Canal but of thousands of lives, and millions, perhaps hundred, of millions, of property. Ons of
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