opened, in spite of the greater geographic reasons for the Panama Canal. The commercial need for the Suez waterway arose earlier, the trade of Europe having reached large proportions before the United States established a regular commerce with the Pacific shores of the American continents. However, the Panama Canal would have been built twenty-five years earlier than it was had not the sanitary and physical problems at Panama proved to be far greater than those that had been successfully handled at Suez.

It was, in fact, only ten years after the opening of the Suez Canal that a concession to construct the Panama Canal, obtained in the interest of De Lesseps and his associates, was secured from Colombia; but the task courageously undertaken by the French Company proved too great for private corporate enterprise; and by 1890, when the canal should have been completed, the company had become insolvent. Later it was obliged to step aside and leave the completion of the task to the Government of the United States which, with practically unlimited resources at its command and with a knowledge of the control of disease that was gained after the French Company suspended operations at Panama, was able to push the construction of the canal through to completion promptly and economically.

Among the influences that caused the United

both by rail and water most potent. By the evident to everybody the United States had rapid development, an transportation both b of the United States, coast of the United St a large share of the g west coast states were and compelling.

Before the constru Pacific the traffic bety the United States vi Magellan and around relatively large; but, a road lines increased i and efficiency of oper creasing volume coast nage by rail. The ter to ship to and from t by the development o industries came to sh markets of the Atlanti ing trade of the far V About 1900, howeve

velopment of the western part of the United States created a demand for more and better facilities for transportation coastwise between the two seaboards of the United States. In 1899, the American-Hawaiian Line began to operate steamers between New York and west coast ports via the Straits of Magellan, the company having sold the sailing vessels it had previously employed in the service around Cape Horn. The Panama Rail Road Steamship Line between New York and Colon and the Pacific Mail Steamship Company between Panama and San Francisco continued their joint service via the Isthmus of Panama.

A rapid growth in the intercoastal coastwise traffic began in 1907, when the American-Hawaiian Line abandoned the long route via the Straits of Magellan and started a service via the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the Mexican National Railway connecting Puerto Mexico and Salina Cruz. During the succeeding five years the total intercoastal water-borne traffic, including Hawaiian sugar, nearly doubled and exceeded 1,100,000 tons in 1911. The rapid growth of this intercoastal coastwise tonnage, in spite of the expense of the transfer and double handling of goods at Tehuantepec and at Panama, shows clearly the commercial demand that had arisen for an isthmian canal that would make possible the expeditious and economical shipment of commodities coastwise be

the west coast of Sout portance only to the 1

commerce between th

America. The west c

directly south of that that imports a large t iron ore and other mat tural southern states a ern states; while west manufactures, lumber, modities that the Unit economically. Until th had a decided advantag trading with western S most of the large tra world. The opening given the United State transportation costs; a of the commerce of th ern South America wi of American producers compete with Europe nancial methods.

The growth of the with western South A

of the canal, and the

an isthmian waterway would render that trade were among the reasons that led to the construction of the canal. Prior to 1900 the commerce of the United States with western South America was relatively small, because the major share of the exports of the South American countries bordering on the Pacific were bulky commodities that could not bear the heavy cost of transportation around South America to the United States; nevertheless the imports into the United States from those countries increased 55 per cent. during the decade ending in 1899; and, in spite of the inability of American producers to make much headway in marketing their goods in the Pacific countries between the Straits of Magellan and Panama, the total trade of the United States with Pacific South America increased 27 per cent. during this ten-year period. Then followed a rapid growth in the commerce between these sections of North and South America, the increase in value from 1900 to 1910 being 158 per cent.

The opening of the canal enabled Chilean iron ore to move regularly to Philadelphia for use at the Bethlehem Steel Works, and increased the shipments of nitrates to the United States. The European War, as well as the availability of the Panama Canal route, has favored the development of the export trade of the United States to western South America, and the advance made in the