THE PANAMA CANAL COMPRISING ITS HISTORY AND CONSTRUCTION, AND ITS RELATION TO THE NAVY, INTERNATIONAL LAW AND COMMERCE BY REUBEN E. BAKENHUS, S. B. CORPS OF CIVIL ENGINEERS, UNITED STATES Navy FORMERLY ASSISTANT IN CIVIL ENGINEERING, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY HARRY S. KNAPP CAPTAIN UNITED STATES NAVY; FORMERLY MEMBER EMORY R. JOHNSON, PH. D., Sc. D. PROFESSOR OF TRANSPORtation and COMMERCE, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA With Maps and Illustrations YFORD LIBRARY FIRST EDITION FIRST THOUSAND NEW YORK JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC. LONDON: CHAPMAN & HALL, LIMITED COPYRIGHT, 1914 BY REUBEN E. BAKENHUS, HARRY S. KNAPP AND EMORY R. JOHNSON 241960 Stanbope Press F. H. GILSON COMPANY BOSTON, U.S. A. PREFACE Although much has been published on the Panama Canal, it is this very wealth of literature which makes another book desirable. The reader who would thoroughly understand the canal, its history, where and how it was built, what it means to commerce and to the navy and where it stands in the council of nations would, perhaps, wade through many pages of picturesque and interesting descriptions more or less accurate, find a part well described here and a part there and yet, in the end, might not have a complete understanding of the mammoth enterprise. The authors of this volume have endeavored to take the comprehensive view, excluding non-essential details which, though interesting, apply to many other enterprises as well as to the canal. They have included, however, the important principles, laws and facts to which the canal owes its existence. That such a treatise may hold the interest of the reader the authors are led to believe because of the many kind and genuine commendations from those who read the subject-matter when it first appeared in print. It may be of added interest to know that the articles which have been gathered under one cover to form this book were originally published in the Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute, a voluntary pro fessional organization of naval officers. No body of men in the country is more vitally interested in all phases of the Panama Canal than the officers of the United States Navy. With this in mind the Board of Control of the Naval Institute requested the preparation of a series of articles on the canal that would comprehend not only the history and the engineering features of the great work, but also the position of the canal in international law, in commerce and in its relation to the national defense. Their reception has been so favorable outside the naval service, as well as inside, that the material is now presented in book form for the general reader. The articles have been thoroughly reviewed and, with additional information included therein, are prepared for the press at a time when the canal is all but complete and the first vessels have already passed through. Many years of study and experience in lines directly allied to the subjects discussed and much hard work were preparatory for this publication and if the authors have in any way met a want or filled a gap in the extensive literature on the canal they will feel well repaid. |