The Story of the Panama Canal (1913)

No material work of man since the creation of the world has had so deep and widespread an influence upon the affairs of mankind in general as that, which may calculably be expected to ensue from the achievement of the Panama Canal. The results will be seen in commercial, political, social, and even religious, effects. It will make and mar the fortunes of nations. Cousin, the French philosopher, has said: Tell me the geography of a country and I will tell you its destiny. By creating important modifications in the geographical relations of certain communities the Canal will be the means of bringing about great and lasting changes, which are beyond the range of accurate forethought. We can, however, predict an enormous gain to this country from the stupendous enterprise, which has been brought to a brilliant and successful conclusion. No task has ever been undertaken before which can compare with it either in magnitude or difficulty, and the great waterway will stand forever a monument to the dauntless courage, infinite resourcefulness, ingenuity and administrative ability of the American people. Ten years have passed since the United States undertook the work, years of struggling against all the forces of nature, hardships and disease, which would have tried the patience, and resources of any other nation to the breaking point. In that time a huge cut has been dug and blasted across the Isthmus of Panama, a mountain range has been pierced and a smaller range made thirty miles away in the form of Gatun Dam. Huge locks, the largest in the world, have been built of enduring concrete, great rivers have been dammed and an inland sea created in what was a tropic jungle. In short, the American people have accomplished the greatest and most important engineering enterprise in the history of the world.