Background
Philippe Bunau-Varilla was born on July 26, 1859 in Paris, France.
(To-day France is able to see things as they are; to-day s...)
To-day France is able to see things as they are; to-day she can discover the full extent, the whole bearings, of her admirable work; the nightmare is over. To have made this possible is worth the labour of a lifetime. The recollection of this prolonged, unceasing effort for the honour of the country wi Ube a thousand times more precious to you than all the material treasures which I might have acquired and bequeathed to you, had I devoted my activity to selfish ends. Your whole life -will not suffice to witness all the changes which will be caused to humanity by the realisation of this dream of centuries the creation of the Straits of Panama. Some hours employed in the perusal of this book will enable you to realise the battles which had to be fought in order to bring about this great result. They have given a tangible reality to what was for so long a mere figment of the mind, and led once more to triumph the genius of our country. May this book bring home to you, what I have always striven to impress upon you, that the greatest virtue in a Frenchman is to cultivate truth and to serve France. Phtt.tfpe Btjnau-V (Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.) About the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology. Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. Careful attention has been made to accurately preserve the original format of each page whilst digitally enhancing the aged text. Read books online for free at www.forgottenbooks.org
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Philippe Bunau-Varilla was born on July 26, 1859 in Paris, France.
Philippe Bunau-Varilla graduated from the École Polytechnique in 1880 and 3 years later left the École des Ponts et Chaussées.
After serving a year as an engineer in the French department of public works, he went to Panama to head one of the three divisions of Ferdinand de Lesseps' Panama Canal Company. By the age of 26, Bunau-Varilla had temporarily assumed general management of the company.
When, amid charges of fraud, Lesseps' company went bankrupt in 1888, Bunau-Varilla, working to revitalize French interest, zealously defended the canal idea. He also, unsuccessfully, attempted to gain Russian support. Meanwhile there developed in France the New Panama Company, in which Bunau-Varilla purchased stock. Eventually abandoning hopes of finishing the canal, the new company tried to sell it to the United States. The American government was initially unresponsive, but through determined efforts first of Nelson W. Cromwell, the company's New York lawyer, and later of Bunau-Varilla, the United States eventually selected the Panamanian route.
In various trips to the United States, Bunau-Varilla met prominent people, lectured, and published a booklet entitled Panama or Nicaragua. To illustrate his charge that volcanoes would threaten the Nicaraguan route, he purchased Nicaraguan postage stamps picturing Momotombo belching ashes and smoke and distributed them to every U. S. Senator. Influenced by such efforts, the U. S. Congress in 1902 passed the Spooner Act, which provided for canal construction in Panama if reasonable arrangements could be made with Colombia, of which Panama was a part at that time.
When the treaty with Colombia failed ratification in that country's Senate, Bunau-Varilla supported a Panamanian revolution. In New York he plotted with a representative of the revolutionary junta and provided a proclamation of independence, draft of a constitution, plan of military operations, flag, and promise of money. The United States quickly recognized the independent Panama and received its first minister, Philippe Bunau-Varilla, who negotiated the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty (1903), giving the United States the right to build a canal in Panama.
An officer in the French army during World War I, Bunau-Varilla lost a leg at Verdun. In his later years he continued his interest in the Panama Canal and advocated changing it from a lock to a sea-level waterway.
(To-day France is able to see things as they are; to-day s...)