The only person convicted in the Panama Canal scandal expresses his feelings about prison and justice.

• Historic letter from MP Charles Baïhaut, imprisoned in Etampes prison, to a friend.
• Four pages.
• In French.
• 13 cm x 20 cm.
• Etampes, August 12, 1893.
• Excellent condition of conservation.
• Unique piece.

Extract

(...) I had, I admit, in 1886, an hour of failure, when I violated the law. I deceived no one, I sold no false values, I committed no error, I was not a blackmailer, I am not guilty of a fraud, I concluded, without partiality, and without hypocrisy, a free contract: an illegal contract, but not a shameful bargain, an agreement forbidden by the code, but which can explain conscience, if not by absurdity. That is the guilt.

(…) I will refund the full amount received, the rest of my money will go to the Federal Revenue, I lose my rights, my status, my career, I spent long months away from those I love, I suffered all the insults and all the torture, I suffered and cried.

(…) This is my opinion. Let us compare it to that of others. Perhaps I could consider myself left aside by human society, this society is very difficult to maintain respect, since it hits one without hitting all the guilty, since the alleged application of the law is a parody of absolute justice.

The Panama Canal scandal is a corruption case related to the construction of the Panama Canal in the late 19th century. The aim of the project was to facilitate the movement of goods and people between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, without the need for ships to go around South America. In 1879, Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps, famous for creating the Suez Canal, was chosen by an international committee to start the 75 km project in Panama.

The work, which began in 1881, was quickly delayed by tropical diseases and numerous accidents. Lesseps then organized public subscriptions to finance his increasingly expensive project. Under pressure, he diverted part of these funds to bribe journalists and politicians who could hide the shipyard's difficulties and vote for new laws to issue a loan. The strategy failed and the Company was put into liquidation on February 4, 1889, bankrupting 85,000 shareholders. The United States finally completed the canal in 1914.

In 1892, a journalist denounced the case, placing dozens of deputies and ministers under suspicion of corruption; Charles Baïhaut (1843 - 1917) was the only one who admitted the crime and was sentenced to five years in prison in Etampes, from where he wrote this moving letter.

The unpublished and extensive content of this letter by Charles Baïhaut is a historical testimony to the first major public corruption scandal, caused by the construction of a gigantic project, the Panama Canal, which would definitively change world trade.