Page images
PDF
EPUB

Receipts.

TABLE XI.-Operating account of the Suez Maritime Canal Co. for 1910.

[blocks in formation]

Annuity paid by Egyptian Government under
agreement of Feb. 1, 1902, for cession of the trolley
line from Port Said to Ismailia.

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

One-half of this sum goes to the canal company.

Pay roll, Egyptian Government..

Pension to family of M. Ferdinand De Lesseps..

Expenses of administration:

France

[blocks in formation]

110,034. 20
30,000.00
120,000.00

368,260.78

Salaries and various expenses of administration..

[blocks in formation]

2,275, 142.89

[blocks in formation]

167,506.69

[blocks in formation]

3,613, 494.30

[blocks in formation]

738,637.29

[blocks in formation]
[graphic]
[graphic]

TABLE XI.-Operating account of the Suez Maritime Canal Co. for 1910-Continued.

Mr. Escн. Is the traffic on the Corinthian Canal of sufficient importance to give you any information?

Dr. JOHNSON. I did not think it was. The data on that might easily be included, but it seemed not important enough to make a special study of it.

The central part of the investigation in progress of course has to do with tolls and revenue. The traffic study is to determine the basis on which charges are to be made and must of course precede any determination of tolls. In the consideration of tolls the first general problem to solve is what the charge shall be based upon-whether it shall be upon a ship or upon what is in the ship. The evidence before this committee and the evidence that I have thus far obtained points clearly to the adoption of the net tonnage of the vessel as the basis for the toll levied as regards merchant vessels and of the displacement tonnage as regards warships. The subject is still under investigation, and I do not wish to go on record as having reached a final conclusion, but my study thus far inclines me to that opinion. If the net register tonnage be made the basis of the toll, another question to be decided is whether we shall adopt the Suez rules or the American rules for determining tonnage. Arguments may be advanced in favor of either choice. My judgment is that it will probably be best to adopt the American measurement, provided it is made to equal the British measurement.

Mr. DRISCOLL. Are you going to elaborate that proposition later on? Dr. JONнSON. I am now making just a brief categorical statement with the thought that the committee will later ask me questions. The CHAIRMAN. Would it be both desirable and practical, by proper course, to procure a common basis, to adopt a common basis?

Dr. JOHNSON. Not immediately, Mr. Chairman. I think in the course of a few years if that subject is pushed by our Government it could be brought about. It would first be necessary to harmonize British and American practice in regard to determining the net register tonnage of ships.

The CHAIRMAN. To the first part of my question you would answer in the affirmative-is desirable?

Dr. JOHNSON. It is certainly desirable. That subject was considered by European countries in 1869 and 1870, but the FrancoPrussian War postponed the effort to bring about a unification of measurement practice, and the subject was never taken up again seriously. It ought to be, and I trust that our Government may take a lead in the matter. It would seem, sir, that if the American and British practice is made to harmonize and that is adopted at the Panama Canal that would be a force that might lead other nations to follow the practice.

Of course there can be no more important question in an investigation of this character than the effect of tolls upon traffic or the relation of tolls to the volume of traffic and thus to the amount of revenue obtainable. Probably I have given more attention thus far to that subject than to any other single one of the many details that have thus far been considered. To get at that question I prepared, first, Tables 13 and 14, in the list of tables of distances, which have already been incorporated in the record. In Table 13 will be found a statement of the number of days saved for vessels of different speeds by the Panama Canal route between the Atlantic-Gulf ports

of the United States and Pacific ports, American and foreign. Table 14 states the number of days saved for vessels of different speeds via the Panama Canal route between European ports and the ports of Pacific America and of New Zealand.

The tables show the time saved from 14 Atlantic and Gulf ports, Portland to Galveston, and from 5 European_ports-Liverpool, Hamburg, Antwerp, Bordeaux, and Gibraltar. Having thus determined the number of days which a vessel of 9, 10, 12, 14, or 16 knots would save by using the canal, the next problem was to determine how much that meant in money saved. To answer that question it was necessary to ascertain from the managers of steamships how much it cost per day to operate vessels of different classes and different speeds. The information which I secured through the courtesy of a number of steamship managers shows roughly, and this is a very significant fact, that it costs 10 cents per day per net registered ton to maintain a vessel on the seas, or, stated negatively, that a man saves for each day's reduction in steaming time 10 cents per register ton of his vessel. I am taking ordinary freight vessels of different types.

Mr. ESCH. One of your averages?

Dr. JOHNSON. It is one of those statistical averages that are extremely useful, but must be applied with care. It is a most useful figure, but it applies more closely to 10-knot steamers, which, however, represent the class of vessels we are most interested in in the subject of tolls.

Mr. Escн. You only hope for an approximation, and if you get an approximate average it will be satisfactory?

Dr. JOHNSON. Yes; I have gone into that subject in more

Mr. J. A. MARTIN. So that the time to New Zealand drops down to as low as one-half day saving?

Dr. JOHNSON. New Zealand is one of the countries on the margin of the Panama Canal traffic zone. The New Zealand vessels will not move solely by any one route.

Mr. J. A. MARTIN. Australia drops below the Panama?

Dr. JOHNSON. Australia is not mentioned in Table 13 because it is distinctly within the district zone of the Suez Canal as far as Europe is concerned.

Being able to determine how much a vessel owner saves for each day of time saved, and knowing the number of days saved between North Atlantic ports, American and European, and Pacific ports, it was possible to discuss the effect of tolls upon the use of the Panama Canal. That is a very complicated subject, in which I have no doubt you will wish me to go somewhat in detail. I will simply say, in passing, that for all points on the west side of North and South America, north of 1,500 miles south of Balboa, the Panama Canal has an absolute monopoly of the traffic, and the volume of traffic will in no wise be affected by any toll that the Government is likely to impose. From a point 1,500 miles south of Balboa to a point 2,500 miles south the Panama Canal again has the monopoly of the traffic as far as the Atlantic and Gulf seaboard of the United States is concerned, but as far as Europe is concerned the toll may become an important factor in determining the use of the canal. That is a very important thousand miles of the west coast of South America, because it includes the nitrate fields, from which now are sent annually 2,500,000 cargo tons.

Mr. J. A. MARTIN. Is Chile in that?

Dr. JOHNSON. That is the north part of Chile. South of 2,500 miles south of Balboa one soon reaches Valparaiso and the agricultural portion of Chile. There one is distinctly on the boundary, in the competitive zone where the traffic will probably be turned toward the Panama Canal or the Straits of Magellan by the toll imposed.

As regards all of the commerce across the Pacific, tolls will be influential in determining the use of the Panama Canal. As far as our Atlantic and Gulf seaboards are concerned, a toll of fair proportions may be imposed. As far as Europe is concerned, the toll must be low, if Panama gets any appreciable portion of the commerce of the Orient.

The CHAIRMAN. Sailing on long tangents between Europe and Pacific ports, the difference would not justify the toll, sailing on long tangents they could reach the Straits of Magellan more cheaply.

Dr. JOHNSON. Many factors determine the choice of route taken by vessels between Liverpool and Yokohoma. Distance and tolls will be only two factors. As far as distance and tolls are the determining forces the advantages lie with Suez and against Panama, but there are other factors, as, for instance, the cost of coal en route, a subject into which I assume that we will desire to go in this investigation, and there are other factors also.

The CHAIRMAN. My suggestion applied both to Panama and Suez where there were long tangents, that perhaps the route through Magellan would save fuel.

Dr. JOHNSON. Long tangents are to be avoided, if I may say so, Mr. Chairman, because the traffic is now mainly handled in steamers that avoid, if possible, taking up much of their displacement by coal instead of by cargo.

The CHAIRMAN. Are there no provisions in the southern part of South America for recoaling or revictualing?

Dr. JOHNSON. One may recoal at Coronel, in Chile, about 37° south, with poor coal. If your tangent leads up the coast of South America your vessel coming north will come more and more into the range of good and less expensive coal from the United States.

There are factors other than distance affecting the choice of routes, and factors other than tolls. The chief one of these, as I have said, is the supply of coaling facilities and the cost of coal by alternative routes and we are in the midst of but well along with a detailed study of that subject. I think by the end of this week we shall be able to lay before the committee, if it is desired, rather complete information in regard to the question of coaling by the alternative routes.

The third and last large subdivision of the investigation in progress has to do with the measurement of vessels. That, naturally, requires one to compare the main features of the British, German, Suez, and American systems of measuring vessels. It is desirable to study the Suez system with especial care. Having decided what measurement rules had best be adopted by the United States at Panama, it is then necessary to formulate the rules. This study of the measurement of vessels is less advanced than any other portion of the investigation, although I have considerable information on that subject.

With this preliminary statement I shall be glad to take up the inquiry where and as the committee wishes.

« PreviousContinue »