PANAMA TOLLS President Taft on Nov. 13, 1912, established by proclamation the rates for the use of the Panama Canal in pursuance of the statute passed August 24, 1912, as follows: 1. On merchant vessels carrying passengers or cargo one dollar and twenty cents per net vessel ton-each one hundred cubic feet-of actual earning capacity. 2. On vessels in ballast without passengers or cargo forty per cent. less than the rate of tolls for vessels with passengers or cargo. 3. Upon naval vessels, other than transports, colliers, hospital ships and supply ships, fifty cents per displacement ton. 4. Upon army and navy transports, colliers, hospital ships, and supply ships, one dollar and twenty cents per net ton, the vessels to be measured by the same rules as are employed in determining the net tonnage of merchant vessels. It was also prescribed that the Secretary of War should prepare and fix such rules for the measurement of vessels and such regulations as are necessary to carry the proclamation into effect. On April 16, 1914, President Wilson issued an Executive Order, which provided: 1. That payment of tolls for the use of the Panama Canal and for fuel and other material and supplies sold and for repairs, harbor pilotage, towage, furnished by the canal to vessels, shall be made to the Collector of the Canal at Balboa or Cristobal, except that deposits for tolls may be made with the Treasurer or an Assistant Treasurer of the United States to the official credit of the Collector of the Canal. A vessel may enter Gatun Lake from either end without passing through the locks at the other end and may return to the point of entry without payment of additional tolls. 2. All payments shall be made in lawful money of the U. S., but drafts may be accepted as provided in Section 5. 3. Payment of tolls shall be made before the vessel is allowed to enter any lock of the canal; all bills for materials, towage or other legal bills shall be paid before the vessel is given clearance at the port of departure. 4. A certificate may be issued to the officer in charge of the locks and if desired to the master of the vessel, by the Canal Auditor, that the vessel is entitled to pass through. 5. Unless, in the opinion of the Canal Governor, payment in cash to the Collector is necessary for canal purposes, drafts on banks in the U. S. under supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency, may be accepted for conversion into cash, for paying tolls and for other services and goods, provided the drafts are secured by high-grade bonds in accordance with further provisions of this Section 5. 6. Provision is made that steamship companies or agencies may make deposits to the credit of the Canal Collector with the Treasurer or Assistant Treasurer of the U. S. to be applied in payment of tolls. (Full directions are given how this shall be done.) 7. Provides for refund of excess of deposit when not used, etc. 8. The Governor of the canal may prescribe such additional regulations as may be necessary and proper. THE SHIP RAILWAY. Wm. F. Channing was perhaps the first in this country to suggest the idea of transporting large ships overland on a railroad track. He drew plans for such an enterprise as early as 1859, and on March 29, 1865, secured a patent for the invention from the United States, and assigned the same to Horace H. Day, who contemplated the carrying of vessels around Niagara Falls. Diagrams are shown in House Miscellaneous Doc., 46 Cong., 3d session 1880-1, page 78. The House Ship Canal Committee, had before it in 1880, not only the question of canals, but also the problem of a ship railway at Tehauntepec. Capt. Eads and others had asked for a charter and money assistance from the nation. Among the witnesses advocating the ship railway were: Dr. Wm. F. Channing, N. Y.; J. W. Goodwin, Pa., and Capt. James B. Eads. The latter introduced letters from eminent engineers indorsing the proposal; ship-builders generally condemned the idea; and if the purpose was to transport overland large vessels, the proposal was held to be chimerical. Capt. Eads asked a modified charter from Congress in 1887. This passed the Senate Feby. 17, 1887, and on Feby. 23, was laid before the House, read twice and referred to the Commerce Committee. We have not been able to find that it was ever reported out of committee. Capt. Eads died March 8, 1887, and the whole project terminated. While the plan might be a success for the transport of shallops (an improvement upon the Indian portage) still no vessel-owner would trust a ship of large dimensions, and weighed down with a full cargo, to the hazard of such an operation. Ships are intended for the sea, yet out of necessity they must be constructed and repaired on land; but when the necessity ceases, their land migrations should also cease. HAY-PAUNCEFOTE TREATY OF 1901. The United States of America and His Majesty Edward the Seventh, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King, and Emperor of India, being desirous to facilitate the construction of a ship canal to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, by whatever route may be considered expedient, and to that end to remove any objection which may arise out of the Convention of the 19th April, 1850, commonly called the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, to the construction of such canal under the auspices of the Government of the United States, without impairing the "general principle" of neutralization established in Article VIII of that Convention, have for that purpose appointed as their plenipotentiaries: The President of the United States, John Hay, Secretary of State of the United States of America; And His Majesty Edward the Seventh, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King, and Emperor of India, the Right Honourable Lord Pauncefote, G. C. B., G. C. M. G., His Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States; Who, having communicated to each other their full powers, which were found to be in due and proper form, have agreed upon the following Articles: ARTICLE I. The high contracting parties agree that the present treaty shall supersede the afore-mentioned convention of the 19th April, 1850. ARTICLE II. It is agreed that the canal may be constructed under the auspices of the Government of the United States either directly at its own cost, or by gift or loan of money to individuals or corporations, or through subscription to or purchase of stock or shares, and that, subject to the provisions of the present treaty, the said Government shall have and enjoy all the rights incident to such construction, as well as the exclusive right of providing for the regulation and management of the canal. ARTICLE III. The United States adopts, as the basis of the neutralization of such ship canal, the following rules, substantially as embodied in the Convention of Constantinople, signed the 28th October, 1888, for the free navigation of the Suez Canal, that is to say: 1. The canal shall be free and open to the vessels of commerce and of war of all nations observing these Rules, on terms of entire equality, so that there shall be no discrimination against any such nation, or its citizens or subjects, in respect of the conditions or charges of traffic or otherwise. Such conditions and charges of traffic shall be just and equitable. 2. The canal shall never be blockaded, nor shall any right of war be exercised nor any act of hostility be committed within it. The United States, however, shall be at liberty to maintain such military police along the canal as may be necessary to protect it against lawlessness and disorder. 3. Vessels of war of a belligerent shall not revictual nor take any stores in the canal except so far as may be strictly necessary; and the transit of such vessels through the canal shall be effected with the least possible delay in accordance with the Regulations in force, and with only such intermission as may result from the necessities of the service. Prizes shall be in all respects subject to the same rules as vessels of war of the belligerents. 4. No belligerent shall embark or disembark troops, munitions of war, or warlike materials in the canal, except in case of accidental hindrance in the transit, and in such case the transit shall be resumed with all possible dispatch. 5. The provisions of this article shall apply to waters adjacent to the canal, within 3 marine miles of either end. Vessels of war of a belligerent shall not remain in such waters longer than twentyfour hours at any one time, except in case of distress, and in such case shall depart as soon as possible; but a vessel of war of one belligerent shall not depart within twenty-four hours from the departure of a vessel of war of the other belligerent. 6. The plant, establishments, buildings, and all works necessary to the construction, maintenance, and operation of the canal shall be deemed to be part thereof, for the purposes of this treaty, and in time of war, as in time of peace, shall enjoy complete immunity from attack or injury by belligerents, and from acts calculated to impair their usefulness as part of the canal. ARTICLE IV. It is agreed that no change of territorial sovereignty or of international relations of the country or countries traversed by the before-mentioned canal shall affect the general principle of neutralization or the obligation of the high contracting parties under the present treaty. ARTICLE V. The present treaty shall be ratified by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and by his Britannic Majesty; and the ratifications shall be exchanged at Washington or at London at the earliest possible time within six months from the date hereof. In faith whereof the respective plenipotentiaries have signed this treaty and thereunto affixed their seals. Done in duplicate at Washington, the 18th day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and one. JOHN HAY. [Seal.] TREATY WITH PANAMA-HAY BUNAU-VARILLA. The United States of America and the Republic of Panama being desirous to insure the construction of a ship canal across the Isthmus of Panama to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and the Congress of the United States of America having passed an act approved June 28, 1902, in furtherance of that object, by which the President of the United States is authorized to acquire within a reasonable time the control of the necessary territory of the Republic of Colombia, and the sovereignty of such territory being actually vested in the Republic of Panama, the high contracting parties have resolved for that purpose to conclude a convention and have accordingly appointed as their plenipotentiaries, The President of the United States of America, John Hay, Secretary of State, and The Government of the Republic of Panama, Philippe BunauVarilla, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Panama, thereunto specially empowered by said government, who after communicating with each other their respective full powers, found to be in good and due form, have agreed upon and concluded the following articles: ARTICLE I. The United States guarantees and will maintain the independence of the Republic of Panama. ARTICLE II. The Republic of Panama grants to the United States in perpetuity the use, occupation and control of a zone of land and land under water for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation and protection of said canal of the width of ten miles extending to the distance of five miles on each side of the center line of the route of the Canal to be constructed; the said zone beginning in the Caribbean Sea three marine miles from mean low water mark and extending to and across the Isthmus of Panama into the Pacific Ocean to a distance of three marine miles from mean low water mark with the proviso that the cities of Panama and Colon and the harbors adjacent to said cities, which are included within the boundaries of the zone above described, shall not be included within this grant. The Republic of Panama further grants to the United States in perpetuity the use, occupation and control of any other lands and waters outside of the zone above described which may be necessary and convenient for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation and protection of the said Canal or of any auxiliary canals or |