One of the immediate actions of his administration was to resolve a difference in interpretation over the law which created the canal zone, passed on 28 April 1904. Panamanian legislators intended the granting of the zone to the United States to mean that the U.S. could exercise sovereignty "only for the purpose of building the canal". As the ports were vital for Panama's economy, the government of Panama had no intention of surrendering complete legal or economic sovereignty in the canal zone and did not cede its territory to the U.S. The Americans had established ports, customs houses and postal facilities in the zone, which were objected to by the Panamanians, as they had nothing to do with construction and were functions of a sovereign power.