The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-05-16
IN OPEN MARKET FOR
 SUPPLIES FOR THE CANAL


 in the constructions of the Panama can al in the canal zone on the fsthmus, which Is outside the tariff wall sur rounding the United States proper and into which. by virtue of the Hay-va- rilla treaty with the Republic of Pana- ma, material, supplies and machinery of all kinds for the construction of the tariff are to be introduced free from tarin or imports 1t is your duty to buy where you can obtain the material. supplies and machinery at the cheapest price, other cohditions with respect to quality. prompt delivery. etc, being equal. This view 1t seems to me is confirmed by the failure of Congress to direct any different course on your part.
 T ought to add. that while of course, very large propotion of all the pur- chases made for the construction of the canal have been from American mer- chants and manufacturer, some pur- chases have already been made abroad and . saving effected in the purchase Of comparatively small quantities of cement Tn the construction of the canal. an enormous quantity of cement will have to bs purchased. and the question will soon recur again as to the acceptance of foreign bids for this ma terial.
 
 Members of congress have manifest ed an interest in this matter. and Sem ators Dick and Ankeny have applied to me to know the situation.
 As pointed out to Senator Ankeny, if thi1 resolution Is to control the &C., ceptance of bids for the construction of these dredges then 1t should De congress. for It Is of great importance to secure their early construction. If fa m v~v>R >nrt nR aop p1x .attr bx- congress I shall direct MT. Shonts, un- less ordered by you to take a different course, that he accept the bid of Will liam Simons and Company of Renfrew, Scotland"
 The secretary transmits a letter from the Maryland Steel Company in which they contend, briefly stated, that if the vessels are built in Scotland, the costs of inspection will be about five built here; that If the vessels are de- 1ivered at the isthmus the government must take them over with untraine ed crews; that the auxiliaries cannot be easily. and quickly replaced; that the costs of transportation to the isthmus are excessive and that the dredges can not be used in United States waters.
 Commenting on these arguments, Mir. Shonts, president of the commission. says Iuc 0tfiCACnC6 Co5I Ol iuSpcCtfV1 would be trifing, that it will be easy to get men familiar with the dredges, and he attaches no importance to the matter of auxiliaries and other points made. He says:
 while we would of course like to patronize American industries until the congress changes the law are we not compelled to buy in the lowest mar ket?"
 Attached to the secretary's letter is also the correspondence referred to by him srelative.to the purchase of foreign cemenr, summarized by Joseph Bucklin Bishop. secretary of the commission in the statement that in the case of a lot of twenty thousand barrels purchased abroad ''the commission would not have been justified in paying $7.400 more for American cement than for foreign ee- ment, particularly in view of the fact that there was no doubt as to the aual- ity of the foreign cement being fully equalsto that offered by the lowest bid- der on American cement"
 Senator Dick is quoted as protesting against this purchase as favoring for eign manufacturers.