The National tribune., 1910-10-20

quite widely stated. the President in
tends considering the qualifications o
various men for those places till wei
UP to the time when Congress convenes
The President Will Go to Panama.
One of the notable things of the las
few DAYS has been the Presidents de
cision finally to visit the Isthmus o.
Panama during November. He ha!
been hesitating over that matter fo'
quite two months. The party leaders
urged him not to go. They have held
that such a visit is not necessary. anc
that there is more important work fol
the President TO do in Washington dur
ing the three weeks period between the
biennial elections and the assembling OF
Congress. The time for Congressional
legislation is all too short anyway this
Winter as the life of the 62d Congress
expires March f. The leaders always
prefer that there shall be some time for
consultation with the President during
November and for them to learn what
he intends to recommend in his annual
message.
The President usually defers~ the
writing of such documents till the very
last moment. and now that he has an
nounced his trip to Panama it is prob
able that the message will not be fin
listed till considerably after Thanksgiv-
ing, and that there will be few con-
situations with Republican Senators and
Representatives over its provisions. In
q general way he plans to be four days
going to Panama and four days return
ing. with a stay of, at least three days
on the Isthmus. He will return from
Cincinnati on the morning of Nov. 9,
and on the morning of Nov. 10 will set
sail from Charleston, S. c., for the
Isthmus. But it is hardly expected that
he will be back in Washington much
before Thanksgiving, and perhaps not
till after that date.
Col. George w. Goethals, the Army
Engineer, who is in charge of the con-
struction of the canal, was in Beverly
the other day, and it was during his
visit there that the President decided
upon his lsthmian trip. The Colonel is
naturally very anxious that the Presi-
dent should come to the Isthmus, and
presented several arguments that had
weight. Altho his stay in the Canal
Zone will be limited at best to few
days, the President wants to investigate
several matters, some of which he
wishes to present for the consideration
of Congress. AS the canal will not be
completed for at least three years, it is
improbable that Congress will give
much attention to those matters of
canal legislation at the short session
this Winter. None the less the Presi-
dent wants to get the subjects up for
discussion and agitation. The date gen.
orally fixed for the completion of the
canal is Jan. 1, 1915, but when Col.
Goethals was in Beverly he told the
President that vessels would probably
be- going thru the canal early in 1914.
Tolls on the Canal.
The most important question which,
in the Presidents opinion, now presses
for attention is that of tolls to be
charged for the use of the canal After
his visit there in November he proposes
to make some suggestions on that topic
He believes that the Government should
soon outline its policy as to tolls, and
make it plain whether the rates shall
be low. so as to encourage a large VOL
ume of traffic forthwith, or whether
they should be fixed comparatively high
with a view to obtaining as early as
may be return for the S400, 900, 900 the
Government is investing in the enter
prise The interest charge of that in
vestment will amount to about SO, ,000,-
600 q year, to say nothing of the oper-
ating expenses This is a great deal
more than the Suez Canal cost, and
must be considered, the President be-
Heves, in connection with the compe-
tition of the SueZ Canal for 'round-the-
world traffic.
OF course, the Suez Canal is 80 miles
long, where the Panama Canal will be
approximately so miles long. The Suez
tolls are five francs per gross ton; but
the owners of 'round-theworld vessels
and their, cargoes must consider under
all the circumstances whether ii is more
economical to use the Suez or the Pan
anna Canal and in some instances also
whether it would be better to send
ships around South America or to route
ocean freight by the Tehuantepec Rail-
road across the Republic of Mexico.
The fact that the Hawaiian
Line has ordered a considerable num-
Der of new steamships and that that
line is now sending freight by the Te-
huantepec route has been considered
by the President as presenting a ques-
ton of the feasibility of the Panama
Canal for those American-Hawaiian
ships.
The International Congress of Steam
ship Owners, which is an influential
body in determining ocean freight rates,
meets during 1911 in London. The
President believes it would be wise to
let it be shown how high freight is to
be taxed by the Panama Canal, for the
effect ii would have upon the deliDera-
tions of that steamship congress.
But there are several other matters
in the Presidents mind that impel him
to take the Isthmian trip in November
s.
One is the future government of the
Canal Zone. He favors fortifying the
canal. and will ask Congress this Winter
TO vote a considerable appropriation for
that purpose. He asked for an appro-
priation last Winter but it was not
given on the ground that there would
be plenty of time another year The
fOrtificatiOn of the canal means that
there will be two great forts, one at
either entrance. 1t has been suggested
in Army circles that il would do well
TO have the entire Canal Zone all the
way across the Isthmus considered as
an Army fort. and have the government
Of the Canal Zone entirely under the
Army.
@>Goethals favors that idea, as he
naturally would, being an Army man.
and his recommendations, as one who
has taken hold of the canal construc-
ton work and who is carrying it thru
to a successful culminatio will un-
doubtedly have some weight. The Pres
ident. however. is not committed en-
tirely TO the idea yet but is giving 1t
some thought along with other sugges-
tions for the government of the Zone.
At present the government of the Zone
is directly under the Executive. and ii
may be continued that way. Congress
will have the final say probably.
Tho Panama Railroad, Etc.
The disposition of the Panama Rail-
road. which the United States Govern
ment now owns, is also another prob
lem that will sooner or later face the
Administration. The Secretary of War
Is now the dominating authority over
the management Of that road. When