Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1911-11-17
BUSINESS METHODS
RPANAMACAN
BEcRErARY OF WAR sTlMsoN
ALSO ADVOCATES MILITARY
INFLUENCE.
BIG DITCH WILL SOON Be DONE
Says Tolls Should Be Fixed Without
0eIay.-Sounds Warning Against
Continuation Of Railroad
Control.

AoHSoS OAIy, A>OV. 1O."4 u0 IdAo"6
canal will be without any form of con.
troll the day it is opened for naviga-
ton, unless congress acts in the mean
time.
When congress does act, it should
provide for the administration of the
canal as . business enterprise with q
large military influence.
Executive control is the best means
Of obtaining business management.
The tolls should be fixed by the in.
terstate commerce commission.
Tolls paid by American.owned YES.
sells should be RENTED by the govern.
ment.
The canal should be specially safe
guarded against continuation Of rail.
road control.
These declarations were made by
Henry L. Stimson, secretary of war,
in an address before the Commercial
club of Kansas City. The talk was
in the main an amplification of that
delivered by President Taft at Mime.
apolis.
Secretary Stimson took advanced
ground as to every problem involved
in the prospective management Of the
canal and charged specifically that
the railroads once paid the Panama
Railroad company $4,000 a month
with the object Of suppressing its
traffic"
He called attention to the fact that
although there will be water enough
in the canal to float small boats
throughout its length by the close Of
the rainy season which commences
next May and while the canal will be
fully ready for ocean traffic, through
our own neglect no provision has been
made for it's operation.
As soon as the canal Is completed
the presidents authority over 1t will
cease unless congress comes to the
rescue. A great economic loss will be
involved in allowing the present splen-
didly efficient force of employees to dis.
integrate, when SO much of it will be
needed for the permanent operation Of
the canal.
The country is worthless for agri
cultural purposes. said Mr.. Stimson,
being mainly a stropical Jungle or low,
rocky hills, and it is preposterous to
think of it ever forming basis for an
American farming settlement.
Military Problem Up.
The secretary declares that at the
bottom, the canal presents military
problem. For defensive purposes it
will double the capacity Of our fleet
and to have it blockaded at a critical
moment in our national life, either by
accident or design, might be quite as
disastrous as having 20 of our bat
tleships sunk at sea.
Only a continually vigilant exercise
Of the administrative power could in
sure as against possible contagion, -
this strip of land was notorious for
400 years as a plague spot Of the
Americas. In the operation of the ca.
nal the president should be given
free hand, using such forms OF admin
Istrative government as he may devise.
What is needed is method flexible
enough to meet the new and uncertain
problems which are bound to arise.
The Panama canal will have at least
three great competitors, in the secre-
tary's judgment: the Suez canal, the
Tehauntepec route, and our own trans
continental railroads.
The amount of commerce that will
use the Panama route will be deter
mined largely by the question Of tolls.
II a dollar a ton of freight per thou
sand miles represents the coal con-
sumption of the freight steamers, every
dollar charged as tolls for the canal
will neutralize thousand miles Of the
advantage in distance which the Pana-
ma route may have over any COMPETE
tor. There should be an administra-
tive body or officers with power to
fix tolls and to change them to meet
changing trade conditions and compe.
tition.