The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1912-08-27
TAFT SIGNS PAN
ANA CANAL BILL

At 7:09 O'Clock Saturday night
President Taft signed the Panama
canal bill with a gold pen supplied by
William R. Wheeler, representative of
the San Francisco Chamber of Com
merce. Mr.. Wheeler and few 9TH
ers who have been prominent in advo-
eating free tolls for American ships
and who fought against railroad own
ed ships using the canal, were present
when the president affixed his sigma
ture to the measure at the White
house.
Wheeler told the president that
signing the Panama bill put the final
touch to the greatest piece of con-
structive legislation of this congress
sional session, and Taft said he agreed
with them. The gold pen was pre-
served as trophy by the Chamber of
Commerce
After signing the canal bill the
president sent to congress a memoran-
dun suggesting the advisability of the
passage of a resolution which would
declare that this measure was not con-
sidered by this government a violation
of the treaty provisions regarding the
canal.
In discussing the British protest
against the exemption of American
shipping from the payment Of tolls for
the use of the canal, Taft SAYS the ir-
resistihle conclusion to be drawn from
| it is that although the United
Stotes owns, controls and has paid for
the canal, it is restricted by treaty
aiding its own commerce in the way
/ that all the other nations of the world
may freely do''
Rights of United States.
In view of the fact,' Taft n
tinued, "that the Panama canal is be-
/ ing constructed by the United States
wholly at its own cost, upon territory
ceded to it by the Republic of Pana-
ma for that purpose, and that unless it
! has restricted itself the United States
enjoys absolute rights of ownership
and control, including the right to al
low its own commerce the use of the
canal upon such terms as it sees fit
the sole question is: Has the United
States, by the terms of the Hay Paun-
eefote treaty, deprived itself of the
exercise of the right to pass its own
comerce free, or to remit tolls collect
ed for the use of the canal?'
] The president pointed out that the
rules specified in the article of the
treaty which is made the basis for the
/ British protest were adopted by the
United States as the ''basis of neu-
tralization of the canal and for no
other purpose. -
The article, he SAYS, "is decla-
ration of policy by the United States
that the canal shall be neutral that
the attitude of this government toward
the commerce of the world is that all
nations will be treated alike ard no
discrimination made by the United
States against any one of them observ-
ing the rules adopted by the United
States. In other words, it was a con-
ditional favored nation treatment, the
measure of which. in the absence of
express stipulation to that effect, is
not what the country gives to it's own
nationals, but the treatment it extends
! to other nations.
"Thus it is seen that the rules are
but the basis of naturalization, intend
ed to affect the neutrality which the
United States was willing should be
the character of the canal, and not in.
tended to limit or hamper the United
States in the exercise of it's sovereign
power to deal with it's own commerce.
using its own canal in whatsoever
manner it saw ft.'
British Protest Absurd.
| The president argues that if there
! is nothing in the Hay Poncefote
treaty preventing Great Britain and
the other nations from extending fa-
vors to their shipping using the canal
and if there is nothing that gives the
United States any supervision over or
right to complain of such action
"then the British protest leads to the
absurd conclusion that the government
constructing, maintaining and defend
ing the canal finds itself shorn of it's
right to deal with its own comerce in
its own way, while all other nations
using the canal in competition with
American commerce enjoy that right
and power unimpaired.
"The British protest, therefore, is a
proposal to read into the treaty sur
render by the United States of it's
own way, and by its own method, a
right which neither Great Britain her
self nor any other nation that may use
the canal has surrendered or proposes
to surrender
In his memorandum the president
dissents from the view that permission
to register foreign built vessels as YES
sells of the United States for foreign
trade. and the admission without duty
of ship materials, will interfere with
the shipbrilding interests of the Unit
ed States. He approves the amendment
of the interstate commerce act where
by railroad companies are forbidden to
own or control ships operated through
the canal.
He also approves the provision
which prevents the owner of any
steamship who is guilty of violating
the antitrust law from using the
canal.