Arizona republican., 1913-11-11
Colonel Geo. w. Gocthals, Chief Engineer of the Isthmian COmmis sion NJ a keS Announcement Concerning Completion.
NO DEFINITE
 DATE IS SET
British Ship Owners and Merchants In Every Line Are Carefully Laying Plans for Any Changes Canal May Produce.
ASSOCIATED PRESS DIsPATCH1

! George w. Goethals, chief engineer of the Isthmian Canal commission, in a letter to the san Francisco chamber l of commerce. writes that the Panama canal will be ready for navigation in 1 January or February, 1914. Goethals 1 says it is his plan to pass one of the ! large Panama Railroad steamships first and after that other shipping will be put through.
 Because of the uncertainties result ing from the recent slides, the work ] of clearing away will not permit any definite statement as to the date when the first ship will be allowed to pass through the locks.
 LONDON. Nov 10.-British ship owners and merchants, in every line of produce and manufacture. have carefully laid plans for any change that will come over the trade of the world as a result of the opening of the Panama canal.
 All the big shipping companies that have interests in the countries directly benefited by the new waterway, have either added to their tonnage or made preparations for doing so, and in ev- l cry case it will be found that the steamers built or building are gen eraIly of the size considered most suitable for the transit of the canal. l CoaIing stations also are being ar ranged for in order that steamers us i ing the canal may coal, if necessary, between Colon and England, and gen 1 orally speaking, everything possible is i being done to enable England to hold | the supremacy she has attained in the worlds maritime trade.
 | EngIishmen, however. always con l servatfve. do not believe that the ] revolution will be an immediate one. i They are planning for a gradual ex pansiOn of trade which the ships now
 in existence or in prospect will be quite able to take care of. Probably one of the best authorities on this question is Major F. E. Jones, for
 merly American consul at Cardiff. who for many years has been editor
 of shipping World" Tn a recent interview Major Jones said:
 Several of our leading British ship
 owners trading with the Central
 American states, the Dominion of i Canada and the American states on
 the Pacific have built and are build ing ships to meet business which the Panama route is expected to create especially between the Atlantic and Pacific In doing this they have ig- nored the possibility of the granting of preferential tolls to American coasting tonnage using the canal i They frankly believe that the United States will never carry out this idea. Should they be right, and the ton mage ready to use the canal the first year be 10,500,000 tons and the tolls $125 a ton. the income will be suf- ficient to meet the interest charges ! and working expenses. Should the
 American coasting tonnage, however, be exempt from tolls, the whole of the interest and working expenses will fall upon foreign, principally British, ship owners and this of course would place them at a disadvantage:
 The dominating factors governing the traffic of the Panama canal will be distances and expense; that is to say. tolls and dues, and consideration of these will often turn the scale in favor of either the Suez or the Panama route.
 As I have already indicated, the Pana- ma tolls are to be $1.25 Fer ton. The Suez dues on ships. with cargo are 6.25 francs ($I25) at present, but ships ir
 ballast are allowed a rebate of 2.50 francs (50 cents) per ton lon full tran
 sit rate. Particulars as to charges and navigation rules for the Panama
 canal are not yet published therefore comparisons are not possible. But as far as they are known they are in favor of the Suez canal. It should be remem-
 bered also that as the profits increase
 the tonnage charges are reduced by the SueZ. Whether this policy may be practicable after the opening of the Panama canal, when a good deal of | tonnage may be withdrawn from the Suez waterway. remains to be seen.
 Should the proposed immunity of American cOasting tonnage from canal
 tolls be maintained and I do not think
 it will, then the Suez route will always get the benefit of the doubt in respect
 of cost and distance This will apply to
 all Asiatic ports west of Japan; prac-
 tically all Australian ports and Manila,
 yes, and many ports of New Zealand
 and Japan where the distance only ' slightly favors Panama.
 Tt goes without saying that as a
 general proposition, the benefits of the Panama route will be the greatest for
 the countries and centers where the
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