El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-11-03
BRITISH PLAN TO
PROFIT BY CANAL
ShipOwners Build Vessels on the
Chance That United States VIII
Not Grant Preferential Tolls.

ShipOwners Build Vessels on the
Chance That United States VIII
Not Grant Preferential Tolls.
London, Eng. Nov. S.-British ship
owners and merchants, in every line
of produce and manufacture, have care
fully laid plans for any change that
will come over the trade Of the world
as a result Of the opening Of the Pan
ana 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 every
case it will be found that the steam
ers built OF building are generally of
/ the size considered most suitable for
the transit Of the canal. COaling sta
tions also are being arranged for in
order that steamers using the canal
may coal, if necessary, between Colon
and England, and generally speaking,
everything possible is being done to
enable England to hold the supremacy
she has attained in the worlds mari
time trade.
Englishmen. however, always con-
sentative, do not believe that the rev.
olution viii be an immediate one. They
are planning for a gradual expansion
of trade which the ships now in exist
ence or in prospect will be quite able
to take care of. Probably one of the
major T. R Jones, formerly American
consul at Cardiff, who for many years
has been editor Of Shipping World
In an interview major Jones said:
Several of our leading British ship
owners trading with the Central Amer
lean states, the Dominion of Canada
and the American states on the Pacific
have built and are building ships to
meet the business which the Panama
route IS expected to create especially
between the Atlantic and Pacific In
doing this they have ignored the pos
S1bllity of the granting OF preferential
canal tolls to American cOasting ton
mage using the canal They frankly
believe that the United States will
never carry out this idea. Should
they be right, and the tonnage ready
to use the canal the first year be TO-
800 600 tons and the tolls S125 a ton
the interest charges and working ex-
penses- Should the American coasting
tonnage. however, be exempt from tolls
the whole OF the interest and working
ciDally British, shipoWners, and this
Of course would place them at q dis
advantage
The dominating factors governing
the traffic of the Panama canal viii
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 Pan
ANA route As I have already indi-
Gated, the Panama tolls are to be t125
per ton. The Suez dues on ships with
cargo are 6.25 francs (s125) at present,
but ships in ballast are allowed a re-
bate of ESQ francs (50 cents) per ton
"on full transit 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 1t should
be remembered also that as the pronts
increase the tonnage charges are re-
duced by the Suez. Whether this pol
icy may be practicable after the open
Ing OF the Panama canal, when a good
deal of tonnage may be withdrawn
from the Suez waterway. remains to be
seen"