Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-19
PANAMA CANAL TOLLS.
VIII-Traffic and Shipping Routes.
By Frederic J. Haskin.

That the United States has been build
| ing for the future in the construction OF
the Panama canal is evidenced by corh-
parison between the amount or shlppihs
| in sight for the opening of the canal anu
| the amount 1t can ACCOMMODATES Lie
| studies of Prof Emory X. Johnson the
| traffic expert upon whose research the
rates of toll have been fixed. indicate tha1
the shipping which will use the canal III
| 1919 will approximate 1O,oOo,OOo net reg
lister tons. The ultimate capacity Of the
| big waterway is S0OOO.O0O tons or nearly
eight times as much as there is IN slGht.
Prof. Johnson concludes that the ex-
pansion of the business of the canal VIII
go forward at the rate of about I'd per
cent a decade. At that rate we VIII nave
II 100000 tons in 1925, 2I.OoVOo tons III
1c3J. 100000 tons in 1919 and the maxi
mum capacity in some sixty years. But
even then the possibilities will not nave
been reached. An additional storage res
eryoir above Gamboa and another
track of locks. making the lock part
of the canal correspond to triple track
instead of double track railway. VIII III
crease the capacity OF the canaL 10 d
point far beyond the hundred illlon-ton
mark
| There are different ideas as to how the
United states should proceed in the mat
ter of fixing tolls. Whatever disposition
| is made of the controversy over the rlgh
| of the United States to exempt ccastWlse
traffic 1t is but reasonable to expect that
| the United States will reckon the toll rate
| Oh a basis including American coastWlse
shipping or else would be placing
greater burdens on the English shipping
| than upon our own. In other words. we
| may exempt the coastwise shipping from
| the payment Of tolls, but in the determl-
nation of the rate we certainly will have
! to include IL.
In making this rate some think that
only the actual cost of operation and
| maintenance ought
Basis of Fixing to be considered.
| This will amount to
Rate OF lois. about 100000 a
year-with an additional annuity of
quarter of a million dollars to the repub-
lie CT Panama for our use of the Canal
Zone On this basis the rate of toll ina,
would make the canal self-supportihS
| from the beginning, assuming an addi-
| tional tonnage of 100000 tons, would DE
| about 80 cents per register ton or less
| than 20 cents rer cargo ton
| Others assume that we ought to fix a
| rate of toll that will not only meet all
|
will afford us fair interest on our IN
vestment They regard per cent as
| fair interest. That would bring the total
| I'D to SO, 500 eco a year. and at the rate
of toll fixed today 20 per net register
! ton-the canal will begin to he self-sup-
porting in about three years after Its
! opening.
! Still others claim that every item OF
| expense in connection with the operation
| of the canal ought to be met by the tolls.
They would add to the So. 1000 the cost
| of protecting the canal which would
bring up the total Approximately TO s2',-
| 100000 The estimates of the cost OF pro-
| tecting the canal contemplate an annual
expenditure of 81. 100000 for coast artil-
| lery. s6,CGU,000 for infantry, I,0Oo,oU for
| field artillery and 81 ,2O0,ctD for marines
| On the basis of charging i'll these things
as a part of the cost of maintaining the
| iSthmian waterway 1T would be about
| twenty years before the canal would be-
come Self-Sustaining.
Even on that basis which is not the
| basis upon which our present tolls are
| fixed. by the time the maximum capacity
| of the canal is reached the United States
! could make a rate of less than 40 cents
a net register ton. The basis OF toll-
| fixing recommended by Prof. Johnson is
| that which contemplates meeting the
operating expenses. the interest on the
investment and the annual payment to
| Panama Upon this basis, when the
| maximum capacity of the canal is
rate of 20 cents a ton and have enough
left over ultimately to wipe out the cost
of building the canal.
Prof Johnson thinks that will get
about S13. 100000 a year out of the canal
when we open it, which will be brought
up to twenty million in ten years-theSe
figures including coastwise shipping. If
coastwise shipping should be exempted
from consideration as well as from the
actual payment of tolls, the canal reve-
nues would not make it self-supporting in
the first decade. Leaving that traffic out
of the reckoning, and considering only
the foreign shipping. the revenues will
start I'm at about $11,0O0.OOO year and
will rise to about $17.OOo.OOO by the end Of
the first decade. The rate of $1.2O ton
net register. which has been fixed, is
identical with that being made at Suez
today. 1t is thought that in few years
Suez will put the rate below that point,
and Prof. Johnson thinks we always will
have to meet the Suez rate.
With the growth of traffic he thinks
that we can, in the second decade, reduce
the tolls to or be-
Gut IN I0llS low 81 a ton, and
in Second Decade. s gpaaua permit re0s she
ment of the cost of building the canal.
Beginning in 1928 he would start a plan
of amortization that would repay the
United States for the expense of building
the canal in one hundred years, by es-
tablishing a sinking fund Of l per cent
per year. At that time the revenues,
based on all traffic, would take care of
maintenance and operation, government
and sanitation, interest, the Panama an
nuity and leave $3,75O,O00 a year for the
sinking fund.
There will be one item Of revenue which
the Suez canal will enjoy that the Pan
anna canal will not. The former charges
about 81 for each passenger above twelve
years old passing through it. and half
fare for children above three years of
age. Some 0,0OO passengers go through
the canal annually. The United States
has exempted passengers from any
charge, asserting that it amounts to
double charge when calculating the space
they occupy as "a part of the net tonnage