The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-08
SENATOR O'GORMAN
 AND BRISTOW LEAD FIGHT IN OPPOSITION
 TO REPEAL OF TOLLS
Continued from Page One)

TO REPEAL OF TOLLS
 tContinued from Page One)
 
 of the toll subject He discovered nc ground in International law which would forbid exemption of American coastwise ships from toll payment, saw behind the repeal movement the hand of the rail. roads and declared that failure to i'm pose tax could not be called a sub sdy.
 The senator warned his democratic col leagues that to repeal the exemption was to violate the pledges of the Baltimore platform and to reverse the verdict of the people when they elected President Wilson last November on that platform.
 Senator O'Gorman said that inasmucf as former Presidents Roosevelt and Taft and preceding Congress agreed that coastwise vessels should be exempt an- other Congress should think twice before giving it's approval to the repeal bill, for it in turn might find itself reevrsed by q Congress yet to be elected
 This question of tolls.' said the sena- tor, 'fs but an incident in a great con test onw in it's initial stage, which may determine the control of the Panama ca nal for all time. The construction of the canal will rank among the worlds won ders. but the opinion of mankind will pronounce the surrender of our sovereign ty over it colossal blunder and a triumph of British diplomacy.
 T know there is vague suspicion that diplomatic reasons require this na- tional abasement, but my judgment, ma turely formed and based upon such in- formation as is available. is that the gravity of our international relations has 'been grossly though unconsciously. ex- aggerated The American people want peace, but they fear no power on earth. Shadows cannot disturb brave man. They should not alarm a brave and in- trepid people.
 Patriotism Not Questioned
 ''No senator questions the patriotism and high purposes of the President, but if legislation is to be made dependent upon his will alone. no one can predict the mischief to which such a precedent will expose this government in future years. I believe that the passage of this bill compromises the dignity and honor of the country and before the deed is consummated, I enter my solemn protest against what I conceive to be a betrayal of the American people,
 Senator O'Gorman further sought to show that exemption of American coast wise vessels is wise economic policy; that if such vessels fall within the terms of the IIay-Pauncefote treaty, exemption does not constitute a violation thereof and that the canal has been constructed on territory over which the United States is sovereign while the canal contemplat- ed In the treaty was to be built on alien soil and therefore the treaty is inapplicable.
 "Exempting coastws- craft from the payment of tolls" he continued, Twill reduce the cost of shipping through the canal to a minimum. and thereby com pei competing roads in the United States and Canada to reduce their rates to a competitive basis. The more expensive you make water transportation the great CT latitude you extend to the railroads in the fixing of their rates. Place a toll on the domestic shipping and for every dol lar you collect by way of toll you enable the railroads to make a corresponding increase in their rates. It was hoped by some that the exemption to the coast wise trade might be followed in the near future by like exemption to the few American ships now engaged in the for eign trade but deny this privilege to the coastwise vessels now and you make il forever impossible to confer it upon the ships engaged In overseas trade.
 Make System Uniform
 "T know it is said that free tolls will simply enrich the shipowner and confer no benefit on the producer and consumer.
 Well, if free tolls will not decreas SC the cost to the consumer, imposing tolls on the other canals of the country will not increase the cost to the consumer. I suppose you will make your system uni form Perhaps this is part of a pro- gramme to impose tolls on the shipping of the other canals of the country
 The senator argued that 1t is well known principle of international law that conditions in any international agree ment cease to be obligatory when the state of facts on which they were founded has ceased to exist or has been changed. He pointed out that when the United States became the sovereign of the Panama canal zone and it became United States territory, the Hay-Paunce- fote treaty no longer bound the United States.
 To back up this contention. the senator showed that England fortified the Suez canal after Egypt became British terri tory, and that when the great powers which were parties to the convention under which that canal was constructed, raised objection, the British government relied upon this same principle of inter- national law. He said that since Great Britain had recognised the American right to fortify the canal, forbidden in the treaty, it had recognized a changed condition which makes the entire treaty imperative
 Must Stand Or Fall
 "The treaty. said he, must stand or fall as a whole. Under the doctrine rec ognixed by the British government, the treaty Is imperative as to the new &C., qusred territory Of the United States. and the canal constructed on American terri tory at Panama Is no more affected by the Hay-Pauncefote treaty than would be a canal built across any other part of the soil of the United 6tates''
 The senator in conclusion declared that the provision of the treaty that the canal shall be free and open to tho vessels of commerce and war of all nations" cannot be interpreted to include coastwise ships, because vessels of commerce have been defined as those engaged in international trade.
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