Bisbee daily review., 1914-03-28
UNDER WOOD
 LAUNCHES ATTACK
tcontinued from Page D

ades of our governments existence. The Democratic tariff law that is now on the statute books carries fin it discrimination amounting to reduc. ton of five per cent of the duties on goods imported fin American ships.
 "If we have built the canal for the benefit of an American merchant ma rine and not for tfie practical exclu- sive use of foreign shipping. we must adopt a policy of discrimination in favor of American ships. or we must in. the end pay indirect subsidies to enable our ships to compete with ships of foreign nations. The subsi- dies and discriminations that Euro pean governpents have given to their shipping interests have practically driven American ships from the seas.
 For the reasons given I believe that the Democratic party was both wise and patriotic when 1t announced policy in favor of discriminating fin favor of coastwise ships going through the Panama Canal and that there is no reason at this time wLy we shcul1 abardon a solemn promise made to tho American people in one of the most prominent blanks in our party platform.
 But we are told that we are vio latlng a solemn treaty made with an other nation and in good faith that we should abandon the canal to for eign rivals without contest or dis pute, in order that we may keep our standing in the family of nations.
 Not for one moment do I believe that we have violated a treaty right and not for one moment do believe that the English government seriously | contends that we have violated a treaty right. Our whole difficulty in the matter arises from the un-Ameri- can spirit of surrender that some of our own people have exhibited toward ! this important question from the very | beginning.
 If the Congress had unanimously passed the canal tolls bill two years ago. do not believe that the question would ever have been raised that we do not have the right to exempt Amer ] ican ships from the payment of tolls when we charge foreign ships a fab and equitable rate for their passage thhough the canal. Great Britain charges s13O for the passage througl a canal that cost only one.third of what 1t cost us to build the Panama Canal and our tolls charge is only | $l.20 net per ton.
 It seems to me clear that it does not lie within the mouth of great Brit ain or any foreign nation to complain that we have not given them fair and ! equitable treatment in the tolls that we have charged for the passage of their ships through the canal.
 There is a more serious question involved in the passage of this bill. The right to discriminate in favor of our ships, the opportunity to encour- age our shipping and 10 increase our commerce are matters of vital import ance but they pale into insignificance when compared with the attack on the sovereignty of our country in the Canal Zone.
 "The power to build the Canal, our Constitution rests in the war power of the United States. We built the Canal primarily as an addition to ou' war power as 1t permits the quicker transfer of our naval forces from one ocean to another Its inland lake pro vides a harbor of refuge in which our navies can rendezvous. and, as occa- sion offers. strike either ocean. The advocates of Great Britain take the position that we are forbid den to discriminate in favor of our own vessels of commerce. and as ves sels of commerce and war are named together. how long will it be before the same advocate of the British con tention will advise us that we cannot discriminate in fayor of our own war vessels.
 "The contention of those advocating the British claim seems almost ab surd when we recognize that 1t we ad init them for vessels of commerce the same reasoning will require us to ad- init them for vessels of war. To do so would convert the Canal in time of war into liability instead of an as. set. Of course we made no such con tract. We give to all nations obsery ing certain rules adopted by us cer- tain privileges in the Canal. That did not mean that we proposed to build ! Canal at our own expense and then surrender it's sovereignty to all other nations.
 There is no word in the treaties that even by implication denies our right to give free tolls to our vessels
 fin any trade, and the day will yet come when we will free our vessels , from tolls in the foreign trade. But we have yet to consider the most serious surrender that the advocates of the
 British Contentious desire to make, 3 that Is, to make the admission that
 we are not sovereign in the Cana,
 Zone.
 . By your vote you are asked to rat 5 fly for all time to come the British
 desire that we surrender sovereignty of the Canal Zone and admit that it is 3 an international waterway in which