The Sentinel=record., 1914-04-18
MEMBERS OF NEW YORK CHAM BIER OF COMMERCE BEFORE
 COMMITTEE FOR REPEAL.
WOULD BE A SHIP SUBSIDY
Wordy Conflict is Started Between New York Business Men and Mem. bers of Committee Who Are op- posed to Repeating the Clause.

Washington, April 17.-Support for the proposed repeal of the Panama tolls. exemption was given today b4- fore the senate canals committee by representatives of the New York chamber of commerce. who said the organization had approved a repeal by an overwhelming majority Their testimony caused a wordy conflict between Senator Brlstow, opposing repeal, and Edward E. Page, a mem Der of the chamber, as we'll as of the New York Marchants' association.
 After Mir Page had advocated re- peal to avoid breaking q contract. Senator Bristow asked whether re- peal supporters could not be called violators of contracts.
 Those are catch words used by demagogues, replied the witness, but l do not intend to use any per sonalities. l do not believe repeal opponents have a right to question the loyalty of those on the other side"
 Senator Bristow wanted to know whether the New York chamber of commerce had not been chartered originally before the American revo. lution. MT. Page replied that that was true, but that it now had char ter from the state of New York.
 MT. Page declared national honor and character were business assets to a nation and that American indus tries in future would largely be de- pendent on exports. Business men could do little if the nation did no, keep it's contracts, he added
 Eugene IF. Outerbridge, an inn porter and exporter, said opinion of business men with whom he had talked was against exemption of the American vessels from tolls. He ex- pressed that the effect of the canal on the railroads will be decisive, add ing:
 tI have no doubt that the great amount of heavy bulk of freight now going by transcoltinental roads will go by the canal regardless of the question of tols"
 Welding Ring, member of the ex' ecutive board of the New York cham Der, favored repeal on the ground that exemption was subsidy and violated treaty obligations. The Mer chants association, a larger organiza. tion than the chamber of commerce. he said, had gone on record for ex- emption.
 A telegram approving of President Wilson's course on the tolls question, signed by Richard Olney, attorney general in President Cleveland's cabi- net, and other Massachusetts citi- zens, was read by Senator Simmons.
 Henry White, secretary of the American embassy at London when the HayJPauncefote treaty was nego- tiated said in a letter read by Sena. tor Simmons to supplement- Mir Whites recent testimony before the committee, thaat he believed the idea that by repeating the exemption clause the United States surrenders to Great Britian future controol over the canal to be erroneous.
 A wrong impression was conveyed, it developed today. regarding the testimony of Prof. S. S. Huebaer of the University of Pennsylvania sev- eral days ago relating to the percent age of coastwise ships controlled by railroads or conferences What Pro- lessor Huebner said was that "ap- proximately 90 per cent of the regu- lar steamship line services" on tho Atlantic coast and 30 per cent on the Pacific coast was controlled by rail- roads or conferences"
 He did not mean to include in this. as reported, all ships, including tramp carriers, engaged in coastwise trade.