The daily sentinel., 1914-03-31
The Debated provision.


Then in 1901 with the Republican
I party in control of all branches of
our government, the Hay-Paunce-
foote treaty stands thus;
The canal shall be free and
open, In time OF war as In time
of peace, to the vessels of COM
merce and war of all nations, on
terms of entire equality, so that
there shall be no discrimination
against any nation or its citi-
! zens as subjects in respect of
/ the conditions or charges of traf-
! fic or otherwise"
II does not require a Philadelphia
( lawyer to interpret that language
/ It's as plain as a pike staff.
/ But the shipping trust says that II
was not mean to apply TO ooastwise
shipping. and the trust was able. with
the assistance OF n minority of the
Democrats and n majority OF the Re
publicans in the last house. to write
its Interpretation of the treaty into
the law fixing the tolls on the Pan
anna canal, and thus to insure the
free passage of its ships through the
canal.
The Money Prize.
We have many absurd navigation
LAWS bui tAt Wiz WHICH may Dt ut
scribed as the quintessence of folly
is that which provides that only
American-owned ships may carry
freight between our ports, At one
time It required that ships must be
American-built. as we'll as Ameri-
can-owned. This law made the for
nation of the shipping trust very
simple matter, and it is now esti-
mated that 93 per cent of the ves-
sells engaged In the coastwise trade
which Will pass through the canal,
are owned by the combine. The
tolls on these vessels would amount
to more than one million dollars a
year. That's the money prize which
IL involved In this Panama canal tolls
struggle.
Congressional investigation has re-
vealed the fact that the shipping
trust and the trans-continental rail-
roads are on the best OF terms; and
that II we are to, secure lower freight
rates as the result OF the opening of
the canal. additional and very drastic
legislation must be enacted. Experts
have proven that the cost of carrying
freight from the Atlantic to the Pa
cific coast by water-with the maxi
mum canal toll added-will be one
third less than the cost of transfer
ring 1t by rail across the continent.
| So 1t Is not necessary to remit the
toll In order to enable our ships to
compete with our railroads. Free
tolls do not mean lower freight rates,
but they do mean increased dividends
for the shipping trust.
Canadn's Advantage.
The other day l received q letter
from lumber man in the state of
! Washington complaining that he
could not sell his lumber in the cit
les on the Atlantic coast in competi-
tion with Canadian lumber. An in
vestigation showed that the Canadian
had Just two advantages over his
American competitor: First, the lum-
ber trust was charging the American
an excessive price for "stumpage,
while the Canadian was paying a
reasonable price for the timber he cut
on the government lands in his coun-
try Second, the Canadian could ship
his lumber from Vancouver to New
York, Boston or Philadelphia in any
ship which offered to take the cargo,
while the American is restricted to
American-owned boats, and In most
instances to the vessels of the ship
ping trust. Is 1t any wonder that the
lumber business is languishing in
the orthwestern states while ii
flourishes Just across the border in
Canada?
or course, our protectionist
friends will shout TARIFF TAR
IFF!' but the fact is that the tariff
has nothing to DO with the case. 1t
costs Just as much to saw lumber on
the Canadian as on the. American
side OF the international boundary
line. But on the American side we
have permitted the lumber trust tc
gobble up most of our timber land
and the remainder have been taken
off the market and placed in forest
reserves, and we have turned oui
shipping over to the shipping trust
On the Canadian side they are not
afflicted with these twin evils. Oi
course. We can not compete with
them under these conditions, and we
never will compete with them until
we give our people something like a
/ square deal.
Wilson has put his hand to the
plow by calling for the repeal of the
exemption clause in the Panama ca
nal act and he may be depended or
not to turn back until he has finished
the job.