The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-05-07

SonLlnued FROM rage one.
find itself reversed by a congress We,
to be elected.
This question Of tolls" said the
senator lis but an incident in a great
contest now in it's initial stage, which
may determine the control Of the
Panama ana for all time. The con
struction Of the canal will rank among
the worlds wonders, but the opinion
of mankind will pronounce the ur-
render of our sovereignty over it a
colossal blunder and a triumph OF
British diplomacy.
Il know there is a vague suspicion
that diplomatic reasons require this
national abaSement, but my judgment,
maturely formed and based upon such
information as is available, is that the
gravity of our international relations
has been grossly, though unconscious
ly, exaggerated. The American people
want peace, out they fear no power on
earth. Shadows cannot disturb a brave
man. They should not alarm a brave
and intrepid people.
n senator questions the patriotism
and high purpose of the president, but
il legislation is to be made dependent
upon his viii alone, no one can pre-
dict the mischief to which such a
precedent will expose this government
in future years. l believe that the
Iassage of this bill compromises the
dignity and honor of the country, and
before the deed is contaminated. | en-
ter my solemn protest against what l
conceive to be a betrayal Of the Amer
lean people
Senator O'Gorman further sought to
show thai exemption of American
coastWise vessels is a wise economic
policy; that If such vessels fall with
In the terms of the Hay-Pauncefote
treaty. exemption does not constitute
q violation thereof and that the canal
has been constructed on territory over
which the United States is sovereign
while the canal contemplated in the
treaty was to be built on alien soil,
and therefore the treaty is %inapplic-
able.
"Exempting coastwise craft from
the payment of tolls" he continued,
will reduce the cost of shipping
through the canal to a minimum, and
thereby compel competing roads in the
United states and Canada to reduce
their rates to a competitive basis. The
more expensive you make water trans
p~ortation the greater latitude you eX-
tend to thu railroads in the fixing Of
their rates. Place a toll on the domes-
tic shipping and for every dollar you
collect by way of toll you enable the
duS W llIhAS q SOAA SopOAIdiAlS li
crease in their rates. 1t vas hoi,ed by
some that the exemption to the coast
wise trade might be followed in the
near future by a like exemption to the
few American ships now engaged in
the foreign trade, but deny this privi-
lege to the Coastwise vessels now and
you make it forever impossible to con-
fer it Upon the ships engaged in over
seas trade.
~ know it is said that free tolls
will simply enrich the ship-oWner and
confer no benefit on the producer and
consumer. Well, If free tolls will not
decrease the cost to the consumer, i'm
posing tolls on the other canals Of the
country will not increase the cost to
the consumer. I suppose o will
make your system uniform. Perhaps
this is part of a program to impose
tolls on the Shipping of the other canals
Of the country"
The senator argued that it is a we'll
known principle of international law
that conditions in any international
agreement cease to be obligatory
. -. &. 81 '.H-"-.