Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-10-05
THE PANAMA CANAL AT WORK
By Frederic J. Haskin

THE Panama Canal is primarily
! a great national business ven
ture The American people have
put millions of money and thousands
of lives into it's construction. To an
UNUSUAL extent the nation is conscious
OF the canal as splendid thing which
it has done and which 1t owns.
Naturally, the American citizen wants
70 know how his canal Is coming along
pay the Federal taxes, or make them
heavier. He may now be assured that
the canal is prospering from a COM
mercial point of view, beyond the most
daring prophesy. Although it has been
IN operation only a year, during which
time half the shipping Of the world has
yielded a profit upon its operation, not
counting overhead charges.
The volume of business done as
shown by the tolls collected month by
month, just about doubled between Au-
gust, 1914, when the canal opened, and
increasing at anything like the same
rate, in fifteen years it will not only be
paying a profit upon, its operation and
maintenance, but will be meeting the
interest on the debt, and rapidly amor
tizing the loan.
a t is costing about $4,000 day to
however. they are bound to reach an
angle of repose. Whenever that hap
pens the. largest item of operating ex-
pense Will be removed and profits in
creased between three and four mil
lions a year.
The working of the Panama Canal
among number of different depart
ments. The operation and mainte-
nance of the canal itself are only one of
these It cost s4,12s,O00 to operate it
during its first year while the tolls
collected were S4,343,0OO, so that the
asetqal operation yielded a profit of
Have Paying Store
Another profitable phase of the canal
| government is its commissary. This
gigantic store kept up by Uncle Sam
did business of S6,186000, upon which
It madN profit of about $4,000. The
commlssary department maintains all
OF the stores in the zone, which sell to
the employees at very reasonable prices.
There are; fifteen of these stores doing
a business that varies all the way from
$4,000 to $4,000 a year. Canal en-
ployes purchase from the ~commissary
by means of books of script and the
amount of these issued each month is
worth of supplies to steamships passing
through the canal. These Government
stores keep on hand a stock worth over
million dollars, and If you have the
good fortune to be an employe you can
buy from them almost anything you
want al the lowest market prices.
The competition these stores give to
the merchants of Panama is one of the
problems faced by the canal govern
ment. From the Panamanian point of
view, Uncle Sam has brought an i'm
mense lot of business to the Isthmus.
but he has also taken care of all of it
himself. Furthermore, many who are
not employees of the canal govern
ment wish to buy from the govern
ment stores An arrangement has now
been made with the local merchants,
whereby Panamanian may purchase
| from Uncle Sam, provided he will pay
a Is per cent. duty to the Panama Gov
ernment and bring a certificate show
ing that the merchants of Panama have
not the desired article in stock Thus
the Government is assured of its in
come, and the merchant is not robbed
of any business which he is able to
handle