The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1920-09-16
PANAMA CANAL
DOES QUITE WELL
NOT YET PAYING ITS WAY, BUT
THIS WAS NOT EXPECTED BY
THE MOST OPTIMISTIC.
BUSINESS GROWS STEADILY
Number of Commercial Ships Passing
Through the Waterway and the
cargoes Are Increasing Year by
Year.
BY JAMES p. HoRNAOAY.

anna canal come onY This is a ques
ton frequently asked In government
quarters. The answer is that it Il
not yet paying its way but may event
ually do So The great waterway was
not built with the idea that it wOulC
be a money maker. AS matter OF
| TACT It is doing better financially thar
the most optimistic persons had be
lieved it would.
The business of the waterway for
the last fiscal year, a summary OF
which has just reached Washington
shows that during the fiscal year from
July /, 1920 to June 30, 1920, the vol
ume of traffic passing through the ca.
nal exceeded that in any previous -
month period. A total of 247S com
mercial ships made the transit, as
compared with POPS In the fiscal year
ending June 30, 1919 2,13O in the ifs
cal year 1913, and 2,134 in the year
1919.
The number of commercial ships
passing through the canal in the ifs
oal year 1920 was about two-tifths
above the average traffic for the peri
Cd of canal operation. 1t was approx
| imately one-siXth greater than the
number of ships in 1913 and one-fifth
greater than the number in the fiscal
| year 1919
OF the 247S commercial ships MAX
| ing the transit in the last fiscal year,
l,lSO were bound from the Atlantic to
the Pacific and 1,29S from the Pacific
to the Atlantic.
Tonnage and Cargo Compared.
The aggregate net tonnage Of the
commercial ships passing through the
canal in the fiscal year 1920 was S.545,-
653 tons, according to the Panama
canal rules Of measurement. OF this,
4,l6S,S73 tons went from the Atlantic
to the Pacific and 4,376.7S0 tons from
the Pacific to the Atlantic. In the fs-
cal year 1919 the aggregate was g.
| 13l ,575 net tons.
The cargo carried through the canal
by the commercial ships in the fiscal
year 1920 totaiGd 9,374 400 tons of 3
2iO pounds. OF these, 4,092,j16 tons
we're bound from the Atlantic to the
Pacific and 5,2S1, 9S3 tons from the Pa
citic to the Atlantic, The aggregate
cargo in the preceding fiscal year,
carried by commercial ships, was g.
877, $40 tons
In adI IN hA F,.of 10 q
cial ships, 266 vessels passed through
the canal in the service of the United
States government without the pay
ment of tolls. These were practically
all army and navy vessels. They car
ried a total of 365, 1913 tons Of cargo.
In revenues and earnings in excess
OF expenses Of operation and mainte-
nance, new records were. likewise, es-
tablIshed during the fiscal year. The
summation of charges has not been
completed in detail, but the figures in
dictate aggregate revenues apprOxi,nat-
ing $S,S00,0O0 during the year. Ex-
penses of operation and maintenance
including a proportion of overhead, in
which are the expenses of civil govern
ment hospitals, quarantine and SAM
tation, the executive department, the
accounting department, the Washing
ton office, the operation and repairs of
storehouses and quarters, lighting of
streets, operation Of water and sewer
systems, and roads, etc, total about
S6,650,00O This indicates an excess Of
about $2,150000.
No Real Profit Is Shown.
No profit has been made in a com
mercial sense, since there is no CON
sideraton here OF interest charges on
the investment or Of the depreciation
of the plant
The previous record for year for
revenues was made in the fiscal year
1918, in an amount Of S6,4f1, 843.28. In
that year the excess Of revenues over
expenses amounted to S49l, 500.34, be-
ing greater than that in any fiscal
year prior to the fiscal year 1920.
In the fiscal year 1919 revenues
amounted to $6,354,016.9S, and the
earnings above the cost of mainte-
nance and operation were $24l, S22.21.
TO the beginning Of the fiscal year
1920 the excess Of expenses over reve-
nues had made a deficit in the account
amounting to $4,6lS,9 90.75. This def
icit will be decreased about S2,5OO,0OO
by the earnings in the fiscal year end
ing June 30, 1920.
Tolls constituted about 96 per cent
Of the revenues. other items are Ii
censes and taxes, court fees and fines
(about Sl50000), and profits on the
business operations of the canal ad-
juncts. The latter item amounts to
about 100000 for the fiscal year 1920,
and Is on operations in which the ex-
penditures were over $14,OOO,O0O.
Want a Training System.
Establishment of system of train
Ing for higher positions in the fed
eral system Is advocated by the
national federation of federal en-
ployees. Such proposal will be
one OF the main topics for con-
sideraton at the national conven-
ton to be held in st. Louis next
month. On account of the numerical
strength of the federal employees
WEALTH IN CENTRAL koNGo.