Evening star., 1939-06-04

Aircraft Carrier Lexington trauersin
On August IS, 1899, the Panama
Canal, our proudest national possession
the only water r-bridge" linking the At
lantic and Pacific Oceans-will celebrate
the 25th anniversary OF its opening. For
a quarter OF a century it has triumphant
ly justified all the faith and courage
scientific skill and engineering genius
that were put into it.
This silver anniversary marks the close
OF one of the canals most successful
years. Since July l, l938-beginning OF
the present fiscal year-commercial
traffic through the waterway has in
creased greatly. In March alone there
were 553 transits of ocean-goine COM
mercial vessels making it the fifth high
est month in the canals history. The
peak year for Panama Canal operations
was 1929. But 1889 is fast catching up
both in traffic and in tonnage with the
banner year of decade ago.
| Growth of the 10 main trade routes
through the canal is responsible for the
increased traffic. Since last September.
traffic between North Americas West
| Coast and Europe has become unprece-
dentedly heavy. There has been a
marked increase in shipping of United
States intercoastal lines during the past
few months. In March, these two trade
routes averaged 73 ships per day, or
more than one-third of all the canals
| traffic.
EoodStuffS nou;pofo Torn,ro
Wheat and other cereals, with canned
| goods and dried fruits. make up the bulk
OF commodities shipped from North
Americas West Coast to Europe. Over
the intercoastal lines from east to west
go manufactured goods and from west
to east go petroleum, canned goods and
fresh and dried fruits
Through the canal last October passed
the 100,000th commercial vessel, the S. S.
Steel Importer, flying the American flag.
| This ship might serve as a composite of
most craft going through the canal with
| its average size of 1900 tons and it's
typical cargo of canned goods and dried
| and fresh fruits from California to At
lantic ports.
| special issue of postage stamps and
a program of appropriate events will
ofnclally commemorate the silver an
nlversary. But unof1cially-quite un-
intentionally-a number of outstanding
| events have already distinguished the
current year of the canals operating
history. 1t is proposed to extend the
canals capacity by a third set of locks,
much larger than the present ones and
less vulnerable to attack in time of war.
| Military affairs in the Caribbean
hitherto directed from Governors Island,
N. Y. are in the future to be admin
istered from some point nearer the
Panama Canal" Passage by Congress
in April of national defense bill in
creased the Canal Zones garrison and
strengthened all Notifications there.
The most important event in the his
tory of the canal occurred this year in
January, when the United States Fleet
passed through from the Pacific to the
Atlantic Ocean. And even more dramatic
was the return transit of large pro-
portion of the fleet in early May when
President Roosevelt suddenly ordered the
vessels again to the Pacific. Both
transits were accomplished unhurriedly
as q mere matter of routine-but in
record time
Eyed Enviously by Europe.
The eyes of Europe and Asia are on
the Panama Canal today, and none too
kindly. When we recall the friendly
spirit in which the great waterway was
planned and executed-"A Canal for
ALI Nations" was our name for it-when
we realize that Uncle Sam has never
played profiteer in the canals admin
lstratlon-as he might easily have done
1t IS hard to understand the greed and
Jealousy it seems to excite among certain
nations
While the canal was in the making,
there were number of Americans who
objected strongly to its being fortified.
Even more strongly did they object, both
In Congress and out of it, to making
the Canal Zone military reservation.
But IN these days of "undeclared wars"
with one mid-European dictatorship
thousands of miles away calling the
Panama Canal its frontier" and others
east and West-planning to establish
aid and submarine bases as close to the
canal as they now dare, the need for
a fortified and closely guarded canal
is too apparent to admit of discussion.
The only question today is how to make
the canal impregnable under modern
conditions. When the canal was built
there was no danger from the air above
or from beneath the surface Of the sea-
The original date for opening the canal
Is years ago was May 10, but the actual
opening was delayed until August Is,
and great deal has happened between
those two dates in 1914. The result was
that no ceremonies marked the formal
opening Of our most valuable and most
| vulnerable possession. The Ancon, carry