tures which were of wood. The headquarters of the canal force are in the large three-storey administration building, situated on a bluff about 75 ft. above sea-level and overlooking the Pacific entrance to the canal. Near this are the governor's residence and the dwellings of the other officials. On the plain below, which was formerly a swamp and was raised to an elevation of 20 ft. above sea-level by material from the Cut and hydraulic fill from excavation for ter- minal structures at Balboa, there is a town composed of concrete buildings erected after the canal had been completed. The buildings are arranged on either side of a central avenue. They include dwell- ings for different types of employees, a police station, post-office, fire station, chief sanitary office, dispensary, telephone building, club- house, hotel, lodge hall, schoolhouse and playground, church and commissary. All are of concrete blocks with roofs of red tiles, and of the same general style of architecture, and are connected with one another by a continuous arcade as protection against sun and rain.
Terminal^ Facilities. In both oceans have been constructed ter- minal facilities adequate for the naval, military and commercial needs of the United States and attractive to the shipping of the world. Systems of concrete piers 1,000 ft. inlength, withdocksand wharves and sheds of concrete, have been built. On the Pacific side is a con- crete dry-dock on a rock foundation, with a usable length of 1 ,000 ft. and an entrance width of 1 10 ft., and a subsidiary dock for vessels of a smaller type with a usable length of 350 ft. and an entrance width of 80 feet. There are also large repair shops of ample capacity to meet all demands. Dry-docks and machine shops are situated behind Sosa Hill and thus protected against naval bombardment. Basins of concrete for the storage of coal have been constructed below the water-line on both oceans, some of which are available for leasing to private coaling companies, all handling to be done by the U.S. Government plant. A fixed supply of coal for the United States naval use is maintained. From a single plant supplies of oil, food and other necessities are furnished to all vessels desiring them, as well as to the canal forces. A high-power wireless telegraph station is situated midway of the Isthmus, under the jurisdiction of the Navy Department, but open to the public under Government regulations.
Fortifications and Military Occupation: The Canal Zone is a military reservation by Act of Congress. Fortifications have been built in the oceans at both ends of the canal, and a military force of about 10,000 men is maintained. Concrete barracks have been erected at both terminals, and adjoining the locks.
Canal Administration. Under an Act of Congress, approved Aug. 24 1912, the Panama Canal is governed and operated and the Canal Zone is governed through a governor of the Panama Canal, appointed by the president, with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a term of four years, and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified, at a salary of $10,000 a year. In addition to the operation of the canal, the governor has official control and jurisdiction over the Canal Zone and performs all duties in connexion with its civil government, it being held, treated and governed as an adjunct to the canal. There is one U.S. District Court in the Canal Zone, with the same jurisdiction and procedure as the same courts in the United States, the j udge of which is appointed by the president. Appeals are made to the Circuit Court of Appeals of the Fifth Circuit of the United States. In each town there is a magistrate's court, the judges being appointed by the governor. They have jurisdiction only within their towns and over minor cases. General Goethals was the first governor and served till Jan. II 1917, when he resigned and was succeeded by Col. Chester Harding, U.S.A., who held the office till Jan. II 1921, when he was succeeded by Col. Jay J. Morrow, U.S.A.
Canal Zone Population. \ census of the Canal Zone, taken in 1920, showed a total pop. of about 30,000 of which 21,650 were civilians and the remainder military. There were 3,434 male and 360 female American citizens; 5,652 male and 74 female aliens; the remaining 12,000 were mainly natives and transient West Indians.
Canal Force. The average working force of the canal was in 1920 about 21,000, of which about 3,500 were Americans, chiefly in official and clerical positions, and the others alien labourers, mainly West Indian negroes. The apparent discrepancy between these figures and those of the Canal Zone census is due to the fact that many of the labourers live in the cities of Panama and Colon, which are not within the Canal Zone.
Tolls. The Hay-Pauncefote treaty between Great Britainand the United States, abrogating and succeeding the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, was ratified on Dec. 16 1901. It contained this clause:
"The canal shall be free and open to the vessels of commerce and of war of all nations observing these rules, on terms of entire equality, so that there shall be no discrimination against any such nation, or its citizens or subjects, in respect of the conditions or charges of traffic or otherwise. Such conditions and charges of traffic shall be just and equitable."
In 1912 Congress passed an Act for the operation and government of the Panama Canal, which was approved by President Taft on Aug. 24 of that year, and which contained the provision that " no tolls shall be levied upon vessels engaged in the coastwise trade of the United States." A formal protest against this exemption was made by Great Britain on the ground that it was a violation of the Hay-Pauncefote treaty. In June 1914, under a special appeal from
President Wilson, Congress passed a bill which repealed the Exemp- tion Act of 1912. This was approved by President Wilson on June 15 1914. Under authority given to him by the Panama Canal Act of Aug. 24 1912, President Wilson issued a proclamation on Nov. 21 1913, fixing the canal tolls at $1.20 per net ton of net capacity as determined by the United States national rules of measurement. On Feb. 15 1915 President Wilson issued supplementary instructions that where application of the $i.2o-per-net-tonrate produced a sum in excess of the sum produced by the application of the $1.25 rate on net registered tonnage as determined by the United States rules of measurement, the excess amount should be uncollectable. The effect of this ruling was to reduce by approximately 14% the revenue from tolls paid by ships of all nationalities using the canal. During the first six years of operation there was a marked increase in traffic through the canal notwithstanding the fact that the World War everywhere prevented the normal development of ocean-going commerce. After the entry of the United States into the war there was a decrease in commercial traffic, due to the diversion of certain lines of ships to trans-Atlantic service, which was more than offset by the increase in traffic growing out of the war, chiefly on account of the development of the nitrate trade with the Pacific coast of South America.
Canal Traffic. The number of commercial transits, the amount received from tolls and other collections, and the current expenses of maintenance and operation for the fiscal years ending June 30 1915-20 are shown in the following table:
Fiscal Year
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Number of com- mercial transits
Tolls and other revenues
Current ex- penses of operation and maintenance
1915 1916 . . . 1917 . . . 1918 . . . 1919 . . . 1920 . . .
1,072 760 1, 806 2,068 2,028 2,478
?4,343,383-69 2,558,542-38 5,808,398.70 6,411,843.28 6,354,016.98 8,035,871-57
$4,123,128.09 6,909,750. IS 6,788,047.60 5,920,342.94 6,112,194.77 6,548,272.43
For the same period the number of canal transits by government vessels exempted from tolls and the total tonnage of cargo carried were as follows for each fiscal year :
Fiscal Year
Number of Vessels
Cargo Tons
Fiscal Year
Number of Vessels
Cargo Tons
1915 1916 1917
16
43 ' IOO
43,647 76,675
147,405
1918 1919 1920
112
179
267
36,746 93-641 351,332
Over 25 % of the cargo handled through the canal, from its opening to the end of the fiscal year 1920, was in transit between the United States and South America, and -14-1 % was between the Atlantic coast of the United States and the Orient. Among nations the chief users of the canal were the United States and Great Britain. The number of vessels passed each year for these nations and for all other nations was as follows:
Fiscal Year
United States
Great Britain
All other nations
1915 . . . 1916 . . . 1917 . . . 1918 . . . 1919 . . . 1920 .
470 238
464 628 786 1,129
465 358 780 699 602 753
153 191 632 803
637 596
The following is the saving, in nautical miles, effected by the Panama Canal from European ports to ports on the W. coast of America, to Hawaii and to New Zealand.
From
To
Liver-
Ham-
Ant-
Bor-
Gibral-
pool
burg
werp
deaux
tar
Sitka, Alaska .
5,666
5,528
5,528
5,376
4,950
Port Townsend, Wash. .
5,666
5,528
5,528
5,376
4,950
Portland, Ore.
5,666
5,528
5,528
5,376
4,950
San Francisco, Cal. .
5,666
5,528
5,528
5,376
4,950
San Diego, Cal.
5,676
5,538
5,538
5,386
4,960
Acapulco, Mexico .
5,874
5-736
5,736
5,584
5,158
San Jose, Guatemala
6,128
5,990
5,990
5,838
5,412
Honolulu, Hawaii .
4,43
4-?65
4.265
4, 1 13
3,687
Guayaquil, Ecuador
5,198
5,o6o
5,060
4,908
4,482
Callao, Peru . .
4,043
3.905
3,905
3,753
3,327
Valparaiso, Chile
1,540
1,402
1,402
1,250
824
Wellington, N.Z. . .
1,564
1,409
1,409
1,257
489
The following is the saving, in nautical miles, effected by the Panama Canal in length of all-water routes between ports of the Atlantic-Gulf U.S. seaboard and various Pacific ports.
