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Show I NBFREETOLLS If ONTi CANAL Washington, March 10 The house If commerce committee, at the dicta- lion of President Wilson, put through ft today a new Panama canal free tolls I repealing hill, under which, in addl- B tlon to American coastwise ships, ! .United States battleships and rev- enue cutters will be forced to pay K the same tonnage tax as Great Brlt- Hf a This new feature of the surrender III of the administration to the demands ! of Great Britain, it was said by ad- i vocatcs of free tollfl for American I ships, broke down tho last remnant of J American independence in the oper- 1 1 ation of the Panama canal. ! In effect it is claimed to be an at- jlj tack on the freedom of this gorern- 1 ment itself in that it is a restriction I on the military arm in the manner of , use of the navy and army. I ! There Is fear this concession is to ft t lead to the more humiliating neces- K sity for the breaking of the treaty ff i with Panama, under which that coun- I Kf try is granted preferential duties $ through tbe canal, and the repeal of j w the provision against use of the ca- nal by railroad-owned ships, j I 1 1 Sir Edward Grey of the British for- I j S eign office protested these provisions as well as the two sought to be re- j pealed by the bill introduced today r - at the command of the chief execu- tlve. The Canadian government V wants its railroad-owned ships to pass V through the canal. $f Referred to as Bargain, -r Indignation is growing in the house v" against the bargain with Great Brit- j aln for aid in this muddled Mexico ',' and foreign policy. Introduction of JH; the bill and its report from the !';-. committee does not mean its pass Iji age through congress. Underwood, tj Fitzfgerald and Mann, house leaders, y have demanded an hour or more each (ill to fight the repealing bill, and oth- ' er similar demands are coming to the i i coramittece in charge. j By a vote of 14 to 2 the house C committee passed the enlarged re- iji peal clause from the act. The vote ;f. was: For Chairman Adamson, Sims, T. Covington, Talcott, Stephens of Mis-!ft Mis-!ft alssippi, Stevens of New Hampshire, Barkley, Ray burn, Montague, Deck-j Deck-j er, Esch, Stevens of Minnesota, Willi! Wil-li! Hs, Hamilton. fS Against O'Shaughnessy and Know- jj land. AbBent Doremus, Goeke, Cullop, l Martin, Lafferty. If Provisions of Measure, p.- ijl Representative Doremus of Mich-j Mich-j H igan 1b chairman of the national con-Is con-Is gresBlonal Democratic committee. He If has been a strong advocate of free If tolls. Lafferty of Washington Is op-j op-j ; ? posed to the repealing bill. ? jj The bill presented today as a sub-' sub-' stltute for the original repealing bill f I j provides: f i s "That the second sentence in sec-I sec-I L ; tlon 5 of tho act entitled 'An act to jtl - provide for the opening, maintenance ill I Protection and operation of the Pan-Still Pan-Still j ama canal and the sanitation and i government - of the canal zone,' ap-tp ap-tp i proved August 24, 1912, which reads as follows: if " 'No tolls shall be levied upon ves- 7 sels engaged in the coastwise trade I of the United States,' be and the I " I same is hereby repealed. "Section 2 That the third sentence S "I of the third paragraph of said sec- I I tlon of said act be so amended as to 1 I read as follows: j "When based upon net registered I tonnage for ships of commerce, the v tolls shall not exceed $1.25 per net S-1 registered ton nor be less than 76 IvJ cents net per registered ton, subject, however, to the provision of article -si 19 of the convention between the i United States and the republic of Jj Panama, entered intb November 18, 1903," |
