depended upon intercoastal water craft for travel and for the transportation of their products. But in recent years the Government of the Republic of Panama has been expending large sums on internal improvements. They have built some railroads into the interior, and for several years have been constructing improved highways from various cities and villages in the interior to the capital of the Republic. But, of course, they can not construct roads over the 10-mile strip under the jurisdiction of . the United States, nor have they any method of crossing the canal to reach Panama City, except by a rather antiquated barge ferry and tug boat which our Government has been furnishing and operating free just above the Pedro Miguel Locks. With the construction of improved roads into the interior of the Republic and the agricultural development that has followed such construction, travel to and from the capital has increased to such proportions that the present ferry service is wholly inadequate to take care of the traffic. Moreover, the maintenance of this barge-ferry service just above the locks is objectionable for other important reasons. For several years negotiations have been conducted between our Government and the Government of Panama with a view to providing a crossing of the canal and the Canal Zone, but no definite arrangements have yet been made. The Government of Panama has urged very forcefully the necessity of providing this crossing for their people; and the State Department of our Government has recognized the moral obligation on the part of our Government to afford this facility to the people of Panama. The Government of Panama has urged that an improved road be constructed by our Government leading from the canal to connect up with the improved roads of the Republic, and that a bridge be built over the canal. For military and other reasons, the United States is unwilling to have a bridge constructed over the canal. In the event of war such a structure could be easily destroyed and the transit of our fleet through the canal could be indefinitely delayed. The alternative is to provide a suitable modern ferry to be installed for crossing the canal at a point. where it would be least objectionable from a military point of view, and most advantageous to the people of the Republic of Panama desiring to cross the canal in order to reach their capital. The Republic of Panama has constructed something over 250 miles of improved highways leading from the Canal Zone back into the interior where several towns are located. They have planned and will soon begin the construction of a continuation of this road farther into the interior to connect up with an agricultural section where a great deal of coffee and other agricultural products are produced. The committee feels that the United States should construct across its own territory, a distance of about 8 miles, an improved road to connect with the improved highways of the Republic of Panama in order to allow access to the capital of their country. This bill provides for the construction of such a road and for the installation of two suitable modern ferryboats with necessary docks and approaches. The bill has the approval of, and is strongly urged by the Governor of the Canal Zone, Col. Harry Burgess, who appeared before the committee and testified regarding it. The bill also has the approval of the Secretary of War, as is shown by a letter of the Secretary made a part of this report. It also has the approval of the State Department and the Bureau of the Budget. The amounts necessary to purchase or construct two ferryboats, the necessary docks and approaches, and the road leading from the ferry across the zone out to the territory of Panama are shown by the letter of Governor Burgess, made a part of this report, and appropriations of such amounts are authorized by the bill. The construction of the two ferry boats will cost about $250,000. The ferry slips or docks including the approaches thereto will cost about $165,000. The grading of 7.2 miles of road, including culverts will cost about $242,000, and concreting the roadway will cost about $343,000, making a total of $1,000,000 necessary to complete the work. The Republic of Panama has a population of about 500,000 people. The cities of Panama and Colon have a population of about 110,000. Practically all of the farming district of the Republic of Panama is west of the canal and until this road is constructed, and these ferries provided, the people of that part of the Republic will have no suitable means of access to their capital. Service on these ferries will be furnished free to the public and the cost of maintenance and operation will be about $45,000 per year. It is believed by the committee that our Government ought to meet this obligation to the people of the Republic of Panama by providing these facilities for crossing the canal and the Canal Zone without further delay. The bill has the approval of the War Department, as will appear by the letter attached and which is made a part of this report. WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, November 11, 1929. Hon. JAMES S. PARKER, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. DEAR MR. PARKER: Referring to the request of your committee dated October 7 for a report on the bill (H. R. 4293) entitled "To provide for a ferry and a highway near the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal," and to my acknowledgment of October 12 stating that the bill was being referred to the Governor of the Panama Canal for his comments, there is quoted below a self-explanatory letter dated October 25 received from Governor Burgess regarding this proposed legislation: "The receipt is acknowledged of your letter of October 12, with inclosures, relative to the request of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce for a report on the bill H. R. 4293, 'To provide for a ferry and a highway near the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal.' "The need for an adequate and permanent ferry of this kind is of long standing Its installation and the construction of the highway referred to in the bill would provide vastly improved and necessary transportation facilities between the Pacific side of the Isthmus and the interior Provinces of the Republic of Panama. Important military purposes would likewise be served. Aside from these considerations, it is my opinion that there is a moral obligation on the part of the United States to give to Panama a suitable highway across the Canal Zone and convenient and adequate ferry service. During the past few years the Republic of Panama has constructed an excellent system of improved roads throughout its Provinces west of the Panama Canal. At the present time the connection between these roads and Panama City, the capital of the Republic, is maintained through a barge ferry, towed by a tugboat, operated by the Panama Canal at Pedro Miguel Locks. This is an extremely unsatisfactory arrangement as Pedro Miguel is approximately 8 miles from Panama City. Aside from this it is necessary for the road on the west side HR-71-2-VOL 280 of the canal to follow a tortuous and lengthy detour in order to connect with the ferry at Pedro Miguel Locks. On the other hand, the highway proposed in H. R. 4293 would follow a practically straight course from the Pacific entrance of the canal to where it would connect with the main highway near Arraijan. "In addition to its inaccessibility, the site of the present barge ferry at Pedro Miguel Locks is unsuitable for military reasons as a site for a permanent ferry. The locks constitute the sensitive points in the defense of the canal and any damage sustained by them in time of war might precipitate a critical situation. If civilian traffic is allowed to cross the canal at or near the locks the difficulties of effective protection would be vastly increased. "The project has been under consideration for some time and preliminary surveys and estimates have been made. A blue print showing the most suitable location for the ferry and also the route of the proposed highway is forwarded herewith. The estimates show that the total cost of the highway, ferry slips, and ferry boats would be approximately $1,000,000. This would be divided as follows: Cost of 2 ferries (1 in reserve during wet season), each with capacity of 32 average motor vehicles.. Cost of ferry slips ($105,000), including road approach to ferry slip on Cost of grading, including culverts, of 7.2 miles (38,000 feet) of road. Total.. $250,000 165, 000 242,000 343,000 1, 000, 000 "The cost of maintaining and operating the ferry is estimated at $45,000 per year. "The project has the approval of the State Department and the Secretary of War, and it has been urgently desired by the Republic of Panama for several years. The bill introduced by Mr. Thatcher covers the project completely and is indorsed by me as being entirely satisfactory in every way in so far as the canal administration is concerned." The blueprint referred to in the foregoing is inclosed herewith. In connection with the last paragraph of the governor's letter quoted above, the interest of the State Department in this project was brought to my attention in a letter dated June 14, 1929, reading as follows: "I am informed that the Governor of the Panama Canal proposes to present in the near future a recommendation for an appropriation which will permit the establishment of an adequate ferry across the Panama Canal to connect Panama City with that portion of the Republic lying to the west of the Canal Zone. I should like in this connection to express this department's interest in the governor's proposal and its hope that the appropriation referred to may be approved by Congress. "During the past few years the Republic of Panama has constructed an extensive system of improved roads in the Provinces lying west of the Panama Canal and it has naturally desired to connect these roads with the capital through the Canal Zone. The new highways are of relatively little value until such connection is provided. This matter, as you know, was dealt with in the treaty negotiated with Panama in 1926, but this treaty has not yet been ratified by either Government. "As the Panaman Government can not establish land communication between the two halves of the Republic except through the Canal Zone, I feel that this Government, in view of the cession of the zone by Panama to the United States and in view of our interest in promoting the welfare and prosperity of Panama, should cooperate to make such communication possible. I have the honor to express the hope, therefore, that the proposal of the governor may be carried into effect." In view of the comments of Governor Burgess, and the indorsement of the State Department, I favor the passage of legislation along the lines of H. R. 4293 and recommend that your committee make a favorable report on the bill. The proposed legislation has been submitted to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, who advises that it is not in conflict with the financial program of the President. Sincerely yours, JAMES W. GOOD, Secretary of War. O PASSAMAQUODDY AND COBSCOOK BAYS MARCH 26, 1930.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. MARTIN, from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. J. Res. 243] The Committee on Foreign Affairs, to which was referred H. J. Res. 243, authorizing an appropriation to defray one-half of the expenses of a joint investigation by the United States and Canada of the probable effects of proposed developments to generate electric power from the movement of the tides in Passamaquoddy and Cobscook Bays, having had the same under consideration, reports thereon with the recommendation that the resolution do pass with the following amendment: Page 1, line 6, after the word "proposed" insert the word "international." The passage of this resolution is recommended by the President in his message to Congress of February 4, 1930, as follows: [House Document No. 275, Seventy-first Congress, second session] To the Congress of the United States: I commend to the favorable consideration of the Congress the inclosed report from the Acting Secretary of State, to the end that legislation may be enacted to authorize an appropriation of $45,000 to defray half the expenses of an investigation to be made jointly by the United States and Canada of the probable effects of the damming of Passamaquoddy and Cobscook Bays on the fisheries of that region. THE WHITE HOUSE, February 4, 1930. The PRESIDENT: HERBERT HOOVER. For some time an American corporation, Dexter P. Cooper (Inc.), of Eastport, Me., has been at work on the plans for a proposed development to generate electric power from the movement of the tides in Passamaquoddy and Cobscook Bays. A part of these proposed work would be situated in the Province of New Brunswick, Canada. Mr. Cooper's company has taken steps to obtain the authorization of the competent authorities of the United States and the State of Maine, and also of the appropriate Canadian authorities, to proceed with this work. It has not been possible, however, for the company to obtain final authority to commence the construction of the proposed works because of the fact that there is in Canada, and to a lesser extent in the United States, a certain amount of apprehension over the probable effect of the works on the fisheries of the surrounding area. In this relation the North American Committee on Fishery Investigations, composed of representatives of Canada, Newfoundland, France, and the United States, appointed a subcommittee of leading fishery experts and scientists to consider the probable effect on the fisheries of such construction. This committee reported on December 12, 1928, as follows: "1. That in its opinion if the proposed construction is carried out, the weir fisheries for herring inside the dams will be almost wholly eliminated. "2. That it is recognized that the effects on the fisheries outside the dams, predicted in the report on the subject presented by Doctor Huntsman, may follow, but the committee as a whole is not prepared to forecast whether these results will or will not follow, believing that a fuller investigation is necessary." In a note dated September 20, 1929, addressed to the American minister at Ottawa, the Canadian Department of External Affairs, made the following proposal regarding an investigation into this matter: "It may be recalled that on the 22d of March, 1929, the subcommittee had submitted a report in which the belief was expressed that a fuller investigation was needed. They now report, as a result of their subsequent conference at St. Andrews, that in their opinion such fuller investigation, likely to provide the soundest basis that can be reached for forecasting the effects, should be, for the first year at least, along certain lines which they describe; that this description deals with such complex problems that the investigation can be properly carried out only by a highly trained and experienced personnel and will require at least two years of field observations; that even then it is recognized that the construction of the dams is the only decisive way to determine their effects. "According to our information, the total cost of carrying out the investigation is roughly estimated at $45,000 per annum. "The Secretary of State for External Affairs has the honor to state that in the opinion of the Canadian authorities it is desirable, in view of the interest of both countries in the fisheries of that region, that such an investigation, if approved, should be carried out by the joint efforts and at the joint expense of both Governments. To that end, it is suggested that a commission or committee consisting of not more than two or three representatives from each country be given authority to arrange for the carrying out of the work, to employ such assistance as may be necessary, etc., and to consider and agree upon the results thereof. "If this course is acceptable to the Government of the United States and they are prepared to have the work started as soon as possible, the Canadian Government desire to state that no time will be lost in naming their representatives on the proposed committee." The Canadian note was referred to the Secretary of Commerce for comment, and the Secretary of Commerce has informed this department that he concurs in the opinion that a further investigation of this matter should be carried out by the joint efforts and at the joint expense of the United States and Canada. The Secretary of Commerce has therefore recommended that this department recommend legislation and an appropriation for the share of this Government of the expenses of the work, which would be $45,000 for two years, of which the Commissioner of Fisheries of the United States desires $7,500 to be made available as soon as possible. In commenting on the necessity for this proposed investigation and its importance alike to the United States and Canada, the Commissioner of Fisheries of the Department of Commerce has made the following statements: "Leading American oceanographers agree that the peculiar hydrographic conditions in the vicinity of Passamaquoddy Bay result in the upwelling of deep water from the Gulf of Maine, bringing with it abundant stores of dissolved chemicals necessary for the production of the plant and animal life which serves as food for fish. It is believed that the abundance of microscopic plant and animal life in this region is responsible for the remarkable concentration of the herring and pollock fisheries in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, and the adjacent coast of Maine, and that the installation of dams will so change natural oceanographic circulation as materially to reduce production of fish food, and hence may destroy these fisheries. The herring fisheries of Maine, New Bruns |