Colon shall be free for all time so that there shall not be imposed or collected customhouse tolls, tonnage, anchorage, light-house, wharf, pilot, or quarantine dues or any other charges or taxes of any kind upon any vessel using or passing through the canal or belonging to or employed by the United States, directly or indirectly, in connection with the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation and protection of the main canal, or auxiliary works, or upon the cargo, officers, crew, or passengers of any such vessels, except such tolls and charges as may be imposed by the United States for the use of the canal and other works, and except tolls and charges imposed by the Republic of Panama upon merchandise destined to be introduced for the consumption of the rest of the Republic of Panama, and upon vessels touching at the ports of Colon and Panama and which do not cross the canal.

The Government of the Republic of Panama shall have the right to establish in such ports and in the towns of Panama and Colon such houses and guards as it may deem necessary to collect duties on importations destined to other portions of Panama and to prevent contraband trade. The United States shall have the right to make use of the towns and harbors of Panama and Colon as places of anchorage, and for making repairs, for loading, unloading, depositing, or transshipping cargoes either in transit or destined for the service of the canal and for other works pertaining to the canal.

ARTICLE X.

The Republic of Panama agrees that there shall not be imposed any taxes, national, municipal, departmental, or of any other class, upon the canal, the railways and auxiliary works, tugs and other vessels employed in the service of the canal, storehouses, workshops, offices, quarters for laborers, factories of all kinds, warehouses, wharves, machinery and other works, property, and effects appertaining to the canal or railroad and auxiliary works, or their officers or employees, situated within the cities of Panama and Colon, and that there shall not be imposed contributions or charges of a personal character of any kind upon officers, employees, laborers, and other individuals in the service of the canal and railroad and auxiliary works.

ARTICLE XI.

The United States agrees that the official dispatches of the Government of the Republic of Panama shall be transmitted over any telegraph and telephone lines established for canal purposes and used for public and private business at rates not higher than those required from officials in the service of the United States.

ARTICLE XII.

The Government of the Republic of Panama shall permit the immigration and free access to the lands and workshops of the canal and its auxiliary works of all employees and workmen of whatever nationality under contract to work upon or seeking employment upon or in any wise connected with the said canal and its auxiliary works, with their respective families, and all such persons shall be free and exempt from the military service of the Republic of Panama.

ARTICLE XIII.

The United States may import at any time into the said Zone and auxiliary lands, free of custom duties, imposts, taxes, or other charges, and without any restrictions, any and all vessels, dredges, engines, cars, machinery, tools, explosives, materials, supplies, and other articles necessary and convenient in the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation and protection of the canal and auxiliary works, and all provisions, medicines, clothing, supplies, and other things necessary and convenient for the officers, employees, workmen and laborers in the service and employ of the United States and for their families. If any such articles are disposed of for use outside of the Zone and auxiliary lands granted to the United States and within the territory of the Republic, they shall be subject to the same import or other duties as like articles imported under the laws of the Republic of Panama.

ARTICLE XIV.

As the price of compensation for the rights, powers and privileges granted in this convention by the Republic of Panama to the United States, the Government of the United States agrees to pay to the Republic of Panama the sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) in gold coin of the United States on the exchange of the ratifica

tion of this convention and also an annual payment during the life of this convention of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) in like gold coin, beginning nine years after the date aforesaid.

The provisions of this article shall be in addition to all other benefits assured to the Republic of Panama under this convention.

But no delay or difference of opinion under this article or any other provisions of this treaty shall affect or interrupt the full operation and effect of this convention in all other respects.

ARTICLE XV.

The joint commission referred to in Article VI shall be established as follows: The President of the United States shall nominate two persons and the President of the Republic of Panama shall nominate two persons and they shall proceed to a decision; but in case of disagreement of the commission (by reason of their being equally divided in conclusion) an umpire shall be appointed by the two Governments who shall render the decision. In the event of the death, absence, or incapacity of a commissioner or umpire, or of his omitting, declining or ceasing to act, his place shall be filled by the appointment of another person in the manner above indicated. All decisions by a majority of the commission or by the umpire shall be final.

ARTICLE XVI.

The two Governments shall make adequate provision by future agreement for the pursuit, capture, imprisonment, detention and delivery within said Zone and auxiliary lands to the authorities of the Republic of Panama of persons charged with the commitment of crimes, felonies or misdemeanors without said Zone and for th epursuit, capture, imprisonment, detention and delivery without said Zone to the authorities of the United States of persons charged with the commitment of crimes, felonies and misdemeanors within said Zone and auxiliary lands.

ARTICLE XVII.

The Republic of Panama grants to the United States the use of all the ports of the Republic open to commerce as places of refuge for any vessels employed in the canal enterprise, and for all vessels passing or bound to pass through the canal which may be in distress and be driven to seek refuge in said ports. Such vessels shall be exempt from anchorage and tonnage dues on the part of the Republic of Panama.

ARTICLE XVIII.

The canal, when constructed, and the entrances thereto shall be neutral in perpetuity, and shall be opened upon the terms provided for by section 1 of article three of, and in conformity with all the stipulations of, the treaty entered into by the Governments of the United States and Great Britain on November 18, 1901.

ARTICLE XIX.

The Government of the Republic of Panama shall have the right to transport over the canal its vessels and its troops and munitions of war in such vessels at all times without paying charges of any kind. The exemption is to be extended to the auxiliary railway for the transportation of persons in the service of the Republic of Panama, or of the police force charged with the preservation of public order outside of said Zone, as well as to their baggage, munitions of war and supplies.

ARTICLE XX.

If by virtue of any existing treaty in relation to the territory of the Isthmus of Panama, whereof the obligations shall descend or be assumed by the Republic of Panama, there may be any privilege or concession in favor of the Government or the citizens or subjects of a third power relative to an interoceanic means of communication which in any of its terms may be incompatible with the terms of the present convention, the Republic of Panama agrees to cancel or modify such treaty in due form, for which purpose it shall give to the said third power the requisite notification within the term of four months from the date of the present convention, and in case the existing treaty contains no clause permitting its modifications or annulment, the Republic of Panama agrees to procure its modification or annulment in such form that there shall not exist any conflict with the stipulations of the present convention.

ARTICLE XXI.

The rights and privileges granted by the Republic of Panama to the United States in the preceding articles are understood to be free of all anterior debts, liens, trusts, or liabilities, or concessions or privileges to other governments, corporations, syndicates or individuals, and, consequently, if there should arise any claims on account of the present concessions and privileges or otherwise, the claimants shall resort to the Government of the Republic of Panama and not to the United States for any indemnity or compromise which may be required.

ARTICLE XXII.

The Republic of Panama renounces and grants to the United States the participation to which it might be entitled in the future earnings of the canal under Article XV of the concessionary contract with Lucien N. B. Wyse, now owned by the New Panama Canal Company and any and all other rights or claims of a pecuniary nature arising under or relating to said concession, or arising under or relating to the concessions to the Panama Railroad Company or any extension or modification thereof; and it likewise renounces, confirms and grants to the United States, now and hereafter, all the rights and property reserved in the said concessions which otherwise would belong to Panama at or before the expiration of the terms of ninety-nine years of the concessions granted to or held by the above-mentioned party and companies, and all right, title and interest which it now has or may hereafter have, in and to the lands, canal, works, property and rights held by the said companies under said concessions or otherwise, and acquired or to be acquired by the United States from or through the New Panama Canal Company, including any property and rights which might or may in the future either by lapse of time, forfeiture or otherwise, revert to the Republic of Panama under any contracts or concessions, with said Wyse, the Universal Panama Canal Company, the Panama Railroad Company and the New Panama Canal Company.

The aforesaid rights and property shall be and are free and released from any present or reversionary interest in or claims of Panama and the title of the United States thereto upon consummation of the contemplated purchase by the United States from the New Panama Canal Company, shall be absolute, so far as concerns the Republic of Panama, excepting always the rights of the Republic specifically secured under this treaty.

ARTICLE XXIII.

If it should become necessary at any time to employ armed forces for the safety or protection of the canal, or of the ships that make use of the same, or the railways and auxiliary works, the United States shall have the right, at all times and in its discretion, to use its police and its land and naval forces or to establish fortifications for these purposes.

ARTICLE XXIV.

No change either in the government or in the laws and treaties of the Republic of Panama shall, without the consent of the United States, affect any right of the United States under the present convention, or under any treaty stipulation between the two countries that now exists or may hereafter exist touching the subject-matter of this convention.

If the Republic of Panama shall hereafter enter as a constituent into any other Government or into any union or confederation of states, so as to merge her sovereignty or independence in such government, union or confederation, the rights of the United States under this convention shall not be in any respect lessened or impaired.

ARTICLE XXV.

For the better performance of the engagements of this convention and to the end of the efficient protection of the canal and the preservation of its neutrality, the Government of the Republic of Panama will sell or lease to the United States lands adequate and necessary for naval or coaling stations on the Pacific coast and on the western Caribbean coast of the Republic at certain points to be agreed upon with the President of the United States.

ARTICLE XXVI.

This convention, when signed by the plenipotentiaries of the contracting parties shall be ratified by the respective Governments and the ratifications shall be exchanged at Washington at the earliest date possible.

THE LAW ESTABLISHING A GOVERNMENT FOR THE CANAL ZONE.

Provision for the government of the Canal Zone on the Isthmus of Panama was made by the act of Congress approved April 28, 1904, which act is as follows:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President is hereby authorized, upon the acquisition of the property of the New Panama Canal Company and the payment to the Republic of Panama of the ten millions of dollars provided by article fourteen of the treaty between the United States and the Republic of Panama, the ratifications of which were exchanged on the twenty-sixth day of February, nineteen hundred and four, to be paid to the latter Government, to take possession of and occupy on behalf of the United States the zone of land and land under water of the width of ten miles, extending to the distance of five miles on each side of the center line of the route of the canal to be constructed thereon, which said zone begins in the Caribbean Sea three marine miles from mean low-water mark and extends to and across the Isthmus of Panama into the Pacific Ocean to the distance of three marine miles from mean low-water mark, and also of all islands within said zone, and in addition thereto the group of islands in the Bay of Panama named Perico, Naos, Culebra, and Flamenco, and, from time to time, of any lands and waters outside of said zone which may be necessary and convenient for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation, and protection of the said canal, or of any auxiliary canals or other works necessary and convenient for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation, and protection of said enterprise, the use, occupation, and control whereof were granted to the United States by article two of said treaty. The said zone is hereinafter referred to as "the Canal Zone." The payment of the ten millions of dollars provided by article fourteen of said treaty shall be made in lieu of the indefinite appropriation made in the third section of the act of June twenty-eighth, nineteen hundred and two, and is hereby appropriated for said purpose.

SEC. 2. That until the expiration of the Fifty-eighth Congress, unless provision for the temporary government of the Canal Zone be sooner made by Congress, all the military, civil, and judicial powers as well as the power to make all rules and regulations necessary for the government of the Canal Zone and all the rights, powers, and authority granted by the terms of said treaty to the United States shall be vested in such person or persons and shall be exercised in such manner as the President shall direct for the government of said zone and maintaining and protecting the inhabitants thereof in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion.

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE PRESIDENT.

On May 9, 1904, the President issued instructions to the Commission, through the Secretary of War, as authorized by the act above quoted, placing the Commission in charge of the government of the Canal Zone, giving it the power to legislate, and appointing Maj. Gen. George W. Davis, a member of the Commission, governor of the Canal Zone. The President's letter of instructions to the Secretary of War is as follows:

WHITE HOUSE,

Washington, D. C., May 9, 1904.

SIR: By the act of Congress approved June 28, 1902, the President of the United States is authorized to acquire for, and on behalf of, the United States all the rights, privileges, franchises, concessions, grants of lands, rights of way, unfinished work, plants, shares of the capital stock of the Panama Railway, owned by or held for the use of the New Panama Canal Company, and any other property, real, personal, and mixed of any name or nature owned by the said New Panama Canal Company situated on the Isthmus of Panama. The President is by the same act also authorized to acquire for, and on behalf of, the United States perpetual control of a strip of land on the Isthmus of Panama, not less than 6 miles in width, extending from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean, and the right to excavate, construct, and maintain perpetually, operate and protect thereon, a ship canal of certain specified capacity and also the right to perpetually operate the Panama Railroad. Having acquired such rights, franchises, property, and control, the President is by the same act required to excavate, construct, and complete a ship car al from the Caribbean

Sea to the Pacific Ocean, and to enable him to carry forward and complete this work, he is authorized to appoint, by and with the consent of the Senate, an Isthmian Canal Commission of seven members, who are to be in all matters subject to his direction and control.

By the terms of the canal convention between the United States and the Republic of Panama, entered into in pursuance of the said act of Congress approved June 28, 1902, the ratifications of which were exchanged on the 26th day of February, 1904, the Republic of Panama granted to the United States:

First. The perpetual use, occupation, and control of a certain zone of land, land under water including islands within said zone, at the Isthmus of Panama, all to be utilized in the construction, maintenance, and operation, sanitation and protection of the ship canal, of the width of 10 miles extending to the distance of 5 miles on each side of the central line of the route of the canal, and the use, occupation, and control of other lands and waters outside of the zone above described which may be necessary and convenient for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation, and protection of said canal or of any auxiliary canals or other works necessary and convenient for the same purpose; also the islands of Perico, Naos, Culebra, and Flemenco, situated in the Bay of Panama, and

Second. All the rights, powers, and authority within the zone, auxiliary lands and lands under water, which the United States would possess and exercise if it were the sovereign of the territory granted, to the entire exclusion of the exercise by the Republic of Panama of any such sovereign rights, power, and authority.

By the act of Congress approved April 28, 1904, the President is authorized, upon acquisition of the property of the New Panama Canal Company, and the payment to the Republic of Panama of the price for compensation agreed upon in the said Canal Convention, to take possession of, and occupy on behalf of the United States, the zone of land, and land under water, including islands within said zone at the Isthmus of Panama of the width of 10 miles extending to the distance of 5 miles on each side of the central line of the route of the canal to be constructed thereon, including the islands of Perico, Naos, Culebra, and Flamenco, and from time to time as may be necessary and convenient certain auxiliary lands and waters outside the said zone for the purpose of constructing, maintaining, operating, sanitating, and protecting the ship canal, the use, occupation, and control whereof were granted to the United States by the Republic of Panama in the said Canal Convention.

By the same act, the President is authorized, for the purpose of providing temporarily for the maintenance of order in the Canal Zone and for maintaining and protecting the inhabitants thereof in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion, to delegate to such person or persons as he may designate and to control the manner of their exercise, all the military, civil and judicial powers as well as the power to make all needful rules and regulations for the government of the Canal Zone and all the rights, powers and authority granted by the said Canal Convention to the United States, until the close of the Fifty-eighth Congress.

Payments of the authorized purchase price of $40,000,000 to the New Panama Canal Company for the property of that corporation on the Isthmus, including the shares of railway stock, and for the records in Paris, and of the sum of $10,000,000, as stipulated in the Canal Convention, to the Republic of Panama for the rights, powers and privileges granted to the United States by the terms of the said convention, have been made and proper instruments of transfer have been executed by the Panama Canal Company. The members of the Isthmian Canal Commission have been appointed. They have organized the Commission and entered upon their duties. I have taken possession of and now occupy, on behalf of the United States, the Canal Zone and public land ceded by the Republic of Panama.

It becomes my duty, under the statutes above referred to, to secure the active prosecution of the work of construction of the canal and its auxiliary works, through the Isthmian Canal Commission, and in connection with such work and in aid thereof to organize and conduct a temporary government of the Zone, so as to maintain and protect the inhabitants thereof in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion.

Inasmuch as it is impracticable for the President, with his other public duties, to give to the work of supervising the Commission's construction of the canal and government of the Zone the personal attention which seems proper and necessary, and inasmuch as the War Department is the Department which has always supervised the construction of the great civil works for improving the rivers and harbors of the country and the extended military works of public defense, and as the said Department has from time to time been charged with the supervision of the government of all the island possessions of the United States, and continues to supervise the government of the Philippine Islands, I direct that all the work of the