72 PANAMA CANAL AND AMERICAN COMMERCE. 
Mr. EuGENE T. CHAMBERLAIN, Honorary Associate (Communicated) :—Ten 
years ago before a noteworthy international assemblage, Mr. Clement A. Griscom, 
for many years President of The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, 
spoke these words :— 
‘The United States proposes soon to begin, at its own expense, the great work 
which remains to be done for the expansion of the world’s shipping and commerce, 
the construction of a canal across the isthmus separating the Atlantic from the 
Pacific. Whatever route may be chosen, whatever preliminary negotiations may 
be necessary, I am confident American sentiment will sustain me in asserting that 
the canal shall be open on equal terms to the shipping of all nations; that no 
special commercial privileges in return for our investment will be sought for the 
United States; and, in accordance with our national policy the charges on shipping 
using the canal will be no more than are necessary for its official administration. 
The canal is to be the first contribution of the United States to the new American 
development of this century.”’ 
The occasion was the banquet, presided over by Lord Brassey, first Honorary 
Associate of the American Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, and 
tendered at London on June 5, 1901; by the London Chamber of Commerce to 
the New York Chamber of Commerce to commemorate the successful efforts of 
both organizations toward an honorable solution of threatening difficulties arising 
between the United States and Great Britain over Venezuela. Negotiations 
between the United States and Great Britain for the abrogation of the Clayton- 
Bulwer treaty were under way; but the Hay-Pauncefote treaty, whose principle 
Mr. Griscom forestalled, was not concluded until November 18, 1901. That 
principle is as old as Burgoyne’s surrender and our recognition by nations, and found 
its first expression in our first treaty, the treaty of amity and commerce concluded 
with France on February 6, 1778. Since that time it has been the unswerving 
rule of American diplomacy. 
The Clayton-Bulwer treaty of 1850 bound the United States—and equally 
Great Britain—to these obligations :— 
1. To maintain no exclusive control over an Isthmian Canal. 
2. To erect no fortification around it. 
3. To use no influence with the country through which the Canal might pass 
to acquire exclusive canal navigation privileges for our citizens. 
4. To join with Great Britain in protecting the Canal and guaranteeing its 
neutrality. 
5. To join with Great Britain in fixing tolls and regulations. 
6. To regard the Canal as “for the benefit of mankind on equal terms to all.” 
The motives or wisdom of the framers of that treaty sixty years ago no longer 
concern us. It became necessary to abandon the treaty or the Canal. A new 
treaty, suitable to changed times and conditions, was concluded on November 18, 
1901, between the United States and Great Britain. 
