THE PANAMA CANAL 



211 



It will practically double the efficiency 

 of the fleet, and, notwithstanding the 

 fact that we are a peaceful nation, our 

 outlying possessions make the Panama 

 Canal a military necessity, and it must 

 be so recognized. From this point of 

 view the debt should be charged to the 

 account which necessitated its construc- 

 tion, and whatever revenues are derived 

 from other sources are so much to the 

 good. The traffic that will utilize the 

 canal depends upon the tolls that will be 

 charged, and the President has asked 

 the Congress for legislation which will 

 enable the establishment of rates. 



There is another policy which if 

 adopted will have a material bearing on 

 the revenues of the enterprise. Through 

 the Panama Railroad a large expendi- 

 ture of money has been made for pro- 

 viding the present working forces with 

 supplies of all kinds. Though the rail- 

 road has been reimbursed for this plant 

 through fixed charges on sales, it should 

 not be abandoned, but utilized for fur- 



nishing shipping with its needed sup- 

 plies. Suitable coaling plants should be 

 erected for the sale of coal to vessels 

 touching at or passing through the 

 canal. In addition, since oil is now used 

 on a number of ships plying in the Pa- 

 cific, such fuel should also be on hand 

 for sale by the canal authorities. 



The extensive machine shops now lo- 

 cated at Gorgona must be moved before 

 the completion of the canal, and they 

 should be established in connection with 

 a dry dock that will be needed for com- 

 mercial purposes, and utilized as a reve- 

 nue producer for the canal. This policy 

 also needs congressional action. 



With properly regulated tolls, and with 

 facilities for fully equipping, supplying, 

 and repairing ships, the Panama route 

 would offer many advantages and bring 

 to it a sufficiently remunerative return 

 to pay not only the operating expenses, 

 but to gradually absorb the debt which 

 the United States has incurred by its 

 construction. 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY 



THE speeches delivered before the 

 National Geographic Society on 

 the occasion of the annual ban- 

 quet, Saturday evening, January 14, will 

 be printed in full in the next number of 

 the Magazine. 



At the annual meeting of the Society, 

 January 13, the eight members of the 

 Board of Managers whose terms ex- 

 pired at the meeting were unanimously 

 re-elected for the ensuing three years, 

 viz., Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Gan- 

 nett, J. Howard Gore, A. W. Greely, 

 Gilbert H. Grosvenor, George Otis Smith, 

 O. H. Tittmann, and John M. Wilson. 



At a regular meeting of the Board of 

 Managers, January 18, Mr. Henry Gan- 

 nett was re-elected President ; Mr. O. H. 

 Tittmann, Vice-President ; Mr. O. P. 

 Austin, Secretary, and Mr. John Joy 

 Edson, Treasurer, for the ensuing year. 

 The reports of the Secretary and Treas- 

 urer for the year 1910 are printed below. 



REPORT OF SECRETARY O. P. AUSTIN FOR 

 THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, I9IO 



The year 1910 shows a large increase 

 in the membership of the National Geo- 

 graphic Society and a general improve- 

 ment in its condition and work. 



The number of members December r, 

 1909, was 53,333 ; the number added 

 upon their own application during Jan- 

 uary i-December 31, 1910, was 23,398; 

 the losses by death, by resignation, and 

 by non-payment of dues was 2,703, 

 making the total membership on Decem- 

 ber 31, 1910, 74,018. Fifty-one new life 

 members were elected during the year 7 

 making the total life membership 399. 



The membership is distributed through- 

 out all the States and Territories of the 

 Union, and includes about 2,358 in the 

 District of Columbia, and between 700 

 and 800 in the Philippines, Hawaii, 

 Porto Rico, and Alaska. The member- 

 ship in foreign countries is 2,404, and 



