1934-04-07 — Page 9

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PICTORIAL SUPPLEMENT

THE HONGKONG TELEGRAPH. SATURDAY, APRIL

1934

PAGE THREE

AMERICAN TRADE BAROMETER: GROWING INCOME OF PANAMA

CANAL RECORD IN SEVEN YEARS BROKEN DURING

FEBRUARY

BY WILLIS THORNTON. Thirty years ago, youthful America rolled up its sleeves, spat of its, hands, and tackled the Panama Canal-The Big Job.".

That's what the papers called it then. It was the first "Big. Job" of civil construction the scale of to-day's Tennessco Valley, or Boulder Dam, or the St. Lawrence project.

The job was a brillant suecend, and even to-day improvements and additions oro being made..

To-day, "The Big Job," that was the Panama Canal stands before the world S A model of what govorumant can do in building and operating a great civil project..

RETURNS GOOD PROFIT,

Not only is it operating on an admirably efficient basis. but even in the lean years just passed, the governor's report Indicates net re- venues from the canal and its associated business enterprises of $11,911,209.37-which is equival ent to a return of 2.23 per cent on the investment of $533,106,009.47.

And business is looking ap. The Panama Canal, officials here point out, is a good barometer of world busincas. There is no way of stimulating its business by ad- vertising or promotion.

Ships either go through or not, according to whether there is trade or there isn't. And here's how traffic has been running since the end of the last fiscal year in June, 1933.

RECORD IS BROKEN.

In July, 401 vessels made the transit of the canal; In August, 410; September, 108; October, 467; November, 103; and Decem ber, 196,

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were $11,663,243.40, ne compared with 89,761,428,14 in 1032-33. So there is every prospect that this your's operation of "The Big Ditch" will be even better than Inst.

-So far as there is any gauge, this great project probably fur- nishes the,best hint as to what may be expected of the huge civil construction Jobs of to-day which have aroused such doubts in the minds of people who shy away from them as "near-Socialism."

In fact, a' Chicago Univeralty professor, Marshall E. Dimock, is now making a survey of the ac- tivities of the Panama Railroad, And it seems likely that it may be used as a model for other govern-, ment corporations now being cre- nted.

OBSERVERS AMAZED.

Reporters and magazine writers, during the 10 years from 1904 to 1914 (when the first' ship passed

Efficient operation of the Panama Canal is direct ed from the administration building shown abova,

through the canal), returned to the United States goggle,eyed.

They wrote stories which point Every one of those months was ed with pride or viewed with alarm substantially above year ago.

the vastness of the work, the fight On Feb. 10, a record unbroken on sanitary conditions and yellow since the days of 1927 was alat-fever, the entry of the government tered when 28 ships made the transit.

Tolls collected in those first six months of the fiscal year 1983-34

into shop-keeping railroad opern tion, restaurant operation, ship repair and dry dock operations, and other fields previously hold sacred to private enterprise.

thousand nowspapers and maya- zines. And it flew, disregarding dire prophecies of those who saw the United States dropping plump into the lap of Socialism.

at Balboa Heights, Canal Zone. One writer breathlessly specu- America's slogan, repented in a luted on the effect on the United States when

workmen young would return from the Canal Zone, Impressed with the esprit de corps of the "Big Job." the effectiveness of Col, George Washington Gee- thals, the chief engineer who work- ed for pay alone, not for a share in profits. OPENED IN AUGUST, 1914

the dirt. My

"Make

Was

The treaty with Panamo was ratified Feb. 23, 1904. And on Aug. 15, 1914, the canal was open- ed to commerce. Because of the World War, the formal and official opening was not held until 1920,

Progress of work on the Madden dam, a buze project now un der way to assure an umple supply of water for the Panama Canal,

la shown here.

The story of French failure un- der private management was told and retold-how the Compagnie Universelle Du Canal inter-Oceanl- que de Panama wound up in bank- and scandal, ruptcy, disgrace, dragging with it the great Sucz Canai bullder, De Lesseps, broken in mind, spirit, and body by the failure. How the first two U.S. engineers, the civilians Wallace and Stevens, quit the job.

And how, when Goethals, the army engineer, took hold, the dirt flew. Goethals became a national hero, riding a wave of national pride. We, the United States, were showing what "we" would do. NEW DAM BEING BUILT.

We still are doing it. The dirt still flies in Panama. In 1930, a terrible drought reduced the level of Gatun Lake to the point where only utmost water economy per- mitted ships to pass through the canal at all.

This huge lake formed arti- clally by the building of Gatun Dam,, is 85 feet above sea level, and saved that much digging in

the canal. To guard against far- ther shortage, Madden Dam, above Gatun on the Chagres River, was authorized as n "feeder" to Gatun.

All through this year construc- tion at Maddon Dam will be going

01.

The job was awarded private contractors In 1931, and will cost about four and one-half millions.

IR-

Enlargements of dry dock cilities at Christobal to tako vea- sels up to 385 feet were the prin- cipal developments of plant for the year, though a dozen smaller pro- Jeets of improvement and mainten- ance were carried on.

EFFICIENT SYSTEM.

The accounting system for the canal was placed in the fiscal year 1932

em-

on what Gov. Julian L. Schley calls " form recommended by the Bureau of Efficiency, bodying as far as practicable the principles and practices approved by the Interstate Commerce Com- mission and state boards regulat ing public utilitica."

the son of Admiral Schley Spanish War fame,

In accordance with this system, July 1, 1921, was fixed as the closo of the construction and develop- ment period of the canal. All interest on U.S: treasury funds up to. that time was capitalized, and interest since that time modo a charge against operating expenses.

The government doesn't actu- ally charge the canal interest, but it is set up against canal rovenuca fust to make the system as near. like that of any other public utility as possible.

So in the fiscal year 1932-85, interest charges of $15,093,180,28 (that is 3 per cent of the capital ization of $583,106,609.47) were act up against income. The canal failed to cover this by $4,081,070.91

that is it produced only 2.23 per cent interest instead of 3 por cent and nominally has a deficit of that amount

But the main point is that, leav Ing the accounting details, out of the question, the canal to-day is taking in more than it spends." FREE OF SCANDALS.

Thirty years of government ad- ministration of the canal have been completed without a scandal of any kind or even a serious charge of graft or mal-administration.

Slight frictions between Paнama and the zone authorities over sale to Panamanians of goods from government stores, and over re- gulation of the morals of Panama City have developed, but never have. been serious.

Accountants will dispute until doomsday over whether the books of the canal make. a real compar- ison with private operation pos- sible. For instance private in- terests ask, what private company could borrow money at 3 per cent, and then build a tax-free project?

un-

And Zone authorities answer, what private firm has to build cer tain of its facilities on economic scale for purposes of the national defense, and what private firm has charged against its operat ing expenses the direct cost of civil government, health, and wel. fare activities?

The point is that the canal fa more than supporting itself, and that it has for 30 years been an invaluable public project, free of acandal, and so effectively "and efficiently run as to stand as a Governor Schley, by the way, is modei before the world,

MANCHU POMP OR WESTERN SIMPLICITY AT PU YI'S COURT?

BY HELEN WELSHIMER Will the pageant of the ancient Imperial Empire of the Manchus unfold again with all its old-time pomp and glory? Will there be again soft perfumes, subtle music, weird and voluptuous, romance walking in the gardens and moving leisurely on the low green rivers?

There is an Emperor on the

"The inside of The Empress Dowager's-chair-was-hung--with- yellow brocade which covered the interior. Her Majesty's bearers wore the usual mushroom hals, any ornaments. Their minus jackets were bright red, above blue trousers. Their shoes were black cotton cloth, without heels. There were mirrors and golden yases for flowers in the chair.

also a vanity ense."

of

throne again. Henry Pu-yl, deShe had an arm cest which was throned as the Imperial Ruler of all China, has resumed his throne as Heaven-appointed Emperor of Manchukuo,

How far will he go now that the jado Juyce, ruby-studded, is in his hands again?

Princess Der Ling doesn't know."

Yet she knows more of the ro- manco and intrigue and beauty of the famous court of the Emprega- Dowager than any other woman anywhere. She was First-Lady- In-Waiting. She

what knowa could take place if there is restora- tion of ceremonials.

In her book, "Imperial Incenes,"

•

"Court musicians played a col- ourful part in the life of the Im- perial palaces," Princess Der Ling reminisces. "The Instrumenta were lost when the Manchu dynas- ty was overthrown. If they are found and used again there will be a regular pageantry of music."

There were 12 musicians in the last court, and each musician had an assistant. Each musician play, ed a different instrument, too.

The Empress-Dowager didn't carry her royal robes in trunks when she travelled. She had them

she described the past grandeur. | spread out on trays-three gowns

Future grandeur may approach it. There is a matter of the Im-

perial Charlot.

"It really was a sedan chair." Princess Der Ling recalls. "Pu-

to a tray. She took 2,000 gowns with her one late spring when she made, a brief trip to Mukden, Prin.

Cass Der Ling recalls.

Whether the ssnanous touch of

the embroidered silks will awaken yl will have one, of courae. Alla longing for the old-time splendour Emperors do. The number of men in the serious-minded, 28-year-old who carry it will depend on the puppet Emporor's heart, or wheth Importance of the ceremoniat,er the business aults will continue to peal, nobody knows. Not even Pu-yl himself.

Sixteen in a convenient number but Aometimes as many as 04 are grouped so they all are touching the bamboo poles that support the Imperial Chariot.

I

During the days of the Dowager- Empress, as soon as a wintry

In the shadow of the famions Jade Fountain Pagodas, graceful

on their twin kiila... Henry Pu yi (upper left) has again become a ruler of his people... and Prin- coal Der Ling (right) rejoices in asing the Manchu dynasty, of which she is a member, restored to royal eminence in the new -Manakukuo.

draught crept through the air atrast to the three-storey building decree was..issued.........

in the summer palace."

"Furs will be worn to-morrow," That decree was telegraphed across China, Princess Der Ling remembers. No official, once it had been received, dared to appear before Her Imperial Majesty with out his sables or foxes or squirrels. Deep-rooted in the soils of the Chinese Empire is the tradition of scasonal dress. When the day came for a change, it must be made.

"In April, which began the spring acason, all the court ladies must wear jade ornaments-hair- pins, earrings and Anger rings," Princess Der Ling recalls.

Court cookery may grow sump- tuous again,

Whether there will be more

playa in new Imperial theatres. or whether the cinema has spoiled the original story-acting... whether there will be a time and occasion to wear every fur and Nobody every comb of jade. knows.

There were court doctors trained to serve the Imperial familly when the Manchu dynasty reigned be- fore. They wore coral buttons on their caps, peacock feathers, brill- fant costumes, the Manchu pris- ceas recollects. There was a room in which the herbs that the medical, man used were kept.

Lotus buds in China open when the sun comes up. The well-

"Imagine being served one hun-known writer who comes from the land where they grow, knows. dred main courses, one hundred different kinds of dessert, prepared Once upon a time. the Dowager by fifty cooks over Afty stoves with Empress sat in a throne on a boat, the help of fifty second cooks and at dawn, and asked for silence as the lotus pads stirred on the wa- innumerable lesser cooks!" the ter. When the sun was the shining former First-Lady-In-Waiting ex-. claims when Chinese food is men- colour of the Manchu dynasty the yellow gold which is the Imperial

tioned.

There were eight court Indies and 16 nerving maids in the old regime.

Princeas. Der Ling accompanied the Empress Dowager and her court when they made a trip to the Mukden Palaces, in Manchukuo. where Honry Pa-yl will have bin power concentrated,

air was filled with the perfume of the pink-hearted blossoma.

Spring is here. Lotus Blossom time has arrived, Music, flowers, Inconse, royal robes, and court ladies who move in velvet slippere will All the great new million- dollar palace at Hain King, the new elty prepared for the new. "The Imperial Theatre, of other Emperor. Whether they will move days, presented plays on the first to simple western rhythm, or and fifteenth of every month. They whether the Oriental splendour of wore acted by eunuche. There glorious, lost daza will come back were 12 imperis! tailors who did depends on Henry Pu-yl nothing but design stage costumes, Thero was a theatre in the palace grounds. It was very old, and only one storey in height in con

Maybe ho can stop being a pup- pet. Maybe, this time, he will be allowed to make a decision,