to aid American vessels, so that an American dollar when invested in American shipping will have the same opportunity to earn as fair interest on such investments as an English, German, or French dollar has in the same class of investments.

I therefore recommend that a tonnage bounty shall be paid by the United States of America to any vessel, whether sail or steam, constructed and wholly owned in the United States, and which shall be engaged in the foreign trade, plying between the ports of the United States and foreign ports, or between foreign ports and other foreign ports, the sum of 30 cents per gross registered ton for each 1,000 miles sailed outward and inward, and pro rata for any distance traveled less than 1,000 miles on any voyage or voyages.

I do not venture to make any suggestions as to the assistance which may be rendered by the other nations represented in this Conference, and with whom mutual trade relations should be encouraged, because I do not sufficiently understand their wishes; nor is it known to me that under their laws monetary assistance to foreign-built ships can be granted, or if allowable that they would deem it advisable to do so, nor do I know but they wish to sustain steam-ship lines of their own, and therefore I do not refer to that question, but leave it rather for the consideration of my associates on the committee who represent our sister republics on the south of us, feeling assured that they will most gladly do all that can be done to promote trade and advance the common interest of all the Pacific coast nations represented in this Conference. MORRIS M. ESTEE,

United States Delegate to the International American Conference.

DISCUSSION.

SESSION OF MARCH 24, 1890.

The FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT. The next thing on the order of the day is the report of the Committee ou Communication on the Pacific.

Mr. CAAMAÑO. I take the liberty to send the following note to the Chair, reading it first that it may serve as a motion.

To the President of the International American Conference: The Committee on Communication on the Pacific Ocean presents to the Conference the result of its labors relative. to this important subject, and proposes the following:

The International American Conference, etc., would see

with satisfaction the Governments interested in communication on the Pacific give their assent to the plan subscribed to by their representatives.

J. M. P. CAAMAÑO.

In case this should call for any vote it will be that of the representatives from the Republics bordering on the Pacific who have not taken part in the deliberations of the committee.

(Mr. ROMERO takes the chair.)

Mr. ZEGARRA. I would ask the honorable chairman of the committee who has just had the floor, if all the delegates from the interested nations have agreed upon the terms of this report.

Mr. CAAMAÑO. I reply by stating that their opinion in the premises is unknown to us; seven nations have not given their assent expressly, but their representatives have had the report, with all its details, before them, and for this reason I ask that my motion be put to a vote, and if it is not agreed to then the plan will be discussed article by article.

Mr. ZEGARRA. I arise, Mr. President, not for the purpose of altering the substance of the report presented by the committee, but rather with the object of facilitating its prompt adoption-which to my mind is very advisable. Considering that several of the honorable delegates representing some of the nations in interest have not expressed their opinion, it seems that the situation is different from that just passed upon by the Conference, and that there is no objection to the taking of a vote of recommendation pure and simple, in case the phraseology can be made to cover, up to a certain point, the situation in which

the delegates who do not represent one of these nations find themselves.

To this end I have had the honor to frame a short resolution which has met the approval of some of the honorable representatives of these nations and which is expressed in these terms:

The International American Conference resolves: To recommend to the Governments of the countries bordering on the Pacific Ocean to promote among themselves maritime, telegraphic, and postal communications, taking into consideration, as far as compatible with their own interests, the propositions formulated in the report of the Committee on Communication on the Pacific.

This resolution is signed by the honorable delegates Messrs. Juan Francisco Velarde, Fernando Cruz, Horacio Guzman, Manuel Aragon, Jerónimo Zelaya, and he who has the floor.

Mr. VARAS. I rise merely to ask the honorable delegate who has presented this resolution by agreement, whether it means that the detailed stipulations are approved by the honorable delegates signing that resolution as well as some of the other nations which have not had a voice in the committee and are not included in the draught of agreement. I hope the honorable delegate will explain the scope of his resolution.

Mr. ZEGARRA. I can not reply since I am ignorant of the opinion of the honorable delegates who have not signed the resolution; but I understand that from the very fact of signing and having their names appear there, these who have signed have expressed their approval. Of the other honorable delegates I

am sorry that I am unable to say the same because I do not know their opinions.

Mr. VARAS. They were the only ones to whom I could refer, as the honorable delegate from Peru will understand-those who have not signed, because it is clear that those who signed it have agreed to it, and in such case, Mr. President, the draft of resolutions, be it that sent to the Chair by Mr. Caamaño, or that read by Mr. Zegarra, have the same character and the same scope as the resolution previously approved by the Conference; that is, being limited to general terms and leaving the details to the agreement, solely and exclusively, of the delegations by them affected. Therefore, the Conference can not enter upon the examination of the plan, but only the delegations in interest, according to the vote taken a moment since. Thus I understand the scope of the vote which is to be taken.

Mr. CAAMAÑO. As of the twelve nations on the Pacific, five sign the report and six give their assent to the proposition of the delegate from Peru, making a total of eleven, it seems that only the Colombian delegation has to manifest its opinion on this question; in which case, should it be in the affirmative, the plan would be adopted.

Mr. MARTINEZ SILVA. Mr. President: Probably the Colombian Government would not subsidize a steamship line on the Pacific, as far as its ports are concerned, so long as the basis for the distribution of the subsidy is the total population, as appears from this table, for the simple reason that the Republic of Colombia has very little or no communication by the Pacific. Probably its trade by these ports rep

resents a sixth part of its total commerce.. Consequently it could not take as a basis for the subsidies the total population.

Mr. ESTEE. Mr. President, may I ask the gentleman from Peru a question? I am a little in a quandary. I would like to know whether the gentleman's resolution just presented means an indorsement of the report of the committee or a rejection of that report? I confess I could not tell.

Mr. ZEGARRA. I am sorry to enter into an explanation of this kind with the gentleman from the United States, because I find it rather difficult to express in clearer words than those of the resolution the meaning conveyed. The resolution says plainly that the recommendation is on the same basis as that presented by the committee, but it also says that every State is not to be compelled to accept all the propositions of the report in detail, but so far as each State may find them conformable with its interests. Now this, I believe, is not a rejection of the report. In fact it is an indorsement as ample, as unconditional as the honorable delegate could desire. It is very far from being a rejection. On the contrary, I began by stating and acknowledging that the committee's report was a very ample and fair one upon the question submitted to their consideration, but as the proposition has to be couched in such terms as may cause the least embarrassment in the vote, I took the liberty of drafting the phraseology which, in my opinion, would satisfy all those requirements.

Mr. VELARDE. I find myself in the necessity of making an explanation respecting the matter under debate.