Executive Order 1917

by President of the United States

Establishing Regulations Relative to the Payment of Tolls and of Bills for Materials, Supplies, Repairs, Harbor Pilotage, Towage, and Other Services, Furnished to Vessels by the Panama Canal.

By virtue of authority vested in me under the Panama Canal Act, the following regulations relative to the payment of tolls and of bills for materials, supplies, repairs, harbor pilotage, towage, and other services, furnished to vessels by the Panama Canal, are hereby prescribed:

1. The payment of tolls by vessels using the Panama Canal, and the payment for fuel and for other material and supplies sold, and for repairs, harbor pilotage, towage and other services furnished by the Panama Canal to vessels, shall be made to the Collector of the Panama Canal at either the Port of Balboa or Cristobal, except that deposits for tolls may be made with the Treasurer or an Assistant Treasurer of the United States to the official credit of the Collector of the Panama Canal, as authorized in Paragraph 6 hereof.
   
   A vessel may enter Gatun Lake from either end of the Canal and may, without passing through the locks at the other end, return to the original point of entry of the Canal without payment of additional tolls.
2. All payments shall be made in lawful money of the United States, but, in order to facilitate such payments, drafts may be accepted for conversion into lawful money under the conditions provided for in Paragraph 5 hereof.
3. Payment of tolls shall be made, or fully secured as provided for in either Paragraph 5 or 6 hereof, before the vessel is allowed to enter any lock of the Panama Canal. All bills for materials, supplies, repairs, harbor pilotage, towage, and other services furnished by the Panama Canal to vessels shall be paid, or fully secured as provided for in either Paragraph 5 or 6 hereof, before clearance papers are issued from the port of departure.
4. A certificate that the vessel is entitled to pass through the locks of the Canal may be issued to the officer in charge of the operation of the locks and, if desired, to the master of the vessel by the Auditor of the Panama Canal. The Auditor shall certify that the tolls have been paid to the Collector, or that their payment has been secured as provided in either Paragraph 5 or 6 hereof, or that the vessel is entitled to passage. Before a vessel that passes through the Canal is cleared from the port of departure, all statistical data in regard to cargo and passengers required by the regulations prescribed by the Governor of the Panama Canal shall be furnished to the Auditor, or arrangements to furnish same, satisfactory to the Auditor, shall have been made through an agency on the Isthmus. When all bills are paid, or secured as provided in either Paragraph 5 or 6 hereof, and the statistical data furnished or satisfactorily arranged for, the Auditor will issue a certificate to that effect to the port captain charged with the duty of clearing the vessel.
5. Unless, in the opinion of the Governor of the Panama Canal, payment in cash to the Collector of the Panama Canal is necessary for Canal purposes, drafts on banks in the United States under the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency and otherwise satisfactory to the Governor of the Panama Canal, may be accepted for conversion into cash to effect payment of tolls and for bills for materials and supplies, repairs, harbor pilotage, towage and other services, provided the payment of such drafts is secured by deposit of high-grade bonds with the official of the Panama Canal designated by the Governor of the Panama Canal under the following conditions:
   
   Bonds will be acceptable only from steamship companies having frequent sailings through the Canal or from the agents of several vessels or steamship companies. The bonds deposited by any one agency or company shall be sufficient to cover the tolls on a minimum number of vessels, as fixed by the Governor of the Panama Canal. Bonds of the United States, the Philippines, Porto Rico, and the District of Columbia will be accepted at their par value. If otherwise satisfactory to the Governor of the Panama Canal or his representative, bonds of the Hawaiian Territory, the Philippine Railway Company and those of states, municipalities and high grade railroads, such as are legal investments for savings banks in the States of New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut or New Jersey, will be accepted at 90 per cent of their market value, but not exceeding 90 per cent of their par value.
   
   The Governor of the Panama Canal may refuse to accept coupon bonds and may limit exchanges of bonds by depositors.
6. Steamship companies or agencies may make deposits to the official credit of the Collector of the Panama Canal with the Treasurer or any Assistant Treasurer of the United States to be applied in payment of tolls. The Treasurer or Assistant Treasurer receiving a deposit will forward a copy of the receipt direct to the Auditor of the Panama Canal at Balboa, Canal Zone. The receipt shall specify the vessel or vessels the tolls on which are to be charged against the deposit. Upon request a cable notice will be sent to the Auditor of the Panama Canal. Request in writing that cable notice be sent will be made upon the Treasurer or Assistant Treasurer receiving the deposit. He will telegraph the Washington Office of the Panama Canal, giving the number and date of the certificate of deposit, the amount paid, and the vessel or vessels for which the deposit is made, and state that cable notice is requested. The cost of sending the cable will be paid by the Panama Canal and the fees prescribed for such services will be charged against the deposit. The Auditor of the Panama Canal will issue monthly a certificate of the amount of tolls and fees charged against deposits with the Treasurer or Assistant Treasurer of the United States. Upon such certificate the Collector of the Panama Canal will draw his check for the proper part of the deposits to be covered into the Treasury as moneys received in payment of tolls, or as a credit to the Panama Canal funds as the case may require.
7. A refund of any excess amount deposited in payment of tolls with the Treasurer or Assistant Treasurer of the United States will be made when the steamship company or other agency making the deposit ceases to act for the vessels passing through the canal, or, when, on notice to the Governor, the amount is to be withdrawn.
   
   Application for refund shall be made to the Auditor of the Panama Canal who, upon approval of the Governor, will state the account and certify the amount to be refunded to the Collector of the Panama Canal who shall then draw his check for the amount of the refund to be made.
8. The Governor of the Panama Canal may prescribe such additional detailed regulations as may be necessary and proper.

Woodrow Wilson.

The White House

16 April, 1914.