PANAMA CANAL. The act of June 28, 1902, authorized (section 1) the purchase of the French Panama Canal Company and (section 2) the acquisition from the Repub lic of Colombia of the perpetual control of a strip of land not less than six miles in width, extending from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean, with the right to build and maintain a canal thereon, and the right to operate and maintain perpetually the Panama railroad, if its ownership or a con trol thereof shall have been acquired by the United States, and also jurisdiction over the same and the ports at the end thereof, etc. The President is authorized to acquire ad ditional territory and rights from Colombia, in his discretion. By section 3, the Presi dent is authorized to construct the canal. Section 7 creates the Isthmian Canal Com mission of seven members appointed by the President, with the consent of the Senate, to serve until the completion of the canal, or unless sooner removed by the President. (By act of Aug. 24, 1912, the President is authorized to discontinue the commission and to complete, govern and operate the ca nal by a governor, who shall serve for four years.)
The act of April 28, 1904, authorized the President to take possession of the "Canal Zone" of the width of four miles on each side of the centre line of the canal, and ex tending three marine miles from low water mark at each end of the Zone, also a group of islands in the Bay of Panama. Ratifica tions of the treaty with the Republic of Panama were exchanged February 26, 1904. By act of Aug. 24, 1912, the Zone was made ten miles in width, excluding Panama and Colon and their harbors.
The title of the United States to the Canal Zone is not imperfect because the treaty does not contain technical terms of conveyance, or because the boundaries are not sufficient for identification, the ceded having been practically identified by the concurrent action of the two nations ; Wilson v. Shaw, 204 U. S. 24, 27 Sup. Ct. 233, 51 L. Ed. 351. Congress has power to create interstate high ways, including canals, and also those within territories and outside of state lines; id.