395. Memorandum From the Deputy Secretary of Defense (Gilpatric) to President Kennedy 1

SUBJECT

  • Relations with Panama and the Requirements for a Sea Level Canal

Reference is made to your memorandum of August 30, 1961,2 concerning the necessity for a sea level canal and current discussions with [Page 813] the Republic of Panama on our relations in connection with the present canal.

Recent technical studies completed under the aegis of the Panama Canal Company indicate that adoption of new techniques for lock overhaul and repair will almost double the present dependable capacity of the canal by 1965. However, recent studies also indicate that the previous forecasts of traffic requiring transit of the canal were conservative. These developments call for a re-study of the concept that commercial requirements necessitate the completion of a sea level canal by 1980, one of the premises upon which our present canal policy as embodied in NSC 6102 of January 10, 1961, is based. As a result, the Department of the Army has initiated an appraisal of these developments in connection with the requirements for a sea level canal as stated in NSC 6102.

With regard to the preliminary discussions with Panama, the Department of State has drafted a new paper on our policy toward Panama and on a sea level canal.3 Comments of the Department of Defense have been requested. The paper will reflect the results of the review of recent developments and their effect on the need for a sea level canal, and should make possible final recommendations thereon. Every effort will be made to complete the study and the resulting recommendations at the earliest possible moment.

With reference to your question on the implementation of the “equal pay for equal work” provision of the 1955 Treaty, I am assured by the Secretary of the Army that there has been careful and conscientious compliance with each element of our commitment. Since Executive Order 10794 assigns to the Secretary of the Army primary responsibility for implementation of these aspects of our treaty obligations, as set forth in Public Law 85-550, I am asking him to prepare for you a statement of the actions taken.

Roswell L. Gilpatric 4
  1. Source: Washington National Records Center, RG 330, Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, OSD/ISA Files: FRC 64 A 2382, 821 Panama. Secret. Drafted in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs.
  2. This memorandum referred to recent technical studies indicating that a sea-level canal would not be needed until the year 2000 and requested an early recommendation as to its necessity. (Ibid.)
  3. Reference is to a draft Policy Guidelines paper drafted in the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs and discussed informally at the working level with the Department of Defense. The paper never received final approval. Drafts dated September 19, 1961, and March 1962, together with related material, are in Department of State, Policy Guidelines: Lot 67 D 396, Panama.
  4. Printed from a copy that indicates Roswell signed the original.