The Chelsea Commercial (Chelsea, Indian Terr.), Vol. 12, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, December 21, 1906 Page: 2 of 8
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PRESIDENT ON PANAMA
Sends Special Message to Corgress Giving Re-
sults of His Observations in Canal Zone-
Rep ies to Critics and Makes
Recommendations.
I •* •« hnnoiit onmnUIn) wn« (vnW'dl of
1 what occurred when 1 Investigated most
of the other honest complaints made to
me. Th.it Ih. when* the complaints
were not made wantonly or malicious-
ly- they almost always prov« d due to
failure to appreciate tli«• fact that
to avoid some ni^txk* h in building
giant canal through jungle-covered
mountains and ownmpa, while at the
name tim* sanitating tropic cities, and
providing f. r the feeding and general
# ti . ■ . , care of from 20.000 to 30.000 workers.
. . tho text of P"* W#nt ! for the, good and steady men of course Thi mpiaints brought to me . Ith* r
«. « «, continue at the work. Yet astonish- ' of insurfb i. nt provision in caring for
ing progiess has been made In both
"itles. In Panama 90 per cent of th-
time
*' "" uri I'smj | y In the LTt'HUUII I " - -J •- • - ■ -J- - *
and completion of this titanic work in leather, and on* colored American ten .
«ropl.- wilderness It in Impossible "j "l",sl tlit-t.j being co-ore I te.;, .• r
♦" ... _i from Jamaica. Barbados ., .1 t.. Lucia.
The achoolriH>m were g" l. and It w.«s
a pleasant thing to see the pride that the
tea (iters were taking In their work and
their pupil*
-cation
Philippines, and belonged to the best
type of American soldier. Witho.it ex-
ception the black policemen whom 1
questioned had served either In the Brit-
ish army or in the Jamaiea or Barbados
police. They were evidently contented,
and were dome their work w eli. Whtri
possible the policemen are used ti con-
trol people of their own color, but in
any emergency no hesitation la felt In
using Uu-m indiscriminately.
Inasinui h as so many both of the white
and colored employes have brought their
families with them, schools have been
established, the schttol service being un-
d« r Mr. O'Connor. For th© white pupils
white American teachers are employed;
for the colored pupils there are also some
white American teachers, one Spanish
Roosevelt's spec ial mesa.! ice to congress
on the subject of the Panama canal
To the Senate and House of Representa-
tives;
In the month of November 1 visited the
Isthmus of Panama, going over the
Canal Zone with considerable care; and
also visited the cities of Panama and
Colon, which are not In the tone or
under the United States flag, but as to
which the l/nited States government,
through its agents, exercises control for
certain sanitary purposes. 1 chose the
month of November for rny visit partly
because it is the rainest month of the
year, the month In which the work goes
forward at the greatest disadvantage,
and one of the two months which the
medical department of the French Canal
company found most unhealthy.
Following the Introduction to the mes-
aage the president gives a resume of his
programme during the days he was on
the Isthmus, and then says.
At the outset 1 wish to pay tribute
to the amount of work done by the
French ranal company under very diffi-
cult circumstances. Many of the build-
ings they put up were excellent and
are still in use. though, naturally, the
houses are now getting out of repair and
are being used as dwellings only until
other houses can be built, anil much of
the work they did In the Culebra cut,
and some of the work they did in dig-
ging has been of direct and real benefit.
This country has never made a better
Investment than the which It
paid to the French company for work
and betterments, including especially the
Panama railroad.
An lnspe< lion on the ground at the
height of tiie rainy season served to con-
vince me of tiie wisdom of congress In
refusing to adopt either a high-level or
a sea-level canal. There seems to be a
universal agreement among all people
competent to Judge that the Panama
route, the one actually ehost n. Is much
•uperior to both the Nicaragua and
Darien routes.
Preliminary Work Being Done.
The wisdom of the canal management
has been shown in nothing m« re clearly
than in the way In which the founda-
tions of tiie work have i.e. n laid To
have yielded to the natural impatience
of Ill-informed outsider* a? 1 begun all
kinds of experiments in work prior to a
thorough sanitation of the isthmus, and
to a fairly satisfactory working out of
the problem Of getting and keeping a
Sufficient labor supply, would have been
disastrous. The various preliminary
measures had to be taken first, and
these could not he taken so a« to allow
US to begin trie real work -f construc-
tion prior to January 1 of the present
year. It then beam,- i . ■ . - irv to have
the type ol the < inal decided, and the
only delay has he* n the ti-. ,->>ary delay
until the th day of Jur e, the date
When tiie congress dctln:u-lv and wisely
aettled that w • - • i" . I i. i\- an v'-f.ot
level canal. Immediately aft-: that the
work began in l.ard earr • s; and has
been continued with increasing vigor
ever since; and it will continue so to
progress In the future \\ ! ••• ti..- con-
tracts are let the conditio!.s will be such
as ti) insure a constantly increasing
amount of performance.
Successful Sanitation.
The. first great problem to be solved.
upon the sol it ion of win. h t! < u .-ss of
the rest of the work «i- p -n<h 1. was'the
problem of sanitation. This was fr ■rn
the outset ur.hr t • direction of 1 >r
W. C. Gorgas. who is to be made a full
member ot ti nun.s>;«ui. it .-t be
remembered t..
sanitation a- i
our ordinary r
out the zone
Panama and '"ion. in
sanitation work prop. r.
do all the Work that th- Marine hosp taJ
serve e do. s a- r • . , • • . , • •
the health department oft: .-• > do n th.
various states arid cities, and that i\.l
Waring did In New York when he
cleaned Its str.-ets. The results have
"been astound nt. The istlim ,s hit 1 l
a bywori for deadly unhcalthfiiln*—
Now. after tw.
the cordit.ot -
the deatn rat.-
Care of Employes.
streets that are to be paved at all are
already paved with an excellent brick
pavement laid In heavy concrete, a few
of tile streets being still In process of
paving. The sewer and water services
in the city are of the most modern hy-
gienic type, some of the service hav-
.ng just been completed.
In Colon the conditions are peculiar
and It is as regards Colon that most of
the very bitter complaint has been
made. Colon is built on a low coral
island, covered at more or less shallow
depths with vegetable accumulations
or mold, which affords sustenance and .
strength to many varieties of low- I
lying tropical plants. One-half of the
. ; \v" Next In Importance to the problem of
Of the laborers, or of failure to sanitation, and indeed now of equal Im-
linlsh the pavements of Colon, or of portunce, is the problem of securing and
failure to supply watt r or of failure ,-arlng for the mechanics, laborers and
but hi wooden sidewalks for the use | other employes who actually do the work
of the laborers In the rainy
on^ Investigation proved, almost
i ommlsslon to do
utter Inability of the
everything at once.
Unjust Criticism.
Care and forethought have been exer-
cised by the commission, and nothing haa
reflected more credit upon them than
their refusal either to go ahead too fast
or to be deterred by the fear of criticism
from not going ahead fast enough. It Is
curious to note tiie fact that many of
the most severe critics of the commission
er employes who actually do the work
.... the canal and the railroad. This great
lib- task has been under the control of Mr.
i ,#* Jatkson Smith, and on the whole has
surface of tiie Island is covered with criticise them for precisely opposite ««r« -
water at high tide, the average height I sons, some complaining bitterly that the
PRESIDENT ON A STEAM SHOVEL
been well done At present there are
some 6.HOO white employes and some
l^.OiiO colored employes on the Isthmus.
I went over the different places where
the different kinds of employes were
working! 1 think 1 saw representatives
of every type both at their work and In
their homes; and I conversed with prob-
ably a couple of hundred of them all
told, choosing them at random from
every class and Including those who came
especially to present certain grievances
olmost invariably expressed far greater
content and satisfaction with tiie con-
ditions than did those who called to
make complaint.
Nearly ;.."•••• of tiie white employes had
come from the United States. No man
can so) these young, vigorous men
•rgeiically doing their duty without
ter class, who are to be found as fore-
men. as skilled mechanics, as police-
men. are good men; and many ot the
oedlnnrv dwV i«ln r* r« «r also good.
Work of Construction.
But thousands of those who are
brought over under contract (at our
expense) go off Into the jungle to live,
or loaf around Colon, or work so bad-
l\- uft-r th*> llr«*f ti nr four daVS
as to cause a serious diminution of
the amount of labor performed on Fri-
day and Saturday of each week. I
questioned many of these Jamaica
laborers as to tiie conditions of their
work and what, if any changes, they
wished. I received many complaints
from them, but as regards most of
these complaints they themselv* con-
tradicted one another. In all cases
where the complaint was as to their
treatment by any individual it proved
on examination that this Individual
was himself a West India man of color
either a policeman, a storekeeper, or
an assistant storekeeper. Doubtless
there must be many complaints against
Imerleani but those t« whom i spoke
did not happen to make any such com-
plaint to me.
i he work is now going on with a
vigor and efficiency pleasant to wit-
ness. The three big problems of the
canal are the La Boca dams, tiie datun
tlam. and the Culebra cut. The Cule-
bra oul aiuet bo made, any now; but
of course changes as to the dams, or
at least as to the locks adjacent to
the dams, may still occur. The l*a
Boca dams offer no particular prob-
lem. the bottom material being so
good that there is a practical certain-
ty. not merely as to what can he
achieved, but as to the time of achieve-
ment. The Catun dam offers the most
serious problem which we have to
solve, and yet the ablest men on the
isthmus believe that this problem is
certain of solution along the lines
proposed; although, of course, it ne-
cessitates great toil, energy, and In-
telligence. and although equally, of
course, there will be some little risk
In eonnectlon with the work. The risk
arises from the fact that some of the
material near tht bottom is not
A1""" *rAw*rky,'a; *'«"•< aa eoul.l be .ieslre.l. If the huK*
arth dam now contemplated is thrown
tcross from one foothill to the other
will have what is practically
They represent on the average a Mfh
class. Doubthss to congress the wages
paid theni will seem high, but as a mat-
ter of fact the only general complaint
which I found had any real basis among
tiie complaints made to me upon tiie
isthmus was that, owing to the peculiar
surroundings, the cost of living, und the
distance from home, the wages were
really not as high as they should be. Iti
fact, almost every man I spoke to felt
that he ought to be receiving more
money—a view, however, which the aver-
age man who stays at homo in the
l nlted States probably likewise holds
as regards hitnsejf. I append figures of
the wages paid, so that the congress can
Judge the matter for Itself. I-iter 1 shall
confer on the subject with certain repre-
sentative labor men here in the I'nited
States, as well as going over with Mr.
Stevens, the comparative wages paid on
Hie zone and at home; and 1 may then
communicate my findings to the canal
committees of the two houses.
Chinese and Other Labor.
Of the 19.000 oi
employed on the
are Spaniards.
work Ttu ir for
they did twice a
Indian laborers,
and no difficulty
them in any way.
era are alao ami
with the drilling
la ti
20 000 day laborers
anal a few hundred
hese do excellent
•man told me that
i well as the West
They keep healthy
is experienced with
Some Italian lalior-
loyed in connection
As might be ex-
labor as high pried as
the I'nited States. It has
il practicable to get
rers from the I'nltcd i
rlcan wage-workers
'lghly
usly
of ti.
ty
effort
itn-
iph, Copyrtffat, by UntSsrw* <1 * rnderwoml, K. T.
At Pedro Miguel, Culebra Cut. Preaident Roosevelt wa photographed
seated on one of the immense steam shovels use* in the wotV o* evcavatinq
being made to
secure
Hail ins. a ml « s-
pecially to p
rocure
ninre Spaniards.
because of th
e very
satisfactory re-
suits that hav
e come
• from th. ir em-
ploymetit anl
their
numbers will be
increased as t
possible. It has
not proved p«
isslble.
however, to get
them in anything like th. numbers
needed for the
work.
an«l from present
appearances w
e shall
in the main have
to rely, for
th# or
work, parti v
upon
coior.'d laborers
from the Wi
at Ind
b s partly upon
Chinese labor.
It c.
rtalnlv ought to
low. broad, mountain rfdge behind
which will rise the inland lake. This
artificial mountain will probably show
IfSS seepage, that Is. will have greater
restraining capacity than the average
natural mountain rang. The exact lo-
cality of the locks at this dam—as at
the other dams is now being de-
termined. In April next Seen tary
Taft, with three of the ablest t ngln-
eers of the country Messrs. Noble.
Stearns and Ripley —will visit the
isthmus, and the three engineers will
make the final and conclusive exami-
nations as to the exact site for each
lock. Meanwhile the work is going
uhead without a break.
The Culebra cut does not offer such
great risks; that is, tiie damage liable to
oirur from oeeasional land slips will not
represent what may be called major tlis-
asters. The work will merely call for in-
telligence. perseverance, an I executive
capacity. It is. however, the work upon
which most labor will have to be spent.
Tiie dams will lie composed of the earth
taken out of the cut and very | ossthly
the building of the locks and darns w ifl
take even longer than the cutting in
Culebra itself.
In Culebra Cut.
The main work is now being done In
the Culebra cut. It was striking and
Impressive to see the hug.? steam shovels
In full play, the dumping trains carrying
away tiie rock and earth they dislodged.
The implements of French excavating
Machinery, which often stand a little
way from the line of work, though of ex-
cellent construction, look like the veriest
to> s when compared with these new
as the French dump-
pared wltn the long trains of huge tars,
ilunqed by steam plows, which are now
in use. This represents the enormous
advance tiiut h is been made In ruachin-
tlurlng tlie past quarter of a cen-
loubt a quarter of a century
tur
JUd,
; term
n^ptpal
of the land being 1*4 fee
tide. The slight tindulaf
shallow, natural reservoij
water breeding places f<)r
ty of mosquito, and the *
to lie lowest in the middle. When the
town was originally built no attempt
was made to All the low ground, either
PRESIDENTIAL PARTY LEAVING HOTEL
but it is
well now.
be entire!)
But the
• yards
[-luinsy methi
nerv. of which
similarly seem out
rtainly serving its
I i" old Fren. h cars
v discarded. We still
v of the more modern,
dern, cars, which hold
irth. They can be ein-
ln lines with sharp
recent cars hold from
•C-. and instead of the
unloading them.
reas-
United
devoted tc
under st
hole vest!huled train, thus irn-
•ly economizing labor, hi the rainy
the steuin sho\
little in dirt, but thev work steatlll>
rock and in the h irder ground Tht
building
the isthmus, and th«
r and efficiency were uiost imi
I mud hoi•
ith soft
pteml
begun to
n for the prop-
In February
wer«
ution of
New Records for Excavation.
the type of canal was de-
led this work b gan in good earnest
ilny season will shortly hi
will be an immense Increase In
amount taken out. but even during
In the rainy s
figures In A
In September, L'
tots
ublc yards,
yards, and in
tober
Wished for the
hlch
malarial
Settlements
■fcltiett|
>mj
t
treet
will be required
for
Imj
I. but the progr
I it
n dug through t
ter on both s
ponds which h
ding places for the mosqult
trained. These dltcl
purpose, for they are probablj
hlef cause of the astonishing
llmlnutlon of mosquitoes More ditches
f the kind are being constructe
\Vmim
n tin
tlve
grbM
■■it gun
irksm.inshii
unt
at a
hill had
*7 tons of
x plotjed at
A ■
Colon Water Supply.
are It.
* '
•peal; of th.
it thi
bout '1
It will ha\
farther. Through-
blasting.
going on
rgy. the bug*
most
they
point
i it
link about 1
it the cut the
ding ar
nujrfi
Is being pi
lountaln
r 1 v in March
voir. Thl
suffl
HhlllH
.jy Improvements.
I methods, not only
anas
1 by tht
■Mb]
pry ■
In but
In th
unma
1 them
Sin
back of Mount
lly complet
srhile other
dang'
member Of -Mir p .
days on the istnt:
taken by th- insp.-.
!>artmerit to s.- ir
louses and proper
every kind. I ;r
ti) water-closets, bo
white etnj ;'>ves at.
colored laborer- Ir
found the
case diil I find t her
case, affecting a -
tied White employ. !
bad Indeed, bit tn
Inherited from the
were bolng used temporarily
buildings were in the course
tlon. and right near the def<
closet a new and excellent closet with a
good sewer pipe was in process of Con-
Otructlon and nearly frii*h *d N verthe-
less this did n«>t ex« u-e th- fact that the
had condition had been allowed to pre-
vail. T emporary a
■ only s M B as soldiers use whet I
In tiie field, should have b. • n provided.
Orders to this effect were issued. I ap-
pend the report of I)r. <*>'<rgas '>n the In-
cident. I was struck, however. Ly the
fact that In this Instance, as in aim st
every other where a complaint was made
which prove<l t.. have any justification
whatever, it appeared that st-ps had al-
ready t een taken t« remedy the
•as at all ti
the very hi nt
the new reser-
Hope has be* n
I Visited thiS
dr. It is a lake over a mile
nd half n mil- broad. It now
r.OO.OQO.OOO gallons of
hrst-class water I forward herewith
a photograph of this lake, together
with certain other photographs of
what I saw while I was on the Isth-
mus Nothing but a cataclysm will
hereafter rend, r it necessary in the
dry season to haul water for the use
of Colon and Cristobal.
Colon Pavements.
I rode through the streets of Colon
seeing them at the height of the rainy
season, aftt r two days of almost un-
exampled downpour, when they were
at their very worst* Taken as a
whole they were undoubtedly v.-ry
bad; as bad as Pennsylvania avenue
in Washington before Grants admin-
istration. Front street Is already in
thoroughly satisfactory shape. how
Some of the side
handling
cars, and fr.
I'aria ma railroad,
lo the efficiency of tie
Hlerd. the saving In linn
runles in time
i shown In the
Ke from ships Into
into shits on the
re, thanks largely
ftBf *" ager
bus
reaoy neen tasen to reme.iv me evu , ! 1?.V1* nre
complained of. am! that the IrnuMe w;.h i i„ n,. ■ ! ° «>'«
mainly due l<. tin exu.-m.- difficulty, ami
often impossibility, of providing In every I ""wn j, £ jj,
... Ju«t. It would hav« tieen lmpos«lble to
Chance in the streets I* rapidly Kolng g< quicker than the commission has
i fourths of the gone, for such qul<-kness would have
possible to walk. ev. n meant Insufficient prej ir itlon On the
during the period of tremendous rain, other hand, to r«-fii«.. to do anything un-
In low shoes without wetting ones ti 1 every possible future < intingcncy had
feet, owing to the rapidity with which been met would have . a used wholly un-
the surface water Is carried away In warranted delay The right ...urse to
the ditches. In tiie remaining one- follow wus exactly ti which has
fourth of the streets the mud Is v. ry been followed Every reasonable prepara-
deep—about as deep as In the ordinary Hon was made in advance, the hygienic
- A - 0 a 1 r. ... I .-i .. .. l_l. _ I . . ..... I I . 1 . _ I.. .1..I I •
From (Uraorrsph, eopyilght, ty Underwood * Underwood, H. T.
Cnotograpn ot the President and Mr*. Roosevelt and party leaving the
Tivoll hotel at Colon taken during the recent Inspection of the canal ey the
chle* executive.
work Is not In a mors advanced pondl- I American worklngman In the I'nlted
tlon. while the others complain that It has State* has no concern whatever In the
beeI, rushed with such haste that there I question hs to whether the rough \v.,rl«
has be..,I Insufficient ( reparation for the en the isthmus which Is performed bv
hygiene arid comfort of the employe" | aliens In any event, Is done by allen*
As a matter of fact neither crltlc'sm Is ! from one country with a black .kin
place for the •nstai.t Increase In the
numbers of employes (generally the pro-
vision Is made in advance, but It is not
possible that this should always be the
case; when it is not there ensues a
period of time during which the condi-
tions are unsatisfactory, until a remedy
can be provided; but I never found a
case where the remedy was not being
provided as speedily as possible.
Improvements In Cities.
The sanitation work In the cities of
Panama and Colon has been Just as
Important as In the cone Its. If nd In
many respects much more difficult be-
cause It was necessary to deal with , —•- ------ „ ... , ... — ..
the already extstlug population, which cadamltlng the streets Complaint was of the employe
naturally had scant sympathy with
revolutionary changes, the value of
which they were for a long time not
• ble to perceive. In Colon the popula-
tion consists largely of colored labor-
ers who. having come over from the
West Indies to work on the canal,
abandon the work and either take to
the brush or lie Idle In Colon itself;
Street of a low-lying prairie river town
of the same size In the United States
during early spring All men to whom I
spoke were a unit In saying that the
conditions of the Colon streets were
100 per cent better than a year ago - -
The most superficial examination of '"ti only be shown by the working of the
tite town shows tiie progress that h s system in actual practice.
been made and Is belng made in ma- 1 In addition to attending to the health
It Is _ of course neces-
condltlons In especial being made
nearly perfect as possible; while on the
other hand there h-s been rift timid re-
fusal lo push forward the work because
of Inability to anticipate every possible
emergency, for, of course, many defects
„r . „0nn c"""try * •'laJ'k skin
or by aliens from another countrv
with a yellow skin. Our business Is
to dig the cannl as efficiently and s
quickly as possible; provided always
that nothing IS done that Is Inhumane
to any laborers, and nothing that in-
terferes with the wattes of or lowers
the standard of living of our own
workmen Having in view this prin-
ciple. j have arranged to try several
thousand Chinese laborers. This Is de-
slrahle both because We must try to
find out what laborers are mott eftl-
r.. rit and. furthermore fx-rause we
"honld not leave our^.lves ;,t
m.-rry of any one type of foreign
labor. At present the great hulk of
"nhv "u." .,nV',r. <■"*"'* 1.
by West India negro<<*. chiefly
md the other
I made to me by an entirely reputable sary to provide for poli.-lng the tone.
| man as to the character of some of 1 This Is done by a i>oli« e f. r which ut
| the material used for repairing cer- ; present numbers o\er men, under
tain streets. On Investigation the com- Capt. Hhanton. About one-fifth of the
plaint proved well founded but It also men are white and the others black,
appeared that the use of ths material In different places I •tuestioned some 20
in question had been abandoned, the I or 30 of these men, taking them at ran-
commission after having tried It In one dorn. They were a fine set. physically
_ ... | or two streets finding It not appro- 1 and In discipline With one exception all
thus peopling Colon with the least de- j priste. the white men I questioned had served
•lrable among the imported laborers, j Ths result of the investigation of ' in the American army, usually In ths
• * tine ru i ne gov-
ernors of the hinds in question has
;,nfr,?',1y disposition to sr.:
worn ann han thrown oh«t.ie|e* In th.
WRy P* ,ou.r K-ttlug the labor ne. d. d
ne, f II '• Myhlv iinftMlptihU to ,|Ve
any ^litsidf rs the Impression, however
1 ' ' I' • • ir< l DdliM naa-
ble and can dictate terms to us.
I he West fndla laborers sre falrlv
thi mnlnHfHlr, V l^r •• tory Hon.- o^
the men do very well Indeed; ths bet-
been noteworthy.
ed to show that i
had n|i mil ties* necessarily) bi
developed, and could now be reduced or
subordinated without Impairment of etll-
clency and with a saving of cost. Tiie
chairman of the commission, Mr. Shoots
has all matters of this kind constantly
in view, and is now reorganizing the gov-
ernment of the lone, so as to make t lie
form of administration both more flexible
aial less expen-lve, subordinating every-
thing to direct efficiency with a view to
the work of the canal commission. Krorn
time to time changes of tins kind will un-
doubtedly have lo be made, for it must
be remembered that In this giant work
of construction. It Is continually neces-
sary to develop departments or bureaus,
which are vital for the time being, but
which soon liecome useless. Just as It will
lie continually necessary to put yp build-
ings. ami even lo erect towns, which tn
ten years will once more give plate to
Jungle, or will then be at the bottom of
the great lakes nl the ends of the canal.
Critics and Doubting Thomases.
It Is not only natural, but Inevitable
that a work ..s gigantic as this which
haa been undertaken on the Isthmus
should arouse every s|..-, les of hostility
and crltb i*m. rhe conditions are so now
und so trying, and the work so vast, that
If would be . — out Of the ques-
tion that mistakes should not be made
«'hecks will or. Cnforeseen difficult les
will arise. From time to time •seemingly
well-settled i-lans will have to be
changed. At present 2.'..000 men nre en-
gage,| on the t After awhile ths
number will he doubled. In such a mul-
titude it is inevitable that there should
be here and there a scoundrel. Very
many of the poorer class of laborers lack
the mental development to protei-t them
selves against either the rascality of
others or their own folly, snd it is not
possible for human wisdom to devia* a
«n Invariably be
plan Ly which they
protected. In a place which has been
for ages a byword for unhealthfillness,
and with so large a congregation or
strang* r* suddenly put down and set to
hard work there will now and then t*
outbreaks of disease. There will now
and then be shortcomings in administra-
tion; there will be unlooked-for acci-
dents to delay the excavation of the cut
ttr ti. building of the dams and locks,
Kach such incident will Iw entirely nat-
ural. and, even though serious, no one
of them will mean more than a little
extra delay or trouble. Vet each, when
discovered by sensation mongers and re-
tailed to timid folk of little faith, will
serve as an excuse for the belief that
the whole work is being badly managed.
Kxperlments will continually be tried in
housing, In hygiene, in street repairing,
in dredging and In digging earth and
rock. Now ami then an experiment will
be a failure; and among thone who hear
of It, a certain proportion of doubting
Thomases will at once believe that ths
whole work is a failure. Doubtless here
and there some minor rascalltv will hs
uncovered; but as to this, I have to sav
that after the most painstaking Inquiry
1 have been unable to find a single reput-
able person who hat! so much as heard
of any serious accusations affet ting the
honesty of the commission or of any
responsible officer under It. I append a
letter dealing with the most serious
charge, that of the ownership of lots in
< olon; the charge was not advanced by
a reputable man, ami is utterly base-
less it is not too much to say that the
wnole atmosphere of he commission
(•realhe* honesty as it breathes efficiency
ami energy. Above all. the work lias
been kept absolutely clear of politics. I
have (lever heard even a suggestion of
spoils politics In connection with it.
I have investigated every • omplalnt
brought to me for which there s. , med
to l>e any shadow of foundation In
"two or three cases, all of which I
have Indicated in the course of this
message. I came to the conclusion that
there was foundation for the com-
plaint. and that the methods of the
commission in the respect complained
of could he bettered. In the other In-
mthe complaints proved abso-
lutely baseless, save In two or three
instances where they referred to mls-
takes which the commission had al-
ready found out and corrected.
Slanders and Libelers.
So much for honest criticism. There
remains an Immense amount of aa
reek less slander as has ever been pub-
lished. Where the slanderers up- of
foreign origin I have no concern with
them Where they are Americans I
feel for them the heartiest contempt
and Indignation: because, In a spirit
of wanton dishonesty and malice,
they are trying to intt rfere with and
hamper the execution of. the greatest
work of the kind ever attempt* ti and
are seeking to bring to naught the ef-
forts of their counlrymt n to put to
the credit of America one of the L...nt
rents of the ages. The outrageous
recusations of these slander* rs con-
stitute a gross libel upon a hodv of
public servants who. for train, d Intel-
ligence expert ability, high charac-
tetr antl devotion to duty, have never
been excelled anywhere. There Is not
a man among those directing the work
on the isthmus who has obtained hla
position on any other basis than merit
alone, antl not one who has used his
position In any way for his own per-
sonal or pecuniary advantage.
Plan to Build by Contract.
After most careful consideration we
have decided to let out most of the
work by contract. If w* can come t.
, satisfactory terms with the contract-
ors I lie whole work Is of a kind
suited to the peculiar genius of our
i people; •, n * I our people have devel-
i oped the type of contractor lost fitted
I to grapple with it. It is of course
' much better to do the work in large
part by contract than to do it all by
( the government, provided it is pos-
, sible on the one hand to secure to tiie
i contractor a sufficient remnueratlon
to make it worth while f., - respon-
sible contractors of tin best kind to
undertake the work; and provided <>n
' 1 °lth' r,!} ,n,! i! ran ,M' done on terms
Which Will riot give an excessive profit
to the contractor at the expanse of
the government. After much con-
, slderation the plan already promul-
gated by the secretary of war was
• adopted. This plan In Its essential
I features was drafted after careful
.and thorough study and consideration,
b\ the Chief engineer, Mr. Stevens
who. While in the employment of Mr!
Hill, the president of the CSrest North-
, f rn railroad, had personal experience
of this vt ry type of contract Mr.
I Stevens then submitted the plan to
the chairman of the commission Mr.
Shonts. \\ 1 • went carefully over It
with Mr rs. the b-gal' advis. r of
the commission, to see that all legal
difficulties Were met. He then submit-
ted copies of the plan to both Hecre-
t iry Taft and myself s. . r. tarv Taft
submitted It to some the best'coun-
sel at the New York bar. and after-
wards I went over It very carefully
with Mr Taft and Mr. Shonts and we
laid the plan In its general features
before Mr lioot. My conclusion is
that it combines the maximum of ad-
vantage with the minimum of disad-
vantage t "rider It a premium will he
put upon the speedy and economical
construction of the canal, antl a pen-
alt v Imposed on delay and waste. The
T>!r n as promulgated is tentative;
doubtless it will have to be changed
in some respects before we can come
to a satisfactory agreement with re-
sponsible contractors—perhaps even
after the bids hftVO been received;
and of course It Is possible that we
can not come to a ngret-ment. hi which
case the government will ti- the work
•' K Meanwhile the work on th
Isthmus Is progressing steadily and
without any let up.
Single Commlsaioner Desired.
A seven-headed commission Is nf
course a clumsy executive instrument.
We should have but one commission-
er. with such heads of departments
and other officers und- r him as we
msy find nec.-^i rv. We should be
expressl v permitted t employ the
b* st engineers In the country as con-
sulting engineers.
I accompany this paper with a map
showing substantially what the cannl
will be like When It Is finished When
the Culebra cut has been made and
f. darns built i i f they are built as at
present proposed i there will then be
at both the Pacific and Atlantic ends
of the canal two gre-' f^sh-water
lakes connected hv a road channel
running at the bottom of a ravine,
nerons the hat kbone of the Western
Hemisphere. Those best Informed be-
lieve that the work will be completed
in about eight years; but it is never
safe to prophesv shout such a work
as this, especially in the tropics.
Confident of Ultimate Succesa.
Of the success of the enterprise T
am as well convinced as ene can he
"f any enterprise that is human. It
is i stupendous work upon which our
f. llow countrymen are engaged down
there on the Isthmus and while we
should hold them t«i a strict aecounta-
bllltjr for the wav In which they per-
f- rm It. we should recognize, with
frank generosity, the epic nature of
the task upon which they an* engaged
and Its world-wide importance. They
are doing something which will re-
daiid Immeasurably to the credit of
America, which will benefit all the
world, and which will last for ages
to come. 1'nder Mr 8hon*« and Mr.
Stevens snd Pr. Oorgas th work hia
started with every omen of good for-
tune. They antl their worthy associates,
from the highest to the lowest, are
entitled to the same credit that we
would give to the p'ck.-d men of a
virlnrlnm prmv- for cortouest of
peace will. In Its great and far-reach-
ing mfffCt ntnr*tV urn nmnn y iht Vef*V
greatest conquests, whether of peace
or of war. which have ever been won
by any of the peoples of mankind. A
badge Is to be given to every Ameri-
can citlsen who for a spec fled time
has taken part in this work; for par-
ticipation in it will hereafter he held
to reflect honor upon the man par-
ticipating just as It reflects honor upon
a soldier to have belonged to a mighty
army In a great war for righteous-
ness. Our fellow countrymen on the
Isthmus are working for our Interest
and for the national renown In the
same spirit and with the same effi-
ciency that the men of the army and
navy work In time of war. It be-
hooves us In our turn to do sll we
can to hold up their hands and to aid
them In every way to bring their
great work to a triumpnant conclu-
sion. THBODORE KOOHRVELT.
The White House. December 17, 190t.
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The Chelsea Commercial (Chelsea, Indian Terr.), Vol. 12, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, December 21, 1906, newspaper, December 21, 1906; Chelsea, Indian Territory. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc175573/m1/2/: accessed April 23, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.