US Presidency
1906

There seemed to me to be too many saloons in the Zone; but the new high-license law which goes into effect on January 1 next will probably close four-fifths of them. Resolute and successful efforts are being made to minimize and control the sale of liquor. The cars on the passenger trains on the Isthmus are divided into first and second class, the difference being marked in the price of tickets. As a rule second class passengers are colored and first class passengers white; but in every train which I saw there were a number of white second class passengers, and on two of them there were colored first class passengers. Next in importance to the problem of sanitation, and indeed now of equal importance, is the problem of securing and caring for the mechanics, laborers, and other employees who actually do the work on the canal and the railroad. This great task has been under the control of Mr. Jackson Smith, and on the whole has been well done.