The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-07-04
CONTRACT FOR
 CANAL WORK Plans Suggested by an
 Expert. THE JOB WILL BE LARGE Nearly Two Hundred Million Dollars to Be Expended. One of the First Steps Should Be Organization of Mounted Police
 Force to Preserve Order
 on the Isthmus.
THE JOB WILL BE LARGE

 expenditure of nearly oo.Oco. .oo0 in work that will cut in twain a continent a work the like of which the world mas never seen, must fire the imagination of even the dullest" said a mal today who in all probability will be a member of the new canal commission under the direc- | ton of which the proposed isthmian ca- | nal will be constructed.
 He was asked how he thought the Gov erpm ent would go about the work of | building the canal.
 T am only giving my personal opin- | icn," he said in reply. bat one mans personal opinion is as good as another's. and it seems to me that the most satis- factory way to the Government would be if such a thing Is possible. to make a contract with a syndicate of large con tractors and have that syndicate agree l to construct the canal"
 It was suggested that the job would be big enc.
 Yes, a very large job. but after all, not so very much bigger than the build ing of a transcontiaental railroad. If the plan I suggest were to be adopted, 1t would be necessary for the contractors to make an alliance with some large bank | ing house which would have to furnish a working capital of not less than twenty millions.
 Contract for $142, ,ooo, 900. 'Then the contractors could take the | job of building the canal ready for use | for say. $140,0O0.00O. and the Government would make payments as the work prog ressed.'
 ..TN. ,,a,, &htnly apv snf If man vwnuld care to run such a risk?" was asked. Contractors always take risks" was | the reply. In addition to having the plans of the commission on which to make their estimates, they would make | their own plans and calculations, so that | they would know with almost absolute | accuracy what was ahead of them. There | would, of coui SC, be a certain amount of risk involved, but there would also be a large profit to be gained. The contrac- | tors ought to make from ten to fifteen millions. That, fin my opinion, is not too much in view of the amount of capital invested ard the risk involved" How much time do you think will be | consumed in the constr uction of the ca- nal?'
 "I believe from the time we begin op- erations, no longer than eight years. Some peopls think 1t could be done in six"
 Suppose it is impossible to make a contract with a syndicate for the entire work, what then?''
 The Next Best Thing.
 ''In that case. the next best thing to do would be to contract for sections of the canal with independent contractors, as is now being done in the building of the New York subway. If. for any req son. contractors failed to bid for the work the Government would have to un dertake 1t itself. but it would be better end cheaper in all respects. for the Gov ernment to award the contract and for the commission provided for fin the Spooner bill simply to supervise the work" "In your opinion. is the climate of the | isthmus fatal to men from the North. as has been stated?'
 "I do not believe 1t is, that ls If the | proper precautions are taken. One of the first things we will have to do down | there will be to create semi-military | police force, similar in many respects to | the Canadian Northwest mounted police | This, as you know, is a constabulary | under military discipline and while nomi- | nany police, is really a military organi- | zation. We shall have to organize police force that will rulo with an iron hand. When the work is in full swing there will be some 20.000 men employed on the canal works. They will doubtless be Colombians, negroes from Jamaica and other parts of the West Indies. and in fact, men from all parts of the world.
 "In their train will come the scum of creation, men and women from all quar- ters of the globe. Millions will be paid out in wages and these millions will be the prize to be contended for by this horde of parasites. Our police will have to protect the workmen-protect them against themselves and against these human leeches.
 Not a Sunday School.
 "We are not going to have q Sunday | school down there. There will De drink | ing and gambling and vice. We can't | stamp 1t out but we can regulate 1t. at least to certain extent. There will | have to be certain rigid rules as to the | selling of liquor and all other things. | The man or woman who violates the reg l ulations must be punished, vigorously | and swiftly. The man who stabs another after he is paid off Saturday night and when full of liquor must be captured. no matter how long the chase. There must be no ignoring of sanitary regulati ons. If the police force is efficient and if the proper regulations are made the mortality need not be excessive
 How would you organize the police force?" was asked.
 "I should place at its head an army officer who had seen service in the west and who had peculiar faculty for dcal- ing with men of all kinds. The rank ard file of the force would be composed of Colombians because they would kn w the manners. the language and the customs of the people with whom they would have to deal. To be quite frank, l would rot care so much for their moral character as l should want to know that they could ride and shoot straight. didn't know the meaning of the word fear. were physi- cally sound. fairly intelligent and would subject themselves to discipline. If they | met that test I should not bother about | anything else. I expect we shall have | there adventures form all parts of our | country and from all parts of the world. 1 as I said before, but 1t would be a body |