The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-12-14
WORK IS SUSPENDED
NO EXCAVATION GOING ON IN
 PANAMA.
Stevens of Opinion that Type of Canal
 should Be Decided on Before . Start is Made to Move

public ali of the testimony taken yes terday by the Senate Committee on | Appropriations in relation to the Pan- | anna Canal emergency bill. the Senate | has disclosed in greater detail the 1 work on the isthmus than has been given by all of the reports Of the lsth- milan Commission officers or others au- thorized to discuss canal affairs. The testimony taken during the meeting covers eighty-eight printed pages de- voted almost wholly to examinations of Secretary of War Taft, Theodore P. Shonts, chairman of the Commission; J. B. Bishop, Secretary. and D. w. Ross, general purchasing omcer. It developed during the testimony or Secretary Taft and Mir. Ross that 9S per cent of the materials purchased by the Commission were shipped from me United States, and that of the per cent of foreign nearly the entire amount was secured on the isthmus. It was stated that there are about 17,00o men employed in the isthmas in canal work, but none of these are now engaged in excavating. The work of digging the canal was stopped when Mir. Stevens went to she isthmus in June last as chief engineer. MT. Taft said that 1000 of the men were employed in the sanitation de- partment and 13,000 in track work, con struction of buildings. in machine works and putting together the equip. ment in getting ready for the work of excavating. Continuing. MT. Taft said; MT. Stevens states--and l think Mr. Shonts agrees with him-that former Engineer Wallace made mistake Tn | the Culebra Cut. It was not done TOT | the purpose of excavation. although it did accomplish something to the ex- tent to which there was excavation | xx,1,f ,fah aQ v done again. But it was done Tor the i purpose of making estimates as to the | cost and Mir. Stevens thinks that the | material which was removed was de- posted at places from which 1t VIII | have to be again removed and that es- 1 inmates based upon those experiments, l therefore, are estimates which do not assimilate to the actual work to be l done."
 50 that it really was not good sam pie work?" asked Senator Hale "No, sir" replied Mir. Taft. Of | course, the great problem there Is not l excavation. The great problem IS 1 transportation and the disposition Of l the waste. Dirt taken from Culebra Cut has to be hauled by rail rom TOUT l to fifteen miles"
 MT. Shonts then said of the work done l by Mir Wallace: He selected the easy | work at the top of the cut where he had gravity hauls. He wasted 1t at the nearest place he could and misled him.
 self and other people by taking the cost per cubic yard, thus arriving at the re-
 suit under the most favorable circum- 1 stances as the unit of cost for which he could do the entire work. For that reason the work was practically vast | ed"
 It was stated by Mir. Shonts that un- der Mir. wallace's direction dirt was re" I 1 5-., aN a rnct of 43 cents per cubic yard. but that the cost was increased to $1.50 per yard | during the wet season. Members of the | committee having expressed surprise at this great difference, Mir. Shonts said,
 there would not. have been so much difference if Mir. Wallace had properly | ballasted his tracks so that when the | wet season came on his cars would not l get off the tracks so much. Even those | big shovels turned over so he had all l to contend with by reason of the failure to start right, to have his tracks laid properly and ballasted properly so that 1 they could resist the torrential rains. | That added very greatly. l think. to the enormous increase of his cost after
 the wet season did come, for the per | cent. of the efficiency of his plant was
 then reduced to 25 per cent and some | times less" Interesting testimony as to the type
 of canal to be built and the embarrass- 1 ment that may be felt by members of | the committee in discussing the bill on
 the floor was taken during the hearing. l Senator Hale put the situation in this | manner:
 1 "one of the first questions Mir. Nor
 gan will ask you will be this: You | have made certain bases and you ask 1 for certain money to carry you until
 April or June Now suppose the gem
 tIeman says to the Appropriation Com-
 mittee: What kind of a canal are you
 going to have there what could we
 say, gentlemen
 T think that you will say that you
 do not know" replied Secretary Taft Then the next question will be. | When will you know?" said Senator
 Hale.
 well, I think this. gentlemen, that | under the Spooner act if it Is lock canal the president has the right to go
 ahead and build the canal as lock canal" the secretary answered. | And determine the size and every
 thing?" asked Senator Teller | "As the circumstances are such ana
 the language of the act is such as to | indicate that that was the intention of
 Congress" replied Secretary Taft. | ITO the limit of the appropriation?P 1 inquired Senator Gallinger.
 Yes; to the limit of the appropria-
 tion," said MT Taft.
 "But If the president is going to build a sea level canal he will cer- tainIy have O consult Congress. l
 think he should consult Congress in
 any event. though the act itself evil dnetly intended that the canal should
 be built for $145,OOo. It assumed the
 estimate of the canal commission to b. correct and the type there fixed of lock canal to be the one the work was to be proceeded on."
 In reply to an inquiry from Senator Warren the secretary said the sum named would be equally applicable
 whether it Is to be a sea level or a locb
 canal, but 1t is of great Importanc"
 that after two or three months from
 now have expired the type of the canal be fixed. MT. Wallace was of the opiD ion that the work could go on economl cally for two years without determin ling the type of the canal. MT. Stevens is of directly opposite opinion"