The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1905-07-22
MIR. SHONTS SEES
EASY SAILING NOW
DEPARTING WITH Mr.. STEVENS
FOR PANAMA, SAYS REsfoNA.
TONS NEVER AGAIN CAN
EMeARRAss GOVERNMENT.

- VI
Canal Commission, with John F. Ste.
vens. newly appointed chief engineer
Of the work, sailed Thursday after.
noon on the Ward liner Mexico, which
is now chartered to the United States
and runs between New York and
Colon. That the resignation Of no
person connected with the digging Of
the canal, from the chief engineer
down to the humble employees, ever
again will make trouble for the Uni.
ted States was the gist Of Mr..
Shonts' parting words. d
There was no inference to be drawn
from the statement that any friction
existed between Mr.. Shonts and his
predecessor, Mr.. Wallace, but Mr..
shonts deprecated the unprepared-
ness of the commission in the matter,
and emphatically said 1t could never
occur again.
Not only have we duplicated the
officials" he said, but we have the
machinery in duplicate. We are go.
ing straight ahead with the work, and.
Mr.. Stevens and myself will go over
the ground together to thoroughly In.
yestigate every subject, both engin.
eering and civic. l shall return In
time to attend the meeting Of the ad.
visory board in Washington the first
Of September. l have never been to
the isthmus, and necessarily this
trip is opening the subject up to me.
I'VE are taking with us w. e. G.
Nazro. of Boston, and e. A. Moffett,
who are supplied by the National Civ.
ic Federation, and with Mr.. Stevens
and myself, as well as General o. T.
Ernst. a member Of the commission,
who is also sailing with us, we will
investigate the establishment of rec.
reation. moral and physical, for the
employees. know there are a lot of
men coming back, and they are most
ly insists who should never have
started in the first place.
Must Have Recreation.
There is a just cause of complaint
from the men now there for means Of
recreation. 1t is right they should
have 1t and as quickly as possible.
There must be a cleaning out of the
present conditions, just as the French
found 1t necessary when they started
the last time.
Then the housing of the men.
The American laborer must be hous.
ed in American fashion, and that is
an extremely important subject, and
one which will be worked along the
best lines. AS to foreign labor, we
shall try all until we find the BEST
Answering the question as to the
employment of Chinese, Mr.. Shonts
stated that he tried them and found
them good workers.
"As to blacklisting and the red tame
that some persons have said Interior.
ed with the efficiency of the commits.
sion,' resumed Mr.. Shonts, "the for.
mer we shall investigate, and as to
the latter. we expect the government
OF the United States shall exercise a
careful supervision over. the moneys
Mr.. Shonts said 1t made no differ.
to him whether the commission
was transferred from the office Of the
Secretary Of War to that of the Sec.
rotary of State. "Mr. Root and Mr..
Taft are both nice men," he said.
Kind Of Canal Undecided.
"Mr. Stevens and myself were over
to see the President recently" he
continued. land we talked of the
plans in a general way. 1t is yet an
open question as to the kind of canal
we shall build. II It is decided to
be a e level canal 1t will take at
least ten or twelve years. AS for the
time required to construct a lock
canal, I should venture that five
years would be sufficient"
When Mr.. Stevens was asked to ex-
press his opinion Of the work in store
for him he replied:
What shall I say? I am like a
going forth to battle with an
whom he has never seen. 1t
is useless and foolish to discuss the
problem until I meet it. Then I ex.
pect to do my best. More at present
l cannot say"
Until the ship sailed at three
o'clock, two hours after the sched.
uled hour, Mr.. Stevens was engaged
with several business men who had
various things to offer for use on the
canal. Both families of the two men
were at the pier to see them of, and
that Of Mr.. Stevens will ioin him