New-York tribune., 1905-01-02
WHY THE FRENCHFAH,ED
And Hoo Americans Mag Aooid
Their Errors at Pano,no

with pert'nenoe. why the French ,.a, -. e'---
panies failed at Panama and how Ar,,-,ao-.-
can eXpect to succeed there The Frarot, "a
plenty OF money. and we know that tba,, aIr-o,,-
have zeal tarlIt and administrative ability They
certainly are not lacking in financial ast,,.o,a-.
o. engneering skill. Why. then dId .to -, %
a work which called for little more than +,,oao
qualities2 And since we can scaroelv 49, :.
surpass the French in those Qualities boy, 80
we hope TO succeed where they faiIedo -r,,.
questions were propounded one dav mo-, -
slightly hilltop at Empire For answer tbano
was sweep Of the arm through an arc of that
superb horizon from the direction of Colon ~
that OF Panama and then another question:
10 you see ali that?'
Yes"
well. under the French it was fortv-o6d r,,,as
OF graft
"And now?"
"Oh. now IL is an American canal zone"
These are the answers TO the questions. or
some OF them Tor there are many others that
might be given. These two are however tho
really pertinent ones. which have q direct bear
ing upon present conditions and direct relation
70 our own isthmian enterprise. They indicate
those causes of French failure which we ara
most notably avoiding, and in avoidance or
which to find our salvation Nonen,
zeal thrift and ell the ability in the world We're
vain so long graft and irresponsible and
INSCRIPTIONS power had free course to run and
b4-not glorihed.
Let Us first consider the latter Of the tv,o
The French failed because they tried to cut the
canal across Colombian soil, under Colombian
administration. instead of securing as we have
secured. complete control OF an adequate str4p
Of territory. Perhaps that was their nisfort-
une rather than their fault They could not
get they could not have got a canal zone as
we have done. Colombia could not or would not
have been permitted, under the treaty OF 1s4s
to grant il to them. The United States would
have objected, strenuously and effectively. So
they had 10 proceed without it. The result was
that they were constantly subject to the Colom-
bian police ana TO this Colombian courts What
did that meana 7 have in mind a few ilIustra-
tive examples Here is one: A certain man
owned few acres Of unimproved land which
was imperatively needed for canal purposes A
liberal offer Of purchase was made 10 him at
price several times greater than the value OF the
land He refused, and demanded price OBJ
viously a hundred times TOO great Thereupon
appeal was made TO the court TO condemn the
land for public purposes and TO assess its proper
value. The owner Of the land was not at all
averse 10 this method OF settlement He
promptly appeared IN court and demanded the
whole extortionate sum he had already named.
Upon what ground? Not that the land was
>
dence had made him the possessor Of land which
The canal people must have il they were TO but
the canal and had thus given him an oppor-
tunity 70 exact from them any price he saw 1T.
and he proposed TO improve the opportunity
That was his sole plea. The court gravely lis
tened 10 il, and then did what? Awarded him
the fuI measure Of his outrageous demand!
Similar examples might be multiplied The
one will suffice. It not only tells its own story.
countless ways in which the French canal build
ers were mulcted and hampered by the Colom-
bian functionaries. do not say that Panaman
officials would have treated US as badly. I do
not Think they would, for have found among
the representative PanaInans whom I have met
e hne spirit Of fairness and of equity 1t was,
indeed, largely against the rapacity and in
equity Of the old Colombian regime that they
reVolted But il by far best for all con-
cerned that no opportunity was left for even the
smallest degree Of such friction In securing
for ourselves what the French could not get
complete administrative police and judicial con-
troll OF the canal zone-we have avoided that
one Of the fatal causes Of French disaster. Such
control Of the canal zone was absolutely essen
tal 10 the satisfactory execution Of the under
taking
The other point is graft" II is old story,
thai Of The profigate eXtrava gance and corrup-
non o. The first French company. and have no
mind 70 rehearse il here. But no one can fully
appreciate 1t until he personally goes over the
ground and sees for himself the visible and
tangible evidences Of II. Away up on the high
land in The centre Of the isthmus under the
bamboo tree and amid bananas and orchids
and what not. I saw a lot Of iron sectional
steamboats, II might have been well 10 send
them over as scon as there was q canal TO float
them in, but these were sent in advance. carted
up 70 the highland, where there could be
hope ot navigable water for dozen years, and
abandoned there in the jungle. Perhaps that
was only bad judgment. If So ii was at least
unco2mcnly bad. But what you going TO
say Of the wholesale consignments Of snow
shoveis that were shipped TO Panama and paid
Tor out OF shareholders money?
The fact is, the is1hmUs was made sort Of
duapirg ground for the surplus stocks Of
French factories. The word was passed around
that if manufacturers or merchants had goods
on hand for which they could find no profitable
market elsewhere al they had 10 do was 10
ship them TO Panama No matter what they
were snow shovels or fur caps hairpins or
grand pianos send them along! Whole steam
snip cargoes arrived al Colon which the local
managers had never ordered and had never
heard Of. and for which they could have no
possible use
We don't want these things" they said.
and we don't know what 70 do with them!"
no matter was the reply; unload them
quickly, 20 that the steamers can go back for
more."
So the unheard-of STUFF ~vas unoaded and
earted up into the jungle and dumped there.