Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-13
WILL EMPLOY COOLIES
DECISION OF EXECUTIVE COM
MITTEE OF CANAL.
Details Settled Regarding organiza-
tion-Engineer Officers: to Form a
Special Commission.

The executive committee of the isthmian
canal commission was in session yesterday
afternoon until a late hour in the Office of
Secretary Taft at the War Department.
The conference between this committee,
consisting of Chairman Shonts, Governor
Magoon and Chief Engineer Wallace, lasted
practically during the entire afternoon,
with a recess of only half an hour for
luncheon.
Some conclusions were reached as to the
formation of the directory OF the Panama
Railway Company. Chairman Shonts will
be the next president of the railway COM
pany, and all members Of the commission
will be directors. Four members of the
directory are to be manned.
Special Engineering Commission.
An important conclusion related to the
assignment to duty of the four engineer
officers of the canal commission who are
not members of the executive committee
namely, Admiral Endicott, Colonel Ernst,
GeneralgHains and Mr.. Harrod. These four
men will form a special engineering COM
mission quite apart from the board of
consulting engineers provided for in the
Presidents order. To this engineering COM
mission will be assigned the various engt-
neering problems arising in the course of
the construction of the canal To them are
to be submitted all plans of an engineer
ing character of Importance, and on these
they will ask the opinion of the board Of
consulting engineers, which body is so far
incomplete The consulting board will re-
port on the projects to the fun canal COM
mission, and this body in turn will make
recommendations thereon to the President
of the United States
he 1oh cod of
length. 1t was resolved that contracts
should be made for the employment of 900
japanese and 1000 Chinese coolies in the
canal construction. This is merely pre-
liminary and experimental move, but II
it succeeds the engineers will have an al
most unlimited force of labor to draw upon.
Employment of Coolies.
No opinion has yet been had from the
Attorney General as to the right of the
commission to employ its labor more than
eight hours daily, but it has satisfied itself
that there is no legal obstacle to the en-
ployment of this coolie labor under con-
tract. This conclusion Is based on the
theory that while the United States exer-
cises control over the canal zone for adj
ministrativ purposes, yet the titular sover-
eighty over the strip remains in Panama,
over which no American labor law can be
held to extend. p,.c,,. aa--e--'i--'
was a statement by Engineering Commits
sioner Wallace to the effect that it is en-
tirely feasible to construct either tide
level or lock canal across the isthmus,
though he himself strongly. favored the
tide-level project. 1t also developed that
Mr. Bunau Varilla, who recently visited
Washington, and who 1t was supposed was
to be member of the board Of consulting
engineers, did not desire any such connec-
ton with the project. but came principally
to submit to the President and Secretary
Taft an original plan of his own under
which he thought the great canal could be
constructed within the term of four years.
This project, together with one submitted
by Mr.. Lindon w. Bates,a Chicago and New
York engineer. will be referred to the new
ly created engineering commission for ex-
animation and report.
Rates on Panama Railway.
During the conference the delegation OF
ministers of the west coast South and Cen
trail American republics, who saw Secre-
tary Taft Saturday In connection with
Panama rail rates, called at the depart
ment and were admitted to the secretary's
office and introduced personally to the
members Of the executive committee. They
formally submitted the memorial, of which
an abstract has been published, defining
their complaints at great length, and this
was taken under consideration with the
promise from the secretary that there
should be greater liberality of treatment of
competing transportation lines than now
existed in their relations with the Panama
railroad.
To Double-Track the Road.
The New York Sun today. says that it
was finally decided to conduct the road.
which is entirely in the possession of the
government, with three points in view
For. the transporting of material for the
canal work; to increase it's capacity COM
mercially as much as possible, and to earn
enough from the freight revenues to main
tain the road and the steamship line, and
if possible, to pay interest on the $1,000, 600
the government has invested In the project.
With these points in view, 1t will be pos
sible to make much lower rates, and it is
expected that the increase In traffic caused
by |the reduction will increase the volume
OF business between the west coast and
the United States so much that the actual
earnings will decrease but little.
To carry out the plans discussed 1t will
be necessary to make repairs to the road
and furnish 1t with an entirely new equip
ment. New engines and cars will be pur-
chased. Those now in use will not be dis
carded, but will be used for work on the
canal. The ordinary box car of the present
equipment has a capacity of about ten to
twelve tons. The new cars will carry at
least thirty-five tons, and the new engines
will be capable Of pulling a much heavier
train than those now in use.
The use of heavier rolling stock will of
course necessitate much repairing of tracks
and bridges Ultimately the line across
the isthmus will be double-tracked. It is
the desire of the commission to maintain
the road as a link between the Pacific and
the Atlantic until the canal Is finished and
to make 1t as important commercially as
possible - -,,r.,,,,.e,,-
1t is the intention to establish a fat rate
of much less than IS ton for freight trans
nOrted
a reduction of probably 20 per cent Of the
cost of transportation from South and Cen
trail American ports to New York or to Eu-
rope. AT present, it Is cited, the cost of
transportation across the isthmus alone is
about Sc, and sometimes as high as So,
ton. According to Chief Engineer Wallace
the actual cost of moving ton of freight
from one side of the isthmus to the other
is less than $780,