Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-15
Good Talk by Chairman shonts.

There Is tone which will strike the
American public most favorably. in the talk
which Chairman Shonts OF the Panama
canal commission gave to the reporters i'm
mediately upon MS landing from the 18TH
mus. 1t is wholesomely optimistic. Mr..
Shonts promises canal IL let alone and al
lowed to do the work in his own way as a
practical railroad man. He believes that
the great enterprise can be brought to a
finish in far less time than has been feared
by some pessimists and he thinks there are
no obstacles which will call for enormous
expenditures.
But one of the most satisfactory features
of the chairmans talk is his assurance that
all digging will be suspended until the sani-
tary problems are solved. That is the right
way to go about the big work. The state
ment has been made that the first construc-
ton commission hesitated to suspend .prac
teal operations in order to put the canal
strip IN good sanitary condition for fear of
home criticism on the part of those who
want to see the dirt fly every minute. There
Is no present way to tell how many millions
OF dollars and hundreds Of lives were lost
by the French through the pursuit of this
same policy.
What the United States must do In Pana-
ma first of all Is to make 1t possible for
laborers and their bosses to go down there
and live in decency and measurable safety
from disease. They must have proper hous-
Ing accommodate lions: they must be judi
ciously entertained: they must be kept well
in hand by rigid but wise disciplinarian.
If the canal administration Is lax or mat
tentive in any of these matters the entire
organization will become demoralized. For
the work Is proceeding under extremely Diff
fcult conditions and unless the fight Is
made Squarely and successfully against
those conditions and the whole order of the
work is adjusted to the results Of that fight
there will be no canal for q generation If
ever.
Chairman Shonts frankly says that he &C
cepted the position only upon the condition
that he should be the boss Of the job and
should have the right to choose his own as
sistants unhampered. There has heretofore
been too much division Of responsibility and
consequently too much scattering Of forces.
This new chairman talks like a man who
has the habit of demanding and having his
own way. and he has reputation as a sue
cessful. efficient worker. There Is evidently
more need of good sense and moral courage
and honest determination to make good
against difficulties in the canal strip than
pecially just at this critical juncture Yet
the chairman now has the advantage of be-
ing assisted on the technical side by an en-
gineer in whom he has perfect confidence
and who is already achieving results to put
the work on Its proper basis of sanitation
and organization and discipline.
1t is unnecessary in this connection to re-
member the men who have had this chance
and have allowed it to slip through their
fingers. When the day of the canals COM
pletion comes they will be recalled only for
their follies and failures. The assuring
point of today's situation Is that at last
after few mistakes and a little loss of
time-far fewer mistakes and far less loss
of time than might have been expected In
the circumstances-the United States is at
last In fair way to put through this big
job In characteristic American fashion.
quickly and economically and effectively