The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1906-12-18
NJ rristown, n. }

awhile. Grumbnng ABOUT roOu IS a
common trait everywhere On this
very trip on one of the warships a sea
man came to complain to the second
watch officer about the quality Of the
cocoa at the seaInen's mess, saying that
it was not sweet enough. 1t was point
ed out to him that there was sugar on
the table and he could always put it
in, to which he responded that that
was the cooks business and not his /
think that the complaint as to the fool
on the isthmus has but little more
foundation than that Of the sailor )
question
Chinese and other Labor.
OF the 10000 or 10000 day laBorers
employed on the canal few hundred
are Spaniards. These do excellent
work. Their foremen told me that
they did twice as well as the West
India laborers Some Italian labor.
ers are also employed in connection
with the drilling. AS might be expect
ed, with labor as high priced as at
present in the United States. it has not
SO far proved practicable to get ordi-
nary laborers from the United States.
The American wageworkers on the
isthmus are the highly paid skilled me-
chanics. A steady EFFORT ID being mace
to secure Italians ana especially to
procure more Spaniafds. 1t has not
proved possible, however, to get them
in anything like the numbers needed
for the work, and from present APP
pearances we shall in the main have
to rely for the ordinary unskilled work
partly upon colored laborers from the
West Indies, partly upon Chinese "a
Dor It certainly ought to be unneces.
sary to point out that the American
workingman in The United States has
no concern whatever ia the question
las to whether the rough work on the
isthnlus, which Is performed BY aliens
i III any event. is done by aliens with
q black skin or by aliens with yell
low skin. Our business is to dig the
canal as efficiently and as quickly rs
possible, provided always that nothing
Is done that is inhumane to amy labor
ers and nothing that interferes with
4 the wages Of Or lowers the standard of
living Of orr own wotkmeA Having
Iin view this principle have arranged
to try several Thousand Chinese labor
ers. Tlas ~ Desirable both because we
must try to find out what Iaborers are
Imost efficient and. furthermore, be-
4 cause we should not leave ourselves at
the mercy Of any one type Of foreign
| labor
Negro Lnborers ana Their Quarter.
The West India laborers are fairly,
fhnt only falgly. satisfactory some 81
/ the men dQ very well indeed. The bet
4 ter class. Who are ID be found as fore
men. as Skilled mechanics. as police
mea are good men. ana many Of Tia
ordinary day lahorers are also good
But Thousands os those WHO arc
brought oyer under contract lat our exi
pensel 90 off into the iungle to live
or loaf around Colon or work so badly
after the flFst three or four days as L
cause serious dimlnution Of the
amount Of labor performed on Friday
and saturday o. each week.
Cine Of the greatest needs Is 70 pro
vide amusements both for white moi
land black The Young Men's Chris tiaE
assocIation u doing good work ans
should be encourage but the govern
inent should 40 the main work Any
thing done FOR the welfare Of the mel
adds to their efficiency, and money De
voted to that PURPOSE is therefore Prop
erly to Be considered as spent IN build
ing the csnal. call the special aftesl
tlon Of CONGRESS- to this nee
This gathering. distributing and car
ing for the great Force Of lahorers alt
among the giant Textures 81 the worE
The astonishing thing n that the wor
has been performed So wen and tia
the machInery runs So smoothly Fron
my own experience am able to sal
that more care has been exercised t
housing, feeding and generally payin
heed to the needs Of the skilled ID.
!. chanies and ordinary laborera il %
work on this canal than IS the eas
/ ID the CONSTRUCTION Of new railroads {
81 any other similar private sr publ
i work til lhe unlEed States Drds
y AssN AsA's AsTas