Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1906-12-20

Philippines. and belonged to the best
type OF american soldier. Without ex-
ception the black policemen whom /
ish army or In the jamaica or Barbados
police. They were evidently contented,
and were doing their work well. Where
possible the policemen are used to con-
troll people OF their own color. but In
any emergency no hesitation is felt in
using them Unfortunately.
as so many both OF the white
and colored employees have brought their
families with them, schools have been
established, the school service being I'M
der Mr.. O'Connor. For the white pupils
white American teachers are employed;
Tor the colored pupils there are also some
white American teachers. one Spanish
teacher. and one colored American teach
er. most of them being colored teachers
from Jamaica, Barbados and st. Lucia.
4 ad pies ss : tSins to ys sss t SSod 1r, and hat Il Was Vas
their pupils
Care Of Employees.
Next In importance to the problem of
sanitation, n indeed now of equal Inn
~portance. is the problem of securing and
caring for h mechanics. laborers and
other employees who actually do the work
on the canal and the railroad. This great
task has been under the control of Mr..
been well done. AT present there are
some 5000 white employees and some
1900 colored employees on the isthmus.
went over the different places wher
the different kinds of employees were
working! l think l saw representatives
of every type both at their work and in
their homes; and / conversed with prob
ably a couple Of hundred Of them all
told, choosing them at random from
every. class and including those who came
especially to present certain grievances
olmost invariably expressed far greater
content and satisfaction with the con-
ditions than did those who called to
make complaint.
Nearly 5000 of the white employees had
come from the United States. No man
can see these young, vigorous men
energefticaiiy doing their duty without
They represent on the average a high
class. Doubtless to congress the wages
paid them will seem high, but as a mat
ter Of fact the only general complaint
the complaints made to me upon the
isthmus was that, owing to the peculiar
surroundings, the cost Of living, and the
distance from home, the wages Were
fact, almost every man l spoke, to felt
that he ought to be receiving more
money-a view, however, which the aver
aage mar Who stays at home. in the
as regards himself. I append figures of
the wages paid, so that the congress can
judge the matter for itself. Later | hi
confer on the subject with certain repre-
sentative labor men here in the United
States. as well as going over with Mr..
Stevens, the comparative wages paid on
the zone and at home; and l may then
communicate my findings to the canal
Of the two houses. {
Chinese and Other Labor.
OF the 10000 or 20,O 90 day laborers
employed on the ana a few hundred
are Spaniards. These do excellent
work. Their foreman told me that
they did twice as well as the west
Indian laborers. They keep healthy
and no difficulty Is experienced with
them in n a Some Italian labor
ers are also employed in connection
with the drilling. As might be ex-
with labor as high priced as
present in the United States, it has
not so far proved practicable to get
any ordinary laborers from the United
The American wage-workers
mechanics of the types men |
previously. A steady effort is |
being made to secure Italians, and es- |
pecial1y to procure more Spaniards. |
because of the very satisfactory re-
suits that have come from their en-
ployment. n their numbers will be
as far as possible. 1t has
not proved possible, however, to get
them in anything like the numbers
needed for the work, and from present
appearances we shall in the main have
20 rely, for the ordinary .unskiIIed
work. partly upon colored laborers
rom the West Indies, partly upon
Chinese labor. 1t certainly ought ID
unnecessary to point out thai the |