The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-02-20
President and Taft Both Re-
 commend This Form
FOREIGNERS WANT SEA LEVEL
cost for Lock Project Is Less and It Can Be Built In Less Than Half the
 Time.

Washington, February 10.-President Roosevelt today transmitted to Congress the report of the board of consulting en- gneers on the Panama canal together with the letter of Secretary Taft, the re- port of the isthmian canal commission and letter by Chief Engineer Stevens. The letter of the President Is as follows "ro the Senate and House of Representa-
 tives.
 "I submit herewith the letter of the Secretary of War, transmitting the re- port of the consulting engineers on the Panama canal and the report of the isthmian canal commission thereon, to- gether with a letter written to the chair man of the isthmian canal commission by Chief Engineer Stevens. Both the board of consulting engineers and the canal commission divide in their report. A ma jority of the board of consulting en- gineers eight in number including the five foreign engineers, favor a sea level canal, and one member of the canal com mission, Admiral Endicott, takes the same view. Five of the eight American members of the board of consulting en- gineers and five members of the isthmian canal commission favor the lock canal. and so does Chief Engineer Stevens. The Secretary of War recommends a lock ca nal pursuant to the recommendation of the minority of the board of consulting engineers and of the majority of the canal commission. After careful study of the papers submitted and full and exhaustive consideration of the whole subject, con eur in this recommendation.
 Americans Favor Lock Canal.
 It will be noticed that the American engineers on the consulting board and the commission by more than to 1 ma jority favor the lock canal, whereas the foreign engineers are a unit against it. think this is partly to be explained by the fact that the great traffic canal of the old world is the Suez canal, sea level canal whereas the great traffic canal of the new world is the Sault Ste Marie ca- nal, a lock canal
 Although the latter, the Soo, is closed to navigation during the winter months.
 
 fic of the Suez canal In my judgment the very able argument is vitlated by their failure to pay proper heed to the l lessons taught by the construction and operation of the Soo canal. It must be borne in mind as the commission points out, that there Is no question of building what has been picturesquely termed the | of hat fg there through which the largest vessels could go with safety at uninterrupted high speed. Both the sea level canal and the proposed lock canal would be too narrow and shallow to be called with any 1 truthfulness a strait, or to have any of the properties of a wide, deep water strip. Both of them would be canals pure and simple. Each type has certain disad- vantages. but there are fewer, and the advantages very much greater In the case i of d lock canal substantially as proposed in the papers forwarded herewith: and l call especial attention to the fact that the chief engineer, who will be mainly responsible for the success of this mighty engineering feat, and who has therefore a l PfihiiHi pNA0blidi iHltIfHA III JluBllE alright, Is emphatically and earnestly in favor of the lock canal project and against the sea level project.
 Facts Are Established.
 "A careful study of the reports seems to establish a strong probability that the following are the facts:
 'The sea-level canal would be slightly less exposed to damage in the event of war; the running expense apart from 1 the heavy cost of interest on the amount employed to build it would be less. and 1 for small ships the time of transit would 1 probably he less. On the other hand, 1 the lock canal at a level of so feet or l thereabouts would not cost much more l than half as much to build and could be built in about half the time while there would be very much less risk con nected with building it and for large ships the transit would be quicker; | while taking into account the interest on the amount saved in building the actual cost of maintenance would be less. 1 After being built it would be easier to 1 enlarge the lock canal than the sea-leVel canal. Moreover, what has been actually demonstrated in making and operating the | great lock canal the Soo. a more im- 1 portant artery of traffic than the great sea-level canal, the Suez goes to sup ] port the OplDlOn or the minority or the consulting board of engineers and of the majority of the Isthman canal commls- sion. as to the superior safety feasibility and desirabilty of building a lock canal | at Panama.
 Lock Canal Advisable. "The law now on our statute books | seems to contemplate lock canal In my judgment a lock canal as herein recom- mended, Is advisable. If the Congress directs that sea-level canal be con | structed, it's direction will of course. be l carried out. Otherwise the canal will be | built on substantially the plan for 1 lcok canal outlined in the accompanying i papers, such changes being made. of 1 course. may be found actually neees- sary. including possibly the change rec commended by the secretary Of war as 1 to the site of the dam on the Pacific 1 side. THEODORE ROOSEVELT,'
 The White House February ie 1ae6"
 Taft Also Favors High Level. 1 Secretary Taft transmitted the commis- son's report and the accompanying doc uments to the President summarizing