The Idaho recorder. [volume] (Salmon City, Idaho) 1886-1927, 1906-12-27

1850
Tor ages a byword for unhealthfulness,
and with so large congregation OF
strangers suddenly put down and set 70
hard work there will now and than be
outbreaks of disease. There Will now
and then be shortcomings In adminlstra-
ton; there will be unlooked-for acci-
dents To delay the excavation of the cut
or the building of the dams and locks.
Each such incident will be entirely nat
ural. and. even though serious. no one
of them will mean more than nttie
discovered by sensation mongers and re-
tailed to timid folk of little faith. VIII
serve as an excuse for the bellef that
the whole work is being badly managed.
Experiments will continually be tried in
housing, in hygiene, in street repairing.
in dredging and in digging earth ana
rock. Now and then an experiment Will
be failure; and among those who hear
of IL, certain proportion OF doubtlng
Thomases will at once believe that the
whole work is failure Doubtless here
and there some minor rascality will be
uncovered: but an to this, | have to say
that after the most painHakng inquiry
I have been unable to find a single reput-
able person who had so much as heard
Of any serious accusations affecting the
honesty Of the commission or OF any
responsible officer under 1t. | append a
charge. that of the ownership of lots in
Colon; the charge was not advanced by
Il reputable man. and is utterly base
less. II is not too much to say that the
whole atmosphere OF the commission
breathes honesty as II breaches efficiency
and energy. Above all. the work has
been kept absolutely clear of politics. /
have never heard even suggestion OF
spolls politics in connection with 1t.
! have Investigated every complaint
brought to me for which there seemed
to be any shadow of foundation. In
two or three cases. all of which 1
have Indicated I'm the course of this
message. I came to the conclusion that
there was foundation for the com
In hn ndO
commission IN the respect complained
of could he bettered. In the other in
stances the complaints proved abso-
lutely baseless. save in two or three
instances where they referred to mis-
takes which the commission had al
ready found out and corrected.
SANDERS and Lipelers.
So much for honest criticism. There
remains an immense amount of as
reckless SANDER as has ever been pub
ltlShed. Where the Slanderers are of
foreign origin / have no concern with
them. Where they are Americans. l
feel for them the heartiest contempt
and indignation; because, in a spirit
they are trying to interfere with and
hamper the execution of. the greatest
work of the kind ever attempted. and
are seeking to bring to naught the eff
forts of their countrymen to put to
the credit of America one of the giant
tc"ts Of the ages. The outrageous
hh' tStltltHS ol THESE SldHuertTS con-
Stitute gross libel upon a body Of
public servants who, for trained intel
iigence. expert ability, high charac-
tetr and devotion to duty; have never
been eXcelled anywhere. There is not
IA man among those directing the work
on the isthmus who has obtained his
position on any other basis than merit
alone, and not one who has used his
position in any way for his own per-
sonal or pecuniary advantage.
Plan IN Build bv Copfr,of
After most careful consideration we
have decided to let out most of the
work by contract, if we can come to
satisfactory terms with the contract
ors. The whole work is of a kind
suited to the peculiar genius of our
people; and our people have deveI-
oped the type of contractor best fitted
to grapple with it. 1t is of course
much better to do the work in large
part by contract than to do it all by
the government provided it is pos
sible on the one hand to secure to the
contractor sufficient remuneration
slbie contractors of the best kind to
undertake the work: and provided on
the other hand it can be done on terms
which Will not give an excessive profit
10 the contractor at the expense of
the government After much con.
slderation the plan already promul-
gated by the secretary of war was
adopted This plan in it's essential
features was drafted after careful
and thorough study and consideration,
by the chief engineer Mr.. stevens,
Hin, the president of the Great North
'rn railroad. had personal experience |
Of this very type of contract Mr..
stevens then submitted the plan to
ne chairman of the commission Mr.
'honts, who went carefully over it
with Mr. Rogers. the legal adviser of |
ne commission, to see that all legal |
iihculties We're met. He then submit
ted COPIES of the plan to both Score
-ary Taft and myself Secretary Taft |
'upmitted IT to some of the best coun-
wards | went over it very carefully |
With Mr., Taft and Mr.. Shonts, and we |
AID the plan in its general features |
}et2re Mr.. Root My conclusion is
vantage with the minimum of disad- |
vantage. Under it premium will be |
'ut upon the speedy and economical |
construction of the canal and a pen
llty imposed on delay and waste. The |
Plan as promulgated is tentative; |
o a satisfactory agreement with re-
'ponslbie contractors-perhaps even
'fter the bids have been received:
md of course it is possible that we
'ase the government will do the work
tself. Meanwhile the work on the
sthmus is progressing steadily and
without any let up
oih9ie commissioner Desired.
seven headed commission is of
curse clumsy executive instrument.
We should have but one commission
r. with such heads of departments
ma other officers under him as we
nay find necessary. We should he
'Xpressly permitted to employ the
'est engineers in the country as con-
ulting engineers.
| accompany this paper with n man
H1'Sing substantially what the canal
vii be like when il is finished When; !
ne Culebra cut has been made and
ne dams built or they are built as at
resent proposed there will then he
# the canal two great fresh-water
akeS. connected by broad channel
unnlng at the bottom of a rayine
cross the backbone of the Western
iemlsphere; Those best informed be-
,eNe that the work will he completed
n about eight years: but il is never
are TO prophesv about such a worlJ
$ this especially in the tropics
Confident Of Ultimate Success.
OF the success of the enternrise
m as well convinced as one can ~
Il any enterprise that is human, n
stupendous work upon which orr
CHOW countrymen are engaged down
mere on the isthmus. and while we
mould hold them to a strict acoounta-
orm II. we should recognize with
rank generosity. the epic natpre ~ /
ne task upon which they are engaged
nd IT'S Worldwide Importance They
Ire ooIhs something which will re-
oud UNNECESSARILY to the credit Of
lmerics. which will benefit ali tpe
World and which will last for agas
. come, Under Mr.. Shonts and Mr.
tevens and DIR, Gorgas this work has
, ins'e9 rr Win every omen OF good for