The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1906-12-17
TELLS CONGRESS
ABOUT THE CANAL
SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM THE
PRESIDENT COVERING CONDl-
TONS ON ISTHMUS.
SATISFIED WITH SITUATION
DECLARES HIMSELF CONVINCED
OF THE SUCCESS OF THE
sTUPENDoUS TASK.

STUPENDoUS TASK.
Washington Dec. 1.-THE president
today sent to congress the following
special message on the Panama canal:
TO the Senate and House Of Repre-
sentatives:
In the month of November visited
the isthmus of Panama, going over
the canal zone with considerable care;
and also visited the cities Of Panama
and Colon, which are not In the zone
or under the United States flag, but.
as to which the United States govern
ment, through its agents. exercises
control for certain sanitary purposes.
/ was three days ashore-not sufh-
cient length Of time to allow of an
exhaustive investigation of the minu-
tiae of the work of any single depart
ment, still less to pass judgment on
the engineering problems, but enough
to enable me to get clear idea Of the
salient features Of the great work and
Of the progress that has been made
as regards the sanitation Of the zone,
Colon and Panama, the caring for and
housing of the employees and the actual
digging Of the canal. The zone is
narrow strip OF land and it can be in
spected much as one can inspect fifty
or sixty miles Of great railroad at
the point where 1t runs through noun
tains Or overcomes other natural OBJ
stacles.
The president then details the pro-
gramme he carried out during his stay
on the canal zone. He says it rained
almost continually during that time
and that conditions were at their
worst when Inspected Continuing,
he says:
At the outset wish to pay tribute
to the amount of work done by the
French Canal company under very
difficult circumstances. Many Of the
buildings they put up were excellent
and are still in use, though, naturally,
the houses are now getting out Of re-
pair and are being used as dwellings
only until other houses can be built,
and much Of the work they did in the
Culebra cut. and some of the work
they did in digging, has been of direct
and real benefit. This country has
the $40,000,000 which it paid to the
French company for work and better
ments, including especially the Pan
anna railroad.
Preliminary Work Being Done.
The wisdom of the canal manage
ment has been shown in nothing more
clearly than in the way in which the
foundations of the work have been
laid. To have yielded to the natural
Impotence Of Ill informed outsiders
and begun all kinds of experiments in
work prior to thorough sanitation of
the isthmus, and to a fairly satisfac-
tory working out of the problem of
getting and keeping a sufficient labor
supply, would have been disastrous.
The various preliminary measures had
to be taken first; and these could not
be taken so as to allow US to begin
the real work of construction prior to
Jan. of the present year. It then be-
came necessary to have the type of
the canal decided and the only delay
has been the necessary delay until the
Goth day Of June, the date when the
congress definitely and wisely settled
that we should have an 85-foot level
canal. Immediately after that the
work began in hard earnest and has
been continued with increasing vigor
ever since; and it will continue so to
progress in the future. When the con.
tracts are let the conditions will be
such as to insure constantly increas-
ing amount of performance.
Successful Sanitation.
The first great problem to be solved
upon the solution of which the success
of the rest Of the work depended, was
the problem Of sanitation. This was
from the outset under the direction
of DR.. w. G. Gorgas, who Is to be made
full member of the commission. 1t
must be remembered that his work
was not mere sanitation, as the term
Is understood in our ordinary munic
ipal work. Throughout the zone and
In the two cities Of Panama and Colon,
in addition to the sanitation work
proper, he has had to do all the work
that the marine hospital service does
as regards the nation, that the health
department officers do in the various
states and cities and that Colonel
Waring did in New York when he
cleaned its streets. The results have
been astounding. The isthmus had
been byword for deadly unhealthful
ness. Now. after two years of our
occupation, the conditions as regards
sickness and the death rate compare
favOrably with reasonably healthy 10
calities In the United States. Espe
cial care has been devoted to minimiz
Ing the risk due to the presence OF
those species Of mosquitoes which
have been found to propagate malarial
and yellow fevers. Equal care is taken
by the inspectors of the health depart
ment to secure cleanliness In the
houses and proper hyglenic conditions
of every kind. inspected between
twenty and thirty water closets, both
those used by the white employees and