The Yale expositor., 1906-12-21

I'm dredging 'and i'm digging earth and
rock' NOW and then an experiment will
pe Iallurei ana among those who hear
on IT, certain proportion of doubling
lnonases VIII at once believe that the
Whole work is failure. Doubtless here
ana there some minor rascality will be
uncovered; but as TO this, / have to say
that after the most painstakng inquiry
nave been unable to find a single reput-
aole person who had so much as heard
OF any serious accusations affecting the
honesty of the commission or of any
responsible officer under IL. ! append a
letter dealing with the most serious
charge, that of the ownership of lots in
colon; the charge was not advanced by
reputable man, and is utterly base
,s ,ess, i Is not too much TO say that the
who're atmosphere OF the commission
Dreathes honesty as il breathes efficiency
S SSlu energy Above all, the work has
beSia bbeSn kept absolutely clear of politics. |
ndNS never heard even a suggestion of
spqls politics in connection with IL.
HINe investigated every complaint
orought 10 me for which there seemed
20 De any shadow of foundation. In
Two or three cases. all of which
nave indicated in the course of this
message, | came to the conclusion that
mere was foundation for the COM
plant, and that the methods of the
commission in the respect complained
OF OF could be bettered. In the other in
stances the complaints proved abso-
lutely baseless. save i'm two or three
instances where they referred 10 mis-
takes which the commission had al
reauy round out and corrected.
SANDERS and LipeIers.
SO much for honest criticism. There
remains an immense amount of as
reckless slander as has ever been pub
lllshed. Where the slanderers are Of
foreign origin | have no concern with
them. Where they. are Americans,
feel for them the heartiest contempt
ana lndignation; because. in a spirit
of wanton dishonesty and malice
they In are trying to interfere with and
hamper the execution Of the greatest
work or the kind ever attempted, and
are seeking to bring TO naught the eff
iorts OF their countrymen to put to
the credit of America one of the giant
accusations of these slanderers con-
stltute a gross libel upon body Of
public servants who, for trained INTEL
lSence. expert ability, high charac-
tetr and devotion to duty, have never
been eNcelled anywhere. There is not
man among those directing the work
position on any other basis than merit
alone. and not one who has used his
position in any way for his own per-
sonaI or pecuniary advantage.
Plan to Build by Contract.
After most careful consideration we
have decided to let out most of the
work by contract If we can come to
ors. The whole work is of a kind
suited TO the peculiar genius of our
people; and our people have devel-
oped the type of contractor best fitted
10 grapple with it. IT Is Of course
much better TO do the work in large
part by contract than TO do it all by
the gONernmen provided il is pos
sible on the one hand to secure 10 the
contractor a sufficient remuneration
TO make IL worth while for respon-
Sible contractors of the best kind TO
undertake the work; and provided on
the other hand IL can be done on terms
whlch VIII not give an excessive profit
the government. After much con-
sideration the plan already 'promul-
gated by the secretary OF war was
adopted. This plan, in its essential
features was drafted after careful
and thorough study and consideration,
by the chief engineer. Mr. stevens
who, while in the employment Of Mr.
Hin. the president Of the Great North
Crn railroad. had personal experience
of this very type Of contract. Mr..
stevens ther submitted the plan to
Shonts. who went carefully over IL
with Mr.. Rogers. the legal adviser of
the commission to see that all legal
difficulties were met He then submit
ted copies of the plan to both Secre-
tary Taft and myself. Secretary Taft
submitted II to some OF the best coun-
sci az the New York bar and after
wards l went over il very carefully
with Mr. Taft and Mr. Shonts, and we
laid the plan in its general features
vantage with the minimum of disad-
vantage. Under II premium will he
put upon the speedy and economical
construction Of the canal. and a PEN
atty imposed on delay and waste. The
plan as promulgated is tentative;
doubtless It will have to be changed
i'm some respects before we can come
to a satisfactory agreement with re-
Sponsihle ontractors-perhaps even
after the bids have been received;
and OF course Il is possible that we
not to n DRrnpmpnt in which
case the government will do the work
itself. Meanwhile the work on the
isthmus is progressing steadily and
without any let up.
Single Commissioner Desired.
a seven headed commission is Of
course n clumsy executive instrument.
We should have but one commissions
er. with such heads OF departments
may find necessary. We should he
expressly permitted TO employ the
best engineers in the country as con-
I accompany this paper with map
showing substantially what the canal
will he like when IL is finished. When
the Culebra cut has been made and
the dams built az they are built as at
present proposed) there will then be
at both the Pacific and Atlantic ends
Of the canal two great ar tresh,water d,vI I,,er
running at the bottom of ravne.
across the backbone OF the western
Hemisphere. InOSe DeSt INFORMED De-
lieve that the work will be completed
in about eight years; but IL is never
safe TO prophesv about such a work
as this. especially in the tropics
Confident of Ultimate Success.
or the success OF the enterprise
am as we'll convinced as one can be
OF any enterprise that Is human. IL
is stupendous work upon which our
fellow countrymen are engaged down
there on the isthmus, and while we
should hold them TO n strict accounta-
bility for the way in which they per-
form IT, we should recognize. with
frank generosity. tho epic nature OF
the task upon which they are engaged
and its worldwide Importance. They
are doing something which Will re-
doud immeasurably to the credit OF
America, which will benefit all the
world. and which will last for ages
TO come. Under Mr.. Shonts and Mr..
stevens and DIR. Gorgas this work has
started with every omen or good for
tune They and their worthy associates,
from the highest to the lowest, are
entitled to the same credit that we
would give 20 the picked men OF p
victoriotis arrnv; for this conuuest Of
peace will, in its great and far-reach-
tr0 a0ect etaud among the verv
greatest conquests. whether OF peace
or OF war, which have ever been won
by any OF the peoples of mankind. A
badge is TO be given to every Ameri-
can citizen who for a specified time
bas taken part in this work: for par
sTagxotion IN ~ will hereafte be held