Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1906-12-21

Washington, d. c., Dec. 17.-Presi-
dent Roosevelt utters a strong defense
of the a cana proposition and
| the manner in which the work of dig
ging the big ditch is being carried on
In a special message which
today received from him, and OF which
the Following paragraphs are part;
IT is not only natural, but INEVITABLE.
| that Il work as gigantic as this which has
been undertaken on the isthmu should
arouse every species of hostility and criti-
cism. The conditions are so new and so
trying, and the work SO vast, that 1t
would be absolutely out of the question
that mistakes should not be made. Checks
1 Will occur. Unforeseen difficulties Will
arise. From time to time seemingly Well
settled plans viii have to be changed. At
After a while the number will be doubled,
| In such IL multitude it is inevitable that
there should be here and there a scoun-
drel. Very many of the poorer class of la
borers lack the mental development TO
| protect themselves against either the ras-
cality of others or their own folly, and It
Is not possible for human wisdom to de-
wise a plan by which they can invariably
be protected.
Scores Doubling rhomases.
There will now and then be shortcomings
for accidents to delay the excavation OF
the cut or the building Of the dams and
locks. Each such incident will be entirely
natural, and, even though serious, no one
OF them Will mean more than a little extra
delay or trouble Yet each. when discov-
to timid folk OF little faith, will serve as
an excuse for the belief that the whole
work Is being badly managed. Exper.-
In hygiene. in street repairing, in dredging,
and In digging earth and rock.
Now and then an experiment will be q
a certain proportion of doubling Thomases
win at once believe that the whole work
Is a failure. Doubtless here and there
some minor rascality will be uncovered;
but as to this. l have to say that after the
most p~ainstaking inquiry ] have been un-
able to find a single reputable person who
had so much as heard of any serious accu-
Stations affecting the honesty of the com
der 1t.
Where tho slanderers are of foreign ORR
gin / have no concern with them. Where
they are Americans. I feel for them the
heartiest contempt and Indignation; be-
cause, IN a spirit of wanton dishonesty
and malice: 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 tho eff
credit of America one of the giant feats OF
the ages. The outrageous accusations of
these slanderers constitute n gross libel
upon q body Of public servants who, for
TRAINED intelligence, expert ability, high
character and devotion to duty, have new
er been excellcd anywhere.
IlI-lnformed Outsiders.
The wisdom OF the canal management
/ hao 1900. IN A w ~ y -
THAN in the way in which the foundations
of the work have been laid TO have yield
cd to the natural impatience OF nl-in-
formed outsiders and begun all Kinds OF
experiments in work prior to a thorough
sanitation of the isthmus. and to a fairly
satisfactory working out of the problem
of getting and keeping a sufficient labor
supply, would have been disastrous.
The %vartcSIs 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 January !
of the present year. 1t then became nee
essary to have the type of the canal de-
c.ded, and the only delay has been the noe
essary delay until the 10Th day Of June,
wisely settled that we should have an S.
foot level canal. Immediately after that
been cont.nued with increasing visor ever
since; and 1t will continue SO to progress
In the future.
the isthmus Is remarkably good-so much
better than IN most sections of the United
States. that / do not believe that 1t can
possibly continue at quite its present ay-
| erage.
A 3O-cent meal I had struck me az beng
States at the. ordinary hotel in which a
60-cent meal is provided.
Visited Water Closets.
I inspected between twenty and thirty
water closets, both those used by the
ored laborers. In almost every case /
found tho conditions perfect. In but one
Cdso IN l. Ililu al Ddu. III IL
case, affecting a settlement of unmarried
white employees, i found them very bad
indeed, but the buildings were all inher-
tied from the French company and were
being used temporarily while other build
fngs were in the course of construction;
and right near the defective water closet O
new and excellent closet with a good sew
err pipe was in process of construction and
nearly finished.
Nevertheless this did not excuse the fact
that the bad condition had been allowed to
prevail.
i inspected the large hospitals at Ancon
and Colon, which are excellent
of IA tropical hospitals should be. /
also inspected the receiving hospitals In
various settlements. l went through a
number Of the wards in which the coiored
men are treated, a number of those in
which the white men are t~reated-Ameri-
cans and Spaniards. White men and black
men are treated exactly alike, and their
treatment Is as good as that which could
be obtained in our first-class hospitals at
home.
The Food All Right.
I came to the conclusion that, speaking
generally, there was no warrant for COM
plant about the food. Doubtless 1t grows
monotonous after awhile. Any man ac-
customed TO handling large masses Of men