The Ordway new era., 1906-12-21

protected. In : place which has bssa
and With 70 isrss : eonssssstion @ q
p' ne% co.. ana sne sh:s e. i e
Sa ss. ssrs p n. Ss &
dents to delay the excavation Of the cut
Ss q. z the .,s budding q ths dams and Lock-.
ural and. even though serious. no one
OF & them Will mean more than little
discovered by sensation mongers and RS
tailed to timid folk OF little faith. Win
the whole work is being badly manased.
n sreSsnx hySens saa % n sxsT street ssPcrn
rock. Now and then an experiment WiiI
be q failure; and among those who hear
Thoma.es viii at once believe that the
whole work In a failure. Doubtless here
ancovssse anc There some n minor raseaiIty will be
that after the most painstaking inouiry
l,i,a have been unable to find single reput-
or any serious accusations Affecting the
Tssmonyh1a honesty 1a the the commission or OF any
letter dealing with the most Serious
cna1rge. that OF the ownership Of lots In
Soion; q ran,,tah,. the charge was not advanced BY
less, ssa II Is not too much to say that the
Srea,hsa Mnoie a'mosphere hnnI ot the commission
and energy. Above all, the work has
been been kept absolutely clear OF politics.
spoils politics In connection with ii.
nave Investigated every complaint
proSght or S to me for which there seemed
two or three cases. ali OF which I
have INDICATED In the course OF this
there was foundation for the COM
pIaint; and that the methods of the
ePinm,ss'9n of ennss ha IN the respect complained
stances the complaints proved abso-
iins.dg ims,g baselsss. save in two or three
takes which the commission had al
seady found out and corrected.
ISLANDERS and Libeiers.
SO much for honest criticism. There
remains an Immense amount of as
llshed Where the slanderers are of
foreign origin ] have no concern with
feel for them the heartiest contempt
q wantcn dishonesty and nd malice. %
hamper the execution OF. the greatest
work OF the kind ever attempted. and
forts OF their countrymen To- put TO
me credit OF America one of the giant
aeeasntons @ III he Of afss fssso The tn
stitute n gross libel upon n body of
public servants who, for trained INTEL
tetr and devotion to duty. have never
been excelied anywhere There is NOT
a 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 to Build by Contract.
After most careful consideration We
have decided to let out most of the
work by contract. II we can come to
satisfactory sat rs term, terms with the contract:
suited To the peculiar genius of our
people; and our people have devei::
to grappIc with IL. IL In OF course
much better to do the work In large
part by contract than TO do y all by
siblc on the one hand to secure to the
contractor =. sufficient remuneration
sible contractors of the bes, KIND to
undertake the work. and provided on
the the. other .c hand II can be done on terms
ihs government. After much con.
gated by the secretary OF war was
adopted. This plan In Its essential
nnd tSsroMss sadY and after careful
who. while In the employment OF Mr..
ern raiirond. had personal experience
OF this very type OF contract. Mr..
stevens then Submitted the plan 10.
=.
Shonts. who went carefully over iS
with Mr.. Rogers. the legal adviser OF
difficulties were met: He then submit-
ted copies OF the plan to both Secre-
tary TAFT and myself. Secretary Taft
sci Mt the New York bar. and after.
wards ! went over II very carefully
laid the plan In Its general features
before Mr.. Root. My conclusion 10
that v comhines the maximum of ad-
n m " "a he. rrtt nj WIN nF a a.
put upon the speedy and economical
atty Imposed on delay and waste. The
sans,is., san nroW,pIsSsasa W, SaSe 'cI,n,sj
to satisfactory agrecmcnt with res
sponsibic eontractors-,pcrhaps even
and OF course II is possible that we
can not come TO agreement. In which
@ i,s"if MennwSie ,Se w', work ag inc on w9ss 9s.
isthmus is progressing steadily and
without any let up
Single Commissioner Desired.
A seven-headcd commission Is Of
We should have but one commission-
err. with such heads Of departments
may hnd necessary. We should be
expressly permitted to employ the
best engineers in the country as COM
accompany this paper with n map
showing substantially what the canal
will he like when II Is finished. When
the culebra cut has been made and
the dams built ~ they are built at
present proposcd) there Will then be
Mt both the Pacific and Atlantic ends
OF the canal two great frcsh-water
lakes. connected by n broad channel
running at the bottom of n rnvine,
across the backbone of the Western
Hemisphere; Those best Informed be.
in about eight years; but Il is never
safe to prophesy about such work
as this. especially in the tropics.
Confident Of Ultimate Success.
or the success of the enterprise
am as well convinced as one can be
of any enterprise that II human. It
is stupendous work upon which our
fellow countrymcn are engaged down
there on the isthmus. and while we