Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1906-12-22

| protected. In a place which has been
for ages byword for unhealthfulness,
and with so large congregation OF
strangers suddenly put down and set 10
| nard work there will now and then be
outbreaks of disease. There will now
and then be shortcomings in administra-
ton; there Will be unlooked-for acct
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 VIII mean more than a little
| extra delay or trouble Yet each, when
discovered by sensation mongerS and re-
tailed to tirid folk OF little faith, will
| serve as an excuse for the belief that
| the whole work is being badly managed.
| Experiments will continually be tried i'm
| housing, in hygiene, in street repairing.
| in dredging and in digging earth and
| rock. Now and then an experiment viii
be a failure; and among those who hear
OF 1t, certain proportion OF doubling
Thomases Will at once believe that ths
whole work is a failure, Doubtless here
and there some minor rascality will be
uncovered; but as TO this, / have to say
! that after the most painstaking inquiry
| 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 it. i append a
| letter dealing with the most serious
charge, that of the ownership or lots in
Colon; the charge was not advanced by
a reputable man, and is utterly base
less 1t is not too much to say that the
whole atmosphere of the commission
breathes honesty as il breathes efficiency
and energy Above all, the work has
been kept absolutely clear OF politics. |
have never heard even a suggestion OF
spoiis politics in connection with ii.
l 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 /
have indicated in the course of this
there was foundation for the COM
plant. and that the methods of the
commission in the respect complained
of could be 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 Lbelers.
SO much for honest criticism. There
reckless SANDER as has ever been pub
lilshed. Where the slanderers are of
foreign origin have no concern with
them. Where they are Americans. /
feel for them the heartiest contempt
and indignation; because, in u 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 the eff
forts of their countrymen TO put to
the credit of America one of the giant
feats of the ages. The outra geous
accusations of these slanderers con-
Slllule Il gross DDel upon n DOuV OF
public servants who. for trained intel
ligence, expert ability. high charac-
tetr and devotion to duty have never
been excelled 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.
fol Il tf1,N
have decided to let out most of the
work by contract. If we can come to
satisfactory terms with the contract
suited to the peculiar genius of our
people; and our people have devel-
oped the type of contractor best fitted
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 a sufficient remuneration
to make it worth while for respon-
sible contractors of the best kind to
undertake the work; and provided on
the other hand 1T can be done on terms
which will not give an excessive profit
to the contractor at the expense of
the government. After much con.
sideration 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
who, while in the employment of Mr.
Hill, the president of the Great North
ern railroad had personal experience
Of this very type of contract; Mr.
Stevens then submitted the plan to
the chairman of the commission Mr.
Shonts, who went carefully over it
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 it to some of the best coun
sci at the New York bar. and after
wards 1 wens over 1t very carefully
with Mr.. Taft and Mr.. Shonts, and we
laid the plan in it's general features
before Mr.. Root. My conclusion is
that 1T combines the maximum of adj
vantage with the minimum of disad
vantage. Under 1T premium Will be
put upon the speedy and economical
construction OF the canal. and a PEN
atty imposed on delay. and waste. The
doubtless it will have to be changed
in some respects before we can come
to satisfactory agreement with re-
after the bids have been received;
and of course it is possible that we
can not come to a agreement. 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 headed commission is OF
course "a clumsy executive instrument.
We should have but one commission
err with such heads of departments
and other officers under him as we
may find necessary. We should be
expressly permitted to employ the
best engineers in the country as con-
sulting engineers.
accompany this paper with a map
showing substantially what the canal
will be like when it is finished When
the Culebra cut has been made and
the dams built Of they are built as at
present proposed) there will then be
at both the Pacific and Atlantic ends
of the canal two great fresh-water
lakes, connected by a broad channel
running at the bottom of a ravine.
across the backbone of the Western
Hemisphere. Those best informed be-
lieve that the work will be completed
in about eight years; but ii is never
safe to prophesy about such a work
as this. especially in the tropics.
Confident Of Ultimate Success.
OF the success of the enterprise 1
am as well convinced as one can be
of any enterprise that is human. 1t
is stupendous work upon which our
fellow countrymen are engaged down
there on the isthmus. and while we
should hold them to a strict accounta-
bility for the way in which they per-
form il. we should recognize, with
frank generosity. the epic nature of
the task upon which they are engaged
and its worldwide Importance. They
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