The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1906-12-18
MESSAGE ON PANAMA CANAL
CONTINUED FROM NINTH PAGE.

CONTINUED FROM NINTH PAGE.
ing. There was a piano in the room
which I was Informed was used for the
music on these occasions. My meal was
excellent, and two newspaper correspond.
ents who had been on the isthmus sew
era1 days informed me that it was pre-
cisely like the meals they had been get
ting elsewhere at other government ho-
tells One of the employees was a cousin
of one Of the Secret Service men who
was with me. and ne stated that the
meals had always been good. but that
/ after a time he grew tired of them be-
cause they seemed so much alike.
No Cause for Complaint About Food.
1 came 10 the conclusion that. speak
ing generally, there was no warrant for
complaint about the food. Doubtless II
grows monotOnous after awhile Any
man accustomed to handling large mass
es Of men knows that some OF them. even
though otherwise very good men, are sure
/ TO grumble about something, and usually
about their food. Schoolb0ys, college
| boys, and bOarders in boarding houses
make similar complaints; so do soldiers
| and sailors. on this very trip on one
/ Of the WAT ships. seaman came TO com
plain TO the second watch officer about
] the quality OF the cocoa at the seamen' s
4 mess, saying that il was not sweet
| enough, il was pointed out to him that
/ there was sugar on the table and he could
always put il in, 10 which he responded
/ that that was the cooks business and
/ not his. | think that the complaint as 10
/ the food on the isthmus has but little
more foundation than that of the sailor
I In ion
understand that one real cause of com
plant was that at the government ho-
tells no liquor is served. and some Of the
/ drinking men, therefore. refused to so
10 them The number of men using the
government hotels is steadily increasing.
Chinese and Other Labor.
OF the nineteen or twenty thousand day
laborers employed on the canal. a few
hundred are SDaniards. These do excel
lent work Their foreman told me that
| they did twice as well as the West In
dia labOrers. They keep healthy and no
difficulty is experienced with them in any
way. Some Italian labOrers are also en-
ployed in connection with the drilling As
might De expected. with labor as high
priced as al present In the United States.
il has not SO far proved practicable TO
get any ordinary labOrers from the Unit
ed States The American wage workers
on the istnmus are the highly paid skilled
mechanics of the types mentioned pre-
viously. A steady effort Is being made To
secure Italians, and especially 10 procure
more Spaniards. because OF the very sat
isfactOry results that have come from
their employment; and their numbers viii
be increased as far as possible Il has
not proved possible. however. 70 get them
In anything like the numbers needed for
the work. and from present appearances
we shall in the main have 10 rely. for
the ordinary unsldlled work. partly upon
colored laborers from the West Indies.
partly upon Chinese labor. II certainly
ought 10 be unnecessary 10 point out that
the American workingman in the Unit
ed States has no concern whatever in
the question as 10 whether the rough
work or the isthmus. which is perform
cd 10y aliens I'm any event, IS done by
aliens from one country with a black skin
or by aliens from another country with a
yellow skin. our business IS to dig the
canal as efficiently and as quickly as pos
slDle; provided always that nothing is
done that is inhumane 30 any lab0rers.
and nothing that interferes with the
wages of or lowers the standard OF liv-
ing Of our own workmen. Having IN view
this principle. I have arranged O3try. sew
eral thousand Chinese Iaborers This is
desirable both because we must try TO
ind out what laborers are most efficient.
and. furthermore, because we should not
leave ourselves at the mercy Of any one
type Of foreign labor. At present the
great bulk of the unskilled labor on the
isthmus is done by West India negroes.
chiefly from Jamaica, Barbados, and the
other English possessions. one Of the
governors of the lands i'm question has
shown an unfreudly disposition to our
work, and has thrown obstacles IN the
way of our getting the labor needed: and
1t is highly undesirable u give any out
siders the impression. however iIl-found-
ed. that they are Indispensable and can
dictate terms 10 us
Negro LabOrers and their Quarter.
The West India laborers are fairly. but
only fairly, satisfactory Some of the
men do very wei, indeed; the better
class, who are to Be found as foremen.
as skilled mechanics. as policemen are
good men; and many Of the ordinary dav
laborers are also good. But thousands
Of those who are brought over under
contract Cat our expense) 90 off into the
jungle to live, or loaf around Colon. or
work SO badly after the first three or four
days as 10 cause serious diminutiOn of
the amount of labor performed on Friday
and Saturday of each week. I question
ed many Of these Jamaica laborers as 10
the conditions Of their work and what. if
any. changes they wished ! received
many complaints from them. but as re-
CARDS most Of these complaints they
themselves contradicted one another. In
all cases where the complaint was as 10
their treatment by any individual it
proved on examination that this fudivjd-
ual was himself a West India man of col !
or either policeman. a storekeeper. OF
an assistant storekeeper. Doubtless there
must be many complaints against Amer /
leans; but those to whom spoke did not
happen to make any such complaint to /
me. There was no complaint of the hous- /
ing; / saw but one set of quarters for 1
colored iaboreTs, which / thought Door |
and this was in an old French hoAse /
he barracks for unmarried men are
roomy well ventilated. and clean, with /
canvas hunks for each man, and a kind 4
of false attic at the top, where the trunks 1
and other belongings Of the different men
are kept. The clothes are hung on
nothing being allowed to be 1
Kept on the floor In each Of these big
rooms there were tables and lamps. and /
usually a few books or papers. and I'm al 4
most every room there was a Bible the
books being the property Of the Iaborers
themselves The cleanliness Of the quar-
ters is secured by daily inspection. The
quarters for the married negro Iaborers
were good. They We're neatly kept. and in
almost every case the men living in them.
whose wives or daughters did the cook
Ing for them. were far better satisfied and
OF a higher grade than the ordinary
bachelor negroes. Not only were the
quarters in which these negro laborers
We're living much superior 20 those in
which l am Informed they live at home.
but they were much superior to the huts