The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1906-12-21

outbreaks Dt disease. mere VIII H'" |
ami then ne shortcomings In admIHSlt
ton. there Will be unlookcd-for aceI
dents to delay the excavation of the Cui
or the building of the dams and locks,
Each such incident Will be- entirely nat
ural, and, even though serious, no on"
Of them will mean more than Mite
extra delay or trouble Yet each, when
discovered by sensation mongers ANA re-,
tailed to timI folk of little faith, VIII
serve as an excuse for the belief tnat
the whole work Is being badiy MANAGED.
Experiments will continually be tried IN
housing in hygiene, in street repairing.
in dredging and In digging earth ANA
rock. Now and then an experiment Viii
be a failure: and among those who near
Of IT, certain proportion of doubling
ThOmaSeS will at once believe that ihd
whole work is failure. Doubtless here
and there some minor raSCatty Will lie
uncovered but as to this, ! have 10 say
that after the most painstakinG inquiry
| have been unable 10 lind single TePHt-
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. ! append
letter dealing with the most serious
charge, that Of the ownership nf lots III
Colon; the charge was not advanced bS
reputable man, and Is utterly base
less. Ii is not too much to say that the
whole atmosphere of the commission
breathes honesty as II hrcathes efficiency
and energy Above all, the work mas
been kept absolutely clear Of politics. !
have never heard even n suggestion OF
spells politics In connection with il.
| have investigated very complaint
brought to me for which there seemed
to be any shadow of foundation. In
two or three eases, all of which |
have indicated in the course Of this
message, | came to the conclusion that
there was foundation for the com
plant and that III" methods Of the
commission in the respect compliance
of could be bettcred. In tn" other in
stances the complaints proved ahso-
lutely haSelCSS save in two or three
Instances where they referred to mis-
takes which the commission had al
ready found out and corrected
SANDERS and Libelers.
So much for honest criticism. There
remains an immense amount OF as
reckless Islander 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 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 10 bring to naug ut the ef-
forts Of their cOuntrymen to put to
the credit of America one OF the giant
feats of the ages. The outrageous
accusations of these Slanderers con-
stitute a gross libel upon a body 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
4 s.s Id nav
| 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. 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
to grapple with it. 1t is of course
much better to do the work in large
part by contract than to do it all by
! the government provided II is pos
| sible on the one hand to secure TO the
| contractor 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 II 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-
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..
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 1t
with Mr.. Rogers, the legal adviser OF
the commission. to see that all legal
ted copies Of the plan to both Secre-
tary Taft and myself. Secretary Taft
submitted 1t to some Of the best coun-
sci at the New York bar, and after
wards I went over it very carefully
with Mr. Taft and Mr.. Shonts. and we
laid the plan in its general features
before Mr.. Root. My conclusion Is
that II combines the maximum of adj
vantage with the minimum of disad-
| vantage. Under II premium will be
put upon the speedy and economical
construction. of the canal: and pen
atty imposed on delay and waste. The
plan as promulgated is tentative;
doubtless 1t will have to be changed
in some respects before we can come
to a satisfactory agreement with re-
SpOnSlDle COulTdCloIS-ptInhp even
after the bids have beer received;
and of course 1t 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 seven headed commission is of
| course clumsy executive instrument
We should have but one commission
er, 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.
I accompany this paper with q map
showing substantially what the canal
will be like when 1t Is finished. When
the Culebra cut has been made and
present proposed) there will then be
at both the Pacific and Atlantic ends
OF the canal two great fresh-water
lakes. connected by 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 IL Is never
safe to prophesv about such a work
as this, especially in the tropics.
Confident Of Ultimate Success.
OF the success Of the enterprise
am as well convinced as one can be
Of any enterprise that Is human. II
is stupendous work upon which our
fellow countrymen are engaged down
| sutl III