Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-17
Chinese and Other Labor.

using the government hotels is steadily I
Increasing.
Chinese and Other Labor.
OF the nineteen or twenty thousand day
laborers employed on the canal, a few
hundred are Spaniards. These do excellent
work Their foremen told me that they
did twice as well as the West India labor :
ers. They keep healthy and no difficulty
is experienced with them in any way. Some
Italian laborers are also employed in con- !
nection with the drilling. As might he /.
expected. with labor as high priced at !
present in the United States, ii has net so !
far proved practicable to get any ordinary I
laborers from the United States The
American wage-workers on the isthnus are
the highly paid skilled mechanics of the
types mentioned previously. A steady ef-
fort is being made TO secure Italians. and I
especially to procure more SpaniGTds. be- I
cause of the very satisfactory results that I
have come from their employment; and !
their numbers Will be increased far as |;
possible. II has not proved possible. how
ever, TO get them in anything Ike The 4
numbers needed for the WORK. and from
present appearances We shall in the main I
have to rely, for the ordinary unsililled
work. partly upon colorcd laborers from
the West Indies, partly upon Chinese labor.
1t certainly ought TO be unnecessary 20
point out that the American workingman
in the United States has no concern what
ever in the question as to whether the
rough work on the isthmus, which is per-
formed by aliens in any event. is done by
aliens from one country with black skin
or by aliens from another country with a
yellow skin. Our business is to dig the
canal efficiently and quickly pos
slbe; provided always that nothing is done
that is inhumane to any laborers and
nothing that interferes with the wages of
or lowers the standard of living of our own
workmen. Having in view this prin ciple,
have arranged to try several thousand
Chinese laoorers. This is desirable both
because must try to find out what
laborers are most efficient, and further
more because should not leave our
selves at the mercy of any one type OF
foreign labor. At present the great bulk
of the unskilled labor the isthnus is
done by West India negroes, chiefly from
Jamaica, Barbados and the other Eng
fish possessions. One of the governors
of the lands in question has shown an
unfrendly disposition TO our work. and
has thrown obstacles in the way OF our
getting the labor needed: and IL is highly
undesira BILE to give any outsiders the i'm
preston. however III founded, that they
Indispensable and can dictate terms to
us.
Negro Laborers and Their Quarters.
The West India laborers are fairly, but,
only fairly, satisfactory. Some of the men
do very well indeed the better class. who
are to he found foremen, as skilled me-
chanics. policemen, are good men: and
| many of the ordinary day laborers are also
good But thousands of those who are
| brought over under contract cat our ex-
pense) go off into the jungle to live. or LOAF
| around Colon. or work so badly after the
| first three or four days as to cause seri-
| Gus diminution of the amount of labor per-
! formed on Friday and Saturday OF each
week ! questioned many of these Jamaica
| laborers as to the conditions of their WORE
| and what II any changes they wished L
received many complaints from them, out
! as regards most of these complaints they.
! themselves contradicted one another In
| all cases where the complaint was as TO
| their treatment by any individual ii proved
| on examination that this individual was
| himself a West India man of color. either
| a policeman, a storekeeper or an assistant