Oxford eagle., 1906-12-20

plan hy which they can invariably 10
protected. In q place which has heeu
and with SO large congregation ~
strangers suddenly put down and set -
hard work there Will now and then Do
outbreaks Of disease. There VIII fs~
and then be shortcomings in aduinlstra-
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 will mean more than llttio
extra delay or trouble. Yet each, when
discovered by sensation mongers and re-
tailed TO tinid folk OF little faith. will
serve as an excuse for the belief that
the whole work ir being badly managed.
Experiments will continually be tried In
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 u. certain proportion Of doubling
Thomases viii at once believe that thu
whole work LIS a failure. Doubtless here
and there some minor rascnlity viii he
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 II. | append a
letter dealing with the most serious
charge, that OF the ownership OF lots IN
Colon; the charge was not advanced by
less. II is not too much 10 say that the
whole atmosphere OF .he commission
brcathes honesty as Il breathea efficiency
and energy. Above all. the work has
been kept absolutely clear OF politics. I
have never heard even "A suggestion OF
spoils politics in connection with It.
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
~ could he bettered In the other in
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 Libeiers.
So much for honest criticism. There
remains an immense amount OF a-
reckless riander as has ever been pub
lilshcd. Where the slanderers are OF
foreign origin ] have no concern with
them. Where they are Americans. I
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 to bring to naught the cf-
forts Of their countrymen to put to
the credit Of America one of the giant
feats OF the ages. The outrageous
stitute a gross libel upon n body OF
public servants who for trained intel
ligcncc. 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 I'm any way for his own per-
sOnal or Hniary advantage.
Plan to BuiId by Contract.
After most careful consideration we
have decided to let out most OF the
work by contract IL we can come to
satisfactory terms with the contract :
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 fltted
10 erapplc with It, II Is of course
part by contract than TO do II all by
the government, provided IL is pos
sible on the one hand to secure to the
contractor sufficient remuneration
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 proht
To the contractor Mt 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
and thorough study and consideration,
by the chief engineer, Mr.. stevens,
who. while in the employment OF Mr.
Hin. the president of the Great North
ern railroad. had personal experience
OF this very type OF contract. Mr..
Stevens then submitted the plan 10
the chairman OF the commission. MT.
Shonts. who went carefully over II
with Mr. Rogers. the legal adviser of
the commission, to see that all legal
difficulties were met He then submit
tary Taft and myself. Secretary Taft
submitted IL to some of the best coun-
sci at the New York bar. and after
wards I went over II very carefully
laid the plan in its general features
before Mr.. Root NV conclusion is
that IL combines the maximum Of ad-
vantage with the minimum OF disad-
vantage Under IL a premium will be
put upon the speedy and economical
construction OF the canal and "A pen
atty imposed on delay and waste. The
plan as PROMULGATED is tentative:
in some respects before we can come
to a satisfactory agreement with re-
sponsible contractors-perhaps even
after the bids have been received
and of course IL is possible that we
can not come 10 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 seventh headed commission is of
course clumsy executive instrument.
We should have but one commi sson
er, with such heads of departments
and other officers under him as we
expressly permitted TO employ the
best engineers in the country as con-
sulting engineers.
/ accompany this paper with map
showing substantially what the canal
will he like when II is finished. When
the Culebra cut has been made and
the dams built on they are built as at
present proposed) there will then be
OF the canal two great fresh-wnter
lakes. connected by broad channel
running at the bottom OF ravine
across the backbone Of the Western
Hemisphere. Those best informed be-
lieve that the work viii be completed
in about eight years; but II is never
safe to prophesv about such work
as this, especially In the tropics.
Confident Of Ultimate Success.
or the success of the enterprise !
am ms well convinced as one can be
OF any enterprise that is human. II
is stnpendous work upon which our
fellow countrymen are engaged down
there on the isthmus. and while we
u
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 it's worldly wide Importance. They
are doing something which Will re-
doud immeasurably to the credit of
America. which will benefit all the
world. and which will last for ages
to come. Under Mr. Shonts and MIR,
Stevens and Dr. Gorgas this work has
started with every omen Of good for
tune. They and their worthy associates,
from the highest to the lowest. are
entitled to the same credit that We
would give to the picked men of a
victorinns armv: for this conquest of
peace will. in its great and far-reach-
ing anRct. stand among the very
greatest conquests. whether OF peace
or OF war. which have ever been won
by any of the peoples of mankind. A
badge is to be given to every Ameri-
can citizen who for a specified time
has taken part in this work: for par
ticipation in II will hereafter be held
to reflect honor upon the man par
ticipating just a $ IL reflects honor upon
a soldier 10 have belonged TO mighty
army in great war Tor righteous
ness. Our fellow countrymen on the
isthmus are working for our interest
and for the national renown in the
same spirit and with the same eff
cheney that the men OF the army and
navy work in time of war. II be-
L.. "a