East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1906-12-17

Washington, Dec. 1.-THE chief
feature of the session today was the
reading of the able message Of Presi-
dent Roosevelt upon the Panama ca
nal situation. This message is the
detailed report of the presidents trip
to Panama and goes into every feat
ure of the canal situation with a thor
oughness and technical knowledge
which is remarkable for man not ac-
tually engaged in the work of con-
struction.
The message was greeted with
marked attention, the galleries being
crowded and most of the members in
their seats.
After reviewing the tedious pro-
cesses by which it was finally deter
mined by the United States to build
the Panama canal, the presidents
message was in part as follows, on
the chief topics:
The wisdom of the canal MANAGE
ment has been shown in nothing more
clearly than in the way in which the
foundations of the work have been
laid. To have yielded to the natural
impatience of ill-informed outsiders
and begun all kinds of experiments in
work prior to a thorough sanitation
of the isthmus, and to a fairly satis-
factory working out of the problem OF
getting and keeping a sufficient labor
supply, would have been disastrous.
The various preliminary measures
had to be taken first; and these could
not be taken so as to allow us to be-
gin the real work of construction prior
an January 1 Of the present year. II
then became necessary to have the
type of the canal decided, and the
only delay has been the necessary de-
lay until June 20. the date when the
congress definitely and wisely settled
that we should have an S5-foot level
canal.
Immediately after that the work be-
gan in hard earnest and has been con-
tinued with increasing vigor ever
since; and II will continue so to prog
ress in the future. When the contracts
are let the conditions will be such as
to insure a constantly increasing
amount of performance.
Health Showing is Good.
Just at present the health showing
on the isthmus is remarkably good
so much better than in most sections
of the United States that do not be-
lieve that II can possibly continue at
quite its present average. Thus, early
in the present year band of several
hundred Spaniards were brought to
the isthmus as laborers, and additions
to their number have been made from
time to time; yet since their arrival
in February last but one of those
Spaniards thus brought over to work
on the canal has died of disease, and
he OF typhoid.
Two others were killed, one in a
railroad accident, and one by a dyna-
mite explosion. There has been for
the last six months a well-nigh steady
decline in the death rate for the pop
ulation of the zone, this being largely
due to the decrease in deaths from
pneumonia, which has been the most
fatal disease on the isthmus.
In October there We're 80 deaths Of
every kind among the employees of
the isthmus. There We're then on the
rolls $500 whites, seven-eighths of
them being Americans. OF these
whites but two died of disease, and
as It happened neither man was an
American.
OF the 5000 white Americans, in
Guiding some 1900 women and chill
dren, not a single death has occurred
in the past three months, whereas in
an average city in the United States
the number of deaths for similar
number of people in that time would
have been about 80 from disease. This
very remarkable showing can not of
course, permanently obtain, but it
certainly goes to prove that If good
care is taken the isthmus is not a par
unhealthy place.
In October, of the 10000 negroes
on the roll SO died from disease;
pneumonia being the most destructive
and malarial fever. coming
second. The difficulty of exercising
a thorough supervision over the col
ored laborers is of course greater than
is the case among the whites. and they
are also less competent to take care
of themselves, which accounts for the
fact that their death rate is so much
higher than that of the whites, in
spite of the fact that they have been
used to similar climatic conditions.
Even among the colored employees 1t
will be seen that the death rate is not
high.