The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1906-12-22

protected. In a place which haa. So
ana with SO large consregatioh<E
strangers suddenly put down and set ITO
hard work there will now and then be
and then be shortcomings in administra-
ton; there will be unlooked-for acci-
dents to delay the excavation of the cut
or the building of the dams and locks.
Each such Incident viii be entirely nat
ural. and, even though serious, no one
OF them, Will mean more than a little
discovered by. sensation mongers and re-
tailed to timid folk Of little faith. will
serve as an excuse for the belief that
the whole work is being badly managed.
housing. in hygiene. in street repairing,
in dredging and In digging earth and
rock. Now and then an experiment will
be q failure; and among those who hear
of II. certain proportion OF doubling
Thomases Will at once believe that the
whole work is failure. Doubtless here
and there some minor rascality will be
uncovered; but as to this. l have to say
that after the most painstaking inquiry
have been unable to find a single reput-
Of any serious accusations affecting the
honesty of the commission or of any
responsible officer under 1t. l append a
charge, that of the ownership of lots in
Colon; the charge was not advanced by
a reputable man, and Is utterly base
tho to say has ns
breathes honesty as 1t breathes efficiency
and energy. Above all, the work has
been kept absolutely clear OF politics. I
have never heard even a suggestion of
spells politics In connection with 1t.
nave Investigated every complaint
brought to me for which there seemed
TO be any shadow of foundation In
two or three cases, all of which I
have indicated in the course of this
message, ! came to the conclusion that
plant, and that the methods of the
commission in the respect complained
OF could be bettered; In the Other. in
instances where they referred to mis-
takes which the commission had al
ready found out and corrected.
ISLANDERS and LibeIers.
So much for honest criticism. There
remains remains an an immense amount of as
lilshed. Where the slanderers are of
foreign origin / have no concern with
them Where they, are Americans,
and indignation: because. in spirit
of wanton dishonesty and malice.
they are trying to interfere with and
work of the kind ever attempted. and
are seeking to bring to naught the eff
tSrts OF their countrymen to put to
feets sre 81 t of of the giant
accusations of these slanderers con-
stitute gross libel upon body of
public servants who; for trained intel
tetr and devotion to duty. have never
been excelled anywhere. There is not
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 in any way for his own per-
sonal or pecuniary advantage.
Plan to Build by Contract.
After most careful consideration we
have decided to let out most of the
Satisfactory terms with e the he" contract eDg
ors. The whole work is OF a kind
suited to the peculiar. genius of our
peS9e and tSne our peSPe
to grapple with 1t. 1t Is of course
much better to do the work in large
part by contract than to do 1t all by
sible on the one hand to secure to the
contractor sufficient remuneration
to make 1t worth while for respon-
undertake the work; and provided on
the other hand IL can be done on terms
which will not give an excessive profit
the government. After much con-
sideration the plan already promul-
gated by the secretary OF war was
uuOpteu. lnls pan IN It's eSSentlal
and thorough study and consideration.
by the chief engineer. Mr.. Stevens.
M MhG t Tes n h bs o mr.
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 II
with Mr.. Rogers, the legal adviser OF
the commission, to see that all legal
n 90 not 10 G,thv p
ted copies of the plan to both Score
tary Taft and myself Secretary Taft
submitted IT to some of the best coun-
sci at the New York bar, and after
wards l went over 1t very carefully
with Mr. Taft and Mr.. Shonts. and we
laid the plan in its general features
that It combines the maximum of adj
vantage with the minimum of disad-
vantage. Under 1t premium will be
construction of the canal. and a pen
atty imposed on delay and waste. The
plan as promulgated Is tentative;
IT will h haze to be ehangea
to a satisfactory agreement with re-
sponsible contractors-perhaps even
after the bids have been received;
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 Commissioners Desired.
A seven headed commission Is OF
course n 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.
/ accompany this paper with map
showing substantially what the canal
will be like when It Is finished. When
the Culebra cut has been made and
the dams built az they are built as at
present proposedl there VIII then pc
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-
iieye that the work will be completed
in about eight years: but II Is never
safe to prophesy about such work
as this. especially in the tropics.
Confident Of Ultimate Success.
or the success of the enterprise I
m as we'll convinced as one can be
~ anv enterprise that Is human. IL
10 sfupendous work upon which our
fellow countrymen are engaged down
there on the isthmus. ana while we
should hold them to strict accounta-
bility for the way in which they per-
frank generosity the epic nature OF
the Task upon which they are engaged
and its worldwide Importance. They
re doing something which will re.
dnud immeasurably to. the credit of
america. which will benefit all the