Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-11
ANlMus IN STATEMENTS
Complaints Alleged to Be From Men
With q Grievance.
AFFAIRS ON THE IsTHMU'
It is Asserted That the Opportunities of
Mr.. Bigelow for Observation Were
Limited to Eight Hours.

to the charges against the isthmian canal
commission contained In an article in The
Independent has been made by Secretary
Taft. 1t Is in the form of letter to the
President, who, on January 6, In com
munication to the Secretary, said his at
tention had been directed to an article pur-
porting to have been written by Mr.. Poult-
ney Bigelow, attacking the administration
of affairs by the canal commission and
yourself on the isthmus,'' and adding will
you please advise me what basis, il any,
there is for these charges7'
In his reply Secretary Taft first briefly
summarizes the charges as follows: AL
leging that the conditions in Colon are so
insanitary as to indicate great neglect in
providing for the health Of the employees of
the commission; alleged mistreatment OF
negro laborers; that persons appointed to
the isthmus are incompetent and have been
given their places through political infiu-
ence and official incompetency or miscon-
duct, the latter involving the charge that
there Is so much red tape" necessary to
bring about the construction of buildings
that great misery has come to the laborers
on the iSthmuS.
The Secretary says that Chief Engineer
Stevens is now in Washington and Is per-
sonally cognizant of the facts with respect
to every local condition described by the
writer Of the article and a memorandum Oh
comments thereon by Mr.. Stevens is ap-
pended to the letter as an exhibit.
Colon's Insanitary Condition.
Discussing the conditions at Colon, the
Secretary quotes Mr.. Stevens as saying that
every one knows who has been on the
ground that the problem of draining the
city is one of extreme difficulty owing to
situation on an island surrounded by the
sea on one side and by fresh-water swamp
on the other; that the land on the average
is not more than ~ feet above the sea
level. Uncertainty as to the plans of I'M
proving Colon has rendered impractical any
radical destruction of insanitary buildings
most of which are on lands owned by the
railroad company and leased on short terms
to niddlemen.
Meantime the Secretary says the sanitary
conditions in Panama required much more
urgent treatment than those at Colon. Inc
death rate at Panama since the government
took charge of the health of the isthmus.
the Secretary says is from p per cent 10
33 1-3 per cent greater than In Colon Inc
commission thought itself fully justified,
therefore, the Secretary adds. in establish
ing a water system and a sewer system
in Panama first. 1t Is not true, he says.
that large number of the employees on the
isthmus live in Colon proper. where the
swampy district is, and as Mr.. Stevens
points out, there are not to exceed two or
three hundred living there. Regarding the
charge Indifference as to food supply
for the laborers the Secretary refers to the
reports on the Markell contract and says
the very diligent efforts made in this re-
gard are sufficiently set out there as al
ready published.
Bearing on the charge that there is to-
day no water supply in Colon. Secretary
Taft quotes from dispatch from Governor
Magoon of January advising him that of
the two temporary reservoirs for the Colon
and Cristobal water supply (he latter place
being not five minutes walk from the CEN
ter of Colon). one was completed on No
vember l and the other the latter part OF
December, with total capacity of S0,WO,0O
gallons, amply sufficient for the present dry
season: that there Is no scarcity of water
in Colon: that permanent reservoir ca
pacity of 5O0Oo0!OO0 gallons is under con-
struction with two permanent stand pipes,
under contract to be completed April 1.
The statement of Mr. Stevens and Cover
nor Magoon, Secretary Taft says, are at
variance with those of the writer of this
article.
Treatment of Labor.
Secretary Taft declares the rate of wages
are well advertised throughout the West
Indies at 10 cents gold an hour for day or
eight hours which may be increased by
diligent work to 13 cents an hour. 1t Is also
untrue, he says, that a great prejudice
exists against negroes in the railroad man
agement The Secretary says 1t Is charged
that the chairman of the commission ana
all others wrongly look upon the tropical
negro laborer as poor labor. The conclusion
of Mr. Stevens and of every observer on
the isthmus, he declares, is to the effect
that this labor is inefficient Regarding
the statement that the negroes are leaving
the isthmus in portentous numbers because
of mistreatment Mr.. Stevens testies, the
Secretary says, that just before the holidays
a great number of laborers returned to the
islands whence they came.
This. the Secretary says. has been the GUS
tom ever since the beginning of the French
construction. Many of the laborers leave
their families and because transportation
Is cheap are able to go back and then re-
turn The Secretary shows there are now
on the pay rolls 1900 laborers
Secretary Taft refers to the personnel of
would be difficult to select a better one for
the duties it has to discharge
Influence and Red Tape.
AS to the charge that officials the
isthmus were appointed through congress-
ional or political influence the Secretary
says the chief engineer categorically de-
MES this, land / am able from the stand
point of Washington also categorically to
deny it," He says political influence has
played no part whatever in the selection
of appointees. He adds: There has been
great difficulty in securing under the civil
service law methods men for out-of-door
work on the isthmus-skilled mechanics,
track layers, carpenters and others-but
certainly the defects in their qualifications
which nave Deen lOunQ TO exist nave never
been due to the exercise of political in
fiuence"
Secretary Taft declares that the charge
of delay by red tape in the construction
OF buildings the isthmus is shown to be
untrue by the statement of the chief engi-
neer. and as to the allegation that the
dredges In the Culebra cut were not work.
ing 20 Ter cent of their promised capacity
the Secretary says there are no dredges
within a long distance of the Culebra cut
and that the instruments there being used
are steam shovels.
Strictness Of the Quarantine.
Secretary Taft says the charge that quar-
antine officials construe the law and en-
force it as far as possible to interfere with
commerce is utterly unfounded." The 18TH
mus is being freed from danger of yellow
fever and other contagious diseases. OBJ
serves the Secretary. by an effort unpre-
cedented in the history of the world. Be-
ing surrounded on every side by disease
breeding ports, the Secretary says, it is of
the highest Importance, IL the work done
upon the isthmus Is to remain permanent,
that the quarantine be strictly enforced
Natives of the isthmus, he says regard
themselves as immune from yellow fever