The Lamar register. [volume] (Lamar, Colo.) 1889-1952, 1906-12-19

II detected In a place which has beef
for ages q byword for unhealthfulness
strangers suddenly put down and set Il
outbreaks of disease. There will non
and then be shortcomings in administra.
ton: there will be unlooked-for acct
dents to delay the excavation OF the cuI
or the building of the dams and locke
Each such incident will be entirely nat
OF them will mean more than a little
extra delay or trouble. Yet each, when
aas TO , by s on si and I
serve as an excuse for the belief that
The whole work is being badly managed
Experiments will continually be tried III
housing. in hygiene. in street repairing
In dredging and In digging earth and
be q failure; and among those who heal
OF 1t. certain proportion of doubling
Thomases will at once believe that the
and there some minor rascalty will be
uncovered; but as to this. have to say
have been unable to find a single reput.
able person who had much heard
or any serious accusations affecting thu
honesty OF the commission or of AM
responsible officer under 1t. l append .
letter dealing with the most serious
charge. that of the ownership OF lots ir
Coon; the charge was not advanced by
q reputable man, and is utterly base.
less. 1t is not too much to say that the
breathes honesty as it breathes efficiency
nd md energy. Above all. the work ha,
'Nch htpt dDsOlutely clear
have never heard even a SUGGESTION oil
spells politics in connection with it.
l.. nave investigated every complaint
to be any shadow of foundation Ir
two or three cases. all of which ]
mess. indicated in the course of thi,
there was foundation for the com.
plant; and that the methods of thi
OF could be bettered. In the other in.
stances the complaints proved abso.
iutely baseless. save in two or three
takes which the commission had al.
ready found out and corrected.
ISLANDERS and LibeIers.
SO much for honest criticism. There
remains an immense amount of as
lilshed. Where the slanderers are OF
foreign origin l have no concern with
f feei for Where Where The, they are americans;
and Indignation. BECAUSE in a 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 are, seeking to bring to naught the ef.
iorts OF their countrymen to put to
the credit OF America one of the giant
feats Of the ages. The outra geous
stitute a gross libel upon a body ' OF
public servants who. for trained intel
iigence expert ability. high charac-
been excelled anywhere. There is not
n 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 innrs Decided to let ont most of the
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 hest ftted
to grappie with IT, II is of course
part by contract than to do it all by
the, government. provided 1t is pos
to make 1t worth while for respon-
sibie contractors OF the best kind tic
the other hand 1t can be done on terms
which Will not give an excessive profit
the S f the
sideration the plan already promui-
gated by the secretary of war was
features was drafted after careful
and thorough study and consid. rltion
by the chief engineer. Mr.. stevens,
Hill. the president of the Great North
ern railroad. had personal experience
e ss .Scn typs II Mr.
the chairman of the commission. Mr..
shonts, who went carefully over Il
the commission. to see that ali legal
DIFFICULTIES were met. He then submit
ted copies OF the plan to both scere.
submitted 1t to some of the best coun-
sci at the New York bar. and after
With Mr.. Taft and Mr.. shonts' and we
before Mr.. Root NY conclusion IS
vantage with the minimum of disad-
vantage. Under IL a premium will be
put upon the speedy and economical
construction of the canal. and n PEN
atty imposed on delay and waste. The
plan rs promqisnted is tentative;
in some respects before we ee can Sn come
to satisfactory agreement with re-
snonsih,e c9ntractors-perhnps even
and Of course 1t liz possible that we
can NOT come to agreement. In which
itself. Meanwhile the work on the
isthmus Is progressing steadily and
without any let up.
Single Commissioner Desired.
a seven-headed commission Is of
We should have but one commission
or. with such heads Of departments
may find necessary. We should be
expressly permitted to employ the
hest engineers in the country MS con-
accompany this paper with a map
showing substantially what the nal
will he like when 1t Is finished. When
the Culebra cut has been made and
the dams built Uf they are built as at
present proposed) there viii then he
ut both the Pacific and Atlantic ends
Of the canal two great fresh-water
lakes. connected by broad channel
running at the bottom of ravire,
rcross the backbone of the Western
HemisDhcre. Those best informed be-
in about eight years: but 1t is never
safe to prophesy about such n work
as this. esreciallv in the tropics.
Confident Of Ultimate Success.
OF the success OF the enterprise
am as well convinced as one can be
Of any enterprise that is human. 1t
is n stupendous work upon which our
follow countrymen are engaged down
there on the isthmus. and while we
should hold them to strict accounta-
hility for the way in which they per-
form II. we should recognizes, with
frank generosity. the epic nature of
the task upon which they are enga ged
and its worldwide 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 Mr.
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 arc
10 thnk