The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1906-12-27
HITS CANAL CRITICS.
PRESIDENT TELLS OF HIS VISIT
TO THE IsTHMus.
I'm n Special Message to Congress He
Declares the Great Waterway Is
Being Dug with Speed, Under
Honest Conditions.

I PreSlQent Roosevelt sent Special
message on the Panama canal to Con-
gress Monday. He tells at great length
sf his personal experiences on his re-
cent trip to the canal zone, and scores
the critics and slanderers Of the canal
commission. On this point the Presi-
dent says:
where the slanderers are Of foreign
origin have no concern with them.
Where they are Americans l feel for
them the heartiest contempt and indig-
nation; because in a spirit Of wanton
dishonesty and malice they are trying
10 interfere with and hamper the exc
cution Of the greatest work Of the
kind ever attempted and are seeking
10 bring to naught the efforts Of their
eountrymen to put to the credit of
America one of the giant feats Of the
hges.
'The outrageous accusations of these
bIanderers constitute a gross libel upon
body Of public servant who for
kraned intelligence, expert ability,
high character and devotion to duty
have never been excelled anywhere
The features Of the message which
attracted the most attention were the
Presidents description of the engineer
ing work In the famous Culebra cut,
his exposition Of the wonderful sani-
tary arrangement, and his merciless
castigation Of the critics. The Presi-
ent also made 1t clear just why the
commission proposed to employ Chinese
labor, and why it determined to dig the
greater part Of the canal by private
contract, If possible.
The message was elaborately Illus
trated with views taken from actual
photographs Of working scenes along
the canal. Probably 1t was the first
illustrated message ever sent to Con
Sress.
The President found the conditions
Of things In the canal zone to his lik-
ing. He praised the sanitation, the
hotels, the hospitals, the quarters for
the employees, the pay, and the food He
BOUND few things to condemn and none
seriously. The message Is long one,
made 90 from the fact that the Presi-
dent entered into minute details OF
each subject. The salient features OF
he message follow:
In the month of November visited the
Isthmus of Panama, going over the Canal
Zone with considerable care and also Wis
fled the cities of Panama and Colon,
which are not in the Zone or under the
United States flag, but ss to which the
United States government, through Its
agents, exercises control for certain san
ttary purposes l was three days ashore
not a sufficient length of time to allow
IN exhaustive investigation OF the min
utia of the work of any single depart
ment, still less to pass judgment on the
engineering problems, but enough to en-
able me to get a clear idea of the salient
features Of the great work and OF the
progress that has been made as regards
the sanitation of the Zone, Colon and
Panama, the caring for and housing OF
Che employees, and the actual digging OF
the canal.
At the Culebra cut-the spot In which
most work will have to be done In any
event, we watched the different steam
shovels working: we saw the drilling and
blasting; we saw many OF the dirt trains
(of the two different types used), both
Marrying the earth away from the steam
ahovels and depositing it on the dumps
some of the dumps being run out in the
jungle merely to get rid OF the earth,
while in other cases they are being used
for double tracking the railway and In
preparing to build the great dams. l
visited many of the different villages, In
specting thoroughly many different build
ings-the local receiving hospitals, the
houses in which workmen live, as we'll as
the commissary stores, and the machine
shops.
Each day from twelve to eighteen hours
were spent in going over and inspecting
hll there was to be seen, and in examin-
Ing various employees. Throughout my
trip I was accompanied by the surgeon
general Of the army, DR.. Rixey; by the
chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commis-
sion, Mr.. Shonts by Chief Engineer Ste
vens by DR.. Gorgas. the chief sanitary
officer Of the commission; by Mr.. Bishop,
the secretary Of the commission; by Mr..
Ripley. the principal assistant engineer !:
BY Jackson Smith. who has had practical
charge of collecting and handling the la
boring force; by Mr.. Bierd, general man
Hger Of the railway, and by ---.. Rogers,
The general counsel of the commission !:
time to time.
An inspection of the ground at the
AeiKht Of the rainy season served to con-
vince me of the wisdom of Congress in
tefusing to adopt either a high-level or
3 sea-level canal. There seems to be a
Snivsrsal agreement among all people
competent to Judge that the Pnpama
route, the one actually chosen, is much
superior to both the Nicaragua and
Oarien routes.
Sanitation Is Successful.
Just at present the health showing on
the fsthmus is remarkably good-so much
better than In most sections of the | nit
Cd States that do not believe that 1t
can possibly continue at quite its present
average. There has been for the past six
months q well-nigh steady decline in the
death rate for the population 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 were ninety-nine deaths Of
every kind among the employees OF the
n-Al AIAx- r. H.,