The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1906-12-21


strangers suddenly put down and set to
hard work there Will now and then be-
outbreaks OF disease. There win now
and then be shortcomings in administra-
ton; there will be unlooked-for acct
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 little
extra delay or trouble. Yet each, when
discovered by sensation mongers and re-
tailed to tlmid folk OF little faith. viii
serve as an excuse for the belief that
the whole work Is being badly managed.
Experiments Will continually be tried In
housing. In hygiene. in street repairing.
In dredging and In digging earth and
rock. Now ana then an experiment will
he n failure: and among those who hear
OF II, n certain proportion OF doubling
Thomases VIII Mt once believe that thu
whole work is Il failure. Doubtless hero
ana there some minor rasCality will bs
uncovered; but as to this, ! have to say
that after the most painstaking inquiry
! have been unable to ind single reput-
able person who had 30 much as heard
or any serious accusations affecting the
honesty u the commission or OF any
responsible officer under IL. / append "A
letter dealing with the most serious
charge. that of the ownership OF lots In
Colon; the charge was not advanced by
a reputable man, and IL utterly base
less IL II not too much to say that the
whole atmosphere OF the commission
breathes honesty MS It breathcs efficiency
and energy, Above ALL the work has
been Kept absolutely clear OF politics.
have mover heard even a suggestion OF
spells politics In connection with It.
! 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 |
have Indicated in the course of this
message, ! came to the conclusion that
there was foundation for the com
plant, and that the methods of the
commission in the respect complained
OF could be bettcred. In the other in
stances the complaints proved abso-
lutely baselcss. save in two or three
instances where they referred to mis-
takes which the commission had al
ready found out and corrected.
SANDERS and Llbeiers.
So much for honest criticism There
remains an immense amount OF az
reckless Islander AS has ever been pub
foreign origin | have no concern with
them. Where they are Americans.
feel for them the heartiest contempt
and Indignation; because. In u 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. ana
are seeking to bring TO naught the eff
forts Of their countrymen to put to
the credit Of America one of the giant
fcats OF the ages. The outrageous
accusations OF these slanderers con-
stltutc gross libel upon body OF
public servants who. for trained intel
liEence. expert ability. high charac-
tctr and devotion to duty, have never
been cNCellod anywhere. There is not
man among those directing the work
on tho 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-
sohal or pccuniaTy advantage.
Plan to Build by Contract.
After most careful consideration we
have decided to let out most OF the
work by contract. II we can come to
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 dCyel-
oped the type Of contractor best fitted
to grapple with It, 1t is OF course
much better to do the work in large
part by contract than to do II all by
the government provided II is pos
siblc on the one hand to secure to the
contractor n sufficient remuneration
TO make u worth while for rospon-
siblc contractors Of the best kind To
undertake the work. and provided on
the other hand It can be done on terms
which viii not give an excessive profit
| to the contractor at the expense of
the government After much con-
siderntion the plan already promul-
gated by the secretary OF war was
adopted. This plan in It's essential
features was drafted after careful
and thorough study and consideration.
by the chief engineer. Mr.. Stevens.
who, while in the employment OF Mr..
Hin the president of the Great North
ern railroad. had personal experience
Of this very type OF contract. Mr..
Stevens then submitted the plan to
the chairman OF the commission. Mr..
Sh0nts. who went carefully over IL
with Mr. Rogers. the legal adviser of
the commission, to see that all legal
difficulties were met. He then submit
ted copies OF the plan to both Score.
tary Taft and myself Secretary Taft
submitted II to some of the best coun-
sci at the New York bar and after
with Mr.. Taft and Mr.. shonts, and we
laid the plan In its general features
before MIR. Root. My conclusion 10
that II combines tho maximum of I'D
vantage with the minimum OF disad-
vantage. Under II premium will be
put upon the speedy and economical
construction of the canal. aud PEN
atty imposed on delay and waste. The
plan ns promulgated Is tentative:
doubtless 1t will have to be changed
IN some respects before we can come
gpOnslblc neutrality-suspicious. even
after the bids have been received;
and OF course 1t IL possible that we
can not come to n agreement. in which
case the government will do the work
itself. Meanwhile the work on tho
isthmus Is progressing steadily and
without any let up.
Single Commissioner Desired.
\ seven headed commission is OF
course clumsy executive instrument.
We should have but ono commission
or. with such heads OF departments
and other officers under him as wo
may hnd necessary. We should be
expressly permitted to employ tho
bcst engineers IN the country as con-
sultng engineers.
accompany this paper with n map
showing substantially what the canal
will he like when It Is finished. When
the Culcbra cut has been made and
the dams built or they are built ns Mt
present proposed) there viii then he
Al both the Pacific and Atlantic ends
Of the canal two great fresh water
lakes, connected by broad channel
running at the bottom Of ravine.
across the backbone OF the Western
Hemispherc Those best informed ne
Iievo that the work will be completed
in about eight years; but II is never
safe 10 prophcsv about such work
as this. especially in the tropics.
Confident Of Ultimate Success.
OF the success of the enterprise I
am ns well convinced as one can be
of any enterprise that Is human. II
| is n stupendous work upon which our
| fellow 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 IT. we should recognize, with
| frank generosity. the epic nature of
| the task upon which they are engaged
| and it's world wide Importance They
are doing something which Will re-
doud !mmeasurably to, the credit of
/ = 1T. III -.