Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-12-18
MUCH CRITICISM IS uNJus'
Preparation Had TO BE Made Before
Results Gould Appear


Results Could Appear
Care and forethought have been eX-
ercised by the commission. and moth.
Ing has reflected more crdeit upon
them than their refusal either to 60
ahead too fast or to be- deferred by
the fear OF criticism from not going
ahead fast enough. Its Is curious to-
note the fact that many of the most
severe critics Of the commission eritf-
icize them for precisely opposite rea-
sons, some complaining bitterly that
the work Is not IN q more advanced
| condition, while the others complain
| that 1t has been rushed With such
haste that there has been insufficient
preparation for the hygiene and COM
fort of the employees. AS a matter Of
fact neither criticism Is just. 1t
quicker than the commission has gone
for such quickness would have meant
insufficient preparation. On the
other hand, to refuse to do anything
until every possible future contingency
1 had been met would have caused
wholly unwarranted delay. The right
course to follow was exactly the course
1 sonable preparation was made In ad-
vance, the hygienic conditions in es-
| pecial being made as nearly perfect
as possible; while on the other hand
there has been no timid refusal to
4 push forward the work because of In
ability to anticipate every possible
emergency, for, Of course, many de-
fects can only be shown by the work
ing Of the system in actual practice.
In addition to attending to the
health of the employees, tits of course
necessary to provide for policing the
zone. This is done by q police force
4 which at present numbers over zoo
men. under Captain Stanton. About
one fifth Of the men are white and the
others black In different places
questioned some twenty or thirty of
these men, taking them at random :.
They were fine set, physically and IN
(discipline. With one exception all
the white men | questioned had served
in the American army, usually In the
Philippines, and belonged to the best
type Of American soldier. Without
exception the black policemen whom
, I questioned had served either in the
British army or In the Jamaica OIL
Barbados police. They were evident
lily contented. and We're doing their
work well. Where possible the. po-
, licemen are used to control people OF
; their own color, but in any etnergen
Ecy no hesitation is felt in using them
, indiscriminately.
tnasmuch as SO many both Of the
white and colored employees have
brought their families with them
J schools have been established. The
!. school service being under Mr. O'Con-
nor For the white pupils white
I American teachers are employed; fo1
the eolored pupils there are also som'
white American teachers, one Span
, ish, teacher. and one colored Ameri
: can teacher, most of them being col
ored teachers from Jamaica, Barba
= dos, and st. Lucia. The school room
were good, and 1t was a pleasan
: thing to see the pride that the teacher
{ were taking In their work and thei
I lpupils.
4 There seemed to me to be too man
I saloons in the zone; but the new high
Y license law, which goes into effect OF
: Jan. next will probably close four
8 ffths of them. Resolute and sue
: cessful efforts are being made to min
g imize and control the sale of liquor.
e The cars on the passenger trains o.
e the isthmus are divided into first an
second class. the difference bein
e marked in the price of tickets. AS
n rule second class passengers are col
n ored and first -class passengers white
s but in every train which l saw Their
h were number OF white second elias
n passengers, and on two Of them Their
: were colored first class passengers.