The Citizen. [volume] (American Fork, Utah) 1903-1912, 1906-12-22

plan by which they can invariably be
protected. In place which has been
for ages y byword for uuhealthfulness.
stranEers suddenly nut down and se, ~ ~
hard work there Will now and then be
outbreaks OF disease. There will now
and then be shortcomings in administra-
ton: there will be unlocked for acct
dents to delay the excavation OF the cut
or the building OF the dams and locks
Each such incident will be entirely nat
ural. and even though serious. no one
Of them will mean more than a little
extra delay or trouble. Yet each, when
tailed tn tlmd folk Of little faith, will
serve as an excuse for the belief that
the whole work Is being badly managed.
Experiments Will continually he tried In
housing, In hygiene, In street repairing
In dredging and In digging earth and
rock. Now and then an experiment will
be n failure; and among those who hear
of IL, certain proportion Of doubling
Thomases will at once believe that the
whole work Is failure. Doubtless here
and there some minor rasCalty will be
uncovered but as to this. | have to say
that after the most painstaking inquiry
| have been unable to find "A single reput-
able person who had so much as heard
OF any serious accusations affecting the
honesty OF the commission or OF any
responsible officer under it. | append
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 In utterly base
less IL In not too much to say that the
whole atmosphere of the commission
breathes honesty as IL breathes efficiency
and energy Above all the work has
been kept absolutely clear OF politics
have never heard even a suggestion OF
spells politics In connection with IL.
| have 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 comulninrd
81 could be bcttercd In the other in
stances the complaints proved abso-
! lut"ly 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
reckless Islander az has ever been pub
lilshed. Where the sland"rers are OF
| foreign origin have no concern with
| them. Where they are Americans I
! feel for them the hcnrticst contempt
/ and Indignation; because. in spirit
/ they are trying to interfere with and
| hamper the execution Of the greatest
work Of the kind ever attempted. and
| are seeking to bring to naught the eff
/ forts Of their Countrymcn to put to
| the credit Of America one of the giant
feots 81 the ages ages. The outrageous
| stitute "A gross libel upon a body of
public servants who. for trained intel
igenee. expert ability high charac-
| been eNcclled anywhere. There II not
l 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.
sonnl or pccuniary advantage.
Plan to Build by Contract
! After most careful consideration we
have decided to let out most OF the
! satisfactory terms with the contract
I ors. The whole work Is OF a kind
suited to the peculiar. genius OF our
/ people. and our people have dcvel-
opcd the type Of contractor best htted
10 grapple with IL. II Is Of course
much better. TO do. the work in large
I part by contract than to do IL all by
I the government provided ~ is pos
| sihl" On the one hnnd to secure to the
contractor sufficient remuneration
| alhle contractors OF the best kind to
| undertake the work; and provided on
lhe other hand II can be done on terms
! 4hlch VIII not give an excessive profit
the contractor at the expense OF
>Hoyernment, After much con.
D{sSdSsron the plan already promui-
/ Waited by the secretary OF war was
! ndopted. This plan In it's essential
features was drafted after careful
| and thorough study and consideration.
I "
/ who. while In the employment OF Mr..
| mn. the president of the Great North
ern railroad had personal experience
stevens then submitted the plan TO
! the chairman of IN" commission Mr..
shonts. who went carefully over II
/ with Mr.. Rogers the legal adviser OF
I the commission, Co see that all legal
I difficulties were met lie then submit q
ted cnpies Of IN" plan to both Score
I tnry TAFT and myself Secretary TAFT
] submitted II to some OF the best coun-
/ sci ut the New York bar, and after
/ wards went over II very carefully
/ with Mr., Taft and Mr.. Shonts. and we
| laid the plan In It's general features
| before Mr. Root My conclusion Is
that " combines the maximum Of adj
/ vantage with the minimum OF disad-
vantage. Under II premium will h.
/ put upon the speedy and economical
| construction Of the canal and a pen
/ atty imposed on delay and waste, The
plan AZ promulgated In tentative;
doubtless II will have to he changed
In some respects before we can come
! To n satisfactory agreement with re-
after the bids have been received
I and Of course u II possible that We
case the government will do the work
| itself Meanwhile the work on the
isthmus II progressing steadily and
without any let up
Single Commissioner Desired.
A seven headed commission II ot
] course flllHlHN executive instrument
/ We should have hut one commission,
| er. with such heads OF departments
Z and other officers under him us W.
I may lind necessary, We should he
/ expressly permitted To employ this
! best engineers In the country as con-
sulting engineers,
accompanv this paper with mar
/ showing substantially what the cana
I will be like when II IL finished, Wher
the culebra cut has been made and
/ the dams built 80 they are built as al
I present proposed there win then 10
| NJ both the Pacific and Atlantic end,
| of the canal two great fresh water
lakes. connected by a broad channe
running AZ the bottom OF a ravine
! across the backbone Of the Western
| Hemisphefe Those best Informed he
| iisVe that the work will be completed
| in about eight years; but II Is never
| safe 10 prophecy about such work
as this, especially In the tropics,
Confident Of Ultimate Success.
OF the success of the enterprise
| am as well convinced as one can h
/ -