Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1906-12-20
Sends Special Message to Congress- Giving Re-
suits Of His Observations in Canal Zone
Replies to Critics and Makes
Recommendations.
recommendations

The following is the text of Presiden
Hoosevelts special message to congress
on the subject of the Panama canal:
o the Senate and House of Representa-
In the month of November l visited tn,
tstnmus OF Panama. going over thu
canal Zone with considerable care: ans
also visited the cities of Panama ant
Colon, which are not in the zone OF
under the United States flag. but as t.
which the United States government
certain sanitary purposes. l chose tn,
month of November for my visit partly
because ii is the rainest month of tht
year. the month in which the work goe.
Forward at the greatest disadvantage
and one of the two months which the
medical department of the French Cana
company found most unhealthy.
Following the introduction to the mes.
sage the president gives a resume of his
programme during the days he was on
the isthmus, and then says:
Al the outset I wish to pay tribute
20 the amount of work done by the
FRENCH Canal company under very diff
cult circumstances Many of the build.
lngs they put up were excellent and
are still in use, though. naturally, the
houses are now getting out of repair and
are being used as dwellings only until
other houses can be built, and much OF
the work they did in the Culebra cut,
ana some of the work they did in dig
glng has been of direct and real benefit.
This country has never made a better
investment than the $40. 000,0 900 which it
paid to the French company for work
and betterments, including especially the
Panama railroad.
An inspection on the ground at the
height of the rainy season served to con-
vince me of the wisdom of congress in
refusing to adopt either a high-ievel or
a sea-level canal. There seems to be a
UNIVERSAL agreement among all people
competent to judge that the Panama
route, the one actually chosen. is much
superior to both the Nicaragua and
Darien routes.
Preliminary Work Being Done.
The wisdom of the canal management
mas been shown in nothing more clearly
than in the way in which the founda-
tons of the work have been laid To
have, yielded to the natural impatience
OF ill-informed outsiders and begun all
KINDS OF experiments in work prior to a
thorough sanitation of the isthmus, and
to a fairly satisfactory working out of
me problem Of getting and keeping a
disastrous, The various preliminary
measures had to be taken first: and
these could not be taken so as to allow
US TO begin the real work of construc-
ton prior to January l of the present
year. IL then became necessary to have
the type of the canal decided, and the
only delay has been the necessary delay
when the congress definitely and wisely
settled that we should have an S5-foot
level canal. Immediately after that the
work began IN hare earnest and has
oeen continued with increasing yigor
ever since. and it will continue so to
progress in the future. When the con-
tracts are let the conditions will be such
as 10 insure "A constantly increasing
amount OF performance.
A. Successful Sanitation.
The first great problem to be solved
upon the solution of which the success of
the rest OF the work depended, was the
the outset under the direction of Dr.
W. G. Gorgas, who is to be made a full
member OF the commission. 1t must be
sanitation as the term is understood in
our ordinary municipal work. Through
OUT the zone and in the two cities of
Panama and Colon. in addition to the
do all the work that the Marine hospital
service does as regards the nation, that
the health department officers do in the
various states and cities, and that Col.
Warning did in New York when he
cleaned its streets. The results have
been astounding. The isthmus had been
q nyword for deadly .unhealthfulness.
Now. after two years of our occupation
tne conditions as regards sickness and
the death rate compare favorably with
reasonably healthy localities in the
devoted to minimizing the risk due to the
presence of those species of MOSQUITOES
which have been found to propagate
malarlal and yelloW fevers. In all the
'or cities composed of the white and black
employees, which grow up here and
there in the tropic jungle as the needs
eof the work dictate, the utmost care is
exercised to keep the conditions healthy.
Everywhere are to be seen the drainage
bitches which In removing the water
have removed the breeding places of the
mosquitoes, while the whole jungle is
cut away for a considerable space around
the habitations, thus destroying the
places in which the mosquitoes AXE shell
ter. These drainage bitches and clearings
are IN evidence in every settlement, and,
together with the invariabIe presence of
mosquito screens around the piazzas, and
of MOSQUITO doors to the houses, not to
speak of the careful fumigation that has
gone on in all infected houses, doubtless
explain the extraordinary absence of
mosquitoes. AS a matter of fact, but
a single MOSQUITO, and this not of the
member Of our party during my three
days on the isthmus. Equal care is
taken by the inspectors of the health de-
partment to secure cleanliness in the
houses and proper hygienic conditions of
every kind. l inspected between 20 and
30 water-closets both those used by the
white employees and those used by the
colored laborers. In almost every case
found the conditions perfect. In but one
case did ! find them really bad. In this
case, affecting a settlement of unmar-
2 "hitO ChhPhoyCo L lOuItu LltIH NeTY
bad indeed, but the buildings were all
inherited from the French company and
were being used temporarily while other
buildings were in the course of construc-
closet a new and excellent closet with a
good sewer pipe was in process of con-
.struction and nearly finished. Neverthe-
less this did not excuse the fact that the
bad condition had been allowed to pre-
vail. Temporary accommodations, even
II only such as soldiers use when camped
In the field, SHOULD have been provided.
Orders to this effect were issued. / APP
pend the report Of DR.. Gorgas on the in
'cident. l was struck, however, by the
fact that in this instance, as in almost
which proved to hav any justification
whatever. 1t appeared that steps had al
ready been taken to remedy the evil
GompIa'd dna 9 81 t ana ex that the d,t sScuG,e was snS
often impossibility, of providing in every
place for the constant increase in the
numbers of employees. Generally the pro-
possible that this should always be the
case: when it is not there ensues a
period of time during which the condi-
stions are unsatisfactory, until a remedy
Gan be provided; but / never found a
case where the remedy was not being
provided as speedily as possible.
improvements In Cities.
The sanitation work in the cities OF
Panama and Colon has been Just as
important as in the zone itself. and in
many respects much more difficult, be-
cause 1t was necessary to deal with
the already existing population. which
naturally had scant sympathy with
revolutionary changes. the value of
which they were for a long time not
able to perceive. In Colon the popula-
ton consists largely of colored labor
ers who, having come over from the
West Indies to work on the canal,
abandon the work and either take to
the brush or lie idle In Colon itself;
thus peopling Colon with the least de-
sirable among the imported laborers,
HE FOOLED TIL.