The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1906-12-21


the employees live smetimes In small
I separate houses, sOmetimes in large
!. houses, quarters beng furnished free
e to all, married and unmarried. In one
!. case, where the hOuse was an old
s French house with leak in the roof, |
e did not think TIN accommodations
t were good But II every other case
t among the scores q houses l entered
j at random the accommodations were
= good, every room vas neat and clean,
J usually having boots, magazines and
g small ornaments aid, in short, Just
i such room as a sell respecting crafts
] man would be glad o live In at home.
: The quarters for tie married people
= were even better. Doubtless there
} must be here and there married cou-
r pie who, with or without reason, are
not contented with heir house on the
isthmus, but neVerhappened to strike
such couple.
Food SuppIies-A Thirty Cent MeaI.
The housewives Purchase their SUD-
plies directly or trough their hus-
bands from the conmissary stores of
the commission. All to whom spoke
agreed that the supplies were excel
lent, and all but two stated that there
/ was no complaint II be made These
two complained that the prices were
: excessive as compared to prices In the
states. On Investigation 1 did not feel
that this complaint vas well founded,
The"married men ateat home. The IN
married men sometimes ate at private
boarding houses or private messes, but
more often, judging by the answers Of
those whom l questioned, at the gov
eminent canteens, Or hotels, where
the meal costs 30 cents to each en-
ployee. This thirty cent meal struck
me as being as good meal as we get
in the United States at the ordinary
hotel in which fifty cent meal Is pro-
vided. l myself took dinner at the La
Boca government hotel, no warning
whatever having been given of nv
coming. There were two rooms, as
generally in these hotels In one the
employees were allowed to dine with
out their coats, while In the other they
had to put them on. The thirty cent
meal included soup, native beef (Which
was good, mashed potatoes, peas,
beets, chill con carne, plum pudding,
tea, coffee, each man having as much of
each dish as he desired. On the table
there was a bottle of liquid quinine
tonic which two-thirds of the guests,
as l was Informed, used every day.
There were neat tablecloths and nap
kins.
My meal was excellent, and two
newspaper correspondents who had
been on the isthmus several days in
formed me that it was precisely like
the meals they had been getting else
where at other government hotels.
No Cause For Complaint About Food.
l came to the conclusion that. speak
ing generally, there was no warrant
for complaint about the food, though
doubtless 1t grows monotonous after
awhile. Grumbling about food is a
common trait everywhere. On this
very trip on one of the warships sea
man came to complain to the second
watch officer about the quality of the
cocoa at the seamen's mess, saying that
1t was not sweet enough. 1t was point
ed out to him that there was sugar on
the table and he could always put it
in, to which he responded fhat thqt
was the cooks Snsinssk and not hisl
think that the complaint as to the food
ON the Isthmus has But little more
foundation than that Of the sailor In
question.
Chinese and other Labor.
OF the 1900 or 10000 day laborers
employed on the canal few hundred
are Spaniards. These do excellent
work. Their foremen told me that
they did twice as well as the West
India Iaborers. Some italian labor
ers are also employed in connection
with the drilling AS might be expect
ed. with labor as high priced as at
present in the United States, it has not
SO far proved practicable to get ordi-
nary laborers from the United States.
The American wageworkers on the
isthmus are the highly paid skilled me-
chanics. A steady effort is being made
to secure Italians and especially to
procure more Spaniards 1t has not
proved possible, however, to get them
In anything like the numbers needed
for the work, and from present ap-
pearanoes we shall in the main have
to rely for the ordinary unskilled work
partly upon colored laborers from the
West Indies, partly upon Chinese la
Dor 1t certainly ought to be unneces-
sary to point cut that the American
workingman In the United States has
no concern whatever in the question
as to whether the rough work on the
isthmus, which Is performed by aliens
in any event, Is done by aliens with
a black skin or by aliens with yell
low skin. Our business Is to dig the
canal as efficiently and as quickly as
possible, provided always that nothing
is done that is inhumane to any labor
ers and nothing that interferes with
the wages of or lowers the standard OF
living of our own workmen. Having
in view this principle, l have arranged
to try several thousand Chinese labor
ers. This is desirable both because we
must try to find out what laborers are
most efficient and, furthermore, be-
cause we should not leave ourselves at |
the mercy Of any one type Of foreign
labor. .''' 1851 ~
Negro Laborers and Their auarter.
The West India laborers are fairly,
but only fairly, satisfactory. Some Of
the men do very well indeed The bet
ter class, who are to be found as fore
men, as skilled mechanics, as police
men, are good men, and many OF the
ordinary day laborers are also good,