Los Angeles herald., 1906-01-11
SECRETARY'S REPLY QUITE
COMPREHENSIVE
Brands Statements Of PouItney Bige-
low as Fase-Says Condi-
tlons on lsthmus Not Bad
as Represented
BY Associated Press.


the Independent has been made by
Secretary Taft.
1t is in the form of letter to the
president, who, on January s, in
communication to the secretary, said
his attention had been directed to an
article published purporting to have
been written by Poultney Bigelow lat
tacking the administration OF affairs
by the canal commission and yourself
on the isthmus," and adding:
"Will you please advise me what
basis, if any, there is for these
charges?"
In his reply Secretary Taft first
briefly summarizes the charges as fol-
lows:
Alleging that the conditions in Colon
are so unsanitary as to indicate great
neglect in providing for The health of
the employees of the commissions al
legged mistreatment of negro laborers;
that persons appointed to the isthmus
are incompetent and have been given
their places through political influence;
and official incompetency or miscon-
duct, the latter involving the charge
that there is so much "red tape" neces-
sary to bring about the construction
Of buildings that great misery has come
to the laborers on the isthmus.
Sanitary Problem Difficult
The secretary says that Chief En-
gineer Stevens is now in Washington
and is personally cognizant of the facts
with respect to every local condition
described by the writer of the article
and memorandum of comments there
on by Mr.. Stevens is appended to the
letter as an exhibit.
In discussing. the conditions at Colon
the secretary quotes Mr.. Stevens as
saying that every one knows who has
been on the ground that the problem
of draining the city is one of extreme
difficulty owing to the situation on an
island surrounded by the sea on one
cside and by d fresh water swamp on
the other; that the land on the average
is not more than one and one-half
feet above the sea level Uncertainty
as to the plans of improving Colon
has rendered impracticable any radical
destruction of insanitary buildings,
most of which are on lands owned by
the railroad company and leased on
short terms to middlemen. Meantime
the secretary says the sanitary condi-
tions in Panama required much more
urgent treatment than those at Colon.
Denies Poor Food Statement
rhe death rate at Panama since the
government took charge of the health
of the iSthmus, the secretary says, is
from % per cent to 3S 1-3 per cent
greater than in Colon. The commits
sion thought itself fully justified there
fore, the secretary adds, in establish
ing water system and sewer system
in Panama first. 1t is not true. he says,
that a large number of the employees
on the iSthmuS live In Colon proper,
where the swampy district is, and, as
Mr. Stevens points out, there are not
to exceed two or three hundred living
there.
Regarding the charge of Indifference
as to food supply for the laborers the
secretary refers to the reports on the
Markell contracts and says that very
diligent efforts made in this regard
are sufficiently set out there. as al
ready published.
No Scarcity of Water
Bearing on the charge that there is
no water supply in Colon, Secretary
Taft quotes from a dispatch from Gov
ernor Magoon advising him that the
two temporary reservoirs at Colon and
place being not five minutes walk
from the center of Colon) one was COM
pleted on November II and the other
the latter part of December. with a
total capacity of S0,000000 gallons, an
ply sufficient.
Secretary Taft declares that the rate
of wages is well advertised throughout
ba West In1iaG IN pa11tG gold
hour for day of eight hours, which
may be increased by diligent work to
13 cents an hour. 1t is also untrue, he
says, that a great prejudice exists
against negroes in the railroad man
agement.
The secretary says it is charged that
the chairman of the commission and
all others wrongly look upon the
tropical negro laborer as poor labor
The conclusion of Mr.. Stevens and of
every observer on the isthmus, he de-
cared, is to the effect that this labor
is inefficient.
Says No Political Appointees
Regarding the statement that the
negroes are leaving the isthmus in
portentous numbers because of mis-
treatment, Mr.. Stevens testihes, the
secretary says, that just before the
holidays a great number OF laborers
returned to the islands whence they
came. This, the secretary says, has
been customary ever since the begin
ming of the French construction.
AS to the charge that officials on the
isthmus We're appointed through con-
gressional or political influence, the
secretary says the chief engineer cate
gorlcally denies this. land l am able
from the standpoint of Washington
also categorically to deny it," Politi-
cal influence, he says, has played nc
part whatever in the selection Of APP
pointees.
Secretary Taft says the charge OF
delay by red tape" in the construc-
ton of buildings on the isthmus is
shown to be untrue by the statement
Of the chief engineer and as to the
allegation that the dredges in the
Culebra cut were not working to 20
per cent Of their promised capacity
The secretary says there are no dredges
within a long distance of the Culebra
-. a. e....A