Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-21
FOR PANAMA CANAL
chairman Shonts' Exposition
of Work in Hand.
Al CINCINNATI BANQUET
Under the Auspices of the Commercial
Club.
ALL SUPPLIES BOUGHT AT HOME
Inc Question of Labor Vexatious
one-lnvltation to Public to In
vestigate Boards Acts.

's' chairnan of the isthmian canal
commission, tonight was the guest of honor
ana sole speaker AT the January meeting OF
the Commercial Club. Mr.. shonts s,td a.,
part: '''' Al
are not merely going to build the
rahama canal-we are building II. prana-
ia'oh Is a part. and most important mart
Oh the work OF construction When ,bar
Shall have been fully and tbo-,,,.,,,,,. -
complished, a great stem forward lin -,
peen taken. You cannot erect - ho,,s.
uhul you have laid the foundation yo,,
cannot run a railroad until you have laid
me tracks You cannot build a chimney
os pidcihs the top bricks first. These ara
tiI'e uuisms, but there seem to be neonIe
III this country to whom they are novelties
we are approaching the end of tbe nro-
lmnary work. We have made tho istb,pus
heaithful place in which to work we
are getting the line of the canal into n
condltlon which will enable us To onerata
an excaVatng plant to the best advantage
aiu we are assembling the plant with
Whlch the work is to be done When Won
oeaT IN mind that We have been engaged
IN thls preparatory task barely six monfhs
siiat we nave been compelled to carry n
forward In Il tropical country p,ain,,, a
wilderness. not accessible by railway but
Z,No miles at sea and 1000 miles fror,
.ne pase OF supply. and that most of the
iiidtetldl entering into the work had tn
De manufactured to order before IL co1ld
be shipped to the scene of action I think
you Will admit that the amount of time
consumed has not been unreasonable
Bought Supplies of Home Markets.
In accordance with our policy of buying
In the cheapest markets, we have bought
our supplies chiefly in the United States
because its markets, in the main a.e the
cheapest in the world for the products that
we need in this work. The American
laborer Is the highest priced in the world.
put we can buy the results of his work
more cheaply here than abroad because of
his superior skill and because of the intel
lgent interest which he as an American
citizen takes In his work In other words,
ne puts more brains into the product of his
hands, because he is a citizen of a free
country and his mind has been enlarged
and his ambition stimulated by active par-
ticipatton in the duties of citizenship
w hiie buying our supplies in the United
States we have seen to ii that the entire
country should be admitted on equal terms
TO the competition for furnishing Them Our
theory is that since the American people
are TO defray the cost of building the canal
the whole American people should be treat
ed alike in the opportunity to derive legfti-
mate industrial and commercial profit from
the outlay for construction One of the
first acts of the present commission after
taking office was the adoption of a policy
designed to place all manufacturers and
producers in all parts of the country on
equal terms in rd to shipmenf of goods
to the isthmus.
You, gentlemen, being situated about
equally distant from the gulf and the sea-
port are especially favored under this pol
icy. You will get the benefit of the com
petition of the railways leading through
both gateways and should be able to Sc
cure very reasonable rates of transporta-
ton on any goods you may produce and de-
sire to sell which enter into the construc-
tion of the canal
The Labor Question
/ come now to a branch of this subject to
which l have referred in my address be-
fore the Manufacturers Association. and
also in the commissions report 10 Congress,
and l bring it up again because there is
nothing connected with the constr fuct on of
the canal that surpasses it in Importance in
its bearing on results l refer to the labor
question.
The character of labor employed on the
isthmus has more to do with the time If
will take to build the canal-more to do
with the cost of construction-than any
other determining factor.
There is no inSuperable difficulty i'm the
way of the construction of the canal from
an engineering point of view and with any
ordinary class of labor. The serious prob
lem is to get what will be considered in
this country anything like an ordinary
class of labor In examining this question
we have studied and discussed the merits
Of labor of nearly all nationaIities avail
able for the purpose. The chief difficulty
with which we have to contend in the en-
poynlent of oriental labor lies in the laws
which hedge about it's use. The govern
ment must protect itself against the charge
Of forcing involuntary servitude ana hence
t can adopt safeguards which will pre-
vent the labor from leaving the isthmus
the day after arrival, thus losing the money
necessary to get it there, with no return
u ha res of hiC ic rar-1 1rffr roll
10 make oriental labor prohibitye in the
of the canal
Experiment with italian Iaborers while
not made on q large scale has not been
for the reason that they do not
seem possessed of great vitality and sue
,umb quickly to tropical fevers.
The West Indian negro that we are
using has but little life and ambition in
lim
Labor of the United States.
So far as the labor in the United States
8 concerned. we might as well recognize
he facts. The best quality of this labor is
-eguIarly employed. because of the great in
iustrial activity here. This confines our
selection to those employed only as extra
men and those seeking employment, who
IF course will not grade as high as those
-egularly employed. In order to get these
men in some branches of trade IL is neces-
'ary to pay larger wages than are paid in
his country, for they would rather have
extra work. with chance of regular en-
,loyment here, than leave their own coun-
ry.
Before closing my remarks in regard to
The importance of labor in this enterprise,
wish to repeat and to emphasize the opfn-
on / have expressed on former occasions
n regard to the application of the eight
hour law. The present wage varies from
70 cents to $1.04 per day In gold. As COM
pared with the best common labor in the
United States its efficiency is rated at from
.5 to SO per cent. Over so per cent of the =
employees OF the canal are now and win con-
inue to be alien laborers A majority or
he other 20 per cent employed will be in a
clerical, supervisory. or in some other
capacity to which the various labor laws
IL the limited States are not applicahle. II