New-York tribune., 1906-12-18
THE PRESIDENTS MESSAGES
Recommendations Panama Canal, Naval Personnel
and Public Lands.
TELLS OF HIS TRIP TO THE ISTHMIJS
Confident the Great Work earned There viii Be Succe-I O
Promotion for Naval Officers and Land Law Reform

Washington. Dec. 1.-THE President sent to
Congress to-day thIee special messages. dealing
respectively with the Panama Canal with tho
need Of quicker promotion OF naval officers and
with the need OF reform in the public land laws
The message on Panama follows:
To the Senate and House of REPRESENTATIVES.
In the month OF November l visited the 18TH
nus OF Panama, going over the canal zone with
considerable care, and also visited the cities OF
Panama ara Colon. which are not in the zone or
Uader the United States flag but as TO which the
United states government. through its agents
exercises control for certain sanitary purposes
The United States steamship Louisiana on
which ! was, anchored off Colon about 2:3O
O'clock on Wednesday afternoon. November II
came aboard her after my stay on shore at
about $50 o'clock on Saturday evening, Novem-
Der IL. on Wednesday afternoon and evening
! received the President of Panama and his
suite ana saw members of the Canal Commis-
sion and various other gentlemen, perfecting the
arrangement for my visit. so that every hour
thai / was ashore could be employed TO advan-
lage ! WAS three days ashore-not a sufficient
length Of time 10 allow of an exhaustive investi-
CATION q the ninutiae of the work of any single
department., still less TO pass judgment on the
engineering problems, but enough to enable me
10 ct clear idea OF the salient features of the
great work and OF the progress that has been
made as regards the sanitation of the zone
Colon and faraIna, the caring for and housing
Of the employees and the actual digging of the
canal The zone is narrow strip Of land and
il can be inspected much as one can inspect
fifty or sixty miles OF a great railroad at the
point where il runs through mountains or over
comes other natural obstacles.
] chose the month of November for nv visit
partly because il is the rainiest month of the
year The month in which the work goes forward
At the greatest disadvantage. and one of the
TWO moaths which the medical department Of
the French Canal Company found most un-
healthy.
Immediately after anchoring on the afternoon
Of Wednesday there was a violent storm Of wind
and rain From that time We did not again see
The sun until saturday morning. the rain
unuins almost steadily, but varying from a fine
drizzle 10 torrential downpour. During that
time in fifteen minutes Cristobal % inches
0f rain fell, from / TO , q m. on November l6
% inches fell: for the twenty-four hours end
ing noon on November 16 / 6S inches fell and
FOR the six days ending noon on November l6
1924 inches fell The ChagreS rose in food to
. greater height than il had attained during the
last fifteen years. tearing out the track in one
place II would have been impossible to see the
work going on under more unfavorable weather
conditions. on Saturday, November II, the
shone and then for a few minutes al
though The day was generally overcast and there
were heavy showers at intervals.
on Thursday morning landed at about
80, and went slowly over the line OF the
Panama Railway, ending with an expedition in
tug at the Pacific en-
First Day trance OF the canal out 70
Ashore. the islands where the
dredging for the canal will
cease We took dinner at one OF the eating
houses furnished by the commission for the use
OF the government employes-nO warning OF
coming being given. I inspected the Ancon
white patients and for colored patients. I in
spected portions of the constabulary zone po-
Ace) examining the men individually. 1 also
examined certain Of the schools and saw the
school children. both white and coored spea king
With certain OF the teachers In the afternoon OF
this day / was formally received in Panama by
President Amador, who, together with the gov
eminent and all the people of Panama, treated
me with the most considerate courtesy. for
which ] hereby extend my most earnest thanks.
was driven through Panama and in a public
square was formally received and welcomed by
the President and other members Of the govern
ment, and in the evening I attended a dinner
given by the President, and reception which
was also government function. | also drove
through the streets of Panama for the purpose
OF observing what had been done. We slept at
the Hotel Tivoli, at Ancon, which is on a hill
directly outside OF the city of Panama but in
the zone
On Friday morning we left the hotel at
O'clock and spent the entire day going through
the Cuebra cut-the spot in which most work
s: Second event. We watched The
working; the drill
ing ard blasting; We saw many OF the art
trains (of the two different types used), both
carrying the earth away from the steam SHOW
els and deposiring il on the dumps-some OF
the dumps being run out in the jungle merely
10 get rid OF the earth. while in other cases
they are being used for double tracking the
railway and in preparing to build the great
dams. ] visited many OF the different villages
Inspecting thoroughly many different buildings
The local receiving hospitals. the houses in
which the unuar rried white workmen live, those
IN which the unmarried colored wOrkmen live,
also the quarters of the white married en-
poyes and Of the married colored employees
as well the commissary stores, the bath
houses. the water closets the cook sheds Tor
The oolored laborers and the government can
teens, or hotels. at which most of the white en-
ployes take their meals. / went through the
machine shops During the day talked with
scores OF different men-superintendents and
heads OF departments, divisions and bureaus;
steam shovel men, machinists, conductors, en-
g'neers. clerks, wives OF the American employees,
health officers. colored laborers, colOred attend
ants and managers Of the commissary stores
where food is sold to the colored laborers; wives
OF the coored employees who are married. In the
evening I had interview with the British
Consul, Mr. Mallet, a gentleman who for many
Years has well and honorably represented the
British government the Isthmus or Panama
ana who has a peculiar relation TO our work
because the bulk OF the colored laborers come
from the British West Indies / also saw the
French Consul, Mr.. Gey, a gentleman OF equally
long service and honorable record saw the
Aeptenants the chief executive and adminis-
trative officers, under the engineering and salli-
tary departments I also saw and had long
talks with two deputations-one OF nlachinists
ana one representing the railway men OF the
oiu trains-lstening to what they had 70 say