The Globe-republican. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1889-1910, 1906-12-20

for ages a byword for unhealthfulness,
and with so large congregation or
hard work there Will now and then be
outbreaks of disease. There will now
and then be shortcomings In administra-
ton there will be unlooked-for aeci~s
dents to delay the excavation of the cl Il
| or the building of the dams and locks.
Each such incident will be entirely matt
ural and, even though serious, no one
of them will mean more than little
| extra delay or trouble. Yet each, Wnen
discovered by. sensation mongers and re-,
serve as an excuse for the belid that
the whole work Is being badly managed.
Experiments will continually be tried In
| housing, in hygiene, In street repairing,
in dredging and In digging earth and
rock. Now and then an experiment will
be a failure; and among those who hear
of 1t, q certain proportion of doubling
| Thomases will at once believe that the
whole work is failure. Doubtless here
and there some minor rascality VIII be
| uncovered; but as to this, | have to say
that after the most painstaking inquiry
have been unable to find single reput-
able person who had so much as heard
| OF any serious accusations affecting the
responsible officer under 1t. / append
letter dealing with the most serious
charge, that of the ownership of lots in
Colon; the charge was not advanced by
less. 1t Is not too much to say that the
whole atmosphere OF the commission
breathes honesty as 1t breathes efficiency
and energy. Above, all, the work has
been Kept absolutely clear of politics. ! !,
have never heard even suggestion OF
spoils politics In connection with 1t.
l have investigated every complaint
brought to me for which there seemed
to be any shadow of foundation, In
two or three cases, all of which
have Indicated in tho nf fbfa
message, came to the conclusion that
there was foundation for the COM
plant, and that the methods of the
commission in the respect complained
stances the complaints proved abso-
iutely baseless, save in two or three
instances where they referred to mis-
takes which the commission had al
ready found out and corrected.
ISLANDERS and Libelers.
So much for honest criticism. There
remains an immense amount Of as
reckless SANDER as has ever been pib-
lilshed. Where the slanderers are of
them. Where they are Americans
feel for them the heartiest contempt
and Indignation; because, In spirit
Of wanton dishonesty and malice, 4
they are trying to interfere with and I
hamper the execution Of the greatest L
are seeking to bring to naught the eff
forts Of their countrymen to put to
the credit of America one of the giant
feats of the ages. The outrageous
accusations of these slanderers con.
stitute gross libel upon body OF
public servants who, for trained intel
ligence expert ability. high charac-
tetr and devotion to duty, have never
been eXcelled anywhere. There is not
a man among those directing the work
q @ lNN 1,ge. T,Lt at aaA a
position on any other basis than merit
alone, and not one who has used his
position in any way for his own per-
sonal or pecuniary advantage.
Plan to Build by Contract.
After most careful consideration we&
have decided to let out most Of thef
work by contract. If we can come tol
satisfactory terms with the contract1
ors. The whole work Is of kind,
suited to the peculiar genius of our J
people; and our people have devel..
to grappe with it. 1t is of course
much better to do the work in large l
part by contract than to do IL all by
the government, provided it Is pos
sible on the one hand to secure to the
contractor a sufficient remuneration
to make 1t worth while for respon-
sible contractors of the best kind to
undertake the work; and provided on
the other hand 1t can be done on terms
which will not give an excessive profit
to the contractor at the expense Of
the government. After much con-
sideratlon the plan already promul-
gated by the secretary of war was
adopted. This plan in its essential
features was drafted after careful
and thorough study and consideration.
by the chief engineer. Mr.. Stevens.
who, while in the employment of Mr..
Hill. the president Of the Great North
ern railroad, had personal experience
tss VERY tbsD type Of contract tsr Mr.
the chairman of the commission. Mr..
Shonts, who went carefully over 1T
with Mr. Rogers. the legal adviser of
the commission, to see that all legal
difficulties were met; He then subrkt-
ted copies of the plan to both Seefe-
tary Taft and myself. Secretary Taft
submitted it to some of the best coun-
sci at the New York bar. and after
wards | went over 1t very carefully
with Mr.. Taft and Mr.. Shonts, and we
before Mr.. Root. My conclusion Is
that IT combines the maximum Of adj
vantage with the minimum OF dlsad-
vantage. Under it premium will be
put upon the speedy and economical
construction of the canal. and PEN
atty imposed on delay and waste. The
plan as promulgated Is tentative;
doubtless 1t will have to be changed
in some respects before we can come
to satisfactory agreement with re-
spOnsible Notwithstanding even
after the bids have been received;
and Of course it is possible that we
can not come to agreement in which
case the government will do the work
itself. Meanwhile the work on the
isthmus is progressing steadily and
without any let up.
Single Commissioner Desired.
course clumsy executive instrument.
We should have but one commission
er, with such heads of departments
and other officers under him as we
may find necessary. We should he
expressly permitted to employ the
best engineers in the country as con-
sulting engineers.
I accompany this paper with man
showing substantially what the canal
will he ike when 1t Is finished. When
the dams built Gf they are built as at
present proposedl there will then he
at both the Pacific and Atlantic ends
Of the canal two great freshl-water
lakes. connecta by broad channel
Pss the h Ssckb SS0 Of the w Fatnf
Those best informed be-
lieve that the work will be completed
In about eight years; but it Is never
safe to prophesy about such O work
as this, especially in the tropics.
Confident Of Ultimate Success. +
OF the success of the enterprise I
am as we'll convinced as one can bs
Of any enterprise that Is human. II
is a stupendous work upon which our
fellow countrymen are engaged down
there on the isthmus and while we
should hold them to strict accounta-
bility for the way in which they per-
form 1t, we should recognize, with
frank generosity. the epic nature OF
he ask nnnn which thar arn nnnn rrnA