The Miller sun. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 190?-19??, 1906-12-22


came to the conclusion that. speaking
generally, there was no warrant for CON-
plant about the food.
Chinese and other Labor.
OF the nineteen or twenty thousand iay
laborers employed on the canal, Few nun
dred are spaniards. These DO exceiient
work. Their foremen told me that they
did twice as well as the West India labor
ers. They Keep healthy and no dimculty -
experienced with them In any way. some
Italian laborers are also employed In con-
nection with the drilling. As might be ex.
pected with labor rs high priced as at
present In the United States, 1t has not SO
far proved practicable TO get any Ordinary
laborers from the Emitted States Inc
American wage-workers on the isthmis
are the highly paid skilled mechanics of the
types mentioned previously. A steady Ell.
fort is being made to secure ltallans, ana
especially TO procure more Spaniards' pc
cause OF the very satisfactory results ina.
have come from their employment anu
their numbers will be increased as far as
possible. 1t has no. proved possible, how
ever. TO get them in anything IKE the mum
bers needed for the work and from pres
ent appearances We shall In the main nave
to rely, for the ordinary unskilied work,
partly upon colored laborers from the west
Indies, partly upon Chinese LABOR ~ ger
tainly ought to be unnecessary 10 point out
that the American workingman In tne
United States has no concern whatever In
the question as 20 whether the rough WORK
on the Isthmus, which Is performed oy
aliens in any event. Is done by Aliens from
one country with black skin or ny aliens
from another country with yellow skin.
Our business is to dig the canal as en-
GENTLY and as quickly as possible PROVIDED
always that nothing is done that is lniu-
name TO any laborers, and nothing that IN
terferes with the wages OF or lowers the
standard of living OF our own workinen.
Having in view this principle. ! nave ar
ranged to try several thousand Chinese Ia
Ia NxafI
must try to find out what laborers are most
efficient, and furthermore, because we
should not leave ourselves at the mercy oil
any one type of foreign labor. At present
the great bulk of the unskilled labor on the
Isthmus is done by West India negroes,
chiefly from Jamaica, Barbados, ana the
other English possessions. One or the gov
errors of the lands In question has shown
an unfrendly disposition to our work, ana
has thrown Obstacles in the way OF our
getting the labor needed; and IL IL highiy
undesirable TO give any outsiders the I'M
preston, however i'll founded, that they
are indispensable and can dictate terms 10
us.
The West India laborers are fairly, but
only fairly, satisfactory Some OF the men
do very well indeed; the better class, VINO
are to be found as foremen, as skilled me-
chanics, as policemen, are good men, ana
many of the ordinary day laborers are also
good. But thousands of those who are
brought over under contract TAT our eS-
pense) 90 off into the jungle TO live, or LOAF
around Colon, or work SO badly after the
first three or four days as to cause serl-
Gus diminution of the amount of labor per-
formed on Friday and Saturday of each
week. / questioned many of these Jamaica
laborers as to the conditions OF their work
and what, II any changes, they wished. i
received many complaints from them, but
as regards most of these complaints they
themselves contradcted one another. In
all cases where the complaint was as to
their treatment by any individual II proved
on examination that this individual was
himself West India man of color, either
policeman, Il storekeeper, or an assistant
storekeeper. Doubtless there must he many
complaints against Americans; but those
to whom | spoke did not happen to make
any such complaint 10 me- There was no
complaint of the housing. ] was struck by
the superior comfort and responsibility of
the lives of the married men 1t would. in
my opinion, be most admirable thing II a
much larger number of the men had their
wives, for with their advent AL complaints
about the food and cooking are almost sure
to cease.
Recreation and Amusement.
One of the greatest needs at present is
TO provide amusements both for the white
men and the black. The Young Mems
Christian Association Is trying to do good
work and should be In every way encour-
aged. But the government should do the
main work. l have specifically called the
attention Of the commission TO this matter,
and something has been accomplished al
| ready. Anything done for the welfare OF
| the men adds to their efficiency and money
devoted to that purpose Is therefore prop
| erly to be considered as spent In building
the canal. 1t Is imperatively necessary to
| provide ample recreation and amusement
| IL the men are to be kept well and healthy.
Work of Construction.
The work Is now going on with a vigor
and efficien>y pleasant to witness. The
l three big problems OF the canal are the La
Boca dams, the Gatun dam and the Guile
| bra cut. The Culebra cut must be made,
| anyhow; but Of course changes as to the
| dams, or at least as to the locks adjacent
| to the dams, may still occur The La Boca
| dams offer no particular problem, the bot
tom material being SO good that there Is a
| practical certainty, not merely as to what
can be achieved, but as to the time OF
| achievement. The Gatun dam offers the
| most serious problem which we have to
solve; and yet the ablest men on the 18th.
| mus believe that this problem Is certain OF
solution along the lines proposed; although
| OF course, 1t necessitateS great toll, energy
| and intelligence, and although equally OF
| course, there will be some little risk In
| connection with the work. The risk arises
| from the fact that some Of the material
| near the bottom Is not so good as could be
| desired If the huge earth dam row con
| templated Is thrown across from one foot
| hill to the other we will have what Is prac
ticaliy low, broad mountain ridge behind
which will rise the inland lake. This arti
fetal mountain will probably show less seep
| age, that Is, Will have greater restraining
capacity than the average natural mountain
range. The exact locality of the locks al
this dam--as at the other dams--is now
being determined In April next Secretary
Taft, with three of the ablest engineers OF
the country-Messrs. Noble Stearns ant
Ripey--will visit the isthmus, and the three
engineers will make the final and conclusive
examinations as to the exact site for eacf
lock. Meanwhile the work is going aneao
without a break.
| The Culebra cut does not offer such grea
| risks, that IS, the damage liable to Occur
from occasional land slips will not repre-
! sent what may be called major disasters
| The work will merely call for intelligence
perseverance and executive capacity. IL is
however, the work upon which most labo
| will have to be spent. The dams will b,