The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1907-01-25

Kansas City, Mo-, Jan 24.--Theo-s
sAore P. Shonts, who yesterday resign
ed the chairmanship of the isthmian
canal commission, was the guest Of
honor here this evening at the month
ly dinner of the Knife and Fork club.
In an illustrated address he gave a.
record of the work done to date on
the Panama canal.
"The creative PERIOD" declared Mr..
Shonts, "has come to an end, and the
period of active construction has be-
gun. AS to the manner in which the
creative task has been performed, we
are content to let the facts speak for
themselves
In closing, Mr.. Shonts quoted as
follows from President Roosevelt.
message, written after the chief exec.
utive's return from the isthmus:
1.-THE wisdom of the canal manage.
ment has been shown in nothing more
clearly than in the way the foundation
has been laid"
MIR. shonts' Address.
MIR. President, Ladies and Gentle
men: You have honored me with an
Invitation to be here tonight and to
talk to you, as men of affairs inter-
ested in all public questions, about
the Panama canal shall endeavor
to satisfy your desire for information
by telling you, as simply and tersely
as possible, what we have done and
are doing on the isthmus. You are
aware that any great enterprise is
divided into two stages, the creative
period and the period Of actual opera
tion. BY the creative period mean
that of preparatory work. In this it
has been necessary to create not only
the system by which the men who
are to perform the labor on the can ii
are to be collected, housed and fed
but the broad policies upon which the
entire gigantic product Is to be con-
Quoted, and the engineering plans
upon which the canal itself is to be
built.
need mot say to you, who are prac-
tical men of affairs, that the first
stage Of the work is at once the most
difficult and the most important-that
If 1t be not we'll and thoroughly done
in every part, the acsral work which
is based upon it will be handicapped
at every step.
Necessary Preiiminaries.
The present commission, during its
first visit to the isthmus in July, 1905,
decided that a considerable period
must be devoted to preparation before
the actual work of canal construction
could be carried forward. A form OF
government must be devised and put
into operation in order to maintain
\ law and order. In other words, we
had to create state. The sanitation
OF the isthmus must be accomplished
as thoroughly as possible In order
that 1t might be healthfu1 place in
which to work. Quarters must be
erected for employees and an adequate
and wholesome food and water supply
provided. A plant must be assembled
with which to do the work of con-
struction, and a railway system must
be built up that would enable the rail-
way to perform adequately its func.
tions as the chief instrument in such
construction. Certain broad policies
were evolved for the accomplishment
of these purposes. Among these We're.
1. That during the preparatory pc"
riod the work Of canal excavation
should be confined to putting the Va
rious levels In the cut In perfect con-
dition for the installation and opera
\ ton OF the maximum number Of steam
shovels. and the laying OF railway
tracks for the movements OF trains
with the spoil.
2. That all available forces OF labor-
era should he concentrated upon sani-
tary work. the construction OF quar-
ters. and railway enlargement. and
the location and erection OF dumping
grounds for the spoil.
s. That the commission should oDsa
OMEN commissaEfea at suitable placea
along the line os the canal for tha
supply Of proper and wholesome sooa