The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-11-29

HAVEN MORNING JOURNAL drawn that practically all risks are assumed by the government, but why this should be done, at considerable increase in cost, is not apparent.
 "To anyone who has had experience with contracts on government work the claim that letting a piece of work by contract is a reasonable assurance that it will be completed ip a definite time is utterly untenable. On public works, including public buildings, it may safely be said that in the major ity of cases the time limit is exceed ed. An examination of the contracts for material to be supplied the 18th milan canal, so far as the time limits proposed by the contracts are 'concern, ed, will clearly show that there is no assurance of completion in definite time of any contract, even though the contractors themselves, when fully cognizant of all the conditions sur rounding the work, fix the time for the completion or delivery. It certainly can not be supposed, therefore, that in an enervating climate, like that on the Isthmus and with labor below that in the United States in efficiency, this time-failing record for contract work would be changed.
 Reasonable defniteness in cost is usually obtained by contract, when based on unit prices and when all con- ditions of the work are fully known in advance, yet these unit prices are as a rule higher than would be the cost to the government should the latter possess the necessary plant It is true that the contract which was proposed for the construction of the canal pro- vided for the determination of time aid cost by board of engineers, but the conclusions on these points could be upset should conditions be found or met with unforeseen by that board. Experience on all works, even those based on more definite data than can be presented to contractors for the Isthmian canal work, shows that the unexpected is always happening. and this seems especially true of the work here.
 There is no question that there are a number of people who will always believe and contend that any piece of work done bly, the government could have been done as well and mode cheaply if undertaken by contract, but an examination of the records will generally disproye such contention
 On the other hand, there is an equally large class who will contend to the contrary and claim, after the comple- tion of the work, that the reverse is | true.
 Work heretofore has been conduct 1 ed on a nonpartisan basis. The think ing class of American people folly req | lize the necessity for the Panama can al and it's early comparison, and it IS | generally realized that this can he ac- complished only by the application cf business and non-partisan methods | This has generally been the case vita all government work wherever und, r. | taken, and the fact that the cpntinra- ton of this policy may not continue along the same lines is lar lily an ar. gument strong enough 10 weigh In fa- vor os contract work.
 While it has been noted that con- 1 tractors can usually do work cheaper
 because of plant already on hand | thereby saving the cost of new ma 1 chinery, and because of greater famil-
 iarity with the class of work on which
 they are engaged, there are at times
 additional ways for securing the same results, namely, (a) by paying lower
 wages, (b) by working their men long CT hours (e) by requiring a greater amount of work per hour from the
 men, (d) by giving them less expensive rations and quarters, in case employees are fed and quartered.
 "On the Panama canal contractor can not anticipate profits from any of these sources The work already done and in progress has fixed the wage scale, and a contractor would be un- able to retain labor that might be turned over to him, nor could he se- | cure additional men at less salary than already paid by the commission.
 "The government is now working | fopeign labor as many hours per day as is practicable in this climate, so the contractor could gain nothing more
 than the government has already ac- 1 quired. So far as American labor Is 1 concerned, the eight-hour law is ap-
 plicable, and so long as it remains in
 force it must be as binding on the l contractor as on the government.
 Tt is questioned whether he could
 get more work out of the laborers on 1 the Isthmus than they now perform
 for the commission. This is a question
 dependent entirely upon the character
 of foremen employed, and he would l have exactly the same class. of men in
 this position, since most of the fore
 men now employed have previously l been with contractors, and therefore | have had their principal training on
 contract work. Moreover, the pace set by the laborers under the commission
 would fix the rate for the contractor,
 Were all the work turned over to
 one contractor, or an assoc lation of | contractors, the commission would be
 obliged to maintain supervisory
 force, and the feeding and quartering
 of these employees would determine the
 demands that the contractors men
 would make upon him for accommoda-
 tions, Moreover, a number of the 1 dwellings, that are now occupied bv
 commission employees would be turned
 over for occupancy by contractor's
 men, and any additional force would
 expect the same accommodations.