Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-04-30
THREE SPEECHES By TAFT
7eOrstsry Of War Addresses Cincinnati Law
Students and Business Men.
TALKS OF CANAL AND INsULAR AFFAIRS
In the Afternoon He COufers with
n. c. Wright of Cleveland on
the Political situation In
Northern Ohio.

time than that shall not be greatly sur
1 prised"
| This statement, made tonight by secre-
tary Of War Taft before the Business
Mems club of this city was loudly cheered
by the coo members of the club gathered
inside the banquet hall.
/ The banquet rendered the secretary by
the Business Mems club came as the
climax to the last Of the three days OF
/ his western trip and It was a fitting culmi-
nation to the hattering reception that has
/ been extended to him on every side by
his Ohio friends. The hall was packed to
its utmost capacity and more than 400
applications for tickets Of admission to
the banquet were perforce declined because
/ there was no room for the late applicants.
| The last official day Of the secretary's trip
/ was full Of work for him and crowded
/ with receptions hattering TO him both as
! an official and as a man. In the morning
/ he delivered an address to the students
{ Of the law school of Cincinnati university,
where he still holds his position as dean
of the law school Later he appeared on
the floor Of the Chamber Of Commerce and
made a brief address.
This afternoon Mr.. Taft conferred with
N. c. Wright Of Cleveland regarding the
Ohio political situation. Mr.. Wright told
him of the position of leading republicans
in the northern part of the state.
Ovation for Speaker.
Tonight's banquet was one of the most
pretentous affairs Of the kind ever seen
| in the city. The appearance of the secre-
tary was the signal for an outburst Of
cheers that lasted for several minutes
Judge Horace H. Burton Of Nashville. a
former colleague of Secretary Taft on the
: federal bench, introduced him.
Secretary Taft said he would speak on
The Panama Canal" and particularly
on the improvements and rapid progress
in the work
1T is only by a comparison Of the con-
dition existing at the time OF my two Wis
It's" said the secretary, that 1 am able
to give an adequate idea Of the work that
has been accomplished and of the present
condition OF the work. I would like in
passing to pay tribute of justice to the
French people, for what they did down
there has never been properly appreciated
by the American people. The great danger
OF any work Of this character under the
auspices of the American people is that
the work OF construction will be under
taken before the work of preparation is
completed. 1 do not think that the pre-
paratory work OF the last two years has
beneficial results.
How the DIRT Flies.
MY visit this year was TO settle the oues-
ton OF the location OF the locks the oom-
pletion OF which will, in my opinion, mark
the completion OF the canal 1t is possible,
however, that the finish Of the work in the
Culebra cut will be the end Of our Iabors.
In this cut there are yet to be excavated
100000 cubic yards Of earth, exclusive
Of the digging to be done on the approaches
10 the cut proper. In the nine miles OF the
cut there are now f1fty-eight steam shovels
at work and they will take out ON the
average 100000 cubic yards a month This
rate may be increased until we have ninety
shovels at work, and then II will gradually
decline until II probably will be somewhat
below the 900 cubic yards per month.
I'VE will not be able to work as many
shovels as we get down in the cut where
the space is more narrow.
we advertised for bids on the canal
work and then declined them for the rea-
son. that we found that It would be neces-
sary for the contractors to have the helm
OF capitalists and we would be compelIed
to allow the contractors per cent interest
on the money they would be compelled TO
borrow from the capitalists. AS we could
borrow money at per cent, this Der
cent proposition did not appeal greatly to
US
ITO us In responsibility It is g ore.t
comfort to be able to introduce the army
engineers upon the work We have three
OF them there and II one OF them falls out
the continuity OF the work will be undis-
turbed. 1t is only fair to say OF the army
engineers that there will be no graft that
they can suppress and there will he
no bad work accepted that they can su-
pervise. No doubt engineers from civil
life would act In a similar manner. BUT
II any Of you gentlemen have ever man
aged a work OF magnitude where t1,erv-
body had the right to poke In his nose
and insist upon this and that, you would
know how great Is the relief to have that
done away with. The record of the army
Is guarantee that the work Will be capa-
bly, ana honestly performed"
Cuban Promise to BE Kent,
As to Cuba, he declared that the Teller
resolution had established our policy there
Change by insurrection was about to be
adopted when we interviewed" he said
l I'VE suggested means OF settlement and
! after conferences with moderates and lib
erals the matter was brought to an end.
But when we took charge We promised
10 stay only until tranquility had been
restored and stable government estab-
lishedF IL may be all right to talk about
annexation and a protectorate, but we
made solemn promise and cannot AFFORD
not to carry it out"
He estimated that II will require until
September, 1905, TO arrange for again al
lowing the Cubans to show whether they
can carry on a stable government II
Will be then necessary TO give them time
10 show that the conditions are complied
with.
OF Porto Rico he spoke. in conclusion
telling Of its natural advantages and its
improvements and ambitions. The people
} OF that island want statehood and citizen
ship. They now have the protection OF
I the nag and most Of the privileges OF citi.
Gems, but he suggested that great care and
consideration should be exercised before
statehood was extended beyond the states
Secretary Taft will leave for washington
at noon tomorrow.