Coeur d'Alene evening press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1907-1929, 1908-08-24
ROOSEVELT ON
CANAL WORK
Success in Construction AstuOnd-
ing and Most Satisfactory

report submitted to him on August
6 by a special commission consisting
Of James Bronson Reynolds, Samuel
B. Donnelly and Henry Beach Need
ham regarding conditions in Panama.
The commission was appointed April
rs last
That the president is pleased with
the report is shown In letter which
he sent to each member Of the COM
mission on Friday. He expresses
particular pleasure over the fact that
the commissioners uphold the adj
ministration of Colonel Cocktails.
chairman of the Isthmian canal COM
mission, and the president has had
a copy mailed to Colonel Goethals,
requesting that the recommendations
made by the commission be put into
effect so SO far as possible. The
president will submit the report to
congress with appropriate recommen-
dations.
The commissioners report that they
inspected the entire line of the
canal excavation from La Boca, the
southern Of Pacific terminus, to Girls
tobal, the northern or Caribbean
terminus, and travelled through the
excavation several times interviewing
the men at work. Indicating the
scope of the inspection, the
commission reports that 1t visited the
government workshops, construction
plants, warehouses, shipyards,
dre6ges, commissary stores. living
quarters (that is, hotels, messes,
kitchens and camps), schools, club
houses, courts. police stations and the
convalescent home at Taboga."
Success on Canal Astounding.
President Roosevelt's letter to the
investigators says:
81 doubt If there is any piece of
work undertaken on behalf of the
American people Of recent years Of
which the American people have more
reason to be proud than of the work
done on the Panama canal. The sue
cess has literally been astounding.
Five years ago, when we undertook
J the task, no sane man would have
dared to hope for the results which
have already been achieved. The work
itself has been advanced more ex-
penditiously than we had ventured to
think, and the rapidity of the rate of
progress has steadily increased.
Meanwhile the treatment of hy-
gienic conditions on the isthmus has
been such as to make 1t really the
model for all work of the kind in
tropical countries. Five years ago
the Isthmus Of Panama was byword
for unhealthiness of the most deadly
. kind. At present the canal zone is
one of the healthiest places on the
globe and the work, which is being
prosecuted with such tremendous
energy, is being prosecuted under
conditions so favorable to the health
and well-being of the workers that
the mortality among them is abnor.
mally small.
, Uncle Sam Model Employer.
Finally, in addition to the extreme
efficiency of the work under COlone
Goethals and his assistants and tbs
4 extraordinary hygenic success
achieved under DIR. Gorgas. there Il
the further and exceedingly crafty
ing fact that on the isthmus tbs
United States government has beer
able to show itself q model employer
There are matters to correct, o.
: course, as your trip showed. but OF
4 the other hand it is true that thu
, United States is looking after th'
) welfare and health and comfort o
Z these working for it as no other gov
eminent has ever done in work o
!. like character"
, Report Of the Commission.
II IN prefacing its report the com
+ mission says:
e Work on the construction Of tn
n isthmian canal has progresses
:. through two stages. those Of planning
r and OF preparation. II Is now in tn
It third stage. the stage Of eOnstruc
y ton.
a Both the earlier stages requires
10 the presence Of large working fOres
+ necessarily CHARTERED in temporar
% and makekhift accommodation BE
cause Of these conditions. iaevitabl