River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1908-10-15
TAFT THE BUILDER
His Directing Hand Has Insured
Success of the Mammoth
Project.
Raised Wages of Isthmian Laborers
by Longevity Order While War
Secretary.

The Panama Canal is one of the
greatest achievements of any Repub-
Iican administration.
AS Secretary Of War, Hon. William
TT. Taft personally assumed the respon-
sibility of inaugurating the work and
Systematically shaping up the practical
operations until degree Of efficiency
has been reached that may well as
tOnish the nations Of the earth
Mr.. Taft has applied to this world
project and history making enterprise
those same qualities Of careful, thought
full Investigation, penetrating judgment
and absolutely fair dealing, which have
made him so signalIy successful in the
performance Of all those duties Of state
which have brought him to the high
eminence he now occupies as one Of our
greatest living Americans.
Must Know Personally.
Like the Philippine project and other
great work laid upon him, he has
studied the situation at Panama at
close range and trusted to no second
hand information with which to in
sure his success. There has been about
ninety million dollars expended on the
work to date and Mr.. Taft has had to
approve every dollar of this expendi-
ture. He has not been satisfied with
q single visit to the isthmus, but has
made the long journey every year so
that he might direct the work more
economically. The result is that he has
changed the situation there from an in.
h0spitable region to a locality where
Americans can live in healthful Sc
curity without the fear of plaques or
dread of contagious diseases. The rate
of mortality on the isthmus is about
the same as it is in our American cities
Stages OF the Work.
Work on the canal has passed
through two stages. those of planning
and preparation. 1t is now in the third
and final stage, that of construction.
Both of the earlier stages required the
presence of a large working force,
necessarily quartered in temporary and
make shift accommodations. Because
of these conditions inevitable at the
outset, early critics of the enterprise
mistook the initial and temporary out
Git for permanent equipment
ThrOughtfuI About Labor.
Mr.. Tafts chief concern has been the
proper care of the laboring man on the
isthmus. Under his patient and APP
proved methods the terrible scourge
of yellow fever, against which the
French struggled in vain the filthy and
oe
Panamanian towns, the rough labor
camps, and other pioneer hardships of
the two first eras, have been eliminated.
He has accomplished these things
through the activity of the Department
of Sanitation, the Department Of Mu-
nicipal Engineering and the Building
Department. To-day we find yellow
fever driven from the isthmus. the
deadly stegomyia mosquito thus rem
dered innocuous. malaria and pneu-
monia greatly reduced and high
average of health prevailing.
Mammoth Construction Project.
President Roosevelt appointed a spe-
cial commission to examine the 18th
milan situation last spring, and it re-
ported Aug 6, 1908. According to this
special report there were at work at
the Isthmus April so, 1908, 26, 11S men
for the Isthmian Canal Commission and
1915 at work for the Panama railroad,
total of 33, 1913 men all told. Housing
this industrial army In quick time,
with due attention to sanitation and
hygiene, was a problem which would
have been beyond most men. But Mr.
Taft did it successfully.
TO keep the machinery and tools in
condition; three large machine and re-
pair shops, two shipyards and numer-
Gus warehouses are maintained When
we recall that this enormous plant is
operated at a distance of 1882 miles
from its nearest base of supply, New
Orleans. and 1875 miles from its main
base of supply, New York, we can es-
innate with more justice and accuracy
the magnitude and complications of the
undertaking Mr.. Taft has conducted so
well.
WOrkingmen Appreciate Taft.
He has succeeded in impressing labor
on the Isthmus with his kindly inter-
est in its behalf. On this point the spe-
-cial commissions report says: From
the outset we were strongly impressed
by the spirit of good will and loyalty
of the employees The general
sentiment of the workers was expressed
in the words of a mechanic. in one of
the conferences which we held with
representatives of different trades. Said
he: We want it understood that we
are American citizens and that we are
proud to have a share in this great
work. We believe the government is
treating us right. and we are as much
interested to see this thing a success
as anyone. This spirit of loyalty and