Devils Lake inter-ocean and Devils Lake free press. (Devils Lake, Ramsey County, N.D.) 1905-1909, 1908-10-23
!. TAFT THE: BUILDER
Wis Directing Hand Has insured
Success of the Mammoth
Project.
Raised Wages Of Isthmian Eaborers
by Longevity Order While War
Secretary.

greatest achievements Of any Repub-
Mcan administration.
AS Secretary Of War, Hon. William
III. Taft personally assumed the respon-
slbility 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. i
MIR. 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 signally successful in the
performance Of all those duties Of state
which have brought him to the high
erninence he now occupies as one of ou1
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 I'm
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
a 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
hospitable region to a locality where
Americans can live In healthful Sc
curity without the fear Of plaques OF
dread Of contagious diseases. The rate
of mortality on the isthmus is about
the same as 1t 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.
at for permanent equipment. .,s
rhroughtful About Labor.
, Mr.. Taft's chief concern has been the
proper care of the laboring man on the
isthmus. Under his patient and ap.
proved methods the terrible. scourge
OF yellow fever, against which the
French struggled in vain, the filthy and
pest breeding state of the principal
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-
niclpal Engineering and the Building
Department. To-day we find yellow
fever driven from the isthmus, the
deadly stegomyia mosquito thus rem.
dered tnnocuous, malaria and pneu-
monia' greatly reduced and high
average of health prevailing.
Haammoth Construction Project.
President Roosevelt appointed a spe
cial commission to examine the 18th.
milan situation last spring, and it re
ported Aug. 9, 1908. According to this
special report there were at work at
the 1sthmus April 80, 1908, 2s,11s men
Tor the Isthmian Canal Commission and
: 7,o75 ct work for the Panama railroad
q total Of 33.193 men all told, Housipa
This = Industrial army I'm 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. .t>>
{. 70 keep the machinery and tools in
eenditaon, three large machine and re
pair shops, two ashipyards and numer.
:etas warehouses are maintained. When
we recall that this enormous plant is
operated at d distance. Of j, 3s2 miles
fsorn Its nearest base of supply. New
Orleans, and 1875 miles from its ma mai II
base Fof supply New York, we can es 8,
innate with more Justice and accuracy lt,,I
the ma gn1tude and compl ications Of the
undertaking Mr. "a Il has conducted SO q
Wali. 81 4. q L f ssT S3s
S:5@S eFhsRgs en- Appreciate TAFT.
:fS Ne has succeeded ID inpresaing labor
Ssa the SIsth mus with his kindly inter-
est n its behalf On this point the. s III 4
cial commits ions report says II rom ID,
the outset W. were strongly Impressed
by the spirit of good will ana loyalty.
$ef the employees ne general
sentiment of the workers was expressed
.aa the words Of q mechanic, I'll, one 81.
1as conferences which we hald with
representative ss of different trades. said
Bin: want It understood that va
ara American citixena and thas ~ ara
proud 10: ha VA II share yfn this great
work. We believe the government Id
treating us right ana We are an much
sasareated % zee tlaia thing i success
as anyone This spirit OF loyalty and.
iaterass ip the WORK was evidenced ons
nanny occasions and should be account
aataa 40 M asset of the highast III Hue I'd
tho governlllent "a the acconpl hiases.t