Morgan County republican. (Versailles, Mo.) 1906-1914, 1908-10-15
TAFT THE BUILDER
Ills 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 ltcpub-
lean administration.
AS Secretary Of War, Hon. william
II. Taft personally assumed the rrspon-
sibility OF inaugurating the work and
Systematically shaping up the practical |
operations until n 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
ful investigation, penetrating judgment
and absolutely fair dealing. which have
made him so s~ignally successful in the
performance of all those duties OF state
which have brought him to the high
cminence he now occupies rs 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 NJ
clos" range and trusted To no second
hand information with which to in
sure his success. There has been about
ninety million dollars expended OF tn"
work to date and Mr.. TAFT has had to
approve every dollar Of this %cXIcndi.
ture. He has not been satisfied with
n single visit to tn" i%sthlnlS, but has
made In" long Journey every year so
that le might direct the work more
economically. The result is that he has
changed the situation there from an In
hospitabl" region to II locality where
Americans can live in hrHltlful So.
clirity without III" 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 tn" work.
Work on the canal has passed
through two stages, those of planning
and PREPARATION IT is now in tn" third
and final stage, that Of construction
Both Of III" earlier stages required IA"
presence Of II lnrg" w"rEing force,
necessarily uuartcrrd in Temporary and
make shift accommodations. l%'""iIs"
of thrS" conditions, inevitable" at tn"
outset. early critics Of ia" ~cntrrpris"
misionE The initial and temporary out
fit for permanent, equipment.
Thr"ugh,fu About Labor.
Mr.. Taft's chief concern has been the
proper care of the lHhrring man on tn"
isthmns. Under his patient and ap
proved methods the terrible scnnrg"
of yellow fever. against which the
French struggled in vain, the filthy and
pest breeding state of the principal
ranamnnian towns. the rough labor
camps, and other pioneer hardships Of
IN" two first "ras. hnv" been eliminated.
II" has accomplished these things
through the activity Of III" Department
Of Sanitation, I'll" Department Of MI
nicipnl Engineering ana the building
Department. To-day We find yellow
fever driven from tn" iSthmus. the
deadly stog"nyia mosquito thus rem
dcr"d inno"uous, malaria ana pnrl-
mnuia greatly reduced and Il high
nv"rag" Of health prevailing.
Mammoth Construction Project.
President Roosevelt appointed n sIe,
cial commission to examine the 18th,
mian situation last spring, ana II re-.
ported Aug. q, 1905. According to this
special report there were ut work AT
tn" Isthinus April 30, 1905, 2G,llS men
for the Isthmian Canal Commission and
1913 at work for the Panama railroad
II total Of 80, 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 1t successfully.
TO keep the machinery and tools II
condition. three large macliin" and re-
pair shops, two shipyards and numcr
ou3 warehouses are maintained. WhcI
We recall that this enormous plant Il
operated at n distance of 1852 miller
from It's nearest base OF supply, New
Orleans, and 1915 miles from It's mali
base OF supply, New York, we can on
tlmate with more justice and accuracy
the magnitude and complications of Thu
undertaking Mr., TAFT has conducted ~
well.
WorLingmcn ApPrecint" TAFT
He has succeeded In imprcsslng laboI
on the lsthmns with his kindly Inter
est In It's behalf. ON this point the spe
cial commissions report says: "FroII
the outset we were strongly impressed
by the spirit OF good will and loynlt!
OF the employees The genera
sentiment Of III" workers was expressed
In the words Of "A mechanic, In one o
the conferences which we held wit
representatives OF different trades, Sal
he: We want II understood that W
are American citizens and that we ar
proud to have n share In this gren
work. We believe the government !
treating US right, and we are as niue
interested to see this thing Q success
% anyone This spirit Of loyalty an