The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-17

Canal nor the proposed sec level canal ct Panama. It must also bs rsmsm. bsrsd that the commerce of the world is carried bv the rnsdium.sissd vss. many ships vsine the svss Canal bs ing greater thnA GOO feet"
 He says the General Board of the Navy ts on racord that 11o foot W1dSn will bs ample for tho future nseos os the navy. and he says further that my, q construction of the future VIII he limited not alone by the iocks ol Ine able dry dooks He dsolares that ships that cannot use locks 1000 feet by lie esst, cannot uss . 1so.foot sea level cansn. snor can this hs 70 easily anr economically increased and msintaineo ss ts made to appear by Its advocates.
 On the subject of the estimated cost of . lock and see level canal. Coionsi
 .The estimated cost by the present Commission for completing the adopt. cd project, excluding the Items let out by the Board of Consulting Engineers, is placed at t2s7.7ee.0o0. If to this pe added the estimated cost of sanitation and civil government until the compies ton of the work. and the S6o.0oO.oee purchase price. the total cost to the United States of the lock type of canaa will amount to S375.201.000 In the preparation of these estimates there are no unknown factors.
 "The estimated cost of the sea-levea canal for construction alone sums ur to $l77.soi .ooo. and If to this pc added the cost of sanitation and civil govern, ment up to the time of the completion of the canal, which will be at least si. years later than the lock canal. ana the purchase price, the total cost to the United States will aggregate $oe@~ 100000"
 Answers Criticisms.
 Answering the criticisms regarding the increased estimates for completing the canal. Colonel Goethals says that these have arisen largely from fall ure to analyxe the two estimates or 10 appreciate fully the actual conditions. For instance. he cites the increase m the wage scale, based on an eight-hour day instead of a ten-hour day. as org inally. Then he says subsequent sur yeys and various changes increased the quantity of work by fifty per cent Tn addition, municipal improvements In Panama and Colon. advances to the Panama Railroad, and moneys received and deposited to the credit of miscella- neous receipts aggregate $15.Oo0.ooo. which amount. he says, will eventually and has in part. already been returned to the Treasury.
 Finally" he says. mo such system of housing and caring for employees was ever contemplated as has been in- troduced and installed. materially tn- creasinR the overhead charges and ad- ministration."
 Concerning the probable effect of earthquakes on the canal. about which Colonel Goethals says much has been written. the report states that the last eirthouake of any importance in Pan- ana occurred in the Seventeenth Cen tury and that existing ruins in Panama demonstrate clearly that no shock of any violence could have occurred du- ring the Eighteenth or Nineteenth Gen. turies.
 Sea Level Canal.
 Again reverting to the question of sen level canal Colonel Goethals says 1 that the idea appeals to the popular l mind. which pictures an open dftch ofYering free and unobstructed naviga- | ton from sea to sea. but no such SUD stitute is offered for the present loeb | canal. .,.. AS between the sea level and the lock canal the latter can be copstrurt l cd in less time. at less cost. will give
 easier and safer navigation, and in ad- | dition secure such control or the ChaRres river as to make frieno
 and aid of what remains an enemy and
 menace in the sea level type:
 Colonel Goethals, in concluding, pays
 a h,gb tribute to his employees. The
 organization for the prosecution or the
 work. he says, approaches the perfect ion of a huge machine. and the manner
 Tn which the work is being done ane
 the spirit of enthusiasm that Is mani | Taated by all. forcibly strikes every,