Arizona republican., 1909-03-05
!he Panama Canal.

tons of our country, and will greatly
 increase the facilities for transporta-
 ton between the eastern and western
 seaboard, and may possibly revolution | iZe the transcontinental rates with re- | spect to bulky merchandise It will | also have a most beneficial effect to | increase the trade between the eastern
 and western seaboard of the United | States and the western coast of South
 America, and, indeed, with some of the
 important ports on the east coast of South America reached by rail from
 the west coast The work on the ca
 nal Is making most satisfactory pro-
 gress. The type of the canal as a lock
 canal was fixed by congress after a | full consideration of the conflicting
 reports of the majority and minority | of the consulting board, and after the | recommendation of the war depart | ment and the executive upon those re- | ports. Recent suggestion that some thing had occurred on the Isthmus to make the lock type of the canal less
 feasible than it was supposed to be | when the reports were made and the policy determined on, led to a visit to the Isthmus of a board of competent | engineers to examine the Gatun dam
 and locks which are the key of the lock type. The report of that board
 shows that nothing has occurred in
 the nature of newly revealed evidence
 which should change the views once
 formed in the original discussion. The
 construction will go on under a most effective organization controlled by
 Colonel GOethals and his fellow army aerin ttrit |,
 will certainly be completed early in
 the next administration, if not before.
 Some type of canal must be con- structed. The lock type has been se-
 lected. We are all in favor of having it built as promptly as possible. We must now, therefore, keep up a fire in the rear of the agents whom %e have
 authorized to do our work on the 18th
 mus. We must hold uo their hands. and. speaking for the incoming admin
 istration, I wish to say that I propose
 to devote all the energy possible and
 under my control, to the pushing of this work on the plans which have
 been adopted, and to stand behind the |
 men who are doing faithful hard work ] to bring about the early completion of this, the greatest constructive enter
 prise Of modern times.
 The governments of our dependen-
 cies in Porto Ricco and the Philippinesi 1 are progressing as favorably as could | be desired. The prosperity of Porto | which the gentleman portrayed"
 Rico continues unabated. The busi
 ness conditions in the Philippines are | not all that We could wish them to be. | but with the passage of the new tariff | bill permitting free trade between the | United States and the archipelago, with such limitations in sugar and | tobacco as shall prevent injury to the domestic interests on those products, we can count on an improvement in business conditions in the Philip pines and the development of a mu tally profitable trade between this country and the islands. Meantime our government in each dependency is uphOlding the traditions of civil liberty and increasing popular con trol which might be expected under American auspices. The work which we are doing there rebounds to our credit as a nation.
 The North and the South.
 I look forward with hope to increas- ing the already good feeling between the south and the other sections of the country. My chief purpose is not to effect a change in the electoral vote of the southern states. That is a secondary consideration. What l look forward to is an increase in the tolerance of political views of all kinds and their advocacy throughout the south, and the existence of re- spectacle political opposition in every state; even more than this, to an in creased feeling on the part of the people of the south that this govern ment is their government, and that it's officers in their states are their officers.
 The consideration of this ques- ton cannot, however, be complete and full without reference to the negro race, its progress and it's present condition. The Thirteenth Amendment secured them freedom; the Fourteenth Amendment due proc ess of law, protection of property and the pursuit of happiness; and the Fifteenth Amendment attempted to secure the negro against any dep rivation of the privilege to vote be- cause he was a negro. The Thir- teenth and Fourteenth amendments have been generally enforced and have secured the objects for which r they were intended. While the Eff teenth Amendment has not been gen erally observed in the past, it ought to be observed, and the tendency of southern legislation today is toward the enactment of electoral qualifi cations which shall square with that Of course, the mere adoption of a constitutional law is only me step in the right direction. It must be fairly and justly enforced . as we'll In time, both will come.
 Protection of intelligence. Hence it is clear to all that the domination of an ignorant, element can be prevent ed by constitutional laws which shall exclude from voting both negroes and whites not having education or other qualifications thought to be neces- sary for a proper electorate. The danger of the control of an ignorant electorate has therefore passed With this change, the interest which many of the southern white citizens take in the welfare of the negroes has in creased. The colored men must base their hope on the results of their own self-restraint, thrift and h,isiness success as well as uDOn the ,