The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-02-04

problem on the let9mus mas Deen solved. and that the supply of labor canal work. Recruiting agents who had been stationed at the labor cen- ters of the world have been called in, and the canal authorities say that all that remains to be done Is to keep q wstchfuI eye against any deteriora- tion of the force. The day of import ing men seems to be completely past, and the commission is able to find all the new men 1t needs without leaving the Isthmus to seek them.
 When the people of the United States were considering the question of taking upon themselves the burden of fuinliing the age-iong desire for
 sider that the determining factor which would make for the success or failure of the undertaking was the problem of
 enEineerfne. They knew that if Amer ican engineers were given the means, the end would surely follow. 1t was
 the labor problem that threatened to
 prevent forever the accomplishment of the yisiea of coiumeus--two oceans
 united.
 "A bad reputation had to be lived
 down. nsd not the whole world know
 that the construction of the Panama
 Railroad had meant the death of Chinanian for every tie driven2 Did
 
 remember the thousands and thousands of their people who had died narneiess deaths in the course of the French work on the Isthnus7 Was not the Isth- mus known as one of the pest holes of the earth, a place where the chances of life and death were always in favor es
 when uhe Canal Commission started into the fwork of recruiting a labor force, it seemed that the worst fears | of that period were to be realized Ke- cruitinR agents were about as welcome in the various labor centers As a slave trader would have been. To say "Pan. | ana" to c lAborer was in his mind an | invitation to serfdom fin a region where ! q million foes iurlked in every jungle. l ---foes that could not be seen or fore- l tended aeninat. Even foreign govern. ments felt the same way about It. and sought to thwart the efforts of the re- l cruiting agents.
 to the publication of . iong~list or af- | fdavfts from iaborers engaged on the 1 fsthuius. showing the fair treatment | they vera receiving, the good wages | thev were being paid, and the fair | health thnt prevailed. But even this | did not satfsfy tho minds of the suspi- l cious laborerD Of the tropics and or Spain and Italy. On the whole the | fUT0DU8Gt W one. II seemed that the bad reputa- tion of the IsthFnus would be the un- doing Of the work.
 Meanwhiie she sanitary brigade was busy. The whole world knows the story of it's light against the nfty kinds of moauultoes that infested the | Isthmus. and It's conversion from pest hola into q near-health resort. The few contented iaborers who came to the Zone were induced to write let ters back home telling of the good say and the honest treatment they re- ceived, and the shining ahekeis they
 sent saions told convincing tale or
 their prosperity. These storleA ms laIiy became a matter of neighborhood
 wosslp, and inch by inch the Isthmus
 Succeeded in living down its horrible ffSputatfon. Gf1dnRlly the work or re- cruiting became easier, and today 1t ia a finished task.
 At the outset 1t was declared that
 nobody bat Chinamen could witnsteno the climate of the Isthmus- Today they have fiftystwo nationaiities at
 work. and every one of them enjoys auual hAaaEh, The vast majority or the Il workers are West Indian negroes. Here legain one finds . marveloua thing l:
 From the American standpoint Wes.
 Indian negroes in their nakiVe nenns know as little about work As e pre- fesvional hobo. About the only real
 work they ever do in their native lane ia chop bamboo poles for kindiing wood II and gather bananas.
 when they agrive on the Isthmus
 they are almost entirely lacking n
 knowledge of construction worm. ~ Etakes three of them to lift Q stick or timbee that one heasthy spaniard could II handle. It Is out of this material that | ina Commission has had to raise s6 per II cant of fta labor force. And each year II it has to do the same thing over again, as the entire labor force changes m
 about twelve months. m year sms averaee west Indian negro can save enoIirh to become a sort of Pierpont
 Morgan 4n his little circle at home' He H gats 1a 1.s cents an hour, silyers m ao II sitIon 10 board and lodging. He is thna able to save over Q hundred dol- iars q year. When he gets pacK nome that hlindred dollars VIII oSy h,,n sss Vi, ana ret him q wife, together with q
 1iSe of comparative ease and indepehu-
 a,,ca ina rest of his days. It converts htss Inta a sort of nabob among ms feiIowg As one goes back home un- as aAr such prosperous conalttons V
 Sut little wonder that two want to sue. csaa him on the canal Fifty cents 2 Ssv vith board and lodging thrown
 tr 1. zine income to. one who has peen -,crL,nr all his life for a shilling q gay ana hoardinz himself--especi1lly whe. - LA has 10 work only eight nouEs itn W inc 50 cents job as compaIso r''' .eisves hours on the shilling gop; .,.. mai tie the secret of the lapor sus' ss st panan,a. It ia the most attrae- Ieiv. nropoaltion the West Indian aesfe ! lEss Sver met, and he Is not Beln6 ss sc s.sva ii '.no until fe has made his put ae,JS sf I9..sThe same is true of ths lsnsniaras. When one watches then groun the commission pay car they seen | indeed like dumb driven eattie' pu they toe know . good thing when snes [ lace if Three hundred dollars year
 lcIsar money is a tremendous pile ts . lfhen. and many of them are bringing ltneir families to the Tsthmus, settling
 to,, coYnunission lands, prepared to staI IFn, tha grand finale. There are apou Is nof' of these Spaniards on the job, ane l lit Ia to their example that the CT fIciency of the West Indian negro II ! largely due. ..,.-. lfrea quarters for the West Indians lover sg OoO of them prefer to furnisl their own quarters in the native towni he aIvs the hush." The Commission fur | lnishes quarters to 1,013 West Indtai families. and to 235 European families X Free schools are provided for thu lchildren of these families, and an op ! Iportunity afforded them to set excel I lIent elementary education. Churci facilities are also provided. and on th' ! whole they believe that the United | IStates is the best employer they hRv' lever known. While the Commission \ demands faithful and earnest service lana will remove the agttatOr and sowe | lof diesension with cold -blooded quick Iness, faithful service never had great Ter reward, and the gravttation Of labo