Los Angeles herald., 1910-03-21

appears that the most seri-
- a A Gus labor problems have
.aaZz4 been solved, and that aside
from occasional requisi-
tions on the West Indies for negro
workmen there will be no need for
worry about the supply of laborers to
finish the work. Last fall there was
trouble with the European laborers
! that threatened to grow into serious
affair." but it was handled so adroitly
by Chief Engineer Goethals and his
associates that 1t resulted in positive
advantage.
When the digging of the canal was
begun ii was shown that a Spanish
laborer could do as much as two or
three negroes from the West Indies.
1t was upon this basis that the wage
scale of the canal was fixed. In view
of the working qualities of the Span
iards they were recruited by the canal
commission. their transportation ex-
penses advanced and a certain amount
of work guaranteed them. For several
years everything went we'll, but grad
ually the European laborer, realizing
| that there was a contract with the
| Spanish government back of him, grew
| Indifferent. Gradually his efficiency
declined, until in many cases he was
no better workman than the West In
!
the pay When urged TO buckle down
to work he reminded the boss OF his
contract.
This state OF things continued for a
while, and then Colonel Goethals issued
an order that any European laborer
who was not giving a satisfactory re
turn for his hire should be told that
his services were no longer needed, his
] a nd
the contract with the Spanish govern
ment marked satisfied and completed
! Thereafter. If the laborer wanted to
! return to the job he would be hired in
! the open labor market, which relieved
the commission of all further respon-
sibility to Spain under the recruiting
! contract
! The effect was magical. At first the
! Spaniards who were discharged ap-
pealed to the Spanish consular rep
resentative at Panama, and he pre-
tended to believe that their contract
| rights had been violated and that the
commission was getting around the
| spirit of the contract If not around the
! letter of II. But Colonel Goethals in
| formed him that the canal could not be
| dug with recalcitrant labor, and that
| If the Spaniards did not work they
| could go home or starVe. After being
made to understand that the commits
! sion required a days work for a days
pay and that the penalty for refusing
| to work would be instant dismissal
| they soon got down to hard work again,
and from that time to this they have
| had nothing to say about their con-
tract right. Colonel Goethals' attitude
! has been no less salutary on those who
| continue to labor under contracts than
upon those who were discharged from
the contract roll and reinstated from
| the open market 1t also has stlmu-
lated the West Indians who are doing
more work than ever before.
J AS the canal nears completion there
! is a gradual increase in immigration
from the West Indies to the isthmus.
| Realizing that the canal will be the
worlds greatest highway of inter-
national trade, the negroes OF the Car
! ibbean seek to avail themselves Of the
| opportunity to get a cheap home in
the bush and an opportunity to live
where the business of the world is
passing. The result is that the COM
mission gets practically all the labor
1t needs at its own doors. Aside from
one or two recruiting agents in the
| West Indies, to be called on in case of
| unexpected demand, il has called in
! all of its representatives from the labor
markets of the world
| That this desirable situation has been
attained is largely due to two things
| the sanitary work that has changed
! Panama from a byword of unhealth-
| fulness into an object lesson of sani-
| tary excellence, and the broadly
planned labor system laid out by Jack
son Smith, who died only a few weeks
I ago Before coming to Panama Mr..
Smith had engaged in many big rail-
! road construction Jobs in Mexico,
Peru, Ecuador and elsewhere. He sue
cessfully organized the force which
! built the Guayaquil & Quito railroad
in the heart of the Andes. When he
| finally resigned from the Panama COM
mission to go into private business
again, the president stated that the
canal would ever be indebted to him
for the magnificent labor force he had
built up.
Not long ago another rather serious
| trouble arose. Throughout South Amer
lea there are many engineering under
takings being carried forward, and the
supply of labor for these projects is
not equal to the demand. Inasmuch
as these projects usually give no at
tention to sanitation or the furnishing