The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-04-30

Villains. ana WUJ-Iht
lions and Where They should be
Constructcd-How the Canal Can
BE Dcfcnded-An Operating Force
of $500 EmplOyes-Thc Future
Profit, Of the Canal-A Good In
yc,tment-ComparisOns With SueZ
The Question OF Toiis-American
Shipping and the TranscOnunental
i;aiIrOadS-Shail Our Coastal Cities
BE Favored Over Those Of the In
terror?
Copyright, 1912. by Frank G.. Car
penter.)
CULEBRA. Canal Zone, Panama.
In my letter Of last Sunday | gave
you the first part Of my talk with
Col. George w. Goethals, the supreme
manager Of all things here on the
isthmus. [ told you what he said
about the character of our great
canal. its slides, its locks and its
dam. | gave you also his story as to
how the costs on this job have been
managed so as to be cut to q mini
mum. and gave his prophecy that the
canal would be surely opened on
time. The ak was held last Sunday
afternoon. Col. Goethals and myself
sitting the while on the porch OF his
home at Culebra and looking out
upon the mountains through which
the mighty cut has now been Souged
10 such a level that ships can pass
through it.
The Zone as a Military Reservation.
~ ~ = I ~ ~ 1,,r arJ-
ed the colonel to tell me how the
Canal Zone should be managed and
whether there should not be a live
American population covering it from
one end to the other.
Not if ] have my way was the
emphatic reply. Il would depopula.e
it as soon as the work is completed.
We want nothing on the zone but
the homes of the employees of the
canal and the buildings of the mile
tary and naval establishments. We
shall need dry docks at each of the
terminals and should have the best of
loading and unloading facilities. We
should have coaling stations and fuel
oil stations, and it may be stores and
warehouses for supplying the ship
ping with AL things it may need.
Further than that, We would be bet
ter without settlements. There is nj
Ncc Nv i'tb - I1ttI wv, dHu II
any necessity should develop they will
be erected. Until that necessity arises
l would like to see the strip kept fol
what it was originally intended, and
that is for the creation, operating anC
maintenance Of the canal"
Would the zone be a desirable
place for American residents?"
asked.
Il think not. The most ~productiv,
nartS nf ~ n pa c11hioct TO in,,r1atinp
and remains is covered with
soil that, according to the Department
OF Agriculture, needs costly treatmen
to make it productive. There ar
practically no crops outside those )
the tropics that could be expected t
pay. During eight or nine month
of the year We have a heavy rain
fall, which will rot out eVervthin
else. Besides, the natives can rails
tropical produce cheaper Than w
can. and that outside of the zone, S
that the man on the zone would hay
the little end of it all around.
1t must be remembered" CO
Cocktails continued. that this canal
built mainly because it is a militai
necessity to the United States. Nov
if you would have it Of use to ,
in times of war, we have got to q,
fend and protect it. The defens,
must be made not only by seacoa
batteries to keep off the ships, b
they must be efficient against all Ian,
ing parties which might enter tt
country from various points above al
below the canal on either coast. r
this reason we should have control
all the land surrounding the loo
and dams and from there right 0
TO the boundary. After you take tt
out there is little LAND left that
of value
\ Civil Population Would Incrca
The Cost.
Would not a civil population
the zone cause many undesirable co!
plications?'
Yes: it would involve us in no g
of trouble. 1t would also make t
canal cost more. We want the CT
of operating to be reduced to t
minimum. and to that end we VIZ
nothing but the canal. If you ha