Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-04-11

;ted on in st. Nincent'S hospital in
November. 1906. according 10 an afi-
davit filed With the supreme court by
Dr. Benjamin Friedman. formerly Of
This city. now living in Hungary. Mrs.
Panama in Fact and Fiction.
Every n Will admit that success in
digging the Panama canal must be at
trlbuted largely to the human factor.
Our government has found efficient
men to do the work. and has succeeded
i'm maintaining their efficiency. Herein
lies the superiority of u method over
that OF the Frcnch administration. No
We'll Informed person will deny these
broad facts. and 1t remain only to give
credit to whom credi Is due.
There are about 10000 picked men
and women at work In the canal
"a. 600 of these are negro lab"rers from
the adjoining tropical countries. partic-
ularly from the British West Indies.
These laborers found II climate to their
liking from the first day, and wages
n o better than most of them had
ever before received. Good treatment
with Il negro begets docility and con-
tentment which means obedience to law
and common sense regulations. Hence
it is not surprising that these colored
employes-all selected men and pro-
verbally healthy in their home country
where poverty and filth is the rule rath-
er than the eXception-should have
prospered nightly under cleaner and
happier surroundings. Indeed. would 1T
have been surprising had results
been otherwise: So while it may be
hard to say just what part the doctors
have contributed to the we'll being OF
the colored class. the fact a hardly
be denied that they have played Il mi
role.
The same applies, perhaps, With
slight qualifications tn the :, 1000 Sllln-
ish and Italian laborers. 10 the south
ern European the tropics have never
presented any terrors n the Latin
people have always been pioneers i'm
tropical development. That these la
borers, most of whom are Spaniards.
have bettered themselves industrially
by coming to Panama is self evident.
so that their case is practically iden-
tical with that of their colorcd CO.
laborers-a tribute to good pay. consid-
crate treatment and decent surround
ings. Here again the doctor has no log
zeal claim to the limelighu.
The tropics heretofore Il proved Il
great magnet to gold seekers. explorers
and various Adventures who nave
cnurted hardship and privation. is 1T
any wonder that the death rate was
high among men who endeavored to
quently set out ~unprovided with the
necessary food and supplies. and who
had to earn from the .cruelest eXpe-
rience facts that are now placed at the
disposal of every canal employe?
1t is not at Panama. alone that he
tropics are losing their fictitious ter
rors. The northern tourist is now find
ing his way through the whole Carib-
bean country. and steamship companies
are. loudly ~proclaiming the delights of
residence throughout the West Indies
and the Spanish main. Statistics, more
over. show that yellow fever had been
on the decline long before the discov-
cries of the American sanitarians in
Cuba and Panama, With its ideal condi-
tions. is not the only tropical city that
can boast of q diminished death rate.
That is the economic and social con-
dition OF the worker in Panama is ideal
no n can dispute. and if this lead to
physical, mental and moral we'll being.
why should the facts be denied? ls not
this experiment too valuable during the
present era of industrial distress and
social upheaval to be subjected to the
slightest misrepresentation?
The American colony at panama is
composed largely OF men in the prime
OF life who rave been subjected to the
most rigid physical examination before
acceptance. Having passed this xam-
nation and received positions which in
most cases assure a salary much great
CT han the recipients could earn in the
Un1ttQ states CnFN DeSll 10 leaTT now
philanthropic an employer Uncle Sam
really is. TIL new employees are trans
ported free OF charge to the scene of
their labor. On their arrival they find
themselves in q modern town or camp,
every building of which is constructed
of the best materials and contains every
modern Improvement. The newcomer in
most cases receives free quarters, and
though he must pay for his meals. these
are of the best quality are provided
absolutelya at cost. The householder who
must pay rent finds that Uncle Sam has
again anticipated his needs and pro-
vided the maximum Of comfort at the
minimum of expense. Food. clothing
and all the necessaries of life, that is,
those not already provided free of cost,
are old at such reduced rates that the
high cost of living in the canal zone is
but q northern echo. Ii I'M one doubts
this. let him consult the New York
! Evening Post for January % last, in
which comparative tables Of the cost OF
food In New York and Panama are pre-
sented, wholly to the advantage OF the
latter.
But Uncle Sam has gone farther in
| his ~paternalism and provides free in
CONFESSED N