The leader-enterprise. [volume] (Fitzgerald, Ga.) 1912-1915, 1913-12-22

The Walker commission Of 1901 had
estimated the cost Of sea level canal
at S1450QO.000. The commission of
\ 1905 recommended a sea level type to
cost $3.50. 100000 Mr.. Wallace later es-
timatcd the cost at sea level at $780,
100000 exclusive of the S5O,O00.O00
paid for the canal zone and French
property.
That these American estimates should
come, in the main. under the amount
actually spent by the French. who lit
tie more than scraped the surface,
shows, for one thing, that the Ameri-
cans believed there had been gross ex-
travagance and inefficiency in the
French operations and, for another
thing, that the Americans had no ade-
quate grasp upon the task they were
undertaking. This same insuficiency
of estimates continued until 1905
whGE Colonel Cocktails faced the stu
alton frankly and announced the cost
for lock type to be $375,000,O00,
which was far ahead of the highest
estimate for a sea level canal. In
1900 Colonel Cocktails said a sea level
canal would cost $3.50, 100000 and take
six years longer to build thSn a lock
canal, which was before the slides in
the Culebra cut became so formidable
and a sea level canal had been shown
thereby to be all but impossible
President Roosevelt took charac-
teristic step to end the dispute On
June "a, 1905, few days before the
appointment Of Mr.. Stevens as chief
engineer, he named an international
board of advisory engineers to recon-.
mend type Of canal,
Out of this board five were foreign
ers and eight Americans. The board
visited the isthmus in October, 1905.
and reported to the president on Jan.
10, 1906. The majority, composed of
eight engineers and comprising all of
the foreigners, recommended a sea
level canal. Messrs. Davis, Burr and
Parsons were the three Americans
who signed the majority report. The
minority of five Americans recon-
mended lock type canal with lake
at eighty-flve feet above sea level form
ed by a dam across the Chagres river
ut Gatun. They estimated the eXca-
walton at 103, $4,000 cubic yards and
the cost, exclusive of sanitation and
civil government, at $139, 705, 200.
Nine years, or until 1915, was the time
estimated for completing the canal
There were to be three locks in flight
at Gatun, each 95 by 100 feet disable
dimensions and on the Pacific side one
lock at Pedro Miguel and two at La
Boca, at the entrance, the distance be-
tween Pedro Miguel and La Boca,
eight miles, to be a second artificial
lake. The Culebra cut was to be eco
feet wide for five miles and 300 feet
wide for four miles.
Chief Engineer Stevens and all but
one member of the commission con
CURED in the minority report. Secre
tary Taft's visits to the isthmus had
converted him to the lock type, and
President Roosevelt consistently had
favored it.
The situation was one where the
choice would be decided by the weight
the president should throw to either
report. To reject the majority report
favoring a sea level canal and to ad-
vocate the minority report for lock
type canal was a responsibility of I'M
usual magnitude for an executive who
professed to have no technical engi-
neering knowledge. Yet President
Roosevelt made the momentous deci-
sion without hesitation, sending a |
strong message recommending the mi |
nority report
Congress debated the issue until June
q, when the senate by the close vote |
of SO to 81 decided for lock type, and |
on June % the blouse concurred. the
bill becoming law on June %. 1906.
Two years and two months had pass
Ell from the time the Americans came
to Panama in May, 1904, to July !, |
1905, before this decision was made. |
and at last the commission knew what
plan Of canal was to be followed. In |
September, 1906, Mr.. Stevens started |
the excavations in the sites for the
Gatun locks, the Pedro Miguel lock
and the Gatun dam spillway. Surveys
were uSSuu 1OT TeIQCuIlIlS the banana |
railroad, which for considerable dis
lance would be swallowed up by the
completed canal. The fifteen months
preparatory work was beginning to
tell in the increased excavations in the
Culebra cut, as the organization was
getting its stride. Commissaries, which
sold everything the canal employee
needed, were in operation in the prin-
cipal towns, the hotels for the bache-
lors were well organized, quarters had
been erected until all were housed,
though at times rather crowded: ma
chinery. supplies and equipment were
on hand or ordered to the extent of so
per cent of what would be needed TO
complete the canal, health conditions
Rere admirable, and the whole situa-
was shaping for the real work Of
eG the canal.
ent Roosevelt paid the canal
Visit in November, 1906. Il was