El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-09-09

| forth many suggestions as to the man
ner in which this memorable event
shall be celebrated Of course, the big
| gest celebration will be the Panama
| Pacific exposition. But to this will be
added great maritime pageant. pass
/ ing through the canal, in which the
nayies and the merchant marine of all
the world viii take part, and the
character Of mat pageant Is the matter
| which immediate public interest cent
! ers
Ships From All Nations.
One -of the proposals is that the
| president SHAH invite the nations of
/ the earth to send representative ships
1 of their navies and their merchant ma
/ r1ne to Hampton Roads early in 1915
| there to rendezvous preliminary to the
| start of the great international pag-
! cant southwark from the Virginia
| capes to Colon, and through the canal
/ to San Francisco. This part of the
| program has been generally agreed
| upon, but the details have not been
/ worked out.
The first question to be decided
/ probably will be that of choosing the
| snip which viii head the column as it
/ sweeps down one coast and up the
| other For this honor the United States
battleship Oregon" seems to be the
that the gallant trip that vessel made
around South America during the
Spanish American war was the cause
OF the building of the Panama canal;
II stirred the nation in that direction
more than all other events together.
The Oregon May Lead.
II the oregon should head the
column, II would be fitting for it to
be manned as far as possible by the
officers and men who took il on its
memorable trip in 1898 OF course this
W0uId De IN a large part an impossi-
DlIlty. The gallant captain Clark has
been gathered to his fathers, and many
others among officers and men have
answered the last call Then some
of those who made up the wardroom
list are now captains and rear admir-
ais, while those who then occupied the
Junior officers quarters are now COM
manderS and other officers of rank
1t is more probable that if the Oregon
IS chosen. the Navy department viii
have 1t commanded by one of those who
went with 1t on its spectacular run
around South America.
There are those who think that the
honor of heading the column should go
to the biggest American battleship then
In commission. and they argue that
such a ship would be better fitted to
serve as the flagship of the fleet. es-
peclally IN view of the fact that MANY
of the highest officers in the American
navy viii take part in the pageant 1t
Is probable that the secretary of the
navy will make the trip on the ship
that heads the column
ELprestdenfs May Participate.
The suggestion has been made by
some that the official opening of the
canal should be participated in by the
three men who held the office OF pres
ident during the period in which the
canal was transformed from an idea
into 2. fact They urge that to cele-
brate the opening of the canal without
would be like playing Hamlet with
Hamlet left out In support of this
they call attention TO the fact that at
every crisis in the history of the great
III Theodore
velt who took the responsibility that
made the canal possible.
Roosevelt TO Be the Hero
When Colombia for the purDese of
mulcting the New Panama Canal com ,
pany out Of its concessions and prop
critics refused to ratify the treaty that
had been negotiated with the United
States, 1t was Theodore Roosevelt who
In the face of the provision of the
Spooner act directing him to build the
canal through Nicaragua in the event
OF unsatisfactory negotiations with
Colombia. refused to carry out that
mandate Of congress- and who recOg-
nlzed the independence of the Republic
OF Eanana when he knew 1t would Law
him open to suspicion and criticism so
TO 90 And when the battle of the
levels was on, 1t was Roosevelt who,
IN the face Of adverse reports by a
majority OF one of the best boards OF
engineers ever convened, determined TO
make the Panama canal a lock type
canal rather than a sea level canal.
from as serious a humiliation as had
been the tate of the French
Taft "DtscOvers'' GOe4haIS
II Roosevelt made the conditions
under which the Panama canal could
be dug. the friends Of Mr. Taft think
that 1t was the fortune of Mr. Taft to 4
De the man who discovered the genius ]
VINO could triumph over the legislative I
and executive obstacles at home and 4
at the same time overcome the engi- |
neerlng and personnel difficulties on |
the Osthmus-GeOrge ". Cocktails The /
major portion of the work of digging !
the canal was done during the Taft ad- /
mlnlstrauon- and, therefore. say his
friends. he cannot be left out of the !
celebration
And of course president Wilson as
the head Of the American nation. al /
though he had little to do with the
construction of the canal, will have |
everything to do with the task of put 1
ting it into successful Operation.
BOTH OF the former presidents are on I
SOou terms with the president, but as /
they are not supposed to be on good !
the problem Of a celebration in which /
al three could take part is a difficult /
To Honor Men Who Built 1t.
Inc men who built the canal will /
De Iltungly honored when the opening /
ceremonies take place. The responsible
, LqithorlIles, wherever they may be
WnSn the official Opening occurs.
Will be called back to the Isthmus TO
7 ecelVe the plaudits of q grateful ma
lon upon the dedication of the great
wafer way in whose building they
prayed conspicuous part.
Inc suggestion that as a part of the /
CeleDrauon, the bones of Christopher /
columbus be carried through the
canaI, first made by the assistant sec
reIary OF state, Osborne, has struck I
I hearuer note in Santo Domingo than
IN the United States. but there are
many Americans who feel that this
somewhat unusual suggestion would,
y carried out, constitute a high honor
20 the ashes of the great discOYerer. /
Jthers ask If there could ever be any (
celebration in America great enough
10 make the American people feel dis
posed to take the remains of George
W ashingtOn from the tomb at Mt.
vernon and carry them through the
country
Tomorrow: The Bones of Columbus