Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-07-14

that IN nine years We would have
removed more than 200.000.O00
cubic yards OF earth aud rock.
laid 5.O00.00O cubic yards OF concrete.
made dams aud fIlls Of more than 90
100000 cubic yards. relocated the Pan
ann railroad, spent no more than
$30000O.O00 and put the first ship
through from the Atlantic tu the PaC'if-
&c. Europe would have smiled at our
youthful temerity: Yet IN 1913 we will
have done precisely that
During the first two years and a
half the canal WAS In It's first phase
1t was the period Of pioneering. prep
aration and adjustment. Two chief
engineers were tried from the ranks
Of civil life. accomplishing the main
prellminaries 10 canal construction be-
fore their departure.
The second phase OF the canal was
from the beginning Of 1907 10 the
spring Of 1912. During these six
years the heart of the task was accom-
pllshed President Roosevelt had
found the man who was 10 take the
organization built up by the men from
the ranks of private industry and hurl
II against the natEral obstacles that
stood la the way of success. Colonel
Goethals was TO take the blueprfnts
aud head full Of theories and work
them ont into the lock J. dams and
cuts In concrete mold { DAT.
The third aud last phase begin In
1912. when the chef thgineer set Oc-
tober. 1918. as the date for the sub
stantial-4ompletio OF the cannl. 1t Is
distinguished by the gradual disper-
sion OF the army Of workers. by the
reverse process Of the first two years
and 10y the creation OF Il permanent
operating fore with the detail finish
ing work that attends every large prof.
ect.
The east has furnished the canal
with It's chief engineers Wallace from
Massachusetts. Stevens from Maine.
tsoetlaIs from New York. But every
state In the Union has furnished the
rank and Gle. us well as every nation
IN the world
Standing out distinctly from the
construction phase Of the enterprise
Is the figure OF Colonel Gorgas the
ehief sanitary officer. now. as In the
critical days of 1905. quiet. alert. con-
fident. The last days Of the canal find
a perfect mechanism OF his creation
recording his ideas with dispatch and
precision. receiving the phudits OF
this and secure IN the admiration OF
succeeding generations.
The locks may grow too small. the
Gatuu dam may break. a caving In or
the foundations OF the, colossal strne-
lures may otyur aud other conyuisions
Of nature may disable the canal. but
nothing can rob the Americans OF
wonderful achievement. nor will the
work have Deen without glory and Jus
tification no matter what the future
holds. We still could rejoice In the
sheer courage. persistence and indom-
liable ability that hare wrought the
work IN Panama.
Just az the civil war developed Grant
and the Spanish American war Dewey
and Schley. so has the Panama canal
developed Goethals. He Justly is eel
ebrated in the, periodical and daily
press and In books as splendid en-
bodiment OF Americanism-the ideal
combination Of ability and integrity.
A perspective view Of the whole en-
ferprise shows that Theodore Roose-
welt by his individual actions on at
ieast three occasions vitality affected
the canal and its successful consum-
nation. When he cut the Gordian knot
OF diplomacy and took the canal zone
he made the first long stride toward
interoceanic communication. When he
threw his weight into the scale for a
lock type canal he decided the most
critical question that ever arose in the
career OF the enterprise. The third
time his Judgment prevented great
mistake was when the project def
nitely was taken from the possibility
of private construction and placed In
the hands exclusively Of government
supervision. There were lesser deci-
sions OF great moment. notably the
order for widening the locks and the
Culebra cut. and his whole connection
with the project was such as to rank
as the most brilliant phase OF his adj
mInistratlons.
TO July I, 1913. tue canal had cost.
eight months before its completion.
SOS 100000. This was divided as fol-
lows: Canal zone. $1000O.00o: French
purchase. $40.o00OOo: engineering and
construction. $iS4Oee.OOo: general ex
penditnres. SS1 .Gc0o 600: sanitation. SIC.
100000: civil administration. $780,
coo: Notifications. $3.o0o0oo.
At the san Francisco exposition some
compensation will be found for fail
ure Ia see the canal by an exhibit of
every Kind Of machinery used by the
French and the Americans In the thir-
ty-nye years Of construction. or from