The Panama Canal and its Makers Part 5

In December, 1906, they reported that--

"Another year's experience with negro labourers from near-by tropical islands and countries has convinced the Commission of the impossibility of doing satisfactory work with them. Not only do they seem to be disqualified by lack of actual vitality, but their disposition to labour seems to be as frail as their bodily strength."

Nevertheless, they are still employed in undiminished numbers on the Isthmus, and the tone of the authorities towards them has changed. This change is noticeable both in the official publications and also in the conversation of the foremen immediately in charge. With regard to the latter, I found a great difference of tone between January, 1907, and April, 1908.

The improved relations with the West Indians is due to two causes, relating to the alleged lack of vitality and of industry respectively.

The lack of strength was found to be due largely to improper diet, and most of the West Indians are now provided with proper cooked meals, as is done in the case of American and European employees. In order to ensure their profiting by this provision, however, the charge for meals in the case of West Indians is deducted from wages. The result of supplying a nourishing diet has been a marked increase in working strength as shown by output.

In respect of disposition to labour there has also been an improvement.

This is shown both by the absence of animadversion in later official reports, and also by the changed tone of the foremen and other Americans in immediate control of the West Indians, when questioned on the subject. In January, 1907, I heard little but disparagement, while in April, 1908, a much more favourable account was given. To one who has seen something of both the United States and of the West Indies, the reason for the improved state of affairs was easily understood, viz., the American foremen and others in charge had begun to understand the type of men with whom they were dealing. Accustomed to the character of the American negro, and to the conventions which regulate intercourse with the coloured man in the United States, they did not at first recognise that the West Indian was a distinct type, and accustomed, at any rate in the British Colonies, to very different social relations towards the white man. The handling of a gang of negroes from the tropics is an art which has had to be learnt.

The Barbadians are reported to be, generally speaking, the best of the West Indian workmen, except the men from some of the country districts of Jamaica, who are their equals. Although the climate and products of the Isthmus are so similar to those of their own islands, comparatively few of these employees settle there, but return to the homes they love so well. It cannot but be gratifying to an Englishman to find that those who come from the British islands are proud of their citizenship and pleased to greet him as a fellow-subject.

There are about ninety negro policemen on the Zone, most of whom were originally trained by English officers in the Jamaica Constabulary. They are highly spoken of by the Chief of Police, who finds that they know both when to arrest and when not to arrest. They are also of much service to the new arrivals of their own colour, who refer to them for all information.

The ordinary West Indian labourer receives 10 cents gold (about 5d.) per hour and free quarters. Deducting the 30 cents _per diem_ charged for meals, he receives 50 cents (2s. 1d.) for an 8-hour day, besides food and lodging.

[Ill.u.s.tration: STEAM SHOVEL EXCAVATING SOIL AT CULEBRA.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: STEAM SHOVEL UNLOADING INTO A DIRT CAR.]

The total number actually at work on the Isthmus has been--

June 30, 1907.

On the Ca.n.a.l Works 14,606 On the Panama Railroad 4,979 ------ Total 19,585

and on June 30, 1908, the number on the Ca.n.a.l Works alone was 16,078.

The total number on the roll is, of course, considerably more than 20,000, as there are necessarily absentees every day owing to sickness, accident, or other cause.

_European Labour on the Isthmus._

In 1906 the number of European labourers on the Isthmus was insignificant, and the Commission, at that time profoundly dissatisfied with the West Indians, issued invitations for proposals to furnish 2,500 Chinese labourers, with the privilege of increasing the number to 15,000.[23] Nothing came of this scheme, however, while, on the other hand, the already improved, and still improving, conditions on the Isthmus enabled the Commission to obtain a largely increased supply of European labour. While the supply of West Indians was maintained constant, or only slowly increased, the additional force required was therefore obtained from Europe. The following figures show this:--

_European Labourers actually at Work on_

June 30, 1906 500 June 30, 1907 4,317 June 30, 1908 4,913

[23] Report of the Isthmian Ca.n.a.l Commission, 1906, p. 14.

A few Russian and Baltic folk came, but appeared unable to stand the work, and the few French who arrived did not take to pick and spade. The majority were from Greece, Italy, and Spain, each of these countries sending at first about the same number. The Greeks proved to be physically inferior to the Italians and Spaniards, and their number in April, 1908, was only about 300.

The Italians, physically excellent, and standing the climate well, were found somewhat intractable. A large proportion were migrant labourers, who had become somewhat p.r.o.ne to collective action when dissatisfied, and their numbers in April, 1908, had been reduced to 500 or 600.

The Spaniards, mainly Galicians and Castilians, were found to be quite equal to the Italians in physique and health, and to give far less trouble, a fact which is attributed partly to the circ.u.mstance that most of them came directly from their villages. They are reported to be sober, patient, civil, and quick to learn. The number employed in April, 1908, was about 5,000, so that the Spaniards const.i.tuted about five-sixths of the European force, which numbered in all slightly over 6,000. The figures given above for those at work on certain days are considerably less, there being always a number absent from one cause or another.

That the Spaniard is not oppressed by the tropical heat was apparent to me when watching gangs at work near mid-day at about the hottest time of year, viz., the last weeks of the dry season, towards the end of April. Clothed in European kit, wearing velveteen trousers and with only a cap for head-covering, these men showed no signs of distress, or even discomfort. They showed, in fact, less sign of being heated than Americans of apparently British or other Northern descent engaged upon less laborious work.

The ordinary European labourer, in addition to free quarters, receives 20 cents gold per hour, or $1.60 per 8-hour day; more when working overtime. He is charged 40 cents _per diem_ for his three meals, served in the European mess, which leaves $1.20 as a _minimum_ net wage _per diem_, or a little less than 30s. per week; but many earn more, and it should not be difficult under these conditions for a labourer to save 5 a month. I was informed of one instance of a Spanish labourer saving 10 per month, but such virtue must be rare.

The Spaniard shows no sign of settling upon the Zone. Sometimes he goes on to railway work in Brazil; more often he returns home with his savings.

_Skilled Labour on the Isthmus._

The skilled labour on the Isthmus has from the outset been mainly done by white Americans, but there are still on the "Gold Roll," as it is termed, some Europeans. New rules reducing the maximum length of leave have, however, made these posts less attractive to those whose homes are at a greater distance, and by an order of February 8, 1908, all future appointments on the Gold Roll shall be American citizens, if the special services required can be obtained in the United States; and in the event of any reduction of force, preference shall be given to American citizens.

The duties being various, the pay necessarily differs, but, taking free quarters into account, is higher than in the United States, as is of course necessary in a distant and tropical land. Since the industrial difficulties of 1907-8 there has been considerable compet.i.tion for these billets. An 8-hour day is established by law for employees on the Gold Roll, the quarters are excellent, and the three meals a day provided at a fixed charge are up to the standard of a good hotel. Indeed, the opportunity to share these meals, supplied in large airy rooms, screened by gauze but open to the breeze, made my task on the Isthmus much lighter. From almost any part of the Ca.n.a.l I could reach one of the Commission "hotels" for meal-time, and for 50 cents (2s. 1d.) obtain better food than I have generally been able to get in the tropics at a much higher price. I took pleasure also in my company, for, if I may be permitted to say so, the skilled mechanic of the United States has always seemed to me a most attractive representative of his nation; and here particularly so, where one is in touch with his work. Moreover, each man's job on the Isthmus is part of a vast undertaking, the progress of which he can watch, which fires his enthusiasm, and makes him feel that he has a reward beyond his wage in the privilege of partic.i.p.ating in national achievement.

[Ill.u.s.tration: STEAM SHOVEL NEAR END OF STROKE.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: STEAM SHOVEL, STROKE FINISHED, LOADED WITH SOIL.]

I should like in this place to add a word of tribute to the great courtesy and kindness which they show towards ladies, a circ.u.mstance which did much to render pleasant the excursions which my wife took on the Isthmus, sometimes in my company and sometimes alone.

The number of Americans on the Gold Roll in January, 1908, was about 6,000, the total number of employees on the rolls of the Commission and of the Panama Railroad being then approximately 43,000. The total number of employees actually at work on January 29, 1908, was

On the Ca.n.a.l works 25,367 On the Panama Railroad 6,557 ------ Total 31,924

_The Responsible Officials and the Scheme of their Organisation._

The responsibility for Ca.n.a.l construction under the conditions laid down by Acts of Congress is vested in the President of the United States, within the limits of the money which has so far been voted. The President appointed a Commission in 1905 to carry out the work. The first chief engineer appointed was Mr. John F. Wallace, who arrived on the Zone June 28, 1904, accompanied by Colonel Gorgas, U.S.A., head of the Sanitation Department. Mr. Wallace was in favour of a tide-level ca.n.a.l. In April, 1905, the President appointed a second Commission in place of the first, with a changed _personnel_,[24] but Mr. Wallace was retained as chief engineer, and, moreover, became a member of the second Commission.

[24] Colonel Gorgas, head of the Department of Sanitation, has remained, however, through all changes. See _post_, Chapter V.

He, however, resigned, June 26, 1905, and his place was taken by Mr.

John F. Stephens, who arrived on the Zone July 27th. At this time there was panic throughout the Isthmus[25] owing to the prevalent sickness, and resignations were so numerous that it was difficult to carry on work at all, and engineering operations were partly suspended for a time.

When the sanitary conditions improved, however, work was resumed with vigour. This second Commission proposed that the work should be put out to contract, and bids were invited. It was under this Commission that the 85-foot-level ca.n.a.l became law. Mr. Stephens was in favour of this form. He resigned early in 1907, his resignation taking effect on April 1st, and at the same time the President for the second time reorganised the Commission.

[25] See Report of the Governor of the Ca.n.a.l Zone, 1905, p. 30, and "Sanitation in the Ca.n.a.l Zone," by W.C. Gorgas, M.B., Colonel, _Journ.

Am. Med. a.s.soc._, July 6, 1907, vol. xlix.

The third Commission, appointed April 1, 1907, which is that under which the work was being carried on at the time of my second visit, differs from its predecessors in that its members are resident on the Zone. Thus the members of the Commission are the actual executive, the chairman of the Commission being himself chief engineer. The other important difference between the present and the former organisations is the fact that almost all the important departments are now under officers of the United States Army, and in one instance of the Navy. The chairman and chief engineer, Lieutenant-Colonel George W. Goethals, of the Corps of Engineers, had previous experience of the Isthmus, having been engaged upon work connected with fortification. With respect to the other officers of engineers, the significance of the appointments lies not in their being military men, but in their being permanent Government servants. The Government of the United States, unlike that of his Britannic Majesty, does not possess a large Civil Service whose members remain in the public employment through all changes of political parties. In the absence of any considerable body corresponding, for instance, to our Indian Civil Service, the Government of the United States frequently relies upon the Corps of Engineers for the supervision of great public works.

At the time of my second visit the scheme of organisation was as shown in the following table:--

GENERAL ORGANISATION OF DEPARTMENTS.

-----------------------------+--------+--------------------------- Men Excavation and Dredging 12,359 Major D.D. Gaillard Locks and Dams 9,340 Major Wm. L. Sibert Machinery and Buildings[26] 2,164 H.H. Rouseau, U.S.N.

Labour, Subsistence, and } Quarters } 2,048 Jackson Smith (resigned) Material and Supplies 1,220 W.G. Tubby Sanitation 2,449 Colonel W.C. Gorgas Civil Administration 451 J.C.S. Blackburn Panama Railroad 6,619 W.G. Bierd -----------------------------+--------+---------------------------

[26] Now merged in other departments.

[Ill.u.s.tration: STEAM SHOVEL AT CULEBRA.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: SHOVEL-MEN AT CULEBRA.]