Vol. XVII, No. 2 



WASHINGTON 



February, 1906 



6 



ATEONAL 

 MBAMi 



THE PANAMA CANAL 



By Hon. Theodore P. Shonts 

 Chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission 



An article by Mr Shonts was published in the December, 1905, number of 

 this Magazine, describing the sanitary revolution on the Isthmus and the enor- 

 mous purchases of supplies, 61 steam shovels, etc. The present paper explains 

 the experiments with foreign labor, the arrangements for equal transportation 

 facilities, and other questions not previously described. 



IT is a pleasure to speak of the Pana- 

 ma Canal in the home of Secretary 

 Taft, and to an assemblage of his 

 neighbors and friends. He is a son of 

 Cincinnati and of Ohio in whom the 

 whole country takes pride, for his 

 services on the bench, in the Philip- 

 pines, and in the government at 

 Washington have brought honor, not 

 only to his native city and state, but to 

 the American name before the world. I 

 consider it a high privilege to be asso- 

 ciated with him under the direction of 

 President Roosevelt in the conduct of 

 the most stupendous enterprise to which 

 this nation has ever put its hand. lie 

 brings to this task the broad intellectual 

 grasp, the calm, clear judgment, the com- 

 plete patriotic devotion, and the inflexi- 

 ble, uncompromising, and outspoken hon- 

 esty that are the distinguishing traits of 

 his public career. The value to the 

 country of the services of such a man in 



its government cannot be overestimated. 

 When the canal shall have been com- 

 pleted — as completed it surely will be — 

 no small share of the credit for the great 

 achievement will be due to his wise coun- 

 sel, inspiriting cooperation, and unflag- 

 ging faith in the ability of the American 

 people to solve any problem with which 

 they are confronted. 



I am here tonight to talk, as I have 

 said, not of an experiment, but of an as- 

 sured success. We are not merely going 

 to build the Panama Canal — we are 

 building it. Preparation is a part, and a 

 most important part, of the work of con- 

 struction. When that shall have been 

 fully and thoroughly accomplished, a 

 great step forward will have been taken. 

 You cannot erect a house until you have 

 laid the foundation. You cannot run a 

 railway until you have laid the tracks. 

 You cannot build a chimney by placing 

 the top bricks first. These are trite tru- 



* An address to the Commercial Club, Cincinnati, Ohio, January 20, 1906. 



