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The National Geographic Magazine 



tary Taft, the Canal Commission, Gov- 

 ernor Magoon, Chief Engineer Stevens, 

 Colonel Gorgas, and everything that has 

 been done on the Isthmus since the 

 American government came into posses- 

 sion of the Canal Zone. 



A MISSTATEMENT 



He has been not merely answered but 

 annihilated by Secretary Taft and Mr 

 Stevens, and I shall waste no time with 

 him. One point only will I mention as 

 an illustration of his miraculous powers 

 of observation. He said that during a 

 recent rain the volume of water was so 

 great in the sewers of Panama that it 

 "backed the sewage up into cellars and 

 ruined many houses." There is not a 

 cellar in Panama and never has been. 



the; testimony oe an American busi- 

 ness MAN WHO HAS LIVED l6 YEARS 

 IN PANAMA 



A few days after this masterpiece of 

 mendacity appeared in print I took up 

 the Washington Post, a newspaper which 

 is not open to the charge of extreme 

 partisan support of the Canal Commis- 

 sion, and read therein the following 

 interesting statement: 



"Mr John N. Popham, a former Vir- 

 ginian, who has many friends in Wash- 

 ington, was seen yesterday at the Shore- 

 ham. For the past sixteen years Mr 

 Popham has been engaged in railway 

 building and mining manganese on the 

 Isthmus of Panama and in Costa Rica. 

 He was for five years special agent of the 

 United States Treasury on the Isthmus, 

 and no man is better qualified to speak 

 of the conditions existing in that country. 

 In conversation with a Post reporter Mr 

 Popham said : 



"' 'Prior to last May the conditions on 

 the Isthmus may have been open to just 

 and intelligent criticism, caused by the de- 

 lay in improving the physical condition 

 of the Panama Railroad, purchase of 

 necessary rolling stock, and improving 

 the terminal facilities. But those condi- 



tions are forgotten history. The fair- 

 minded residents of the Isthmus appreci- 

 ate the magnificent efforts and splendid 

 results accomplished since that time.' 



"The statement made by Mr Poultney 

 Bigelow is so far from being fair, the 

 views so distorted, and the inference so 

 frail, that it is only laughed at on the 

 Isthmus, and it was so fully covered at 

 home by that part of the President's 

 communication to Congress the 8th in- 

 stant, under the heading of 'Scandal- 

 mongers,' that there is but little left for 

 a self-respecting American resident of 

 the Isthmus to add. The people of 

 Panama are intelligent, capable people. 

 They appreciate the results accom- 

 plished; they have been and are anxious 

 and willing to continue to help our peo- 

 ple in the great enterprise that means so 

 much to the whole world. 



"After sixteen years' experience on 

 and in the vicinity of the Isthmus, and 

 knowing, as I do, the homes of the West 

 India laborer in the great banana-pro- 

 ducing districts near Colon, Bocas del 

 Toro, and Port Limon, and having for 

 many years employed from 400 to 700 

 Jamaicans daily at our mines, 35 miles 

 from Colon, I feel competent to judge 

 and to tell you that the West India 

 laborer has never known, and in his 

 most pleasant dreams has never hoped 

 for, the splendid care and liberal treat- 

 ment he is receiving from our govern- 

 ment on the Isthmus of Panama. 



"My knowledge of the affairs of the 

 canal company only enables me to speak 

 of conditions on the Isthmus and the 

 work in progress there. But in every de- 

 partment of the canal work during the 

 past seven months on the Isthmus the 

 people of this country can rest assured 

 that the investigation to be made by the 

 Senate committee will confirm the fol- 

 lowing lines found in the President's 

 communication to Congress : 'The work 

 on the Isthmus is being admirably done, 

 and great progress has been made.' " 



That, gentlemen, is the testimony, vol- 



