THE PANAMA CANAL 



349 



have a sea-level canal with a prism of 

 300 to 400 feet wide, with the curves 

 that must now exist reduced, it would be 

 preferable to the plan of the minority, 

 but ;the time and cost of constructing 

 such a canal are in effect prohibitive." 



We are justly proud of the organiza- 

 tion for the prosecution of the work. 

 The force originally organized by Mr 

 John F. Stevens for the attack upon the 

 continental divide has been modified and 

 enlarged as the necessities of the situa- 

 tion required, until at the present time it 

 approaches the perfection of a huge ma- 

 chine, and all are working together to a 

 common end. The manner in which the 

 work is being done and the spirit of en- 

 thusiasm that is manifested by all forcibly 

 strikes every one who visits the works. 



The main object of our being there is 

 the construction of the canal ; everything 

 else is subordinate to it, and the work of 

 every department is directed to the ac- 

 complishment of that object. 



In addition to the department of con- 

 struction and engineering, there are the 

 departments of sanitation and civil ad- 

 ministration, the quartermaster's and 

 subsistence departments, the purchasing 

 department organized in the United 

 States, the legal department, and the 

 departments of examination of accounts 

 and disbursements. Subordinated to, 

 but acting in conjunction with, the com- 

 mission is the Panama Railroad. 



the canal zonk has become: one of 



THE HEALTHIEST REGIONS IN 

 THE WORLD 



Too much credit cannot be given to 

 the department of sanitation, which, in 

 conjunction with the division of munici- 

 pal engineering, has wrought such a 

 change in the conditions as they existed 

 in 1904 as to make the construction of 

 the canal possible. This department is 

 subdivided into the health department, 

 which has charge of the hospitals, super- 

 vision of health matters in Panama and 

 Colon, and of the quarantine, and into 

 the sanitary inspection department, 

 which looks after the destruction of the 

 mosquito by various methods, by grass 

 and brush cutting, the draining of 



various swampy areas, and the oiling of 

 unavoidable pools and stagnant streams. 



According to the statistics of the 

 health department, based on the death 

 rate, the Canal Zone is one of the health- 

 iest communities in the world, but in this 

 connection it must be remembered that 

 our population consists of men and 

 women in the prime of life, with few, if 

 any, of the aged, and that a number of 

 the sick are returned to the United States 

 before death overtakes them. 



To the sanitary department are also 

 assigned 11 chaplains employed by the 

 commission to attend the sick, as well as 

 to look after the spiritual welfare of the 

 employees. At most of the villages there 

 is a combined church and lodge house, so 

 constructed that the lower floor is used 

 for divine service, while the upper part 

 provides places for meetings of the 

 various lodges. The assignment of time 

 to ministers and to lodges is made by 

 the quartermaster's department. 



The department of civil administration 

 exercises supervision over the courts, 

 which consist of three circuit and five 

 district judges; the three former, sitting 

 in banc, constitute the supreme court. 

 The district courts take cognizance of all 

 cases where the fine does not exceed $100 

 or imprisonment does not exceed thirty 

 days. Jury trials are restricted to crimes 

 involving the death penalty or life im- 

 prisonment — in short, summary justice 

 rules, and so long as the zone is nothing 

 more nor less than a construction camp 

 this form of law or justice will continue 

 to be the most satisfactory. 



The department of civil administration 

 has charge also of the police force, the 

 post-offices, collection of customs and 

 taxes, the issue of licenses, and the 

 public school system. The schools are 

 improved to such an extent that the chil- 

 dren of the employees have very nearly 

 the same advantage as in the United 

 States up to and including the high- 

 school courses. 



THE LABORERS 



The quartermaster's department has 

 charge of the recruiting of labor, the 

 care, repair, and maintenance of quar- 



