February 12, 1999
Message of The President
on The Panama Canal
Communicated to the two Houses of Congress
by President Theodore Roosevelt
December 17, 1906
In the month of November I visited the Isthmus of
Panama, going over the Canal Zone with considerable care; and also visited the cities of
Panama and Colon, which are not in the Zone or under the United States flag, but as to
which the United States Government, through its agents, exercises control for certain
sanitary purposes. The U.S.S. Louisiana, on which I was, anchored off Colon
about half past 2 on Wednesday afternoon, November 14. I came aboard her, after my
stay on shore, at about half past 9 on Saturday evening, November 17. On Wednesday
afternoon and evening I received the President of Panama and his suite, and saw members of
the Canal Commission, and various other gentlemen, perfecting the arrangements for my
visit, so that every hour that I was ashore could be employed to advantage. I was
three days ashore -- not a sufficient length of time to allow of an exhaustive
investigation of the minutiae of the work of any single department, still less to pass
judgment on the engineering problems, but enough to enable me to get a clear idea of the
salient features of the great work and of the progress that has been made as regards the
sanitation of the Zone, Colon, and Panama, the caring for and housing of the employees,
and the actual digging of the canal. The Zone is a narrow strip of land, and it can
be inspected much as one can inspect 50 or 60 miles of a great railroad, at the point
where it runs through mountains or overcomes other natural obstacles.
I chose the month of November for my visit partly because it is the rainiest month of the
year, the month in which the work goes forward at the greatest disadvantage, and one of
the two months which the medical department of the French Canal Company found most
unhealthy.
Immediately after anchoring on the afternoon of Wednesday there was a violent storm of
wind and rain. From that time we did not again see the sun until Saturday morning,
the rain continuing almost steadily, but varying from a fine drizzle to a torrential
downpour. During that time in fifteen minutes at Cristobal 1.05 inches of rain fell;
from 1 to 3 a.m., November 16, 3.2 inches fell; for the twenty-four hours ending noon,
November 16, 4.68 inches fell, and for the six days ending noon, November 16, 10.24 inches
fell. The Chagres rose in flood to a greater height than it had attained during the
last fifteen years, tearing out the track in one place. It would have been
impossible to see the work going on under more unfavorable weather conditions. On
Saturday, November 17, the sun shone now and then for a few minutes, although the day was
generally overcast and there were heavy showers at intervals.
First Day Ashore
On Thursday morning we landed at about half past seven and went slowly over the line of
the Panama Railway, ending with an expedition in a tug at the Pacific entrance of the
canal out to the islands where the dredging for the canal will cease. We took our
dinner at one of the eating houses furnished by the Commission for the use of the
Government employees -- no warning of our coming being given. I inspected the Ancon
Hospital, going through various wards both for white patients and for colored
patients. I inspected portions of the constabulary (Zone police), examining the men
individually. I also examined certain of the schools and saw the school children,
both white and colored, speaking with certain of the teachers. In the afternoon of
this day I was formally received in Panama by President Amador, who together with the
Government and all the people of Panama, treated me with the most considerate courtesy,
for which I hereby extend my most earnest thanks. I was driven through Panama and in
a public square was formally received and welcomed by the President and other members of
the Government; and in the evening I attended a dinner given by the President, and a
reception, which was also a Government function. I also drove through the streets of
Panama for the purpose of observing what had been done. We slept at the Hotel
Tivoli, at Ancon, which is on a hill directly outside of the city of Panama, but in the
Zone.
Second Day
On Friday morning we left the hotel at 7 o'clock and spent the entire day going through
the Culebra cut -- the spot in which most work will have to be done in any event. We
watched the different steam shovels working; we saw the drilling and blasting; we saw many
of the dirt trains (of the two different types used), both carrying the earth away from
the steam shovels and depositing it on the dumps -- some of the dumps being run out in the
jungle merely to get rid of the earth, while in other cases they are being used for double
tracking the railway, and in preparing to build the great dams. I visited many of
the different villages, inspecting thoroughly many different buildings -- the local
receiving hospitals, the houses in which the unmarried white workmen live, those in which
the unmarried colored employees; as well as the commissary stores, the bath houses, the
water-closets, the cook sheds for the colored laborers, and the Government canteens, or
hotels, at which most of the white employees take their meals. I went through the
machine shops. During the day I talked with scores of different men --
superintendents and heads of departments, divisions, and bureaus; steam-shovel men,
machinists, conductors, engineers, clerks, wives of the American employees, health
officers, colored laborers, colored attendants, and managers of the commissary stores
which food is sold to the colored laborers; wives of the colored employees who are
married. In the evening I had an interview with the British consul, Mr. Mallet, a
gentleman who for many years has well and honorably represented the British Government on
the Isthmus of Panama and who has a peculiar relation to our work because the bulk of the
colored laborers come from the British West Indies. I also saw the French consul,
Mr. Gey, a gentleman of equally long service and honorable record. I saw the
lieutenants, the chief executive and administrative officers, under the engineering and
sanitary departments. I also saw and had long talks with two deputations -- one of
machinists and one representing the railway men of the dirt trains -- listening to what
they had to saw as to the rate of pay and various other matters and going over, as much in
detail as possible, all the different questions they brought up. As to some matters
I was able to meet their wishes; as to others, I felt that what they requested could not
be done consistently with my duty to the United States Government as a whole; as to yet
others I reserved judgment.
Third Day
On Saturday morning we started at 8 o'clock from the hotel. We went through the
Culebra cut stopping off to see the marines, and also to investigate certain towns; one,
of white employees, as to which in certain respects complaint had been made to me; and
another town where I wanted to see certain homes of the colored employees. We went
over the site of the proposed Gatun dam, having on the first day inspected the sites of
the proposed La Boca and Sosa dams. We went out on a little toy railway to the
reservoir, which had been built to supply the people of Colon with water for their houses.
There we took lunch at the engineers' mess. We then went through the stores
and shops of Cristobal, inspecting carefully the houses of both the white and colored
employees, married and unmarried, together with the other buildings. We then went to
Colon and saw the fire department at work; in four minutes from the signal the engines had
come down to Front street, and twenty-one 2 1/2-inch hose pipes were raising streams of
water about 75 feet high. We rode abut Colon, through the various streets, paved,
unpaved, and in process of paving, looking at the ditches, sewers, curbing, and the
lights. I then went over to the Colon hospital in order to compare it with the
temporary town or field receiving hospitals which I had already seen and inspected.
I also inspected some of the dwellings of the employees. In the evening I attended a
reception given by the American employees on the Isthmus, which took place on one of the
docks in Colon, and there went aboard the Louisiana.
Each day from twelve to eighteen hours were spent in going over and inspecting all there
was to be seen, and in examining various employees. Throughout my trip I was
accompanied by the Surgeon-General of the Navy, Doctor Rixey; by the Chairman of the
Isthmian Canal Commission, Mr. Shonts; by Chief Engineer Stevens; by Doctor Gorgas, the
chief sanitary officer of the Commission; by Mr. Bishop, the Secretary of the Commission;
by Mr. Ripley, the Principal Assistant Engineer; by Mr. Jackson Smith, who has had
practical charge of collecting and handling the laboring force; by Mr. Bierd, general
manager of the railway, and by Mr. Rogers, the general counsel of the Commission; and many
other officials joined us from time to time.
At the outset I wish to pay a tribute to the amount of work done by the French Canal
Company under very difficult circumstances. Many of the buildings they put up were
excellent and are still in use, though, naturally, the houses are now getting out of
repair and are being used as dwellings only until other houses can be built, and much of
the work they did in Culebra cut, and some of the work they did in digging has been of
direct and real benefit. This country has never made a better investment than the
$40,000,000 which it paid to the French Company for work and betterments, including
especially the Panama Railroad.
An inspection on the ground at the height of the rainy season served to convince me of the
wisdom of Congress in refusing to adopt either a high-level or a sea-level canal.
There seems to be a universal agreement among all people competent to judge that the
Panama route, the one actually chosen, is much superior to both the Nicaragua and Darien
routes.
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Presented by CZBrats
February 12, 1999