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HEARST’S SUNDAY AMERICAN, ATLANTA. GA„ SUNDAY, MAY 23, 1015:
General Goethals’ Own Story of the Building of the Panama Canal
The Greatest Engineer of the Day Tells Here
How the Organization of That Loyal and
Efficient Body of Men Who Dug the Big
Ditch Was Perfected Under His Guidance.
By GENERAL GEORGE W. GOETHALS.
T HE organization through which the Canal
was constructed was the result of a proc
ess of development, and clear understand
ing of It can best be conveyed by outlining, as
briefly as possible, the steps which led to Its
adoption. This outline will Include, necessar
ily, an account of the conditions which existed
at the time the work was transferred, in 1907,
and the Impediments to progress which devel
oped subsequently.
As noted In a previous article, Major Gall-
lard and I arrived on the Isthmus in March
of that year In company with a party of Con
gressmen. During their visit we accompanied
them on the sightseeing trains supplied by the
officials for inspection of the work, thereby get
ting a general Idea of what was being done,
what was contemplated, and the methods em
ployed. After the departure of the Congress
men time was devoted to going over the work
in greater detail, looking particularly into the
organization, for upon this factor success in
such enterprises always depends.
There were In operation at the time depart
ments and divisions covering all phases of the
work, the chief of which were engineering
and construction, directly under the chief en
gineer In charge of the construction of the
Canal; sanitation, In charge of the sanitation of
the Canal Zone, the cities of Panama and
Colon, hospitals and quarantine; law and gov
ernment, in charge of courts, schools, police,
Are, postal affairs, customs, and public works;
labor, quarters, and subsistence, in charge of
recruiting skilled and unskilled labor, assign
ment and care of quarters, and management
of hotelg, messes and kitchens, building con
struction, engaged in the erection of quarters;
mechanical, in charge of shops; municipal en
gineering. in charge of streets, sewers and
water supply; material and supplies, in charge
of equipment and construction materials of all
kinds; meteorology and river hydraulics; and
others In charge of map-making and lithogra
phy.
With the settlement in June, 1906, of the
question that had been pending for some time
as to the type of canal, a designing force had
been organized to prepare the plans for the
locks, lock-gates and their appurtenances, and
the spill ways with their operating mechan
isms. This force was located in Washington,
and was under the direction and supervision of
a committee composed of the engineer mem
bers of the commission who were stationed in
the United States.
The chief element In the organization was,
of course, the Isthmian Canal Commission of
seven members, which constituted the execu
tive control. There had been considerable fric
tion and trouble in previous commissions be
cause of this seven-headed authority.
Mr. Stevens maintained that the commission
system had never been given a fair trial, and
that its ineffectiveness was due. not to the sys
tem itself, but to the way in which it had been
handled. He claimed, in the case of the one
with which he had been connected, that its
members had been practically ignored since
their services were called for only when a
quorum was necessary for a vote on a propo
sition. He believed that with a proper person
nel, under intelligent leadership, the work
could be subdivided among the members in
such a way as to secure better results than
had been obtained, but this could be hoped for
only in case the chairman was vested with the
direction of the various subdivisions and with
final approval or veto power.
I had not given the matter any thought, for
this form of executive control had been pro
vided by law, and that settled the matter. Still,
there co.uld be no question that in any under
taking there must be a directing and controll
ing head; and this would be accomplished were
the veto power vested in the chairman of the
commission
In common with other visitors to the Canal,
1 -was strongly impressed by the magnitude of
the work, which seemed to grow greater the
more closely examination was made. Whether
the new 7 regime W'ould be able to carry the bur
den remained to be seen; there were times
when I had a feeling of doubt: but certain it is
that w'e were fortunate in falling heir to the
organization that had been perfected for exca
vating Culebra Cut, for no one not thoroughly
familiar with railroad transportation and not
possessed of organizing ability could have suc
ceeded in this part of the work- the one part
for w-hich our previous training had not fitted
any of us.
The lock type of canal had been adopted only
the previous June* so that the organization for
other portions of the construction work was
In a more or less tentative stage. The period
of preparation was practically completed, how
ever, and the success subsequently attained is
indicative of the thoroughness and clear-sight
edness displayed in the preparatory work. Re
calling the President’s desire to continue in
tact the existing organization, I could not but
feel that it would be madness to attempt any
change; such a course, had it been taken,
would have resulted in nothing short of chaos.
because of his familiarity with the work in
all its ramifications, I took counsel with Mr.
Stevens as to the manner in which he would
so subdivide it as to utilize to the fullest ex
tent the services of the other members of the
commission and at the same time carry out the
views of the President by placing each in
charge of a department.
’"kree of them fell into place naturally—Col
onel Gorgas at the head of the department of
sanitation, Mr. Jackson Smith at the head of
the department of labor, quarters and subsist
ence, and ex-Senator Blackburn as Governor.
For the other three, who were engineers, there
must be found departments, and necessarily
they must form part of the department of con
struction and engineering, which remained
with the Chief Engineer.
Following the suggestion of Mr. Stevens, I
decided to organize the department of excava
tion and assign to it Major Gaillard, with super
visory charge of all excavation both dry and
wet, and Major Sibert to the department of
lock-and-dam construction. Instead of placing
Mr. Rousseau at the head of the division of
material and supplies, as bad been suggested,
[ combined the divisions of municipal engi
neering, building construction, and motive
power and machinery into one department, and
assigned him to the head of it. In this way
each of the engineers was given charge of en
gineering work.
Mr. Stevens retired from the service at the
end of March, 1907, and on April 1 the man
agement of Canal affairs passed into the hands
of the third commission that had been created
since construction was undertaken. The Sec
retary of War (Mr. Taft) was on the Isthmus
at the time, and various questions concerning
the organization were taken up with him.
The Canal Commission maintained its head
quarters in Washington, which for a time were
in charge of the Bureau of Insular Affairs of.
the War Department. Soon after the creation
of the second Canal Commission, Mr. Shonts,
chairman of that Commission, took charge of
the office. He, as well as the other members
of the commission, spent most of his time in
Washington, making only occasional visits to
the Isthmus.
When Mr. Shonts resigned, on March 4, 1907,
Mr. Stevens, who had been appointed a member
of the commission in July, 1906, was appointed
,’halrman as well as Chief Engineer; this was
the first move in the direction of concentrating
authority. He designated Mr. Joseph Bucklin
Bishop, who was secretary of the Commission,
o act as the head of the Washington office,
which action was approved temporarily by the
Secretary of War. Mr. Taft preferred to have
the office placed again under the Bureau of
Insular Affairs, but for various reasons this
could not be accomplished. I desired to have
Mr. Bishop on the Isthmus. All the members
were there, and the secretary should be also.
From the committee of the labor organiza
tions I had learned that the members of the
working force had been given little opportunity
for a hearing in case any of them had griev
ances and complaints. While I had promised
hearings in all such cases, I was assured that
it would not be possible for me to attend per
sonally to matters of this kind; if this should
prove to be the case, then there was great need
for some one to look after them, and it seemed
to me that Mr. Bishop, by reason of his posi
tion, rvould not only be useful, but the proper
person in this field.
How pending labor questions would be set
tled was unknown at the time, for the formal
hearing by the Secretary of War had not been
held, but there had been instances of com
plaints and grievances being taken direct to
the President, so that more were likely to. be,
and if the Commission side could be presented
as such cases occurred our authority would be
strengthened materially. If Mr. Bishop lived
on the Isthmus he would be familiar with local
conditions, and would be of much assistance in
making such presentations.
I had a further reason for desiring his pres
ence with the Commission. In my interview
with the President on February 18, as men
tioned in a previous article, I suggested that
the Canal work be placed under the Chief of
Engineers of the army, in order that I might
have a “friend at court.” Having failed in this,
I realized that Mr. Bishop would be much more
valuable on the Isthmus than in Washington,
for that the President had confidence in him
was indicated clearly in what he said about
him at that time. Mr. Taft expressed doubt
about the President sending M{. Bishop down,
hut suggested that I write to him after his re
turn to Washington and make the necessary
application. In regard to the Washington of
fice, while it served many useful purposes,
there was no doubt that its most important
duty was to contract for supplies and purchase
and inspect them. Officers of the Corps of
Engineers had experience in such matters, and,
furthermore, if through the Chief of Engineers
inspection could be made by his local officers
distributed over the country, usually in com
mercial and manufacturing centers, in connec
tion with river and harbor work, some economy
would result. I therefore advocated that an
army engineer be placed in charge of the
Washington office, acting under the Chief of
Engineers.
Previous to the advent of the new' Commis
sion there had arisen some friction between
the head of the department of law and govern
ment and the Chief Engineer, due tb lack of
proper co-operation, for there was the seeming
impression on the part of the former that the
raison d’etre of the presnee of the Americans
on the Isthmus was not primarily to construct
a canal, but to set an example in government
to the republics of Central and South America.
Referring to this subject, Mr. Stevens was
said to have remarked: "It is a case of the
tail wagging the dog.”
Mr. Taft concluded, after examining the sit
uation, that in order to subordinate everything
to the construction work the chairman of the
Commission should have direction over the
civil functions, and on April 2, 1907, he issued
an executive order, by direction of the Presi
dent, decreeing that the "authority of the Gov
ernor or Chief Executive of the Canal Zone,
under existing laws, regulations and executive
orders, shall be vested in and exercised by the
chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission.”
This put an end to that source of friction, and
also to the idea which had been the cause of it,.
In view of this order I was instructed that
when Senator Blackburn arrived on the Isth
mus he should be assigned to duty as “Govern
or,” but designated as head of the department
of civil administration. The official designation
—“Governor”—thus passed out of existence un
til revived by the Panama Canal Act of August
24. 1912.
I brought up with Mr. Taft the question of
giving me the veto power over any action of
the Commission, and in discussing the matter
he expressed the hope that as all the members
of the Commission were on the Isthmus things
would work more smoothly under the seven
headed system. I explained to him the views
of the President, who had said he would give
me such power, and suggested that, while occa
sion for use of the power might not arise, it
might be advisable to issue an order con
ferring it
This he did not think it advisable to do, for
the law contained no such provision, but appa
rently contemplated the settlement of all ques
tions by majority rule; he preferred not to re
duce the bestowal of the power to writing, and
suggested that should it prove to be desirable
or necessary to exercise it I take such action
and report the facts to him. In this connec
tion I learned from him that a man’s useful
ness in the public service is determined by the
Toro Point, or West Breakivtaer in Colon Harbor, about two miles in length, fifteen feet wide at the top, surface 10 feet above mean sea level, is shown at the left. It
contains about 3,000,000 cubic yards of rock und is armored with specially hard rock. Pay-day at Cubera, January, 1908, is seen at the right. The pay car was taken to
the centers of greatest activity along the canal, and the men paid off there twice a month while the work was in progress. A section of the Ancon Hospital grounds, where
employees of the canal were taken care of in case of serious accident or illness, appears below at the left. At the right are the first and second lock-gates at Gatun.
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abuse and criticism he can take without com
plaining.
As Secretary of War, Mr. Taft was the prin
cipal stockholder of the Panama Railroad Com
pany, which was operating under its corporate
charter from the State of New York; conse
quently, he directed its policy. The board of
directors was composed of thirteen stockhold
ers, and he proposed to divide the board into
two parts—seven members on the Isthmus and
six in the United States. He had instructed
the New York board that the members of the
Ishtmian Canal Commission should be elected
directors, and that I should be selected as the
president of the company, so that the interests
of the railroad on the Isthmus and those of
the Commission could be adjusted on the
ground.
Subsequent to Mr. Taft's return ot Washing
ton, I made application for the transfer of Mr.
Bishop to the Isthmus, and recommended that
the policy outlined above relative to the Wash
ington office be made effective. The outcome
was that Major H. F. Hodges, of the Corps of
Engineers, was placed in charge of the Wash
ington office, for which duty he could be spared,
apparently, though a few months earlier this
was not possible, and Mr. Bishop was trans
ferred to the Isthmus, arriving there on Au
gust 7.
In the interval that had elapsed since assum
ing charge I had become convinced that some
kind of newspaper was greatly needed in order
that information about the various phases of
the work might be disseminated among the
member of the force, and I discussed the mat
ter with Mr. Bishop as a part of his duties.
He proposed the publication of a weekly official
paper, under the authority and supervision of
the Commission, which should set forth the
progress of the work, together with Incidents
and general developments of interest to the
men, with the view, primarily, of keeping thorn
informed, and, secondarily, of affording to the
public of the United States means of obtaining
accurate and unquestionable information on
the subject.
He drew a plan for such a publication, which
was approved by the Commission, and in Sep
tember, 1907, the first number of The Canal
Record was issued. Its publication continued
throughout the construction period. It served
a very useful purpose in many ways. It sup
plied a medium for communicating all official
orders to members of the force, furnished a
complete file of progress in all sections, and
aroused a spirit of wholesome rivalry by pub
lishing the records made by steamshovels, con
crete plants and dredgse.
One source of the complaints made to Secre
tary Taft by the labor committees of the men
in April, 1907, was that the men were dismissed
or disciplined for some infraction of the rules
without a hearing. I had agreed that when
complaints were made they should he Invest**
gated, that when of sufficient importance inves
tigation should be conducted by a committee
composed of three members, one representing
the Commission, another the order to which
the complainants belonged, and a third the de
partment against which the complaint was
lodged. This task of investigation was also as
signed to Mr. Bishop, and, although a large
number of minor grievances were investigated,
only one of sufficient importance to call for
the services of a committee was presented. To
Mr. Bishop’s office Giuseppe Garibaldi was as
signed to investigate complaints and grievances
among Spanish, Italian, Greek and other labor
ers from European countries.
With the Commission residing permanently
on the Isthmus, it was deemed advisable to
move the force of designing engineers to the
Isthmus also; this was not regarded favorably
by certain members of the force, resulting in
separations from the service, and was modified
to the extent of permitting those in charge of
designing the lock-gates to remain in Washing
ton, on the ground that they should have the
advantages of and access to machine shops and
rolling mills so that the design of the gates
might be made to conform to commercial prac
tice and shapes.
Following the example of the previous Com
mission. an engineering committee was estab
lished for the consideration of such engineering
matters as might be referred to it, and Majors
Gaillard and Sibert and Mr. Rousseau were
designated as constituting the committee. By
naming them in this order, I expected that Ma
jor Gaillard, as the senior or ranking member,
following the usual custom in the army, would
become its chairman.
An incident which occurred soon after the
announcement of this committee will serve to
illustrate how small a matter may create fric
tion or annoyance.
In the executive order announcing the ap
pointment of the engineer members of the com
mission the name of Major Sibert was placed
ahead of Major Gaillard. While I noted this re
versal of their rank in the army, I paid no at
tention to it. They were classmates at West
Point and had roomed together there; Major
Gaillard had been graduated No. 6 and Major
Sibert No. 7.
I had concluded that the reversal of rank in
the order had been unintentional, but Major
Gaillard spoke to me about it, saying that Ma-
jor Sibert felt that by virtue of the order he
should be the senior member of the engineering
committee. I said I thought that the arrange
ment in the executive order was merely an
error in making out the list, but he was sure
Major Sibert would bring up the question for
decision, and if so he had no objection to step
ping aside, for it made no difference to him.
It did make a difference to Major Sibert, ap
parently, for when he, brought up the subject
he assumed that it was no error but dliberate
action taken by the President, because the Pres
ident had probably been advised of the work
«Vf. .v.. .-.■iyi-- i •'
he (Sibert) had done in the way of lock and
dam construction, maintaining that if rank had
been taken into account the order would not
have been arranged as It was. I did not think
it was advisable, so early in the game, to take
up the question with Washington, as it might
create the impression that friction had already
developed, and, as Major Gaillard had volun
teered to give way, I arranged the committee in
accordance with the order until I could have
the question decided.
Subsequent investigation showed that the
arrangement of names in the order had been
fixed by a clerk without regard to rank, of
which he knew nothing, and the matter was
finally put to rest when the annual message
of the President appeared containing an an
nouncement of the appointment of the Com-'
mission, in which Major Sibert’s name followed
that of Major Gaillard.
The seven-headed commission system worked
very smoothly for the first few months, but to
ward the fall of 1907 a combination was formed
against me for the purpose of securing special
privileges for certain employees in whom one
of the commissioners was Interested, which
privilege I had told him I would not consent to
grant.
Much discontent existed in the clerical force
because the compensation in some departments
was greater than in others for similar services.
A scheme was prepared removing discrepan
cies and making a Uniform system of salaries.
This was objected to by the heads of depart
ments in which the larger salaries were paid.
An anomalous condition existed in the Com
mission, for three members were in charge of
departments which were embraced in the de
partment of construction and engineering, and
on all questions submitted to the Commission
for action each of these three had a vote which
counted equally with that of the Chief Engi
neer, who was its head. As personal feeling
and association usually have influence on peo
ple’s views, especially when, as in this case,
three of the members of the Commission knew
little or nothing about engineering, the result
of a vote was doubtful. The only method by
which an adverse vote on questions of any im
portance could be avoided was to bring up the
doubtful ones toward the end of a session, and,
when failure seemed assured, withdraw them
without submitting them to a vote.
This was a situation of affairs which might
become intolerable, since four members of the
Commission could, by combining, defeat any
proposed action that was objectionable to them
for personal or other reasons, and thus make
impossible the execution of a uniform and effect
ive policy designed for the sole purpose of ex
pediting the building of the Canal. However,
this condition of affairs never arose, due to a
change which was effected shortly after.
Ex-Senator Blackburn spoke to me of the
commission form of control on several occa
sions, and expressed the opinion that, notwith
standing the general feeling of good will which
existed, there was no doubt in his mind that
there should be a single responsible head
rather than a head of seven executives. Wheth
er or not he expressed such views to President
Roosevelt, I do not know, but undoubtedly
some one did.
When I reached Washington in December,
1907. and called at the White House to pay my
respects, Mr. Blackburn had preceded me. The
President began his conversation by expressing
gratification at the progress which was being
made, and after this expressed his conviction
that from what he had heard and from the ex
perience already gained the commission form
of organization could not secure the best re
sults; he then announced his intention to con
centrate authority in my hands and to hold me
responsible for the work. With this in view
he desired me to draw up an executive order
which should accomplish the purpose.
I discussed the matter with Mr. Richard Reid
Rogers, the general counsel of the Commission,
who prepared such an order. As the Secretary
of War was my immediate superior, I submit
ted It to him. The general counsel accompv
nied me and remarked that it was the best he
could do without squeezing the law too much.
Mr. Taft read the order, laughed, and said
that it. was not entirely in accordance with law,
but, ''*) It had been prepared under the Presi
dents direction, he drew up a note of trans
mittal, suggesting that I take it with the order
to the President and see what he thought of It.
I took the order to the White House and
handed it to the President After reading It
he reached for a pen, asking if it was satisfac
tory to me. I replied affirmatively, but ex
plained that Mr. Taft thought it was not ex
actly In accord with the law. To this the
President replied that he would take the
chances op the law. adding that he wanted the
Canal built. He then signed the order and
passed it over to me.
The order was dated January 6, 1908, and
under its provisions I assumed complete con
trol of the work in all its branches. It left
the assignment of the other members of the
Commission to such duty as I deemed proper,
and the Commission ceased thenceforth to be
an executive body. The veto power was not
conferred in terms, but under the new condi
tions this was not necessary. Measures gov
erning salaries and kindred questions were not
submitted to the Commission, but were put in
force by official order of the chairman and
Chief Engineer.
When I reached the Isthmus from Washing
ton In February I found that the new executive
order was accepted universally, and that no
question was raised about the authority it con
ferred upon the chairman.
This condition of affairs continued until
April, 1913, when some of the members of the
Commission found that their consciences,
which apparently had been sleeping for five
years or more, required them, under their oath
of office, to perform certain duties specified
by the Spooner act, but the awakening came
too late to overthrow the power which it was
claimed I had usurped, for the Panama Canal
act had ratified and confirmed all executive
orders previously issued, so that the one of
January 6, 1908, had been enacted Into law.
Failing in this, the press spread the news j
that there was friction In the Commission; tha.
the Commissioners hnd been instructed 1
President Roosevelt that they were to carry f
rny orders without question or be relieved, 'U
that, since there was a change In admin* s|
tlon at Washington, this condition wou
remedied. This was a press sensation o'*
duration, however, for the management ®'
ued to the end of the construction per i0r
out modification. **0®
Now' that the Canal is in operatic^- 000
if this result could have been acco/®ver,
any other way than by a single f era 8 0
head. This President Roosevelt ” e cftn
first time I met him, and I have of lb 1 *
felt that to this order and to tb<
to me in carrying it out are due r well-fur-
have been attained.
(Copyright, 1915, bv Charles* 1 both army
All Rights Resoeague i„ caT .
directed spec-
in next week’s installm-® To accom-
of the building of the P>sistance of one
Goethals will tell how he er * can 1® eligible
force after President whether he is affl-
order, had placed all r**rd and no matter
struction of the Canal be.
reorganized force th*® of tbe I-eague are
therefore. General * 1 ork City, to which
force and his rear-P may be made either
did are vital to r«ul to which communl-
manner In which'® 1 *-