THE AMERICAN WORKERS
The directory, supervisory, and mechanical work in constructing the
canal was done by Americans. The engineers, the foremen, the steam
shovelers, the operators of spoil trains, the concrete mixers, and, in
short, the skilled workers were American citizens; the common and
unskilled laborers were West Indians and Europeans. It is to the
American workers therefore that the credit is due, for without their
direction and aid in every operation the work could not have been
done.
Never was there a more loyal, a more earnest, a more enthusiastic band
of workmen than these same Americans. The steam shoveler felt as much
pride, as much responsibility, in the task as did the chief engineer.
The difficulties under which they labored, the enervating climate, the
absence from home, the lack of diversion and recreation, but served to
temper the steel in their make-up. The American spirit was there,
dominating every detail of the whole big job. Every man was determined
to "make good," not for himself alone, but for the organization of
which he was a part, and for his country.
In the beginning conditions were bad. There were few conveniences to
make life comfortable, and innumerable inconveniences harassing those
who went there. The food was bad and the water was not as good as the
food. The quarters were old French houses rescued from the jungle and
filled with scorpions.
The result was that few of those who first went to the Isthmus
remained, and those who returned to the United States spread far and
wide reports of bad conditions on the Isthmus.
With this situation in mind the Canal Commission decided that two
things had to be done. Wholesome living conditions had to be created
for the people who came to the Isthmus, and a standard of wages had to
be set that would prove attractive to good men at home. It was thus
that the pay for the Americans on the canal came to be placed at 50
per cent higher than pay for the same character of work in the States.
This soon proved a strong incentive to men to leave the States and go
to Panama, and as living conditions were improved the number of men
willing to accept work on the Isthmus increased.
Two classes of Americans turned their faces toward the Tropics as a
result of the inducements held out by the Canal Commission. One was
made up of those who were willing to go and stay a year or two,
accumulating in that time experience and, perhaps, saving some little
money; the other was made up of men whose desire was to go to the
Isthmus and stay with the job, utilizing the opportunities it afforded
for building up a comfortable bank account.
[Illustration: BRIG. GEN. CARROLL A. DEVOL
AMERICAN LIVING QUARTERS AT CRISTOBAL]
[Illustration: HARRY H. ROUSSEAU
LOWERING A CAISSON SECTION]
As the work moved forward those of weak purpose and indifference to
opportunity gradually dropped out. Their places were taken by others,
until through a process of years of elimination there were
approximately 5,000 Americans at Panama when the canal was finished;
an army was made up almost wholly of men with a purpose in life and
consequently of men who could be relied upon to do their work to the
best of their ability. The result was that the last years of the task
of construction saw every man loyal to his work and anxious to see the
job move forward.
American visitors to the Isthmus had occasion to be proud of their
countrymen there. Every tourist from a foreign country has commented
upon the distinguished courtesy received at the hands of these men.
One of them, perhaps England's most noted travel lecturer, said:
"The thing which impressed me more than anything else, outside of the
gigantic work and the masterful way in which it is being done, was the
exquisite courtesy of every American I met during my stay. I found
every one of them not only ready to give such information as he might
have but glad to do so. Each man was as proud of the work as if it
were his own, and as ready to show his part of it to a stranger as if
that stranger were his best friend. It was a delight to me from
beginning to end to see the magnificent type of American manhood at
work, and the pride taken by every worker in the project."
Every other tourist brought away the same impression. A man who went
there without any other credentials than a desire to see the work was
shown the same courtesy and consideration as one with a pocketful of
letters of introduction.
The Americans on the Isthmus did not count any hardship too great if
it were demanded for the successful prosecution of the work. A case in
point is that of J. A. Loulan, the engineer in charge of the
rock-crushing plant at Ancon. One morning he was introduced to a
visitor from the States who remarked that everything seemed to be
running so smoothly that he supposed the work of a supervising
engineer was no longer a difficult task. "Well," replied the engineer,
"at least it does not pay to worry. Last night at 2 o'clock I was
called out of bed by telephone and informed that a Jamaican negro
hostler had accidentally knocked the chock from under the wheels of an
engine he was firing up, and that it had run down the grade and off
the end of the track into about two feet of soft earth. We worked from
that time on until breakfast to get the engine back, and were
satisfied to know that the accident did not delay the operations at
the crusher. Not a man of the force was late getting back to work
after four hours of strenuous extra night duty."
Speaking of the patience of the men Commissioner H. H. Rousseau said,
"The reason for all this is not far to seek; the man who has 'nerves'
would never stick it out on a job like this. The climate, the exile
from home, and the character of the work all conspire against the man
who can not be patient. He soon finds that the Isthmus is no place for
him. The result is that a process of elimination has gone on until the
men who have 'nerves' have all left and their places filled with
those who are stoical enough to take things as they come."
The Americans on the Isthmus were early risers. The first train from
Colon for Panama leaves about 5 o'clock and the first train from
Panama for Colon at 6:50. Almost any morning during the construction
period one might walk into the dining room at the Tivoli Hotel and see
a number of canal engineers breakfasting there who had left Colon on
the early train. When one of them was asked if he did not find it
something of a hardship to rise so early, he replied:
"Well, you see, from the standpoint of a man just from the States it
would seem rather an unheard-of hour for a man to get out and go to
work; but we have to meet conditions as we find them down here, and we
soon get reconciled to it. There is scarcely a night that I am not
called by telephone two or three times, and I have to get up in time
to catch the early train several mornings in the week, so I get up at
the same hour the other mornings as well. We are well paid, and we owe
it to our country to make whatever sacrifices the work demands. And
after a month or two we get out of the habit of feeling that it is a
sacrifice."
It is this spirit of devotion to the work that enabled the canal
authorities to press it to a successful completion with such
unprecedented rapidity. These men knew full well that their sacrifices
in the interest of progress were appreciated. The most rigid spirit of
friendly competition was maintained from the beginning.
The spirit of rivalry nowhere counted for more than among the
steam-shovel men. In 1907 it was decided to publish in the Canal
Record the best steam-shovel performances from week to week. This
immediately put every steam-shovel gang on its mettle, and soon there
was a great race with nearly a hundred entries, a race that continued
from that day until the completion of the excavation. The result was
that records of steam-shovel performances were made eclipsing
everything that had gone before. The average daily excavation per
shovel rose from year to year until it was double in the end what it
was in the beginning.
As heretofore pointed out, the process of elimination that went on
continuously during the construction work sent large numbers of
American workers back to the States from the Isthmus. During a single
year about three-fifths of the Americans threw up their jobs and
returned home. The average stay of Americans during the construction
period was about a year. Bachelors were much more given to returning
to the States than married men. The endless round of working, eating,
sleeping, with its small chance of diversion, made the average
bachelor glad to get back to the States within two years. On the other
hand, the married men found home life just about as pleasant as in the
States. They had with them about 2,000 women, and as many children.
Many of the latter were born under the American Eagle at Panama.
The boys who were born there may, if they choose, become native
Panamans. The son of a former President of Panama, in talking with
Commissioner Rousseau, advised him to make a Panaman citizen of
little Harry Harwood Rousseau, Jr. "You see," said he, and he spoke in
all earnestness and seriousness, "he will stand so much better chance
of becoming President of the Republic of Panama than of becoming
President of the United States."
The American children on the Zone, brimming over with life and health,
proved conclusively that the Tropics worked no hardship upon them.
The Canal Commission, from the beginning to the end, made the welfare
of the army of workers one of its first cares. As the days of a
completed canal approached, every effort was made to enable the
employees who had to be laid off to find employment in the States.
Provision was made that they could accumulate their leave of absence
in such a way as to entitle them to 84 days of full pay after leaving.
This was arranged so as to give them sufficient time to establish
connections in the States again, without being forced to do it without
pay.
Close records also were kept of each employee, and the official
immediately over each man was ordered to give him a rating card
showing his record on the Canal Zone. No higher credentials could be
carried by anyone seeking employment than to have a card from the
Canal Commission showing a rating of "Excellent."
Owing to the firmness with which the commission ruled, there was
little trouble in the way of strikes. In 1910 a lot of boiler makers
who were getting 65 cents an hour on the per diem basis, struck for 75
cents an hour. Their demands were not met and some of them threw up
their jobs. The commission immediately arranged with its Washington
office to fill their places, and they had no chance whatever to get
further employment on the Isthmus.
The commission was given the power, by President Roosevelt, to order
anyone to leave the Isthmus whose presence there was regarded as a
detriment to the work. The result was that as soon as any man was
found to be fomenting trouble, he was advised that a ship was
returning to the United States on a certain date and that it would be
expedient for him to take passage thereon. This power of deportation
was more autocratic than any like power in the United States, but it
proved of immense value in keeping things going satisfactorily at
Panama. It was a power whose exercise was called for but few times,
since the very fact that the commission had the power was usually a
sufficient deterrent.
There are two societies on the Isthmus which tell of the effects of
homesickness of the Americans in the employ of the Canal
Commission--the Incas, and the Society of the Chagres. The Incas are a
group of men who meet annually on May 4th for a dinner. The one
requirement for membership in this dining club is service on the canal
from the beginning of the American occupation. In 1913 about 60 men
were left on the Isthmus of all those Americans who were there at the
time of the transfer of the canal property to the United States in
1904.
The Society of the Chagres was organized in the fall of 1911. It is
made up of American white employees who have worked six years
continuously on the canal. When President Roosevelt visited the
Isthmus in the late fall of 1906 he declared that he intended to
provide some memorial or badge which would always distinguish the man
who for a certain space of time had done his work well on the Isthmus,
just as the button of the Grand Army distinguishes the man who did his
work well in the Civil War. Two years later a ton of copper, bronze,
and tin was taken from old French locomotives and excavators and
shipped to Philadelphia, where it was made into medals by the United
States Mint. These medals are about the size of a dollar and each
person who has served two years is entitled to one. It is estimated
that by the time the last work is done on the canal, about 6,000 of
these medals will have been distributed. For each additional two years
a man worked, the Canal Commission gave a bar of the same material.
The Society of the Chagres, therefore, is made up of men who have
served at least six years, and who have won their medals and two
service bars. The emblem of the society is a circular button showing
on a small, black background six horizontal bars in gold which are
surrounded by a narrow gold border. In 1913 only about 400 out of the
many thousands of Americans at one time or another employed in the
construction of the Panama Canal were entitled to wear the insignia of
this society.