Record of Excavation to Jan. 1, 1908.

The following table will show amount of excavation done since the canal has been in American hands; also, amount yet remaining to be excavated, as of January 1, 1908:

Amount excavated under American control:

In Culebra Division (canal prism) to January 1, 1908.... Total excavation at all points under American control to Jan. 1, 1908 Total excavation by the French at all points and including diversion channel.. about Total estimated excavation required April 1, 1907 for an 85-foot level canal:

...........

CUBIC YARDS

13,037,847 22,755,291

81,548,000

Dredging in old Channel; Cristobal to Gatun, to open construc
tion channel; and at Panama, to keep channel open to La Boca

3,350,000

Bills rendered against Panama Railroa 1 and others, but uncollected

465,988,52

Collections from individuals and companies remitted to
United States Treasurer as miscellaneous receipts.. 1,949,699.91
Labor furnished and material sold to Panama Railroad, the
Republic of Panama, Commission employes, and other

In August, 1907, the Chief Engineer advised the Secretary of War that construction work for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1908 was proceeding faster than contemplated, resulting in increased expenditures for labor and material. He estimated that additional funds to the amount of $8,000,000 would be required in order to keep up the same record of work for the remainder of the period. On August 26, the President approved the request. An appropriation of $33,183,143 has been asked for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1909.

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Labor on the Canal.

Up to June 30, 1906 most of the labor on the canal was drawn from the West Indian peoples. The Commission's report for that year states: "Another year's experience from nearby tropical islands and countries has convinced the Commission of the impossibility of doing satisfactory work with them. Not only do they seem to be disqualified by lack of actual vitality, but their disposition. to labor seems to be as frail as their bodily strength. Few of them are steady workers. The majority of them work just long enough to get money to supply their actual bodily necessities, with the result that while the Commission is quartering and caring for about 25,000 men, the daily effective force is many thousands less. Many of them settle in the jungle, building little shacks, raising enough to keep them alive, and working only a day or two occasionally, as they see fit. In this way, by getting away from the Commission's quarters, practical control over them is lost, and it becomes very difficult for foremen to calculate on keeping their gangs filled."

"The experiment with laborers from northern Spain has proved very satisfactory. Their efficiency is not only more than double that of the negroes, but they stand the climate much better. They have malaria in about the same degree as the white Americans, but not at all to the extent that the negroes have it. Their general condition is about as good as it was at their homes in Spain. The chief engineer is convinced by this experiment that any white man so-called, under the same conditions, will stan the climate on the Isthmus very much better than thd

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negroes, who are supposed to be immune from practically everything, but who, as a matter of fact, are subject to almost everything."

The Department of Labor, Quarters & Subsistence in charge of Mr. Jackson Smith (a member of the Commission), as Manager, attends to the securing of all skilled and unskilled labor and its assignment, according to the needs of the work. Recruiting agents have been maintained at Barbados, and Martinique, and a representative kept at Paris to keep in touch with European labor conditions and with European emigration. On June 30, 1906, there were on the canal work 500 Europeans and 13,625 West Indians. On June 30, 1907, there were 4,317 Europeans and 14,606 West Indians, a large increase in the "gallego", or European labor, but only a small increase in the negro labor. To maintain this force of laborers, and also to provide the Panama Railroad with a force of 5,000 laborers, 6,899 Europeans and 10,947 West Indians were

brought to the Isthmus during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1907, an average of nearly 1500 men per month.

The total force of skilled and unskilled laborers of the Isthmian Canal Commission and Panama Railroad on June 30, 1906, was 19,600, and June 30, 1907, it was 29,446, an increase of about 10.000 men. During this period 20,884 men were brought to the Isthmus by the Commission from all parts. At the end of October, 1907, the grand total of men employed in all branches was 32,054, the largest force ever on the canal pay roll since the inauguration of the work in 1880. At the present time the force in some smaller, owing to completion of work and reduction of forces in some of the departments.

The Commission's report for 1907 states: "The labor problem is still an unsolved one, but the experiments of the past year with a diversity of races and nationalities has improved the efficiency of the force and promises to make the term of service longer. Tropical labor is migratory, and notwithstanding superior wages, housing and subsistence, there will always be large periodical changes in the individual force. A regular recruiting organization, changed from one labor center to another, will always be necessary to keep a maximum force available."

Feeding the Canal Army.

At the close of the fiscal year, 15 hotels were operated for white Americans, the price per meal being 30 cents. This does not include the Hotel Tivoli, where on account of superior accommodations, higher rates prevail. Eighteen mess halls are operated for Europeans where a day's board is furnished for 40 cents. The stewards and cooks at these messes are usually Europeans and food to which these laborers are acustomed, is served. There are 23 kitchens for West Indian laborers where a day's board is supplied for the sum of 30 cents, and prepared by cooks of their own nationality. The subsistence operations are designed to be only self-sustaining.