ficient to put a quietus upon the movement. Huertas was placed on the retired list with a pension and the army was disbanded. Panama has since been in the enviable situation of a country in the revolutionary zone without a military force.

On the whole, the Panamans appreciate the great, benefits that have befallen them as a direct result of the American occupation of a portion of their territory, but the merchants of the City of Panama have made serious complaint against what they consider interference with their business by the Commission in its practice of supplying its employes as far as possible with all necessities through its string of stores along the line. The Commission claims to limit its supplies to necessities, but it is difficult to draw the line. The negro, for instance, seems to think that perfume comes under that head and the inclusion of this commodity in the Commission's price lists was one of the features that lent a little color to the complaint. It had no substantial foundation, however, and was offset by the fact that the merchants of the city do not keep extensive stocks and charge prices that are often unjustifiably high. On the other hand, the Commis

sion supplies its employes at cost, or nearly so, but if they secure clothing and groceries at a saving, they have the more to spend on luxuries, from the sale of which the business men of Panama reap the benefit. The chief argument in favor of the Commission's course is that it obviates the necessity of a trip into the city every time that a man needs to buy a pair of shoes, or a shirt. Under the French, the laborers spent their money in Panama but most of it went to the keepers of dives and saloons. The men were paid off every Saturday. For two or three days thereafter they hung about in the city drinking. Few laborers on the pay rolls of the Panama Canal Company put in more than twenty days' work in a month. It was largely to prevent a continuance of that sort of thing that the Commission decided to supply its employes with everything that they could ordinarily need. With the same motive, saloons of a limited number, under a high license and close supervision, are permitted in the Zone. That the Commission has ever countenanced, or allowed the presence, of houses of ill-fame in the territory under its jurisdiction is an unfounded libel. The low groggeries with which Panama abounded before our advent, and

which flourished under the liquor monopoly of the Colombian Government, have, for the most part, gone out of business, but there is no doubt that the legitimate retail trade of the city has increased since 1904.

The task of civil administration has not proved a difficult one. An excellent police force, which is mounted, was organized as one of the earliest measures. Criminals have been promptly arrested and crime has been greatly reduced. Good roads have been made with prison labor. The chief of these, a wide highway to extend from ocean to ocean, is nearing completion.

When the Commission arrived at the Zone, a few hundred men and, perhaps, half a score of excavating machines, were at work in the Culebra Cut. Otherwise the operation was at a standstill. When the French transferred the property, machines and other material lay thickly about all along the line. This was necessarily left just as it lay, and in the long months that elapsed before our occupation, rain, rust, and a tropical atmosphere, wrought havoc with it. Months were required to bring something like order out of the confusion, and not until recently was any attempt made to

clear away the debris, except where it interfered with the work, so that in a progress across the Isthmus reminders of the French occupation, in the shape of abandoned and useless machines, old rails, and ruined buildings, were met with at short intervals.

A large proportion of the French material was turned to account. Many of the buildings were utilized and much of the machinery was repaired and put into use. The narrow gauge rails and small Belgian engines, which had been used by our predecessors, were, however, discarded and an improved type of excavator was installed.

The first task of the Commission was to determine upon the form of waterway. The original intention of the French was, it will be remembered, to make a canal at sea level. One with locks was determined on when the prohibitive cost of the former became apparent. During the fifteen years that had elapsed since the adoption of the first French projet naval architecture had made great advances and the dimensions of De Lesseps' canal would have fallen far short of satisfying the demands of commerce at the time that we took up the work, not to mention those of to-day. Congress and