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Show NEGRO PLAYS BIG PART 111 CANALVORK Forty Thousand From the , West Indies on Big Panama Pana-ma Undertaking. THEY HAVE SOLVED LABOR PROBLEM THERE f Toil Four Days andDevote Three Days of WeeK -to Pleasure BT FBEDEBJO 3. HABtUN. ANCON, Capal Zone. The West In dian negro haa an important part in tha building of the Panama canal. Jfot withstanding his shortcomings, ba hat furnished the bulk of th unskilled labor la-bor that has made th 'nieeeu of the undertaking certainty, and he is entitled en-titled to bis full meed of praise. In the beginning the West Indian negro 'had a bad reputation. It waa aaid that he lacked phvsical strength, that he bad little or no pluck, that be waa absolute ly unreliable, and that tha canal never could he finished, if he wa expected to supply the great part of tha labor. But he has lived down this bad reputation, repu-tation, in large part, and although it must be admitted that he ia shiftless, inconstant and exasperating, ha ha developed de-veloped into a good workman and has played a big part in tba success of the canal project. The government paya the West Indian In-dian laborer on' the canal 90 cent a day, furuislie him with free lodgings in quarters, and sella him three square -meals a day for 10 cents each, a total of' 30 cents a day for tha aetual ex- - pense of living. On the balance of 60 cents a day the West Indian negro can get rich, as compared with bia opportunities oppor-tunities at home. Abhor Sanitary Condition. - But trie free sanitary quarter, and the necessarily strict discipline maintained main-tained therein, did not please him. He sighed for his thatched but in the - - "bush," for'his wife and bia chickena, for the freedom of the tropic world. At first the canal commission waa inclined to .resist the West Indian 'a antreatiea. The authorities believed that no ill fed workman could do aa much work as a well fed one, and no "bush" dweller . ever was known to ba well ed. .But it. ara, demonstrated that the negro in th . ' sanitary quarters succumbed to soma m , sickness and threw up his job. ' Then the commission reached th conclusion -. that a stable force would be more easily obtained by permitting the workman to live in their own wav. Pernussiea was given.' and many . of the- laborers exchanged ex-changed the sanitary reetriction of the commission quarter for the dolee far niente of the "bush." Works Fonr Day a Week. Marriage bond are loose in th West Indies, and it might be saying too much 'to sav that the laborers brought their wives, to the canal zone, but nevertheless neverthe-less they did build fhatched huts all along the sides of the eaaal and establish estab-lish their families therein and their brood, of poultry thereabout,. .The result of this experiment in larger liberty was in part -a success and in part a failure. Th list of aamca on the roll of workers was greatly great-ly lengthened, but there waa ao great addition to tha force of men at work oa anv one day. It is a common aaying oa the isthmus that if be 'were ' paid tvdre as much, a West Indian would work only half aa long. The average - negro works about four davs a week and en.invs himself the other three. It mav be that the "bush" dweller is not fed so scientifically as the quarter, quar-ter, man who get three meal of about the same weight aa th atandard United Unit-ed States army field rations, but ha haa bi chicken,, his truck patch, his fern ; ilv and hia fiddle, and he makes up in enjoyment what he lose in iciene. Soma Bocom Tandarbilta. Th authorities have bee able to not little difference in th working efficiency of the "bash" men and the "furnished quarters" men, except that those negroes who are actually eon-tented eon-tented in 'quartera work a greater number num-ber of dava in th month. When the Americana first began k work here it waa an accepted dictum that one Spaniard or Italian could do as much work as three negroes. But k the negro bss proved this to ba a libel, and if be- onlv could be persuaded to at irk to the job six day a week he might be qnit as efficient as th European. Eu-ropean. But nothing caa iadue bim to work all the time. Of conn there are exception to this rule. Some of the negroes are induatri-oue, induatri-oue, constant and thrift. They save all they can, work steadily for a year or two and then go back to Jamaica or Barbadoa to invest their rnnnev in a hit of land and become the Vender bilt or Aatnr of their respective communities. com-munities. In the economic and aoeiat environment of thir native ialanda (100 ia gold is aa much wealth aa is (100,000 in tha United States. ' Labor Problem Solved. Th West . Indian laborers at first were Obtained by recruiting agenta at -work ia tha various islands, principally ' Barbados aad Jamaica. Of th 10. OHO negroes brought to the canal xoae by tb recruiting aervicl, 20,000 earn from Barbadoa, aot quit 6000 from ' Jamaica and tha remainder from other i Islands bf the Caribbean. Yet tb proportion pro-portion of Jamaicans at work oa th canal ia muck greater taaa ia indicated in-dicated by tha figure, Ia fact tba inducement of high wage and tha low coat of eteerage paaeage from Jamaica to th canal son haa attracted at-tracted o many thousands of Jamaican, that tha canal com mission bow ia josti-, josti-, ard in withdrawing ita recruiting officers. offi-cers. The eieea of arrival over departure de-parture to .tb con last year wa, SI.OOO, and a very large perreatage of them were from Jamaica. Tha problem of labor supply haa been solved ia a natural sray. There is littU or no frietjoa betweea (.Continued oa pag 4.1 ' NEGRO PLAYS BIG PART (Continned from page 1.) fh irtil teg inr! Vaelr mi ttie rms) gem. Thia immunity from racial clashes results re-sults from two muse the incomparable incompar-able eourteay of the Wait Indian negro gnd hie full knowledge of hie rights, ea-pee ea-pee tally if he be a subject of King George. These .West Jndian negroes have been reared with a full consciousness conscious-ness of the poseeeaion of every right of British eubieet, except the purely political privileges. The trouble making politician has thus been eliminated from the equation in which he is such an important im-portant factor in the United states. But the Jamaican and the Barbadian negroes know their rights and insist upon them. They are 'British bobjectn," and their appeals to his majesty consul suffer no prejudice tree suae of the color of their skim. This fact alone, however, would not keep down trouble, if the negroes were offensive. But as matter of fact they are anything else. Practically every one of them, man or woman, is the verv pink of politeness. Carry ErervtlUng on Head. Ask one a question, and the answer will be Ob. yet, air," or "Oh. no, ir. or if he baa mot understood. " Beg pardon, air." He would no more omit the hoaorifte than would a Japanese maiden addressing her father forget te rail him honorable. ' The visitor to the canal finds the West Indiana extremely interesting. About the railway stations the post-offlrea post-offlrea and other public places they may be studied at close range, and the atudy ia well worth while. Without exception they are adepts ia carrying things on their heads, and consequently thev all have an erect carriage and noble Hearing Hear-ing that is the very aatitheaia of the slouchy and slovenly shuffle of the American cotton field negro. It ia said that the first ambition of a West Indian negro child is to learn to carry things on ita head in imitation of ita parents, i Krequently a negro will be seen with nothing in either hand carrying an umbrella um-brella balanced horizontally 'on his head. Once in n while one may be seen to get a letter from the peatoffice place it on top of fats head, weight, it down with a atone, and march off with it without anr apparent knowledge that he is execut ing a circus stunt. What Will Bo tho Finish? The West Indiana are at their best on the first notidav after pay day. They all turn nut in their beat and brightest clothes with the sole and express pur-post pur-post of enjoying life. Hinging ia the principal amusement and these negroes know how to sing. And then there ia the railroad. The negro travels for the sake of traveling, and on a holiday one might think that every Island in the Caribbean had turned out its entire population for a train ride. The Panama railroad finds ita equipment taxed te the utmost on such occasions, aa many ns lioO "Joy riders" crowding into it ingle train. .Nearly every West Indian negro here haa a primary education, ia acquainted with the rudiments of the three r's and proud of hia learning. Bat it usually stops there, and only the exceptional man haa an ambition that will take him above hia thatched hut, hia irregular family and his chickens. There ore now about 40.000 West In dian negroes on the canal tone. What will become of them when the work is done no one may predict. When the French failed thousands of negroes were left here stranded, and their govern mentg were forced to convey them back home. It ia peesible that thia will hap pea again, although conditions never again can be as had as thev were then. But come what may, the negro has had his full share in the construction of the canal. He haa been well paid ia money and he dr nerves a Wo to be remembered in the gratitude of the great American ; republic. Tomorrow: THB PANAMA CANAL. VTTX A Tropical Health Beaort. |