THE PANAMA CANAL.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 5832, 24 February 1906, Page 9

THE PANAMA CANAL.

DIFFICULTIES FTTH BLACK LABOURERS. JAMAICANS SHIRK THEIR WORK. DISLIKE OF AMERICAN OVERSEERS. Labour is tho great problem in tho building of tho big canal, (says tho "Now York Herald.”) It can bo demonstrated in a lino or two. If tho dirt that must bo dug out of tho mighty ditch wore dumped in old | New, York it would cover tho whole I of Manhattan Island to tho depth of twelve feet. If piled twenty feet high and three' feet wide it would make a wall that would come within five miles of reaching around tho earth at the equator. Four Jamaican negroes, of the twelve thousand canal labourers, working at their usual speed, were two days in digging a post hole in front of Governor jfagoon’s house. Tho hole was four feet deep by two feet square and tho soil not difficult to re-| move. Two bricklayers, with a helper] employed on straight work, laid ninety-1 six bricks a day while building a wall at Cristobal. It takes six big negroes to carry an ordinary railway tie: twonty-flvo to move an empty car on a level track.

A man with one cyo can tx-e that this is not the real capacity of those muscular looking blacks. The exasperated American foremen, unable to got any better work out of them, call them lazy and some other things, but; rarely strike them, for then tho negro is apt to do more work in five minutes than ho has done all day. Ho won't stand blows at all, and very little “cussing,” for ho is an Englirii subject, and there is a consul near by who will right his wrongs as quickly as those of a white man. In appreciation of this certain protection, in which lie glories, tho black Jamaican likeo to sing British national airs at hio work and end it at night with “God Save the King.” generally with his hat off.

There is no sentiment in tho American foreman, and he is not down hero to listen to singing. Ho complains of the utter worthlessness of Jamaican labour, and tho canal officials, from the chief engineer down, are in despair, for tho blacks seemingly arc not to be bribed, coaxed or driven into doing a fair day’s work at anything. The officials arc told tho Jamaican

is the I.cM of tlio West Indian negroes, .uni they vote them the wins! labourers for riuial purposes it is possible to imagine. “'Tho America ns themselves are ;.i blame fe-r it." cays tho l!ov. Mr Kim;, pastor of tho P.riti-o Wm’oyati Church, of Panama, who has been giving the matter some study. “It is ah-urd to say tho [treat, sirappinrt Jamaican is incapable of (ioinj; n gno.; day’s tier);. I have lived in Jamaica for years ministering to these peoule and I know them well. Go there ami see the work they do. All the great public worke, the digging, tho hauling. tho carrying, ay. and much of the highest kind of service, are done hy the negro. Some of them are exceedingly well educated and occupy responsible positions; nearly ail caii road and write. “Knowing how well they work for ns. I was puzzled by the unfavourable reports I heard about them on the canal Kono. So 1 went aliout making inquiries. I found them cud lon and disinclined to talk. After a hit 1 got kohl of an nid church member of mine and he told me of a most extraordinary state of affairs. “The Jamaicans have resolved to do I as little work as possible They rei sent tho way they have been treated by their foreman, and many instead of quitting and going home, are staying to take the American money and give nothing for it. ‘T do not want to alarm you, but some of those men are ready for an outbreak. I was told a few had supplied themselves with weapons and were counselling mi outbreak on their bows. I found such men had sharpened their machetes, but were not encouraged by the majority, who are peaceful, law abiding British subjects. They are smart. They say tlio American thinks more of gold than anything o ! se, and therefore they will stay and cheat it out of him by doing as little as they possibly can. “I cannot find that there is any charge of cruelty on the part of Americans. If that should happen there would bo a riot at once. , “The trouble is the American dot's not understand the Jamaican negro, lie cannot be cunvd and yelled at ami treated like a dog. lie* is not used to it. at home and he won’t stand it. The English boss treats bis men like men. Ho knows they are not white, and ho docim’t expect them to act like white men. “Alkivo ail things he keeps his word with the negro, particularly as to the [ tlmo lie shall be paid. That has not been done on the canal. The pay days have been put off and changed I time and again, to the great inconvenience of the men Of course, tlio money was in band, but under the pay and audit system following the government requirements it was not ready. It is impossible to explain to a Jamaican if you have protnbvd he shall get his wages on a certain day why he does not get them. No explanation at all was given those men at such times. They wore told tho pay car would bo along in a few days. “If the Americans bad understood theso men, or had taken any trouble to understand them, they might have known what would happen. Tlio men grow suspicious at once and when they got their money at last they were re-; cent fill. Their credit had been stopped I at tho cantina. They had told the! liquor man and tho washerman they would pay them on a certain day, and had been forced to break their word. Americans will smile at this, hut the Jamaican takes a pride in keeping his ivord in such cases. He feels it adds to his standing as a citizen. His pride has been hurt and the American who ban deceived him, is responsible. If yon want to got on with a Jamaican you must keep your word with him every time. ‘Then you can’t holler and yell at a Jamaican. It makes him sulky. If you swear at him lie gets ugly, and there is a good deal of that along the zone. Ho resents, too, tho bearing of the American who makes him fee! ho is, as ho is often called, a ‘nigger.’ An Englishman never calls him that. Ho ban nil the rights of a white man in Jamaica, worships, in the same church, and is regarded as a child but treated as a man. His dignify may amuse, but it is encouraged, for it makes him self-respecting. In return he gives us a fair day’s work for a man in this climate. Hero you do not respect him in his sphere and ho despises tho men over him. I’m - afraid you have made a mess of it." The Rev. Mr King intends in a few days to lay tho result of bio investigations into the labour situation before Governor Magoon. In tlio meantime Chief Engineer Stevens has accepted it and is planning to got along with ns little manual labour ns possible. From now <m everything that can he done by machinery in building the canal will,be taken away from the blacks as fast as labour saving applktn. ecs can bo obtained.