a
PROBLEM OF CANAL
MAHAGEMEHTNEXT
VIEWS IN CANAL ZONE.
6 sansfjws
SIXTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT
&
One-Man System, Successful
i la
in Building, Is Favored
by Engineers.
t-rL-r
INSURANCE COMPANY
346 Broadway, New York
GOETHALS NOT IN HURRY
Balance Sheet, January 1, 1912
-fjrr- -a -
TITF 3IORNIXG OREGOMAN. 3IOXDAY. JANUARY 22. 1DVJ.
NEW YORK
-. -n n JUL
ft T - m 1--.-t t V - v
Congress Urgd to Make Horlj Pro-
rtalon. That Force Mar Be Ad
equately Trained Whea
Services Are Needed.
BT OKOROB f ALKtR POTS AM.
BAT OF PANAMA. Doc 17. Th
Cnited States Govern nxwit soon will
have, a completed Panama Canal In re
tarn tar the 1400.000.000 It will bar
coat. It will be finished before 114.
and It win be opened to traffic In IMS.
And yet at the time this letter Is writ
ten. aa the Pacific Mall steamer lies
off Balboa In the Bay of Panama, no
decision has been reached regarding
who Is to opwate the canal or how It
Is to ie operated.
What do the American people pro
pose to do with their canal? Also,
what will It do for them? Both ques
tions are of vital Interest, not only to
Americans, bat to all the shippers of
the world.
Issue Mark Complicated.
To begin at the end: It Is apparent
that we must wait for the answer to
the second query. For the results of
the canal's opening are dependent upon
such a multitude of developments, such
as the tonnage tolls what the trans
continental railroads do or do not do
with their freight rates, the actions of
the Interstate Commerce Commission,
changes In trade routes or In our ven
erable shipping- laws, and so forth.
vhat are wo going to do with ou
canal?
The query is meant particularly to
apply to methods of operation. It Is
uppermost In the minds of the men o
the Isthmus who have built the canal
and are now wondering who Is going
to candle It when It Is completed. Th
Paclfie Coast Is particularly concerned.
Oreron has a special sentimental Inter
est In the canal, because the cruise of
the battleship Orecon around Cape
Horn did mora to make the canal essen
tlal. In the eyes of the American people,
than did any other single Incident.
It will be necessary to keep an oper
atlng force of about ?600 men on th
Isthmus. Colonel G. W. Ooethals. chle
engineer. In bis annual report for 1911.
recommends that this force bo picked
as soon as possible, so It may be
trained suitably.
Existing laws proTlda for the eon
structlon of the canal and for the ex
ercise of civil, military and Judicial
government during the construction
period. But there Is no provision for
the conduct of affairs after Its com
pietlon. and Colonel Coethals urges
CongTess to decide this question. He
has been the one-man power at the
head of the construction. Be baa seen
the success of this kind of admlnlstra
tlon. as have all those who are on the
Canal Zone. So Colonel Ooethals and
the engineers who are building th
canal favor a one-man administration
ifter completion.
Geetbala la Caselflsa.
There Is no hint of political cam
Deigning In this, for Colonel Goethals
has no Idea of remaining on the
Isthmus after the work la completed.
He does not want the Job of "operator-In-chief."
and will not take It If it la
sffered to him.
"When we are done here." he baa
aid. "the canal will be nearly able to
run Itself. All It will need is a com
petent man at the head and a com
petent corps of helpers."
Aa indication of the thoroughness
that is characteristic of the chief en
flneer is his plan for "breaking in the
janal and its operating force.
The canal will be readv for ship
ping probably In July, 1S1J. It has
been suggested that as so n after that
Sate as possible shipping be permitted
to pass through.
"That will mean a big return on the
big Investment a year earlier than ex
pected. It will encourage the estab
lishment of trade routes by way, of
Panama." ssy the enthusiasts who are
In a hurry to see the wheels go 'round.
But the white-haired autocrat who la
finishing the Job has different ideas,
and everyone who is familiar with the
situation believes both that his sug
gestlons will be carried out to the let
ter and that his plan Is the only wise
one.
Practice TVIII Be Xeeded.
"No sir," says Goethals. "No hurry
here. It would be a pretty situation If,
when the fleets of the world are ready
to pass through the canal, something
should go wrong, simply because we
had not tried all our mechanism first
and given our operating force thorough
training. We want IS months to prac
tice with the canal, and then, when we
are done, you may rest assured that
there will be no hitches."
That is characteristic of Ooethals. It
may cost money and take time and
soma politicians and shippers may get
impatient, but when the big day comes
the American people will have a canal
that will do its work, and do it without
a hitch. It is beautiful to see their
ronfidence down here! They have It all
figured out to a nicety, and they know
Just what they are doing, and exactly
when It will be done, and how it will
work when it is finished.
There has been no experiments of
late, excepting perhaps the Gatun Dam.
which Is somewhat novel, from an en
gineering standpoint, but so huge as
to be many times safer than required.
That Is the keyword of the construc
tion success certainty. Everything has
been certain. Just as the dates of com
pletion of the various portions have
been certainties tnsny months before
(he layman could see snythlng but an
unfinished chaos In the big undertak
ing. "The success of the Army engineers
and of Colonel Goethals Is chiefly due
to the fact that they have been cautious
above all else." an engineer told me.
"There have been no experiments.
There hss been precedent for every
tep of the work. And so there have
been no mistakes and no waste."
Colonel Goethals has other sugges
tions rerardlng the operation of the
ranal after completion. He knows
more about the subject than any other
man living, and what he says should
receive careful attention.
Xalleaal Store Adveeoted.
It is proposed that the Government
become a storekeeper upon sn un
precedented scale. The reasons for this
re two: first, to get all the revenue
possible from the expensive canal and
Its legitimate adjuncts, and. secondly,
to retain the vital appurtenances of the
canal in Federal hands so that they i
ran be utmsea to tne best advantage
In rase of war.
Uaitlniata means-for increas-
COXCBETK WORK OJf GATUTf DAM ABOTE, AND VIEW OF PAXAMA
CITV FROM TUB BAY.
Ing the canal's revenue should be
adopted," says Colonel Goethals. "The
Government should conduct coal and
fuel-oil stations on the Isthmus, both
for its own vessels and for the supply
of all comers. The existing com
missary, manufacturing plant and
laundry should be continued for the
benefit of United States warships snd
of all shipping using the canal. Tools
and appliances should be sold on the
Isthmus, and repair shops should be
maintained by the Government, aa well
as a suitable drydock."
In other words, the United States
should become the storekeeper of the
Isthmus.
There will be opposition to the
scheme from private interests who
have an eye on the isthmus for the
establishment of the different kinds of
businesses into which it Is proposed
that the Government shall enter. It
seems probable that, should the United
States sell Ice and coal and oil and do
repair work, there would be no chance
for competition. It might be mon
opolistic, but aa the Government owns
all the desirable land, it would be easy
to prevent others from entering the
field, even If they could find It profit
able to do so.
Efficiency SeearspVebable.
From the viewpoint of shipping na
Ing the canal it would appear that the
Goethala plan la desirable. With the
Government of the United States in
charge, there would be no possibility
of discrimination of any kind. Prices
would be low and the service good.
remaps this prediction may
Utopian, especially to Oregonians. who
are familiar with Governmental tardi
ness In Columbia River lock construc
tion, for Instance, and who know the
tangles that have followed upon the
heels of Nationally conducted Irriga
tion enterprises. But I am speaking
with the example of the Canal Zone
administration In mind. There is no
Just reason for supposing that the af
fairs of the Canal cannot bo handled
as excellently after it is completed and
everything is upon a permanent basis.
Ma ft ha hn fiiirtnar ih. mn.a n
chaotic period of construction. And j vlduals.
today even the most ardent skepti
must admit that the efficiency that
ervadea every department of th
anal work (I am referring to the gen
eral administration, aside from th
construction operations) la little short
or marvelous.
But lest I seem too free with ifty
encomiums. It may be well to call at
tentlon to a stats of affairs that la not
as satisfactory aa it should be. It par
tlculariy concerns the Paclfto Coast.
At Balboa, the Pacific port at the
terminus of the Panaman Railroad,
there Is a miserable Inadequacy of
docking facilities. At present the
wharves provide bertha for but only
five vessels and the facilities for han
dling cargo are far from satisfactory,
However, there are plana on foot
for making Balboa an admirable har
bor. The surprising part Is that these
plans have been so long delayed.
MANY LIEU LAND
TITLES CLOUDED
Secretary of Interior Denies
Validity of Selection Made
Before Survey.
LOCATOR SUFFERS LOSS
Decision la Incentive to Speculative
Locating and Professional Con
testing Good Faith Not
Enough to Save.
CRIMINALS ARE ACTIVE
SAFE BIOWX, STORE ENTERED
AND PEDESTRIAN' ROBBED.
Fire, Started by Explosives, Ieads
to Discovery of Unsuccessful
Burj-Iary Attempt.
Criminals were active in the city
Saturday night and yesterday, morning,
their most notable achievement being
the blowing open of a safe, from which.
however, no money was obtained.
while passing the East Burnslds
Market. 411 East Burnslde street, about
o clock yesterday morning, E. H.
Short, living at TS2 Holman street, saw
smoke coming from the place and
called the fire department. It was
found that the smoke came from smol
derlng rags, placed around a safe.
which had been blown open by bur
glars. There waa no damage by fire.
Patrolman Leavens attended at the
alarm and discovered the burglary. He
called the proprietor, who said that
the safe contained only books and pa
pers and had been broken once before.
Two men were seen by a newsboy
loitering in the shadows near the build
ing. p. J. Van Syoc, grocer, 4(5 Lombard
street, found, yesterday morning, that
his store had been entered by thieves,
who first broke a glass and raised a
window, took off the hinges of a door
between two rooms, but could not
open It- They then went to the other
side of the bul'dlng, entered through
a transom and unlocked the door. Ci
gars and candy were missing. The
depredation is laid to boys of the
neighborhood.
j. w . Tanasay, an r ony-rourth
street Southeast, reported yesterday
that he was held up by two men at
Forty-third street and Fifty-third
avenue early Sunday morning. One
man bold him covered with a revolver,
while the other searched hla pockets
and removed 1-1
OREGON! AN NEWS BUREAU. Wash
sound i Ington. Jan. 21. A decision by the
secretary or tne interior several
months ago, which escaped general no
tice at the time, threatens to Invall
date titles to many thousands of acres
of land in the West unless the depart
ment recedes from its position or Con
gress comes to the rescue of Innocent
holders whose titles are In danger.
The decision virtually holds invalid
all lieu selections filed upon lands that
were unsurveyed at the time of selec
tlon, and state selections are Just ai
much affected as selections by lndl-
The amount of land and the
number of titles affected by this de
cision cannot be even approximately
estimated at this time, but they are
large.
The decision referred to was made
in a case involving a selection made
by P. A. Hyde, a California lumber
man, and afterwards transferred by
him to the L. E. White Lumber Com
pany. Hyde held title to a quarter
section of land In one of the California
forest reservations. He relinquished
this and made lieu selection of a quar
ter-sectlon of unsurveyed public land
outside the reserve, for which he
received a certificate In regular form,
He then deeded the land so selected
to the lumber company.
Title Declared Iavalld.
Under the ruling of the department.
Hyde did not acquire any sort of title
to the land selected, because the land
was unsurveyed. and the tltlo he at-
attempted to pass to the lumber com'
pany was no more valid than his own.
Tet he has relinquished the original
quarter section to the Government.
ana can not recover it. and if the lum
ber company, through contest, loses the
10 acres covered by lieu selection, it
must fall back upon Hyde, who must
maice good. He himself will be out
both the land and the money paid him
for his relinquishment. He will have
no redress. And Hyde's predicament la
one likely to befall any man or any
state which made Ilea selection of un
surveyed lands.
In this particular Instance. Hvda re.
linqulshed his forest reserve land to
the Government In August, 1S98. and
immediately filed his selection upon
10 acres that were not then surveyed.
He. however, designated th lanrf -
lected by the subdlvlslonal lines that
later would be laid off by the sur
veyor and his selection wss id.
proved by the Land Office in
October. 1898, and certificate of ap
proval waa Issued to him. The land
selected waa not surveyed until Mr v
190S. but in the meantime, his selection
having been approved by the Land Of
fice. Hyde had transferred his rl.iim
After survey was made, protests and
contests were filed, and the depart
ment holds that the mere filing of n.
selection by Hyde did not give him any
coior oi iiue to the unsurveyed land,
but rather that any settler, squatter
or locator who went on this land and
was there at the time of survev. even
though he went there subsequent to
Hyde's selection, would have the first
claim upon and right to the land.
Maay Coatesta la Prospect.
By standing by this decision, the de
partment will not Invalidate all selec
tions made of unsurveyed lands; only
those In cases where contest Is
brought. But It behooves everv per
son who made lieu selection of unsur
veyed land, or who purchased such
land from the selector, to get busy and
get absolute title from the Govern
ment, for in every. Instance where title
as not been secured, the locator, con-
testor or even the honest settler can
go la upon the land and his claim will
be held valid by the Interior Depart
ment aa against the selector or his
transferree.
It has come to light that locators 1
and speculators in the West have bad
ASSETS
Real Estate
Loans and Mortgages ....
Loans on Policies
Bonds (market value Dec. 31, 1911)
Cash
Premiums in coarse of collection .
Interest and rents due and accrued
Total
$ 10,616,711.90
116,298,323.50
113,516,068.47
421,122,821.04
7,284,253.12
7,724,930.65
8,121,577.82
$684,684,686.50
LIABILITIES
Policy Reserve ......
Other Policy Liabilities . '. . .
Premiums and interest prepaid . .
Commissions, Salaries, Taxes, etc
Dividends payable in 1912 . . .
Reserve for Deferred Dividends .
Reserve for other purposes . .
Total .
$566,919,308.00
7,359,006.83
3,385,535.50
1,287,423.53
11,690,143.32
83,064,153.00
10.979,116.32
$684,684,686.50
TO THE POLICY-HOLDERS: -w,-r .,,,. ;...Tr.
Within the year just closed the Insurance Department of New York has examined
the Company. The examination went much deeper than the mere question of solvency
and a correct statement of assets and liabilities. It went to questions of economy,
efficiency and especially to the attitude of the Executive Officers toward the rights
of policy-holders, the laws of the State and the regulations of the Department.
It would not be possible for me by any use of statistical tables, ratios or comparisons,
to present a statement so luminous and convincing as that made by Honorable William
H. Hotchkiss, Superintendent of Insurance, at the close of his examination.
It is the last word jn State supervision impartial but just constructed on the
sound theory that it is as much the duty of a public official to commend fine public
service as it is to denounce wrong-doing or inefficiency. The muckraker will find
nothing interesting in it. You will. It is, therefore, printed below in full.
New York, Jan. 10, 1912.
President.
(Copy of Memorandum filed at Albany, December . 1911, by Hon. Wm. H. Hotchkiss. Superintendent of Insurance)
State of New York Insurance Department
flN THE MATTER OF THE EXAMINATION
OP THE l
NEW YORK LIFE INSURANCE COMPANYJ
!-MEMORANDUM OF THE SUPERINTENDENT
It is thought proper to file with the report on the examination of the New York Life Insurance
Company, dated November 21, 1911; the following memorandum:
The examination of this company now completed, is the second since the enactment of the amenda
tory laws of 1906. It is even more complete and painstaking than was the examination of three years ago.
The New York Life is one of the gi-eat life insurance companies under the supervision of this depart
ment. As of December 31. 1910, such Company had assets approximating closely to $650,000,000, out
standing insurance exceeding $2,000,00,000, and an annual premium income of about $80,000,000. It
disbursed to policy-holders in 1910 over $53,000,000. As of December 31 last, such Company held in
reserve for its policy-holders including deferred dividends upwards of $600,000,000, and in contin
gency and special funds for the protection of policy-holders, nearly $18,000,000. It does business
generally in the United States and in 39 principal nations of the world. It has approximately 996,000
policy-holders. k
The mere recital of these figures indicates the magnitude of the task committed to the examiners, and
gives emphasis to the fact that after an examination covering seven months, such examiners concluded :
"The final results of this examination show that the work of the
Company is done efficiently and economically ; its claims are
paid promptly; its policy-holders ae treated fairly; its dividends
are apportioned and paid without discrimination; and the Com
pany complies with the requirements of the law and the rulings
of the supervising authorities in both the spirit and the letter."
The above statement should not be taken, however, as indicating that this Company and its work"
were in no respect found the subject of criticism. The fact worthy of note is that the criticisms made
by the examiners have to do with minor details and do not concern the management, the observance
by such management of the law, the Company's treatment of policy-holders, or matters of Company
policy generally. Indeed, the criticisms set forth in the report are so relatively unimportant as to bo
in effect negligible.
The impression made by the examiners' report was considerably strengthened by a personal
inspection of the Home Office of this Company made by me shortly after such report was completed.
Evidences of economy, both in the number of employes and in the space occupied, as well as in the use
of labor-saving devices of various kinds, were noticed. The efficient organism of this great institution,
centering as it does in its so-called "office committee," was everywhere evident. An almost over
scrupulous desire to comply with every statutory requirement or departmental regulation was also noted.
Indeed, for general Home Office efficiency, for watchfulness over the little things that go to increase a
company's expense ratio, for accuracy of record and in accounting methods, and for a full observance
of the law, this Company is entitled, not merely to the commendation given it by the examiners, but to
the official approval of this department here recorded.
Dated, Albany, December 9th, 1911.
Superintendent of Insurance.
Information aa to the effect or una
decision, and for several months per
sons have been located upon inese
lands with a view to bringing contest
against the selector or hlsf transferree.
f ollowing tno preceaeni iaia uuwn iu
the Hyde case, the contestant will win.
and the selection will be held invalid
where the lieu filing was made upon
unsurveyed land, for that decision is
an Incentive to speculative locating
and professional contesting. Moreover,
if adhered to. It will invalidate a great
many filings made In good faith, and
also a great many transfers made In
equal good faith.
CARNEGIE FRIEND OF REDS
Millionaire Will Give Building
Federation of Indians.
to
WASHINGTON. Jan. 21-Andrew
Carnegie has found a new outlet for
his generosity. He has offered to con
tribute 1850.000 for the erection here
of a magnificent home to be used aa
the headquarters of the Federation of
North American Indians, recently or
ganized in a convention held here, at
which Indiana from a number of tribes
were present.
A prominent architect, it waa said,
would be here Monday to look over the
ground and consider the site and the
style to be used in the new building.
The National capital already has three
buildings erected by Mr. Carnegie's do
nations the Pan-American building,
the Carnegie Institution of Washington
and the Carnegie Public Library. To
the Pan-American . building be gave
1750,000, the Latin-American republics
contributing $250,000.
BOY TAKES AUTO, IS HELD
Arrest of Elevator Operator Follows
(While Speeding In Vancouver.
VANCOUVER, Wash., Jan. 22. (Spe
ciaL) George Schmiedecke. 19 years
old. an elevator operator, of Portland,
was arrested here today by Officer Mc
Curdy for speeding an automobile.
Schmiedecke at the time was driving
Oregon car No. 1465, said to be the
property of A. L Fish, business man
ager of a Portland evening paper.
The machine, four-passenger, was
taken from in front of the Arlington
Club. West Park and Taylor streets,
about 7 o'clock Saturday night.
The prisoner and the car were taken
back to Portland today by Detective
Hawley. The lad Is to be charged with
larceny.
Buy the records for your Victor,
Vlctrola or talking machine from Sher
man, Clay & Co. Morrison at Sixth.
Victor records are the best, and can be
used on all disk machine
PBI?IES, BLOTCHES, SORES, ULCERS Ai '
ALL, BLODD DISORDERS BO Ijl A EEW DAYS
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Pure blood means perfect health, and if you will use Cascarets they will
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To try Cascarets is to like them, for never before has there been produced aa
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