Panama and the canal in picture and prose .. . r, but is eminently business-like andwith the heterogeneous population with which ithas to deal it has no doubt been busy. At the outsetPresident Roosevelt sent down to command it anold time Rough Rider comrade of his. In late yearsa regular army officer has been Chief of that period it was a problem. Not only was thepopulation rough and of mixed antecedents, butmany foreign nations were looking on the Isthmusas an excellent dumping place for their criminals andother undesirable citizens. It was not quite BotanyBay, but bade fair to rival
Panama and the canal in picture and prose .. . r, but is eminently business-like andwith the heterogeneous population with which ithas to deal it has no doubt been busy. At the outsetPresident Roosevelt sent down to command it anold time Rough Rider comrade of his. In late yearsa regular army officer has been Chief of that period it was a problem. Not only was thepopulation rough and of mixed antecedents, butmany foreign nations were looking on the Isthmusas an excellent dumping place for their criminals andother undesirable citizens. It was not quite BotanyBay, but bade fair to rival that unsavory penal scrutiny of applicants for employment checkedthat tendency, and a vigorous enforcement of thecriminal law together with the application of thepower to deport undesirables soon reduced the popu-lation to order. In the early days crimes of violence were one carried money it was wise to carry a gun aswell. Organized bandits used to tear up the railroadtracks and wantonly destroy property for no reason. BULLOCK CART IN CHORRERA 356 PANAMA AND THE CANAL save to satisfy a grudge against the the organization of the police force stopped itall. In the cities of Colon and Panama is little orno public gambling, and the brood of outlaws thatfollow thegoddesschance arenot to befound the Zoneis no gam-bling at privatepoker games,if they be-come habitUal, are brokenup by quielwarningsfromthe police. Itisnt thatthere is anygreat moralaversion topoker, butmen who situp all nightwith cardsand chips arenot good atthe drawingboard or witha transit thenext the Zone,from the foodin the Com-missary to themoral code, isdesigned with an eye single to its effect on the working capacityof the men. It is a fortunate thing that bad moralsdo not as a rule conduce to industrial efficiency, elseI shudder at what Col. Goethals might be temptedto do to the Decalogue. The police force in its latter days was in the com-
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Keywords: ., bookauthorabbotwil, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1913
