INSULAR POSSESSIONS OF THE UNITED STATES-Continued.

which was less than that of the Japanese and Chinese immigrants settled in the islands. A census taken early in 1897 revealed a total population of 109,020, distributed according to race as follows:

The remainder were Germans, French, Norwegians, South Sea Islanders, and representatives of other nationalities. The American population was 2.73 per cent, of the whole. The American population has increased since annexation.

The first United States census of the islands was taken in 1900 with the following result: Hawail Island, 46,843; Kauai Island. 20.562; Niihau Island, 172; Maui Island. 25,416; Molokai Island and Lanai Island, 2,504; Oahu Island, 58,504. Total of the Territory, 154, 001. The population of the City of Honolulu is 39,306.

The exports from Hawaii to the United States in the twelve months ending December 31, 1907, were valued at $29,054,581. The imports into Hawaii from the United States for the same period were valued at $14,124,376. The imports from foreign countries for the same period were $4,151,709, exports $183,981.

The new Territorial Government was inaugurated at Honolulu June 14, 1900, and the first Territorial Legislature began its sessions at Honolulu February 20, 1901. The Legislature is composed of two houses-the Senate of fifteen members, holding office four years, and the House of Representatives of thirty members, holding office two years. The Legislature meets biennially, and sessions are limited to sixty days.

The Executive power is lodged in a Governor, a Secretary, both appointed by the President, and hold office four years, and the following officials appointed by the Governor, by and with the consent of the Senate of Hawaii. An Attorney-General. Treasurer, Commissioner of Public Lands, Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry, Superintendent of Public Works, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Auditor and Deputy, Surveyor. High Sheriff, and members of the Boards of Health, Public Instruction, Prison Inspectors, etc. They hold office for four years, and must be citizens of Hawaii.

The Judiciary of the Territory is composed of the Supreme Court, with three Judges, the Circuit Court, and such inferior courts as the Legislature may establish. The Judges are appointed by the President. The Territory is a Federal Judicial District, with a District Judge, District-Attorney, and Marshal, all appointed by the President. The District Judge has all the powers of a Circuit Judge. The Territory is represented in Congress by a delegate, who is elected biennially by the people. Provision is made in the act creating the Territory for the residence of Chinese in the Territory, and prohibition as laborers to enter the United States.

Territorial Expansion of the United States.

THERE have been thirteen additions to the original territory of the Union, including Alaska, the Hawaiian, Philippine, and Samoan Islands and Guam, in the Pacific, and Porto Rico and Pine Islands, in the West Indies, and the Panama Canal zone; and the total area of the United States, including the noncontiguous territory, is now fully five times that of the original thirteen colonies. The additions to the territory of the United States subsequent to the peace treaty with Great Britain of 1783 are shown by the following table, prepared by the United States General Land Office: ADDITIONS TO THE TERRITORY OF THE UNITED STATES FROM 1800 TO 1900.

Of which $3,250,000 was in payment of claims of American citizens against Mexico. † Area purchased from Texas amounting to 123,784 square miles is not included in the column of area added, because it became a part of the area of the United States with the admission of Texas.

ACQUISITION OF THE PANAMA CANAL ZONE IN 1904.

Article 2 of the treaty between the United States and the Republic of Panama, ratified by the United States Senate February 23, 1904, treaty in effect February 26, 1904, provided for the cession, in perpetuity, by Panama, of a strip of territory adjacent to the canal, as follows:

"The Republic of Panama grants to the United States in perpetuity the use, occupation, and control of the zone of land and land under water for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation, and protection of said canal of the width of ten miles, extending to the distance of five miles on each side of the centre line of the route of the canal to be constructed; the said zone beginning in the Caribbean Sea, three marine miles from mean low-water mark, and extending to and across the Isthmus of Panama into the Pacific Ocean to a distance of three marine miles from mean low-water mark, with the proviso that the cities of Panama and Colon and the harbors adjacent to said cities, which are included within the boundaries of the zone above described, shall not be included within this grant. The Republic of Panama further grants to the United States in perpetuity the use, occupation, and control of any other lands and waters outside of the zone above described which may be necessary and convenient for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation, and protection of the said canal or of any auxiliary canals or other work necessary and convenient for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation, and protection of the said enterprise. The Republic of Panama further grants to the United States in perpetuity the use, occupation, and control of all islands within the limits of the zone above described, and in addition thereto the group of small islands in the Bay of Panama named Perico, Nacs, Culebra, and Flamingo."

The Panama Canal.

A NARRATIVE OF THE STUPENDOUS ENTERPRISE.

While a majority of the readers of THE WORLD ALMANAC for 1908 will doubtless be living when the great ditch now being dug across the Isthmus of Panama will unite the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the wisest sage cannot accurately predict all the results which will follow the completion of the stupendous enterprise. The commerce of the world will pay financial tribute as the fleets of all nations pass through the waterway to avoid the long voyage around Cape Horn, while to the United States, in times of peace or war, incalculable benefits will accrue from undisputed control of the marvellous ocean roadway which American genius and American money are pushing to completion, Great obstacles may yet be met, but that final success is assured there can no longer be any doubt. After vicissitudes and failures by others, Americans will reach an ultimate triumph in which all sections of the Union will share, and the Southern States especially will reach a greater greatness.

Since the promulgation of the Monroe Doctrine American sentiment has been generally insistent upon American control of an isthmian canal, whether such a canal crossed Nicaragua or Panama, and for many years the relative merits of the two routes have been sagely discussed. International questions have been raised, and several generations have

waited to see what is now being witnessed.

Under the Clayton-Bulwer treaty the United States and Great Britain might have combined to build and maintain a ship canal or railway across the isthmus through Nicaragua, guaranteeing neutrality and sharing expenses and profits. Nicaragua had made to the United States the so-called "Hise" grant, but Great Britain would not consent to withdraw her pretensions to the Mosquito Coast and permit this country and Nicaragua to build the canal. The project therefore failed, and later the civil war thrust canal propositions into the background. After that war, however, France asked the United States to guarantee the neutrality of the Panama Canal, which Ferdinand de Lesseps was then designing. This drew from President Hayes a special message to Congress on March 8, 1880, in which he said: "The United States cannot consent to the surrender of control (over an interoceanic canal) to any European power or to any combination of European powers. An inter-oceanic canal across the American isthmus will be a great ocean thoroughfare between our Atlantic and our Pacific shores and virtually a part of the coast line of the United States. No other great power would under similar circumstances fail to assert a rightful control over a work so closely and vitally affecting its interest and welfare." Seemingly, President Hayes construed the Clayton-Bulwer treaty as being non-effective except as to canal schemes considered when the treaty was signed, and a treaty was negotiated with Colombia permitting American control, but this agreement was not ratified by France. Secretary of State Blaine, unawed by the protests of the British press, maintained, under President Garfield, the stand taken by President Hayes, and went further by proposing to modify the Clayton-Bulwer treaty so as to prevent England's sharing the control of the canal in event of .war. He declared: "As England insists, by the right of her power, that her enemies in war shall strike her Indian possessions only by doubling the Cape of Good Hope, so the United States will equally insist that the canal shall be reserved for ourselves, while our enemies, if we shall ever be so unfortunate as to have any, shall be remanded to the voyage around Cape Horn." Lord Granville, in behalf of Great Britain, declined to modify the Clayton-Bulwer treaty because of the interests of England and of. the civilized world in the canal, and threatened that, if the United States persisted in demanding supreme authority, Great Britain and other nations would construct fortifications to command the canal and its approaches.

Mr.

President Arthur's Secretary of State, Mr. Frelinghuysen, held that the ClaytonBulwer treaty was voidable, and also that it applied only to the Nicaragua route. Frelinghuysen argued that a canal across the isthmus, under an international guarantee of neutrality, "would affect the republic in its trade and commerce, expose our Western coast to attack, destroy our isolation, oblige us to increase our navy and improve our defences, and possibly compel us, contrary to our traditions, to take an active interest in the affairs of European nations."

In the meantime, and until 1888, M. de Lesseps pushed the digging of the Panama Canal, the French people willingly supplying money for the enterprise until the historic crash came. Then the stockholders, the majority of whom were of the middle class, learned how their investments had been squandered, through mismanagement and corruption, and how long they had been deceived by the directors. France, especially Paris, was crazed by the revelations. M. de Lesseps and many of his associates suffered imprisonment and fine, and among those arrested for alleged complicity were more than 100 members of the French Legislature and five former Ministers of the Government.

THE RECOGNITION OF PANAMA.

On January 22, 1903, the treaty between the United States and Colombla for the construction of the Panama Canal by the United States was signed at Washington, and on March 23 this treaty was ratified by the United States Senate by a vote of 73 to 12, five Senators not voting. The Colombian Senate rejected this treaty on September 14, and approved, on first reading, a bill authorizing the Government to negotiate a new treaty. Panama declared its independence on November 3. On November 5 the Colombian troops evacuated Colon and sailed for Carthagena. The following day the United States recognized the independence of Panama, against which action Colombia lodged a protest with the State Department at Washington on November 8. M. Bunau-Varilla. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Panama, was formally received by President Roosevelt November 13. Two days later the Panama Commissioners arrived at New York, and on November 18 a canal treaty between the United States and Panama was

signed at Washington by Secretary of State Hay and Minister Bunau-Varilla, treaty the canal is now being constructed.

Under this

The preamble of this treaty cites a desire on the part of the United States to further the observance of the act of Congress, approved June 28, 1902, whereby the United States was authorized to purchase from the new Panama Canal Company for $40,000,000 all the rights and property of said company; to buy the right of way from Colombia; to construct a canal across the 1sthmus of Panama through Colombia; to choose the Nicaragua route if deemed more advisable; to expend $135,000,000 for construction, if the Panama route be chosen, or $180,000,000 should the Nicaragua route be adopted; to create an isthmian Canal Commission, to be appointed by the President, and consisting of seven members, to have executive control of the canal construction affairs; and to issue United States Government bonds, payable in thirty years and bearing 2 per cent. interest, to defray construction expenses.

The treaty of November 18. 1903, with Panama provides, in twenty-five articles, for details as to canal ownership and management, the principal agreements being: That the United States guarantees and will maintain the independence of the Republic of Panama; that the said Republic grants to the United States in perpetuity a strip of land ten miles in width across the isthmus, being five miles on either side of the centre of the line of the canal, and of all lands and waters outside of said canal zone which may be necessary to the construction and maintenance of the canal. The small islands named Perico, Nacs, Culebra and Flamingo, in the Bay of Panama, are also ceded to the United States; the Republic of Panama grants to the United States in perpetuity a monopoly for the construction, maintenance and operation of any system of communication by means of canal or railroad across the Republic's territory between the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean; Panama grants to the United States for a period of fifty years all rights to the construction of sewage and water-works systems, with accruing rentals, submits to sanitary control of the cities of Panama and Colon by the United States, and, in case of necessity, extends the right of such sanitary control to the entire Republic of Panama; the Republic of Panama authorizes the New Panama Canal Company to sell all its rights and property to the United States; the ports at either entrance of the canal are to be declared free for all time by the Republic of Panama; the United States may import at any time, free of customs duty or other charges, into said zone all things necessary for the canal construction; the two governments are to hereafter make adequate provision for the pursuit, arrest, detention and, when necessary, extradition of alleged criminals in the canal zone; the Republic grants to the United States the free use of all the Republic ports open to commerce for all vessels in distress having the right to pass through the canal, and the Republic is to enjoy free transportation over the canal of its vessels, troops and munitions of war at all times, also free transportation of the Government employees and police of the Republic; the canal, when constructed, and the entrance thereto, shall be neutral in perpetuity; the Republic of Panama agrees to modify all preceding treaties with any third Power so that no conflict may exist with the present convention; the United States is given the right to employ its armed forces or to build fortifications for the safety or protection of the canal or of the ships that make use of the same; the United States agrees to pay to the Republic of Panama the sum of $10,000,000 in gold and an annual payment of $250,000 during the life of the convention, beginning nine years from the date thereof. No change in the government or laws of the Republic, affecting the rights of the United States, shall be made by the Republic without the consent of the United States, and in the event of the sovereignty of the Republic of Panama being changed or merged with that of another government, the rig. of the United States in the canal zone are to be respected and in no way waived; all differences between the Republic and the United States concerning canal matters are to be settled by arbitration by a commission of four members, two from each government, with reference to an umpire selected by said governments in case of the disagreement of the commission, sald umpire's decision to be final.

On November 19, 1903, the Colombian envoys arrived at Colon to negotiate the return of Panama to Colombia, and were refused. On November 27 the United States Minister at Bogota formally notified the Colombian Foreign Minister of the recognition by the United States of the Republic of Panama and the reception of Panama's Minister. On December 2 the canal treaty with the United States was ratified by the Government of Panama, without amendment. Gen. Rafael Reyes, special envoy from Colombia, was received by President Roosevelt on December 5. Marines from the cruiser Dixie were landed at Colon and occupied a position at Empire, on the Panama Railroad, on December 8. Senator Morgan, on December 9, attacked the canal treaty in the Senate, and Senator Hoar introduced resolutions seeking information of the action of the Government. Elections were ordered, December 13, to take place on January 15, 1904, for delegates to a convention to form a constitution for the Republic of Panama, and thus was closed the momentous year in which American control of the great ditch was at last assured. Despite the opposition of some Senators, only fourteen of them voted against the ratlfication of the treaty on February 23, 1904, and on February 26 it went into effect, with the exchange of ratifications between the representatives of the two countries and the proclamation of Prezident Roosevelt. On April 28, 1904, Congress passed an act to provide for the temporary government of the canal zone. President Roosevelt then appointed the following members of the Isthmian Canal Commission, to take charge of the construction of the canal and the government of the canal zone: Rear-Admiral John G. Walker, U. S. N. (retired). Chairman; Maj.-Gen. George W. Davis, U. S. A. (retired); William Barclay Parsons, New York; William H. Burr, New York; Benjamin M. Harrod, Louisiana; Carl Ewald Crunsky, California; Frank J. Hecker, Michigan. John F. Wallace, general manager of the Illinois Railroad system, was appointed Chief Engineer.

In the meantime Manuel Amador had been inaugurated, February 20, as President of the Republic of Panama and formed his Cabinet, and Senor Pablo Arosemana was appointed Minister to the United States, succeeding Senor Bunau-Varilla, resigned. William L. Buchanan, of Iowa, was the first United States Minister to Panama. He was succeeded by

William W. Russell, who was transferred to Colombia in March, 1904, and John Barrett took Mr. Russell's place.

At Paris, France, on April 22, 1904, the Panama Canal Company transferred its rights to the United States. President Bo and Director Richmond acted for the company, Assistant United States Attorneys-General Charles W. Russell and W. A. Day for the United States, and Consuls-General John K. Gowdy and Robert Lewis for the United States and Panama, respectively, the two consular representatives joining in affixing the seals and attesting the signatures to the instrument of transferrence. On May 9, by warrant of the Secretary of the Treasury, on behalf of the United States, the Panama Canal Company was paid the stipulated $40,000,000, and $10,000,000 was paid by the United States to the Republic of Panama.

CANAL ZONE GOVERNMENT.

President Roosevelt having decided that until Congress enacted laws for a permanent government of the Canal Zone, the Panama Commission should report through the War Department; Gen. George W. Davis, of the Commission, was appointed Governor of the Zone. On May 19, 1904, General Davis issued a proclamation to the inhabitants of the Canal Zone announcing his authority and the purposes of his administration. subsequently rapidly perfected the machinery of government along American lines and in full conformity with established American ideas.

He

After continuing in office for nearly a year, the first Panama Commission resigned. on April 3, 1905. The President, on the same day, appointed a new commission, composed of seven persons, as follows: Theodore P. Shonts, Chairman; Charles E. Magoon; John F. Wallace, Chief Engineer; Rear-Admiral M. T. Endicott, U. S. N.; Brig.-Gen. Peter C. Hains, U. S. A. (retired); Col. Oswald H. Ernst, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A.; Benjamin M. Harrod. The salary of the four last named was fixed at $7.500 per annum, that of Mr. Wallace at $25,000, of Mr. Magoon at $17,500, and of Chairman Shonts at $30,000. Joseph Bucklin Bishop was later made a Commissioner and Secretary to the Commission - at $10,000 per annum. Commissioners Shonts, Magoon and Wallace were ordered to reside in Panama, as an Executive Committee, each assuming charge of specified departments. General Magoon was given the title and duties of Governor in July, Commissioner Shonts was assigned to charge of fiscal affairs, and to Mr. Wallace was allotted responsibility for engineering matters. There was also appointed a Board of Consulting Engineers, consisting of the following persons: Gen. George W. Davis, Chairman; William Barclay Parsons, W. H. Burr, Gen. Henry D. Abbott, Eugene Tincauzer, German: Edward M. Quellenec, of the Suez Canal Staff: Isham Randolph, F. P. Stearns, Joseph Ripley, W. H. Hunter, Manchester Canal, England; Adolph Geurard, French; J. W. Welker, Dutch. The representatives of Germany, England, France and the Netherlands on this advisory board were nominated by their respective governments on the invitation of President Roosevelt. The duties of the new Commission, and instructions as to administrative work on the canal, were defined in detail by President Roosevelt, simultaneously with the appointing of the Commission.

The Board of Consulting Engineers, after protracted sittings in Washington, divided in vote, November 17. on the plan of canal to be recommended to the President. Eight members, including all the foreign representatives, favored a sea-level canal, and five members-Abbott, Ripley, Noble, Randolph and Stevens-voted for a lock canal. President Roosevelt, after receiving and considering this report, declared himself in favor of the lock plan, and said he would veto the Sundry Civil Appropriation bill if it carried a rider providing for a sea-level canal. The United States Senate, therefore, on June 26, 1906. amended the bill providing for a sea-level canal by a vote of 35 to 31 in favor of a lock canal. The House of Representatives had already, by a vote of 110 to 36, on June 15, declared in favor of a lock canal. The engineers in charge of the work estimate that it will cost $140,000,000 to construct a lock canal, and that eight years' labor will complete the work. A sea-level canal, the same engineers say, would cost $272,000,000, and would require twelve to twenty years' time to complete.

THE DIMENSIONS OF THE WORK.

The total length of the canal will approximate forty-six miles. The depth will vary from thirty to forty-five feet, and the surface width will be from 200 feet in Culebra cut to 1,000 feet from the Gatun Locks to San Pablo, a distance of fifteen miles and a half. The summit level will be about eighty-five feet above the sea, and will be reached by a flight of locks at Gatun, on the Atlantic side, one lock at Pedro Migue! and two at La Boca, on the Pacific side, all locks being alike. A huge dam near the Gatun hills will catch the overflow of the Chagres River floods. This reservoir will have an area of 110 square miles and will be located 135 feet above sea level. It will be 7,700 feet long and 2.625 wide at the bottom. The heaviest portion of the canal work is from La Cascades to near Paraiso, known as the Culebra cut section, a distance of 4.7 miles.

After many difficulties in securing a sufficient force of unskilled laborers, a trial of West Indian negroes proved unsatisfactory. President Roosevelt, at the solicitation of Chairman Shonts, agreed to the employment of Chinese coolie labor, and the Commission, in response to a call for bids, dated August 20, 1906, received proposals offering to furnish such labor from 9 to 13 cents per hour, for a ten hours' day. The contracts are for 15,000 Chinese for two years, with privilege of renewal. All Chinese must come from districts in Southern China and be between twenty-one and forty-two years of age. Congress has passed an act waiving the Eight-Hour law on all work on the Canal Zone, except as to American labor. After many consultations with the President, the Commission decided to build the canal by contract, as the quickest and most economical method, contractors being allowed to bid on as many sections or sub-divisions as such contractors might desire. Secretary of the Treasury Shaw, on July 2, 1906, announced that $30,000,000 of the

2 per cent. canal bonds would be sold. The issue was over-subscribed nearly fifteen times, and the Government_received a premium of $1,200,000 because of the high prices offered. The exceeding of authorized expenditures by the Canal Commission during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1906, led to criticism and to an attempt at investigation by the Senate Committee on Interoceanic Canals. President Roosevelt, in a special message to Congress, transmitting the Commission's report, vigorously defended the Commission, declaring: "I repeat that the work on the isthmus has been done, and is being done, admirably. The organization is good. The mistakes are extraordinarily few, and these few have been practically of no consequence. The zeal, intelligence and efficient service of the Isthmian Commission and its subordinates have been noteworthy. I court the fullest, most exhaustive and most searching investigation of any act of theirs, and if any one of them is ever shown to have done wrong his punishment shall be exemplary. But I ask that they be decently paid, and that their hands be upheld as long as they act decently. On any other conditions we shall not be able to get men of the right type to do the work, and this means that on any other conditions we shall insure, if not failure, at least delay, scandal and inefficiency in the task of digging the giant canal.'

The President spent four days on the isthmus in November, 1906, going over the entire route of the canal. On his return he expressed himself as satisfied with conditions, and on December 17 he sent to Congress a specially illustrated message detailing his views on the canal situation.

PROGRESS OF WORK IN 1907.

President Roosevelt, on April 1, 1907, placed the work of constructing the Panama Canal in charge of the engineer officers of the army, appointing Lieut.-Col. George W. Goethals Chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission and Chief Engineer. There was no specific authority for this action, but it was done under the law providing for the construction of the canal, which authorized him to have the work performed. He will recommend to Congress that the Chief of Engineers of the United States Army be placed in control of this work.

Theodore P. Shonts, the Chairman of the Canal Commission, resigned January 23 to become President of the Interborough-Metropolitan Company of New York. John F. Stevens, Chief Engineer of the Commission, was then appointed Chairman of the Commission and Chief Engineer. He went to Panama to complete the canal, and die with his

boots on if necessary.

But Mr. Stevens soon became tired of his position, and after a serious disagreement with President Roosevelt regarding affairs on the isthmus, resigned March 4.

Lieut.-Col. George W. Goethals, one of the most experienced officers of the Army Engineer Corps, was appointed a member of the Commission, and on April 1 became Chairman and Chief Engineer. Major D. D. Gaillard and Major William L. Sibert, of the Engineer Corps of the Army, were also made members of the Commission. These appointments were made because the President could not secure a civilian who would stick to the job. All of them tired after completing their organization of the Commission, the working force and their plans. These constant changes retarded the work, and finally the President appointed Lieutenant-Colonel Goethals as Chairman of the Commission and assigned two other army engineers as members of the Commission. This was done to prevent further changes in the policy of conducting the work and to have army engineers on hand familiar with the work, so that one of them could step into the position of Chairman in the event of his retirement.

Shortly after the appointment of Lieutenant-Colonel Goethals all the members of the Commission were transferred to the isthmus, including Joseph Bucklin Bishop, the Secretary, and all the principal work is now conducted at Panama. Lieut.-Col. H. F. Hodges, Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army, was placed in charge of the administrative features of the Canal Commission offices with the titles of General Purchasing Officer and Chief of Office. He purchases all supplies and machinery for the canal, advertising for bids. The Canal Commission consists of the following persons:

Lieut. Col. George W. Goethals, salary $15,000, Chairman and Chief Engineer: Major D. D. Gaillard, U. S. A., salary $14.000; Major William L. Sibert. U. S. A.. salary $14,000; H. H. Rosseau, Civil Engineer, U. S. N., salary $14,000; Hon. Joseph C. S. Blackburn, of Kentucky, salary $14,000; Col. W. C. Gorgas, U. S. A.. salary $14,000; Jackson Smith, salary $14,000; Joseph Bucklin Bishop. Secretary, salary $10,000. Each member of the Commission is provided with a furnished house and is allowed all expenses while in the United States on official business.

Lieutenant-Colonel Goethals is in charge of Construction and Engineering; Major D. D. Gaillard has charge of the Department of Excavation and Dredging; Major William L. Sibert. Department of Locks and Dam Construction; H. H. Rosseau, in charge of Department of Municipal Engineering, Motive Power and Machinery, and Building Construction; Hon. Joseph C. S. Blackburn, in charge of Civil Administration; Col. W. C. Gorgas, Chief of the Department of Sanitation, and Jackson Smith, in charge of Department of Labor, Quarters and Subsistence.

It

February 7.-William J. Oliver, of Knoxville, Tenn., and Anson G. Bangs, of New York, under the name of Oliver & Bangs, submitted a bid to construct the canal by contract. Their bid was 6.75 per cent. of the actual cost of construction, and the McArthurGillespie Company, of New York, submitted a bid at 12 per cent. These were the only two bids that were considered. An investigation was made by President Roosevelt, the Secretary of War and the Canal Commission into the reliability of the contractors. was found that Mr. Bangs had transacted business with Gaynor & Greene, who were indicted in connection with Capt. Oberlin M. Carter for the frauds at Savannah, Ga.. where the Government was constructing a breakwater. Mr. Oliver was informed that he must get another partner, and Frederick C. Stevens, Superintendent of Public Works of New York, then associated himself with Mr. Oliver. Their bid was considered, and finally Mr Oliver was notified that he must organize a corporation with a capital of $5.000.000, He did so, and associated with him were John B. McDonald, of New York, who constructed the Subway: John Pierce, of New York, who constructed a large number of buildings for the Government; P. T. Brennan, of the Brennan Construction Company, of Washington, D. C.: John H. Gerrish, of the Eastern Dredge Company, of Boston, and the P. J. Walsh Construction Company, of Davenport, Iowa.

After considering these bids, they were rejected, as the Government decided to continue