Hastening The Canal Opening.

New York Times 100 years ago today, June 13, 1913:
    Whether the waters of the two oceans shall be at once turned into the Panama Canal with a view to completing the work of excavation in the Culebra Cut by suction dredges instead of by steam shovels is primarily a question of engineering. It is said that the slide material can be removed much more rapidly and more cheaply by suction dredges than by the present method, so that if the water is admitted now and this method adopted a much earlier date could be fixed for the opening of the canal to traffic. The impression that there may be opposition to Col. Goethals's plan for the immediate admission of water on the part of some of those engaged in the work, who thus would soon be deprived of their occupation, does not call, of course, for serious notice. The loyal spirit of devotion to the great undertaking, to the Government, and to the interests of the people who will pay the bill is manifest throughout the whole force engaged upon the Canal; exceptions here and there do not count.
    But whatever may be determined as to the relative merits of steam shovels and suction dredges, one thing is clear, the chief thing, the greatest thing — that Col. Goethals and the army officers who have been in charge of the various branches of the work must be left to complete it undisturbed by personal intrigue and free from political interference. The Administration, we take it, understands very well that the American people demand this, that they will be satisfied with nothing less, and that to follow any other course would be to embark upon a sea of perils. For this reason we hope it may be assumed that the notice said to have been issued to the officers at the Isthmus relieving them of duty there was a matter of form only, to become effective only when the Canal is finished.
    The manner in which the construction work has proceeded, under the directing mind of Col. Goethals, has commanded the admiration and excited the wonder of all competent observers. It is the very highest expression of efficiency. To those who have been eye-witnesses of the multitude of processes by which the work advances, of the building of the great Gatun Dam, of lock construction, and the endless procession of trains loaded with spoil moving out of the cut side by side with other endless processions of returning empty cars, it has seemed as if these operations, wonderfully complex and no less wonderfully smooth in their workings, were like the motions of the members of the solar system, all obeying a primary impulse under a comprehensive law. There has been nothing like it in the history of the world, and to disturb this matchless system now by any interference from without would be an act of hardihood and of folly. The Canal must go to completion in charge of the extraordinary men who have so nearly prepared it for the commerce of the world.