PANAMA CANAL.


mittee pointed out that the general plan had as yet received practi-
cally no study in respect to the location and grades of the roads upon
the hillsides and the arrangement of the quarters thereon, and but
little as to the placing of the individual public buildings along the
main avenue.
 Further, the committee explained, as set forth in their memoran-
dum to the chairman, that the quality of the final result, both in
matters of practical convenience and especially in matters of appear-
ance, will depend upon the proper handling of the innumerable
details which can not be shown on the general plan even more than
upon the quality of the general plan itself. Neither the Commission
of Fine Arts nor any paid professional advisor at a distance can
safeguard the work in regard to these details, which in the total will
make or break the artistic and practical success of the town. They
are always dependent upon the local executive organization and are
peculiarly so where the work is isolated and has to be pushed rapidly.
 Practical experience in somewhat similar work undertaken for
public institutions and for companies engaged in the business of pro-
ducing and selling residential properties on a large scale, where the
attractiveness of 'the whole community is the principal commercial
asset, clearly indicates the importance of certain points in the organi-
zation for handling such work. One is that the town must be re-
garded as a single job which stands or falls as a whole, and that
every feature in it should be, as far as practicable, controlled by a
single compact organization devoted solely to that purpose and
capable of exercising a wise discretion as to matters of appearance.
Special parts of the work, such as electrical and mechanical equip-
ment, can and generally must be delegated to other organizations
working in collaboration with the office in charge of the town work
as a whole, but other parts can be successfully handled only under
the direct and complete control of that office.
 On the architectural side, whether buildings are erected by outside
contractors or by an executive building department run by the or-
ganization itself, as is often the case with land companies, and
whether the original designs of the buildings are furnished by out-
side architectural offices or by the local architectural department of
the organization, it is vital to success that all the details of construc-
tion, no matter how trivial they may seem, should be settled and car-
ried out under the authoritative inspection of somebody of artistic
skill. It is impossible, even were it not too extravagantly costly in
time and money, to prepare plans and specifications so complete and
detailed as to make it safe to do without such watchful artistic over-
sight over the details of execution. Innumerable unforeseen ques-
tions constantly arise requiring almost instant decision which offer
two or more alternatives of nearly equal practical merit but very
different artistic value."
 It is to be noted that the Canal Commission has an architectural
department, under the direction of Mr. A. 1W. Lord, who prepares the
general drawings in New York, with an assistant architect, Mr. M.
Schiavoni, selected by him, in charge of the office at the Isthmus,
where the working drawings are prepared. There is as yet no or-
ganization for the design and supervision of the outside work in con-
nection with the town and kindred matters. In the discussion of