The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-07-01
EEAFT UNJUST DECLARES
 ENGINEER ]. E. WALLACE
fcontinued from First Page.l

fo arrange for me with the secretary thai the interview should be absolutely
 private and that no one but the secre- tary and myself should be present.
 what has besn done; but with the
 ron arriving at the Manhattan on
 Sunday I was met by MT. Cromwell
 who uehered me into the secretarys
 private apartment, accompanied by my son. Assuming that arrangements had
 been made for a strictly private inter
 view my son withdrew, expecting MT. 2 Cromwell to do the same. However, f the secretary in a rather peremtory manner directed MT. Comwen to re- main.
 l ''This action, of course, caused irrita-
 ton and apprehension on my part that
 the interview would be unpleasant and
 unsatisfactory, and the irritation un- < der which the secretary was evidently i 3laboring had a tendency to prevent { that calm and dignified consideration of the question in all it's bearings
 gwhich should have been given it.
 X X If the secretary understood me to t ay that had accepted a position in
 New York he labored under a misap- a sehension. .... <....-.-.s - |. sI did state to him that desired to Accept ohs, but under such circum- stances and conditions and at such time as would cause the least embar- rassment to the administration and the least injury to the work, and that l was even willing to go to the extent N of remaining for an indefinite time on \ the commission, should he desire my counsel and advice in arranging for 4 Athe change, assisting in preparing lpIans for the advisory board of engin- eers in September, or in the further Consideration of the question by the Administration or congress during its
 next session. .. .... ......-.. $ Much to my surprise he indignantly % spurned my suggestion, and took the S position that I was compelled under what he called my contract to remain A in charge of the isthmian canal, re- gardless of circumstances or conditions until the completion of the work, and Il spoke in such a manner as to outrage # my feelings to such an extent that fur # fller discussion or the reasons for my X action was out of the question:
 IN T did not seek the position of chief kengineer of the isthmian canal conn Gnission, and considering my salary as # general manager of the Illinois Central lRailroad company and my other
 sources of earnings, my financial con- & ldition was not improved by my accept
 Rnce of the position, and it was with
 he greatest reluctance that did so. M sWhile 1t was my own expectation % hat I should continue my connection
 Sith the work, it did not occur to me # hat was not free to withdraw if jus
 Ice to myself and my family and to # ay reputation as an engineer required
 le to do so. It was not only my right,
 It my duty to give the matter the
 tost careful consideration in all it's $ Ngs considering not only the
 tuation as 1t affected the
 Thy family, personal and
 latfons and all the various m Entering into ftfe problem; and II ~SNsolIId not concede the right to the # #(secretary of war or to anyone to dfc- # tate his decision The only debatable
 questions were the details of this de-
 cision into effect, and while I stated
 to the secretary what my desires were. # I told him I was perfectly willing to
 conform to his wishes as far as possible # ais to the time and manner of my with
 drawel. ~.s s= # Tt was this suggestion to which he # chose to refer as 'dicker' To that
 Statement naturally took exception,
 particularly as he stated that he did
 not care for any reports that might
 make, summarizing and analyzing the z results of a years hard work on the @ isthmus; also that he did not value my
 counsel and advice, and that the only # service lie desired was that of a con # strueting engineer on the isthmus.
 |3 fore us; and not only with our own for B No irtimation of friction between
 Ahe secretary of war and myself would
 yer become public, if it had not acci.
 entaIly or otherwise, been given oui
 9y Hhe persons in conference other thar # myself; and I desire to state emphatic # ally and the representatives of the pres!
 will bear me out, that I have refused x Absolutely, either directly or indirectly
 to be interviewed and have remained |&# silent under the innuendoes which hay, s been daily published since the confer S# erlce and would not have made even tfli # Statement at this time if 1t had no # been for the severe strictures contained & in the published statement of the sec # retary, which I consider unjust and un # called for and which could serve n' M useful purpose.
 In regard to the situation at Pana
 ma, at no time during the progress 0 aI$ the work could my relations have beer
 severed more opportunely than now ant I with less damage to the work. A com Z plete organization of departments ant S bureaus has been effected. w. E M Dauchy, gentleman of high engin
 eering attainments, who has been chic
 engineer of the Chicago, Rock Islan, @ and Pacific railroad, and who had oc B cupied the position of division enginee 5 in charge of the Culebra division, wa W upon my leaving the isthmus placed il
 charge of the work as acting chief en S gileer he having occupied sin1ila # position during my absence from tn M isthmus at the call of the secretary dur 2s ing the month of April and having sat
 isfactorily conducted the work throug
 the decentralization attendant upon tn M change of organization.