The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-03-22
TAFT RAPS DIR. REED
WRITES THE PRESIDENT REGARD
 ING CERTAIN CHARGES MADE.
Roosevelt Says Report Should Not Have Been Made Public Until Canal Commission Had
 Chance to Reply.

Washington, March 21.-Following Is the correspondence which occurred be- tween Secretary of War Taft and Pres- ident Roosevelt regarding charges made by pr. c. A. Reed in connection with sanitary provisions made on the Isthmus by the Canal Commission:
 War Department.
 Washington, March IT. 1905.
 "The President-I herewith transmit the answer of the Commission to the charges contained in the report of Dr. c. A. l.. Reed to me as to the sani- tary provisions made by the Isthmian Canal Commission on the Isthnius.
 'T think that reading. of the two documents will show what, indeed, was apparent on the face of pr. Reeds statement--that7 his charges against the Commission were biased and con- troversial and not written in the judi cial spirit that inspires confidence in their justice and accuracy.
 "Dr. Reed visited the Isthmus at my request to act as an assessor of land upon a commission provided by the treaty between Panama and the United States but as he was the head of the American Medical Association 1t seem ed to me an opportunity on his return to- secure information from one skilled in his profession as to the existing conditions on the Isthmus. In response to my queries he was so emphatic and so detailed in his charges that I asked him to make his statement in writing, which he did upon the same day by the use of a stenographer. It is prob- able that had he taken more time he would have been more measured in his criticisms. less extreme in his state ments and less fiippant in his refer ences to the action of the Commission. The report of Dr. Reed was published without my knowledge or consent.
 ''The reply of the commission seems to show that large part of the plans and the action of the commission which Dr. Reed criticises was fully concurred in and agreed to by Colonel Gorgas and the other medical officers in the employ of the commission. It is doubtless true that Colonel Gorgas and his stan believed that 1t would be wiser to give them an entirely free hand ip the matter of ordering con- struction supplies and the employment of subordinates. It Is quite probable that had the approval of the commis- sion in the matter of ordering con- struction supplies been dispensed with there would have been fewer delays and less complaint on this account; but in the expenditure of such large sums as were necessary for the organization of the sanitary system. the eoRstrue- tion of the plant and the purchase of supplies it may well be doubted wheth- CT the commission would have been discharging its duty in withholding supervisory control.
 'It is doubtless true that there have been undue delays in the furnishing of what was needed for sanitary pur- poses on the Isthmus, but l venture to think that this is due rather to the in herent clumsiness of the commission as an executive body than to the neg feet or wilful non-action of any mem- ber of that board. There must be some restraint for purposes of economy upon the expenditures and obligations being incurred. To allow each department to expend what in its judgment Is nee essary will certainly lead to extrava- gance and waste. The remedy for the delays which have occurred here are. 1t seems to me. to be found In a rear raneement of the commission with a new distribution of powers and the conferring of the executive on one or at the most, not more than three mem- bers. of the commission with a general supervisory and conf1rmatory power Tn the commission as body.
 with your permission, will submit in a day or two a plan for the better carrying on of the work of the commits sion, which may be embodied in new series of instructions.
 Respectfully yours,
 "Wm. H. Taft,
 secretary of War"