The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-06-30
BITTER ARRAIGNMEHT
 OF ENGINEER WALLACE
GAVE UP HIS WORK ON ISTH- MAN CANAL FOR MERE
 LUCRE."

| Ahe AhNGEGSN-OHAs pH e-~
 Isthmus Twelve Days When He Asks
 to be Ordered HOme-Secretary Plainly Says He Can Have No Fur
 tI,er Confidence in Him-To Get $65,-
 coo Year in New York.
 Washington, June 29.-Charging him with changing his position over night flor mere Iucre" and with being infiu- enced solely by personal advantage" !" Secretary Taft, in his conference in New York on June 25 with John F. Wallace, chief engineer of the Panama canal commission, after administering severe Tebuke to him, requested his resignation on the ground that public interest requires that your tender your resignation at this moment and turn over the records of your office to the chairman of the commission"
 This fact is disclosed in an official statement issued from the office of the secretary of war tonight which reviews the relations of Mr. Wallace with the war department and the commission since the latter body's reorganization l Ia6L SpElIlSs QAOAlllE l1lO SCfNAs1A PA So~ sions of the chief engineer of his satis- faction with the entire arrangement, and then gives a yerbatum account of the conference between Secretary Taft and Mr. Wallace in New York which concluded with the submission to the secretary of MT. Wallace's resignation. The statement issued tonight con- eludes with the presidents letter to MT. Wallace, dated Cambridge, Mass, June 2S, which reads: .. r..s Your resignation as member and l chief engineer of the isthmian canal commission, rendered in accordance with the request of Secretary Taft, which request, under the circumstances, has my entire approval, is hereby ac- teepted to take effect immediately.
 | ''very truly yours,
 | Theodore Roosevelt" s The statement shows that MT. Wall I1ace made no complaint against any of his associates. *
 | Secretary Taft begins with the state- Ement of MT. Wallace to Chairman lShonts, immediately after the organ lization of the commission, that he lwould be ready to accept the position of chief engineer at s25,OOO per year and a residence on the isthmus, and would enter on his duties June 1. x
 Twelve days after his arrival on the Iisthmus MT. Wallace sent the follow ing cablegram to Secretary Taft:
 Important complicated business matters which cannot be arranged by correspondence, and which may affect my relations as chief engineer of com. mission. necessitate immediate return to the United States to confer with you and others. An order from you to re- turn for official consultation will pre- vent apprehension on the part of em- lployes. Suggest Shonts remain until my arrival. Please answer" -
 Secretary Taft replied:
 Secretary of war and shonts, in &C., cordanee with your request, and with out knowledge of circumstances that justify. approve your return for con- sultation with them at Washington
 Just before sailing MT. Wallace wrote a letter to the secretary in which he re- Iferred to his intended visit to the Unit ed States, but gave no explanation of his personal plans.
 When they met in New York by ap- pointment, the statement says, MT. Wallace said part of the interview would be personal to himself and part would concern the general canal work on the isthmus, to which Secretary Taft agreed.
 The statement continues:
 MT. Wallace then said that a few days before he sent the cable to the secretary he received cable from prominent business men in New York, asking if he would consider an offer to accept an important position in New York, and that he had cabled in reply that it was simply question of terms and conditions" and that he had re- quested particulars; that the partieu- lars came and it proved to be a def mite offer of a position as president of a large holding company, controlling several other corporations, with cer- tain stock benefits and other advan- tages to himself, which, with the sal ary, made 1t equivalent to $5Q,OOO a year; that he did not at once accept the offer, but delayed 1t for few l ulyS, III uFuSI LO Cdpl6 LuG secretary Of war, during which the parties increas- ed their proposal between $10OOO and s15,000 a year, making it equivalent to $60,000 or $65,000. -
 He stated that the position was an especially attractive one, and such as ne had only hoped to obtain after the completion of the canal, and thus only lafter years of further service on the isthmus; that the duties of the new position were especially agreeable and afforded opportunities omake money through investments, etc.; further that the position was such a good one thai he did not consider that he could de- cline it: that life on the isthmus was lonely and accompanied by risk to him. self and wife, and was another reason for accepting a better offer; but that his new duties would not require all of his attention for the next two months, and that the parties haC agreed that he could close, up his cana
 work il. the meantime, always provid. d t did not take him from New York to the isthmus. He referred to the presidents order appointing the orig ihal commission, and in which tht
 president had stated that the comms,
 slonets would hold office subject to ths l due fulflllment of their: duties, and, he