Daily Kennebec journal., 1906-01-09
THE PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.
Continued from Page One)

| have Carefully examined INTO cdcn pl
these accusations which seemed worthy
Of attentiCn. In every instance the ac-
cusdtions have proved to be without
foundation in any shape or form. They
spring from several sources. Some
times they take the shape of statements
by irresponsible investigators OF II sem
satiOnal habit Of mind. incapable Of OBJ
serving or repeating with accuracy
what they see and dcsirouS OF obtain
ing notoriety by wide spread SANDER.
More often they originate with, or
are given currency by individuals with
Il personal grievance. The sensation
monCers both those who stay at holae
and those who visit the isthmuS. may
ground their accusations on false state
ments by some engineer. who having
applied for service On the commission
and been refused such service. now en-
leIVors to diScrcdit his successful COM
petitors or by some lessee or owner of
real estate who has sought action or in
action by the commission to increase
the value Of his lots. and is bitter be
cause the commission cannct b" usrl
for such purposes, or of the tales of
disappointed bidders for contracts: or
of offjceholdrrs who have proved in
competent or who have been suspected
Of corruption ANA dismissed. or who
have been overcome by panic ana have
fled from the iSthmus.
Every specific charge relating to
jobtcry. to immortality or to ineiiicicn-
cy from what ever source it has come
has been Immediately investigated and
in no single instance have the state
rnents of these sensation mongcrS and
the Interested complaints behind them
proved true. The only diScrtlt inher-
ing in these false accusations is to
those who originate ana give them cur
renCy ami who, to the extent of their
abilities thereby hamper and obstruct
the completion of the great work in
which both the honor and the interest
Of America are 50 deeply involved
1t matters not whether those guilty of
| these false accusations utter them i'll
mere wanton recklcssncss and folly or
| in 4 spirit Of sinister malice To CRAFTY
some personal or political grudge.
| Any attempt to cut down the Salar-
| les OF the officers of the isthmian com
mission or of their subordnat,s who
are doing important work. would be
rnHous from the standpoint OF accom-
pishing the work effectively To quote
the words of one Of the best observers
on the isthnus. decentralization of the
. service IS certain if til" reward for sue
c'SSful endeavor is 4 reduction Of nav
I'VE are undertaking in Panama {; gi-
eantic task-thc largest piece of cngi-
ne"ring ever done. The employment Of
the men engaged thereon is only tempo
rary and vet it will require the highcs.
order Of ability if it is to he done eco
nomically. horestly and efficiently To at
tempt to secure men to de, this work on
insufficient salary would amount to rut-
ting 4 premium upon incfiricncy and cor
ruption. Men fit for tho work will not
undertake it unless they are well paid
In the end the men who do undertake il
will be left to seek other emrIovrnen;
with as their chief reward the reputa-
tions they achieve. Their work is inf
nitely more difficult than any private
work. both because of the peculiar con.
dtion Of the tropical land in which il is
land and because it is Impossible to FREE
them from the peculiar limitations in
scparably connected with government
employment: while il is InfOrtun2tcly
true that men engaged in public work. nc
matter how devoted and disirterestc cd
/ their services, must expect to he rnadt
the objects of Misrepresentation and ut.
tack. At best, therefore. the positions
are not attractive in proportion to thci.
Importance ard among the men fit to dc
the task only those with 4 genuine sens
of public spirit and eager to do the great
work for the works sake can he obtain.
cd and such mon cannot be kept if they
are to be treated with niggarIlir.ess and
parsimony in addition to the certainty
that false accusations will continually be
brought against them.
II repeat that the work on the isthmus
has been done and is being done admir-.
ably. The organization is coed The
mistakes are extraordinary few and these
few have been of practically no conse.
quence The zeal. intelligence and eff.
cfent public service of the isthmian com
mission and its suboriirates have been
noteworthy I court the fullest most ex-
haustive ard most s,ar hing ir-., -;-.,tin,
of any act Of thailE. and If any ore ol
them is ever shown to have done wrono