The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-02-26
IJohs F. Wallace Dis l es sses Panama Canal.
'dE MAN SHOULD CONTROL
No Use of Referring Everything
 Back to Washington.
He Thinks There is Entirely Too Much Red Tape When 1t comes to spendiss the Money of
 Uncle sam.

New York. Feb. 25.--John F. Wallace, formerly chief engineer of the Panama Canal, has contributed an article to the March number of the "Engineering Magazine" recounting his observations and experience during the year in which he was In charge of the con- struction work in the canal zone. In this article MT. Wallace declares to be his belief that fit will require more time and money to construct a high level canal on the eighty-five foot plan, under the present method. of govern ment control. than 1t will to construct a sea level canal provided the work is accomplished by modern efficient meth ods." s .,.
 He advocates either placing the work in the hands of one mana practical engineer-with unlimited authority. or letting the work to one large contract Ing firm. .
 The article says In part: k.
 "Of the factors which exercise the greatest deterrent influence In the ac- complishmsnt- of satisfactory results under 6irect governmental control. the first s7found In the laws governing the disbursement of public funds. The Of flcial and the commercial ideals are ey- idently diametricaily opposed. Wheth-
 
 secure greater honesty or less scandal in It's disbursements can best be judged by a comparison of the history of the Government bureaus with that of our great, business or engineering enter prises under corporate management
 Tt should be apparent to every thinking man that when the work must be conducted 2,ooo miles away from a seat of government a policy composing the necessity of referring all important questions to Washington and. submit ting them there to men who necessarily cannot be conyersant with the condi- tions on the isthmus unless they are informed by parties on the ground, can not give satisfactory results. no mat ter how honest or efficient the super vision of this may be. M / ls
 Extravagance and Waste.
 T may perhaps feel too strongly on this point, but my experience at Pan ama--rny occasional contact with gov ernineatals methods reaching back to a service of five years as assistant en- gineer on river and harbor improve ments--has convinced me that attempts to carry on constructive work under the direction of Washington bureaus. espe- cially when the work is large, is com plicated and distant from the seat. of government, are conducive of extrava-
 
 money. am epphatically of the opin- ion that the government functions on the Isthmus should be confined exclu- sively to a general supervision Of the work and enforcement of such simple ordinances and sanitary regulations as may be necessary to secure the peace and health of the community affected by constructive work.
 ''The question of control of the com | mi Ia fhn nf rUQ T1ofA hv the sub-contractors and a host of .oth- CT details make 1t necessary to nay mind for a single contracting organization to control the entire work. Either the work should be put into hands of one strong man with practically. unlimited authority combining, technical and scientific training of the engineer with the administrative and executive abili- ty of man of force; with this should be coupled the separation of all the matters connected with this work from the control of the ordinary government departments in Washingron--butsu under such supervision only as to insure the government that his administration is efncient: or that the same results should be accomplished through let ting of the work to Q; contracting firm large enough to control under one management the entire constructive work on the Isthmus under broad and general specifications and under such general supervision as may appear tc Congress to be proper"
 In conclusion the article says:
 If the experience had not been SC serious, I should look back to my first connection with this enterprise and the experience gained there with and smile to think I had been so innocent as to suppose myself able to overcome the long settled influence heretofore indicated. or to impress my individuali- ty upon the work or employ the meth ods with which had been familiar for years"