The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-01-11

that quarantine officials construe the law and enforce 1t as far as possible to interfere with commerce Is utterly un- founded"
 The isthmus is being freed from dam ger of yellow fever and other conta- gious diseases, observes the Secretary, by an effort unprecedented in the his- tory of tho world. Being surrounded on every side by disease breeding ports. the Secretary says 1t Is of the highest importance if the work done upon the isthmus is to remain permanent, that the quarantine be strictly enforced. Ma tives on the isthmus, he says, regard themselves as immune from yellow fe- yer and many of the other diseases, therefore naturally resent the strictness of the preparation against such dis eases.
 Secretary Taft repeats his former statement that the charges that a boat load of black women were being inn ported from Martinique for immoral purposes Is false, and refers to docu- ments to corroborate this denial
 Secretary Taft continues: Finally come to the charges specifically made against the Secretary of War. They consist in a refusal toeaccept the guid- ance of Mir. Tracy Robinson in visiting the purlieus of Colon and a refusal to have an interview with Mir. John Lun- uAcs SAlol CuStlScE UL luB Gl5CtTlC anu refrigerating plant. ITO the first charge I plead guilty" he says an inn precision was sought to be given that Mir. Lundiss application for an inter view was made In the interest Of the negro laborers on the isthmus and de- clares that the correspondence shows how unfounded this is, and In fact MT. Lundis did not ask for an interview at all.'
 Short Time on IstImus. , Secretary Taft states that the writer of the article containing the charges arrived in Panama November 90, and left December 1. 'and 1t is not unfair to say that his opportunities for observ- ing were limited to twenty-eight hours, including daytime and nighttime" In view of this statement Mir. Taft says the writer should not take exception to the seven or eight days which seven of the most distinguished engineers in the world in canal construction de- voted to the same task. But. remarks the Secretary, the writer will answer that he did not depend upon his own observations but consulted witnesses. TWO witnesses we are able to Identify. Tracy Robinson and Jose Lundis." He adds the others are negroes from the West Indies. Secretary Taft says MT. Robinson is the owner of property in Colon. His animus against the Gov ernment is." says Mir. Taft, because its first attention to tho expenditure of money was in Panama and thus raised the value of property in that city: and, secondly, that in the enforcement of the health regulations by the Sanitary Department in Colon he found 1t nec- essary to complain that his vested rights were being interfered with.
 Thirdly" the Secretary says, MT. Robinson applied to the former chair man of the Commission for a position at $30o0, declining the position If Mayor of Cristobal at s1.S00 and that he applied to Governor Magoon for a position. but was told there were no vacancies. Mir. Lundis, the Secretary says, is an electrical engineer who was employed to visit the isthmus to super intend the construction of a plant for the generation of electricity and for the manufacture of ice by a private cor poration
 Lundfs Wasted Job.
 Mfr. Lundis, he says. made applied tion to become a member of the Ad- visory Board, and urged his appoint ment with great vigor, but his tppli- cation was rejected. Mr. Wallace app pointed him as consulting engineer to make a report on oils and fuels on the isthmus, but MT. Shonts dlsapproved the appointment, and 1t was not made. Sec ISldfy 4dLl CildFGcb tudt MT. A<uitdiS objects seriously to the Governments furnishing It's own light and ice. and insists that It Is It's duty to patronize his company, that he protested to Sec retary Taft while the latter was on the isthmus and later wrote the Presi- dent a letter. The Secretary sayS:
 Tt Is quite possible that copy of Lundis's letter to you was shown to the writer of the article. In view of |, similar language used, sharply arraigns on this score the good faith of the writer of the article"
 Mr. Taft declares that no engineer in the country Is better fitted for work than MT. Stevens. In the letter ad- dressed to the President by MT. Lundis and referred to by MT. Taft, the writer 1 says;
 "I have never seen such a piece of mis- and utter demoralization as exists today on the isthmus of Pan ana" He referred to MT. Shonts in uncomplimentary terms who, he says. seems to dictate the physical and moral tone of what Is done on the isthmus. The United States. he declared, under such influence would become the laugh ing stock of the world.
 Appended to Secretary Taft's letter Is a memorandum of comments by Chief Engineer Stevens on these charges He takes up specifically various statements and denies their truthfulness. MT. Stevens also makes a general arraign- ment of parties from whom he alleges tematic misrepresentations."