The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-03-04
WANTS TO KNOW.

The Journal Of that city wants 10 learn some particulars about, and es- pecialiy about the resignations of the chief engineers. It is worthy of note in the first place that all three of these officials were Chicago men. Just, why the President should go to that city for all the chief engineers is some what muddling to begin with. We hardly suppose it is possible that suit able men could not be found else- where, for that would be a reflec- tion on all the rest of the country Perhaps he had other reasons for go- ing to the windy city for men to carry out his orders.
 But whatever may have been, the reason for getting all the engineers out of one nest, as 1t were. it doesn't exactly explain why they should all throw up the ponge in such rapid succession, and the fact that they have done so causes The Journal to say:
 But now that all of these three men have resigned their offices and refused any longer to be iden1Iified ,shss Tnen the ne know what reason they had for giv- ing up the work and retiring to pri- nity to identify themselves forever with one of the greatest and most tm- portant enterprises ever undertaken tSat H hUmah woaid PsHS RaVe given Sn them place in history and shed luster on their names for ages.
 to give a color to the rumors that have come up from Panama ever since the work was well started that all Is not right there. Hints are dropped every now and then that the French experience. disastrous as it was, did not surpass in some respects the ex- energy are having now. If all is we'll and the canal is being dug on busi- ness principles without interference from graft and without restriction oy red tape why is it, the country asks, that men like Wallace, Shonts and Stevens give it up2
 Under these circumstances 1t seems advisable for the President to look into the matter little more careful ly than ne has done thus far. Per haps some of his trusted advisers have misinformed and misled him. It is even possible that his own visit to the isthmus was not as informing as he
 Tn any event, the resignation of Wallace, Shonts and Stevens ought to be enough to induce the President to an unprejudlced commission of busi- ness men from various parts of the country. say twenty-five in number, thority to investigate carefully, and listen to their report when they come back.
 Suggesting that the President look into the matter" is in the nature of a joke. He has been doing that ever since the thing started and each look sk tA he pretty well established that on his visit down there he saw just what certain interested parties wanted him to see and nothing more. At all events he came back so full of enthusiasm that the public was ready to believe that the canal was going to get move on itself and split the Isthmus wide open before breakfast. But nothing came of 1t. And what gain or advantage might be expected to result from the appoint ment of a commission by the Presi- dent? We have bad Investigators and examiners galore, including Poultney Bigelow and Theodore Roosevelt. We name them together, because their re- ports seem to have been equally un- reliable. At any rate there have been many statements concerning the con ditions down there, and to say that the country is no wiser than before Is to put 1t mildly. There is at least a little ground for hope that something better will come from the transfer of the job to the army engineers, but that hope is certainly not based on anything that has transpired down there in the past
 And while on this subject it Is grat- flying to know that what we may call the "Canalic" stunts of the adminis- tration is causing 1t to receive some severe criticisms from newspapers which have generally been among its warmest supporters. recent one from The Kansas City Journal is so much to the point that we make room here for the whole of 1t. That paper says:
 It appears that the administration ! advisers are stubbornly determined to allow no opportunity to pass for mak- ! ing further blunders in connection 1 with the Panama canal project For | three years the history of the enter ] ! record of incompetency, ignorance, cu- | pidity and fat political jugglery. Mil | lions and millions of dollars have been
 sunk in the canal zone in questiona- i ble improvements and high salaried | commission has been employed super | intending the construction of sewers 1 and draining swamps. When the | American people grew impatient for | actual work on the ditch there was | stampede of quitters.
 ! President Roosevelt is not ready to ] confess that the whole enterprise up | to date has been a colossal and fear l fully expensive mistake. It was not Expected that he should make this 1 confession while the field possesses | more possibilities for experiment. So, | after advertising for bids in apparent
 to do the work, he rejects the only l adyantageous bid that was made-that i of J. W. oliver and his associates. MT | Oliver was assured not only by the l President but by ShOnts and other commissioners that the government | had decided to let the canal work by | private contract. Mir oliver submitted a bid which was the best of all those | considered. But a certain coterie of l wal sfrast financiers were not anx-