The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-02-28
'OINFR ON
 PRESIDENT Contractor Makes Perti- llent Statement. DOOMED TO sToRER CLASS Knoxville Man Has Temerity to
 Reflect on Executive.
strenous one Assured Friends of sontherncr Only Last Thursday That He would Be Given
 the Contract.

1 Washington, D. C., Feb, 27.--The
 president had a conference at the White l House this evening with Secretary Taft and Secretary Root regarding the working out of the details of the re- i organization scheme for the Panama canal work.
 1 1t is understood that in addition to ! the changes in commission already re- | ported, 1t had been decided that Col. i Haines, U, s. army. retired. and Benta- I min Harrod, civil engineer, both mem
 bers of the present commission shall retire.
 Admiral Endicott, who is the only l remaining member of the old commis- sion. will be retained on the new conn cission, as the law requires that one ! civil engineer of the navy shall be in- cluded in it's membership.
 i In view of the increased cost of lv- Ing in their transfer to the IsthInus and the fact that they are to be called I upon to undertake professional work of high grade for which the predeces-
 sors have been liberally recompensed, | the three engineers, officers of the army, majors Gothals Gillard and Si- | bert, who yesterday were named as
 members of the commission, and en- l gineers to conduct the canal construc- | ton. will be the recipients of salaries considerably in excess of those they
 now receive: namely, s4,00o year. 1 1t is the intention to divide among ' them the salaries now paid to Messrs. | Shontk and Stevens. aggregating $60.- 1 000 per annum, so long as they are engaged in canal work. As the presi- | dent has power to fix salaries of per-
 sons employed in this work, there will be no legal obstacle to thls procedure. It Is stated that chief engineer l Stevens resigned with the statement 1 that he would remain in charge on the | Isthmus until his successor arrived l there and was thoroughly Initiated in- l to new duties and prepared to take l tn over. Familiar as they are with
 the conduct of large engineering en- 1 terprises, 1t Is believed that the army l officers who are to relieve Mfr Stevens 1 will soon feel able to relieve him of l his responsibilities there and as they sail froih New York about March 6 for the Isthmus. 1t is probable that
 the transfer can be effected early in April
 Make Personal Inspection. l It is stated that it will be necessary | for these army engineers to make a personal inspection of every part of
 the construction work on the canal be-
 fore any determination can be reach ed as to the method of conducting the
 work in the future.
 l The Presidents letter yesterday in-
 dicated that there might be a recur- | renee to the contract plan in the fu- | ture, but even if that should be the | case, the army officers in charge will,
 1t Is pointed out. find themselves able ! to manage the work in a supervisory capacity as they now do several of the large river and harbor projects in ex-
 ecution in this country.
 A number of telegrams have been re- | ceived at the White House today from
 the South asking the President to name l w. J. Oliver, whose bid for the con | struction of the canal was rejected, as a member of the Isthmian Canal Com
 mission. Secretary Taft tonight said | that he did not believe that the Presi- dent was considering the appointment | of MT. Oliver as member of the Com l mission.
 MT. Oliver said that he would not &C., l cept a place on the Commission if it
 were rendered him. When he has been i officially notified that the bid of the | Panama Canal Construction Company l has been rejected. Mir. Oliver will give out statement for publication. "only last Thursday he said to- night "the President assured my friends that I would be given the con
 tract and he went as far as to say
 that he would be down in Panama next November and said that he was
 confident that by that time he would
 have the work well under way"
 The corporation organized by Mir.
 Oliver and organized as the Panama Canal Construction Company will be
 dissolved. Mir. Oliver says that he has
 spent s40,00O Tn the preparation of his
 bids and in the organization of the con-
 struction company. John B. Mcdonald
 of New York, President of the Panama
 Canal Construction Company, will ar-
 rive In Washington tomorrow and will
 assist MT. Oliver in the preparation of
 Q statement including all the official
 correspondence between Mir. Oliver and
 his associates and the President Sec
 retary of War. and Isthmian Canal
 Commission regarding the canal con
 tract which will be given to the press.