The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-04-21
ARMY MEN FITTED
 DIG BIC CANAL

next steamer, go down, take up the work where it was left off, and continue dig ging the canal without any brass band.
 And so also when Congress makes an appropriation for the canal work, these army engineers will have a conference, decide exactly how this money is to be spent during that year for the furtherance of the work, and then proceed to spend 1t. When called upon to make estimates of the amount needed for the next year, they will make the estimates, stating ex- actly how much will be needed to do a certain portion of the work. Congress will appropriate about two-thirds of the amount necessary, and then Colonel Goe- thals and his two assistants will go ahead, cut out one-third of the work proposed, and do the other two-thirds; then make their report. They will not send pack to Washington any lobby to urge that more money be given. They will not wire or write to their friends in Con- gress urging more money or urging any thing else. They will just quietly do what is told them to do, no more, no less. This is what they have been trained to do, and what they have been accus- toned to do. Engineers working for railroads or other corporations have been accustomed to do quite differently. A railroad engineer is accustomed to have the president of the road and possibly a small board of directors tell him to make an estimate of the cost of cer- tain piece of work, the whole cost If the president and the board of directors decide to do it. they tell the engineer to go ahead and do it. He is assured that the money will be forthcoming; when he gets out of the money given him at one particular time. he calls for more, and he doesn't have to wait until Congress meets to get it. When army engineers are directed to make estimates, they make the estimates, and if they are told to do the work they begin it with what money they have, generally spreading out the work to cover the year till Con gress may meet again and make another appropriation. When the money gives out, they stop and wait. Civilian engin- eers, like Wallace and Stevens, for in- stance, are not accustomed to this kind of thing, nor are they accustomed to other kinds of things which army officers have to put up with and are schooled to put up with. Civilian engineers who have been working for corporations or private parties are not accustomed to having congressional committees or congressional junketing parties come sdown, inspect their work and go back home, making campaign speeches or writing campaign literature about it. The ins and outs of politics, the ups and downs, the many sided and muchvarying kaleidoscopic viewpoints of politicians who are bosses, or think they are bosses, of all govern ment officials cause men like Stevens and Wallace to chaff and fume and per- chance to ''cuss' Army engineers are quite used to it. They cuss, too, but not for publication, and they know full well that it will not avail, so they turn 1t into a smile, or a grin, and go oil. They are quite accustomed to criticisms, and quite accustomed to bear blame shift it upon somebody else, quite accus- toned to taking orders from the powers that be, without regard to personalities or parties.
 These are in brief the reasons why the administration has at last done what 1t ought to have done at first. put the dig gng of the canal into the hands of the army engineers. While the personalities of the three men selected from the corps of engineers is naturally and necessarily an important factor, the principal thing is that the work is directed by the en- gineer corps. Yet it is with the person. alties of these men, though in relation to the whole corps of engineers, that this story must deal The assignment of these men to the work on the Panama canal was made in precisely the same manner other assignments are made in the army. Of course ordinarily men are not selected for any specific work unless they seem to the authorities which ap- pont theim to have qualifications for the work.
 Col. George w. Goethals, then major, was selected to be engineer in chief, and chairman of the canal commission, not only because of his engineering ex- perience and his ability as practical en- gineer, but because of his well known administrative and executive ability. For three years past he has been a member of the general staff and though he has not been a member of the canal com mission, assigned to duty in any way connected with the canal work, he has been frequently consulted about it. and twice he has been offered the position of assistant engineer He went to Pan anna on the trip with Secretary Taft, in spected the work. advised concerning it and did much towards collecting infor- nation in regard to the canal for the Secretary of War and the President; and he has aided materially in the prepara- tion of many of the executive commu- nlcations upon this subject.
 Colonel Geothals is tall. straight, conl- manding looking man. His hair is white, though he is but 90 years old. The Pres ident said that he wanted to put men in charge of this work who would be ola enough to have had ample experience and young enough to complete the canal be- fore they die or reached the age of re- tirement. Colonel Goethals Is the senior in years he is the senior in service and in rank and he is young enough to complete the work. But he is younger in strength than he is in years. Thirty one years of army discipline has made him man vigorous physically and men tally. And he keeps his nerve with him all of the tin1e Whether or not the life of army officers in general is life of ease, as it is often repueted to be, this is certainly not true of the engineer corps, for if there is an active set of men in this country it is the engineer corps of the army. They do not sit around and wait for war. Their work is in time of peace, and not only preparing for war, but preparing for the pursuits of peace. As is well known, the great river and harbor works of the country are in their charge Colonel Goethals has then had plenty to do and doing it systematically, as must be done in the army, he has profited by it himself and even though 50 years old he is in strength and vigor and in the life before him, younger than Dr. Osler's forty-year dead line. Whether or not Colonel Goethals is one of those born to command, he has been trained to command. And one cannot look into his clear blue eyes, his strong muscular face and study his spacious overhanging brow without feeling that he is in the presence of one whose will must be obeyed by those under his command and that so far as possible the forces of na- ture themselves will be numbered among these.
 George w. Goethals started out in life to be a physician. Thus his early in- stincts were those of fighter. It was while he was at Columbia university. or