Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-10-27
ACTED IN GOOD FAITH
Gen. Gar|ington's Report on
GoethaI Charges.
CANAL CHAIRMAN UPHELD
Rejection Of Balanced Crane Com
pany Bids Declared Correct.
NO EVIDENCE OF COLLUsION
Inspector General of the Army Rec
ommends That the Lidgerwood
Contract Be Approved.

II am of the opinion that the chief en-
gineer acted in good faith. for the best
interests of the early construction of the
Panama canal and entirely within the
discretion vested in him. l therefore rec
ommend that the final formality of COM
pleting the contract with the Lidger-
wood Company be approved"
In these words Gen. E. A. Darlington.
inspector general of the army has exon
Grated Col George w. Goethals. chair
man aand chief engineer of the isthman
canal commission, from charges made by
William F. Brothers. president of the
Balanced Crane Cable Company of New
York, who claimed that unfair methods
were used against him in making an
award for furnishing and erecting cable
ways at Gatum on the Isthmus of Pan
anna
From the evidence adduced," said Gen.
Darlington, Il am of the opinion that
there was no collusion or corrupt prac-
tices on the part of any member OF the
commission. or any employe of the COM
mission, with respect to the bids for
cableways.
THAT the rejection by the commission
of the bid of the New York Galloway
Company was in good faith and correct.
I'm my opinion, from the evidence ad-
| duced, rejection of the bid of the S. Flory
Manufacturing Company under circular
was in good faith and correct"
Report Covers Eighteen Pages.
Gen. Darlington in a report covering
eighteen typewriter pages reviews all
| the testimony in this case and substanti-
replies Of witnesses.
IL G,-cx fol, . alar hx-
Mr.. Brothers that the government repre-
sentatives and others recommended by
government representatives have resorted
to every known method in order to favor
the s. Flory Manufacturing Company.
after his company had refused to give a
20 per cent commission to secure the
contract. The report exonerates Gratz b.
Stricken. civil engineer, In the employ OF
| the isthmian canal, and the trm of Rob
ert w. Hunt q Co. of New York of the
charge of collusion in attempting 10 Sc
cure a ~ per cent commission Tor repre-
senting him in securing the contract for
which he was the bidder The report
quotes testimony to show that the device
| of the Balanced Gable Company was not
| suitable for work at the Gatum plant and
| shows that Eduard Shenk, a civil engi-
neer whom Mr.. Brothers says claimed
| to represent Sidney B. Williamson and
GratZ 3. Stricken. who were supposed
| to be the same person. have each ap-
peared before the inspector gensral
| and that they had never before seen each
other. Strickler knew nothing whatever
about the plant or specifications winch
had been drawn for the Gatun locks and
| therefore could not have given Brothers
any information concerning them. Strlck-
| Ter. the report says, suggested to Brothers
! that there were firms that made a busi-
ness Of perfecting devices, and on the re-
quest of Mr.. Brothers wrote down the
| address of Robert w. Hunt & Co.
No Motive Shown.
There is nothing in this act the re-
| port says ''or in the evidence concerning
| it To indicate any other motive than to
| put Brothers in touch with technical sci
entitic engineers who could probably per-
feet the device SO as to make it practica-
BILE for work on the Pedro Miguel and
| Mira Flores locks"
! At considerable length the report ex-
plains how original letters, evidence and
sworn affidavits filed with the commission
| We're withdrawn the following day, about
| March .. 1905 by the representatives OF
| Mr.. Brothers before they were submitted
| to the commission.
| One or two days after the papers were
| returned to Lawson. Mr.. Brothers rep
resentative 1t was decided by Bard and
| Lawson to submit them, or part of them.
to Col Goethals Col Goethals testified
| that the Robert w. Hunt & Co. CORE
| spondence and the affidavits of Wilson
| and Brothers were handed to him subse-
quent to the announcement that all bids
had been rejected: that the correspond
ence between the Balanced Crane Com
| pany and the Hunt people did not inter-
| est him, as that was merely the corre-
| spondence between one firm and another
seeking engineering advice. as he as
sumed. to perfect their machinery. and he
| told Mr.. Lawson that he insisted upon
| taking copies of the affidavits. Col.
| Goethals. knowing that Strickler and
| Schenk were different persons. both OF
| them known to him, could not have been
very much impressed by Mr. Brothers
| allegation to the effect that they were
the same persons. the report states.
Many other detailed charges are re-
ferred to in the report. but none of them
Gen. Darlington maintains, is justified