The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-02-17
MIR. KNOX Is
 NOW ELEIBLE So Declares President
 Elect Taft. QUESTION FINALLY SETTLED Engineers Endorse Present Pro
 cedure in Cznal Work. ,Psesiae.f Reeseveit ssskes . Demon strafivs sesss Of coraiaiity
 ry~sras rafs Ia Pre-e.ee
 sef Newspaper Men.
QUESTION FINALLY SETTLED

washington, Feb, Is-In the opinion | Of Presdentleiec raft, Philander c. Knox is now legally eligible to receive l fli& appointment of Seoretafy Of State. That h& will be the premier In the Taft cabinet. was again positively stated by Mir. Taft tonight ct the White House. the statement being
 made after two conferences today be-
 tweerI the President-eiect and MT. 16f. raft went further and gave it as his opinion that no court couid l'enksftain an action based on the con- etitutlonafity.o of MF.. Knox's coming ap- polntment for the reason that the first question. that would arise in such q proceeding. wenid be whether Mfr. Knox wes "de facto'' of the govern msnt. This question, he maintained.
 would navs to be answered in the af- firmasive. and thers the proceeding would end sss l. That Mr. rKnox sharea these views was made evident by Mir. Taft in the uneQuivoca1 declaration that the Penn sylvania Senator was to be his Secre- tafysof State.
 Win this question finally discussed and settled. with the unanimous report of the board oe engineers endorsing the present procedure in constructing AAiG EAu8dAAH Ct4tAAA AN tAlG naRpo VA President Roosevelt. to be transmitted to Congress tomorrow. with q message of endorsement by hinas and with e dsmonstrative scene. of cordIality to- wards himself by President Roosevelt MT. Taft concluded very busy day and declared he was going to bed early He saw many people at the Boardman residence. where he and Mrs. Taft are guests, during the day, ts.sA k.ka a.saf ta oI aR
 minor importance.
 It was o'clock tonight when Mir. Taft emSfged from the Presidents of- flee, having ended a two hours con- ference with Mr. Roosevelt, partici- bated tn Dy the board of engineers,
 xn tliel cnter efftcS. he was tff*cnss- ine sho canal report which he was plsassa te sA ywss unAhiEnoua and had Rnox,a appoiriEnaent to Katherink 6e mewspaper correspondents. when pfasi- dent Rooesvelt dtaaeed for his sven ing walk came ont He stood for q moment unobgArved but with an ex- pressiofia of pieasureabie enjoyment on ais face. as the questions were being hurlsd at the Ersssdsnt-eict.
 T. would just like to see you take few kinks out of him." he remarked % the correspondents, smiling as he Advanced and took hold of the lapel of Judge Taft's coat
 'rhis does me good"
 Then addressing Mir. Taft. the Presi- dent enqutred:
 Am Iigoing to see you tomorrow
 There are Q few questions. Mir. Taft admitted he would like to talk over at the White House in the morning and an engagement was made.
 Slips Arm Thrommh Taft.
 Then the President slipped his arm through that of the big Ohioan and lea him down the steps of the execu- five offices and the two conyersed for some minutes, after which Mir Taft stepped Into his automobile and the Prestdent started for his walk.
 The 1ocular remarks of. the President and his hearty cordiality in addressing Mr. Laft as ''Wiil." left no doubt in the minds of the observers that to all appearances, there exists the heartiest accord and good fellowship between the incoming and outgoing Presidents.
 No developments whatever had taken place regarding his cabinet today, said Mrs Taft. He regarded his important accomplishments, the settlement of the Knox situation and the completion of the canal report. Mfr. Taft explained that the report was intended to give a general and comparative view Of the canal situation. In accordance with Q request to the Board ofaEngineers, they are to make supplemental report later to Colonel Qoethals. which will deal with a number of purely techni- cal engineering, questions. such as the amount of cement to be used in vari- ous. lock constructions. the lock ma chinery and such matters. It was stnted upon authority that President Roo5eveit heartily approves the report
 Mrs. Taft will take an early train for New York tomorrow and Mr. Taft VIII leave in the afternoon for cin- cinnatI. ,>