The Hawaiian gazette., 1916-12-29
J. G. Morgan, Inspector On Pier
Job Confesses Lying About
r. Condition Of Wall
STRUCTURE IN DANGER AS
CONTRACTOR LORD ASSERTED
Commissioners Dismiss EmpIoye
and Order independent Investi-
cation Of Forbes Plans

The lie Of an assistant engineer in
the employ of the board Of harbOr com
missioners, which in a letter to the
board he admits having told, will cost
the taxpayers of the Territory a large
sum Of money. The admission Of the
assistant engineer that he lied, and his
further statements in the letter estab-
lish the truth Of the contention of Ed
Lord, the contractor building the new
piers, that the bulkhead wall on Pier Q
has moved out about FIVE inches be
cRcse of the load behind It.
j. q. Morgan, the engineer who lied
and admitted that he lied, was dishon-
otably discharged by the harbor board
yesterday, his tender of his resignation
being Indignantly refused
Incidentally, the question of veracity
between Charles X. Forbes, chairman
~ the harbor board, and Ed Lord
which was raised at meeting of the
board December 20, when the two men
called one another liars, is decided in
Lord 3 favor-to the extent, at least,
that Morgan 8 statement proves that
Lord told the truth. though there is
nothing TO indicate that Forbes didnt
think that he himself was telling the
truth when he denied that the wall had
moved ss Lord charged.
Knew Before Sailing
Forbes, il may also be noted, knew
when he boarded the Great Northern
Tuesday morning TO sail for the main.
land on a Ave weeks vacation that his
employee had told a costly falsehood
and that the condition of the expensive
pier work is doubtful, to say the least
The chairman of the harboar board
in letter written by him before sail
ing and read ut the board meeting yes.
terday, admitted that he had been told
by Morgan the day before Sunday Of
all the facts in the case, including the
fact that Morgan had lied when he said
the retaining wall had not moved out
Ave inches.
Members of the harbor board were
appraised of the condition Of affairs late
Tuesday, after their chairman was on
the high seas. They held a special
executive session that night and dis.
cussed the matter, but concluded to
take u M orenly at the regular meet
ing to be held yesterday. All Of them
we're dumfounded at the unexpected
development, and some of them openly
ryprAssed regret that they had WAN.
tentionally been unfair to Lord be.
cause of the false statements made to
them by Morgan.
At the meeting yesterday the board
went on record as being resolved to go
TO che bottom of the mess, and with
that end in view voted to appoint a
committee Of three expert engineers,
not connected with either the board or
he. contractor, to make a thorough ex.
amination Of the plans and work of the
three piers now under construction, the
experts to report back to the board at
the earliest possible date with such rec
ornpnendations as they may see fit to
make.
The board decided to appoint, sub,
ieet 10 acceptance, Guy Gear and
George W. Armitage as two members
Of the examining board, they to NEE,
with the board as soon as possible and
discuss the selection of n third member.
Attacks Ed Lord
Morgan in his letter Of confession,
which be also made the vehicle of a
bitter attack on Ed Lord, declared that
In his opinion the fve.inch bulge OF
the retaining wall does not endanger
But the harbor board was resolved to
take no chances 1t wanted to know
and the only way to find out, it deeid
cd, was to have a thorough inspection
made by experts.
Forbes, in his letter to the board
made an effort to save his subordinate
Morgan, notwithstanding the latter i
confession of deliberate falsehood. He
urge1 in extenuation Morgan s long and
loyal service to the board and the prob
ability that he had lied in a mistaken
effort TO "save his chief"
But Forbes efforts were of no avail
and in fact appeared to be viewed by
the board as little less than an af
front TO the other members.
HThis board is his chief, not thu
chairman of the board, was the way
Commissioner Tom Church put it.
s.I cant see, " said COMMISSIONS
Mccarthy, "that Mr.. Forbes state
ment makes any difference. The fac
that Morgan has been q long time il
the service of the board should haV
made him loyal TO the board. He ha
allowed US to go on Raging Mr. LORI
when he knew all the time that tn
contractor was right. He's put US i
sll sorts Of pilikia.
al certainly am not in favor of &C
oepting MorgRn's resignation. / NOV
that his resignation be refused an
that he be dishonorably discharged.
"We shouldn 7 stop with Morgan,
interjected Commissioner Mcclellan
"We want to have u thorough investi
cation made and II we find that any
iody else employed on that job ha
lied, we want TO fire every man VIII
has lied 70 us, or who has not infOrme
US Of the facts"
iI ngree with you there" said Al
ristant euperintsnd Woodward, VIII
was presiding,
MeCarthy's motion was put and cal
ried unanimously and the unfaithfu
servant ~ the board was dismissed i
disgrace, "