The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-07-25
ton and repair. he retained the rank
Of rear admiral"

ton and repair. ne retained the rank
Of rear admiral"
Edward N Hurley was the only
In Washington today. He made 3
statement indicating that he would
support Admiral Caps plans.
we must build ships" he said, mot
talk about them. American labor. the
most skillful In the world. car turn
out the ships IN record breaking time
and we are going TO buckle down and
get busy"
It seemed likely today that almos,
clean sweep will be made in the
officers of both the shipping board
and the emergency feet corporation
II was reported today that the restg-
nation of Theodore Brent. OF the ship
ping board. Mr.. Denmans warmes'
supporter, was IN the hands of the
president The white House refused
TO confirm this statement. II IS be-
lteved, however. that Mr.. Brent has
resigned and that his resignation Is
being withheld SO that a working ma
tority Of three NAV be maintained on
the board. The other two members
II the board. John A. Donald and II.
r, stevens have consistently support
cd speed In building ships
Secretary Daniels made plain today,
however, that the closest cooperation
hetween the merchant ship builders
ana the navy department may be ex-
pectad.
The depth 70 which the presidents
axe swept today became evident when
II was learned tina; he was the frs,
man 70 suggest the retirement OF GEN
eral Goethals General Cocktails in
his letter Of last Friday Offering his
resignation. referred 10 communtca
tion from the president of date 81
July 10. The first letter Of all was
NOT made public today. II was learned
however. that In 1t the president made
plain to General Goethals that the
shipping board was Irresponsible Tor
the expenditure Of the $3.50, 100000
shipping fund and was entitled to re-
view General Cocktails plans
To this the general, In Altering his
resignation the next day. took. such
shsrr exception that II is regarded
RS the real reason for his resignation
He quoted the president. the shinping
board and the sub committee Of the
appropriations committee as assuring
MIN ne was 10 nave concentrated A0-
thority.
Could Not secure Results.
EFT was on this understanding on
my part he wrote. that undertook
the work at your request cannot
secure efficient results under the con-
ditions Of your letter"
Secretary Baker said today that Cen.
eral Goethals would in all probabilitv
he retained IN some valuable capacity
by the war department
HE has already rendered his SER
vices In any capacity we may need
them. Mr Baker said
President TO MFR. D~nnnn.
The correspondence made public
today contains the letter TO Mr.. Den
man. Of which the following is an
extract:
IT have found both you ana Cen
erai Goethais ready to serve the public
at personal sacrifice. Realizing that
the only manner in which the way
can be completely cleared for har-
monious and effective action is to
carry our shiphufldinR plans forward
from this point through new agencies.
General Goethals has put his resig-
nation IN my hand. and 7 have ac-
cepted II IN the same spirit In which
Il was tendered-not as deciding be-
tween two men whom ! respect and
admire. but in order to make In
vidious decisions unnecessary and let
the work be developed without fur
Their discussion Of what is past.
II am taking the liberty OF writing
TO tell you this in the confidence that
vau will be glad to take the same
disfnterested and self forgetting
course that General ooethals has
al ~
has done I am sure that you may
count with the utmost confidence
upon the ultimate verdict OF the peo-
pie of the country with regard to your
Mountainous and unselnsh view Of
public duty and upon winning In the
retrospect the same admiration and
confidence that have learned to feel
for you"
Letter to Ccne-al Goe+haIs.
The presidents letter to General
Goethals follows:
Your letter OF July 40 does you
great honor. 1t is conceived m a fine
spirit of public duty, such as have
learned to expect of you. This IS, as
you say. case where the service Of
the public Is the only thing to be con-
Personal feelings and per-
sonal references must be resolutely put
aside and we must do the thing that
is most serviceable.
III is with that thouLht In mind
that feel constrained to say that I
think that you have interpreted your
duty rightly.
mo impartial determination Of the
questions at issue can now set the
bodybuilding program promptly and
effectively on its way to completion
and success. 1t ia best that we take
the self-forgetting course you susxest
and begin again with fresh sheet
81 paper-begin, not the shipbu.idinR.
Continued on Second Page,