Evening star., 1936-03-08

I So here was a chance to start up
again at Quoddy. Operations began
with P. w. A. funds. There had to
be some dickering. because all those
manufacturing companies which spent
money on the original work wanted
their cash back. A corporation had
been formed to get charter from the
State of Maine-the only charter, in
cidentally. which permits a power
plant in that State to send power into
other territory.
Without going into all that detail.
Mr.. Cooper is said to have obtained
enough money from the United States
Government to pay off members of the
original corporation, turn the Quoddy
enterprise over in Its entirety to the
| United States and earn for himself
the job as consulting engineer at a
salary of $50 day-when he works.
At its inception. -Quoddy was to have
been an international affair-with the
Canadian government having a hand
in it. This was because the adjacent
| Canadian waters, streams that stretch
up into Nova Scotia, were to join
waves by the dam-Site.
When the Canadian Parliament re-
fused to give Mr.. Cooper charter,
Quoddy bounced back as an American
engineering ball. That Is what it is
now. with the Corps of Engineers,
United States Army, doing the work
under the direction of Lieut.. Col.
Philip B. Fleming, U. S. A.
COL. FLEMING and his chosen staff
-hand-picked-got on the job
at Quoddy on the first day of July,
1885. From that day until March /,
this year, they had spent or obligated
themselves to the tune of $7,O00,000.
Now $7,000000 is a pretty sum of
money-in anybody's budget. 1t is,
of course, only one small fraction of
the total cost of Quoddy-$40, ,000, 900.
When the men who keep a keen eye
on such outlays as this 60 up to
Quoddy and look at the plant as it
now stands they shake their heads and
ask, in unison, where did that ST.
100000 go?" Not. you understand,
that they think there is any graft
attached to Quoddy. Just the oppo-
site. Quoddy, run by the United
States Army Engineers, is admittedly
an honest project-so far as the ex-
penditure of Uncle Sans money goes:
but the experts, looking the field over.
claim they cannot see where or why
the S7,0O0,O00 was or should have
been spent.
True, Quoddy is a barren-looking
sight-and site. What the Army En-
gineers did first of all was to build
Quoddy Village, supposedly model
village. That was for the purpose of
housing all those persons who work
on the project.
Quoddy Village, then, is really the
bone of contention-at this moment:
for there is some doubt, even in the
minds OF those most interested,
whether the Quoddy Dam will ever
be built.
If Qoddy Dam-or the projects
not finished, its enemies will charge
that here are 100000 actually
thrown away.
Let's see:
Maj Gen. Edward M. Markham,
chief of Engineers. after he had heard
all the charges Of boondoggling, had
seen in the papers humorous stories
about the grandfather clocks, the love
seats. and the high-toned comforters,
or puffs. on the beds in the dormitory
at Quoddy. wrote q letter to Repre-
sentative Ralph o. Brewster from
Names third district, where the
Quoddy project is situate.
Said the general:
Inadequate facilities available In
the small village Of Eastport made 1t
necessary 10 construct quarters for
the engineering and administrative
personnel engaged on the project.
With these quarters provided. the