Rensselaer Journal, Volume 12, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 August 1902 — PRESIDENT PICKS ISTHMIAN BOARD [ARTICLE]

PRESIDENT PICKS ISTHMIAN BOARD

Senator Jones of Arkansas Is Named at Request of Mr. Hanna WALKER IS STILL CHAIRMAN Rear Admiral Retains Hl* Present Place, but a Civilian May Succeed Naval Lieutenant Staunton as Secretary of the Commission. Washington dispatch: According.to reliable information from Oyster Bay the President has decided on the personnel of the commission wHich will have' immediate cnarge of the construction of the Isthmian canal. The only new member who will be appointed is Senator Jones of Arkansas, who, it will be recalled, threw his vote and influence for the Spooner Panama bill and thereby assured the passage of that measure. Three members of the present commission will not be reappointed. They are Professor Emery Johnson, Louis M. Haupt and former Senator Samuel Pasco of Florida. All their colleagues the President has decided to reappoint, after the fullest possible consultation with political friends and advisers. Walker to Remain. Rear Admiral John G. Walker, chairman of the present commission, will be retained as chairman of the new commission. The President was inclined at first to drop Admiral Walker, but acting on representations by Senators Hanna and Spooner he changed his mind. They said that Walker had done more for the isthmian canal project than any other man in public life and that to deprive the commission of his services at the inception of actual construction operations would be a serious blunder. The President was persuaded to take this view of the matter and Admiral Walker’s retention is now a settled fact. Hanna Backs Jones. The other members of the commission who are to be retained are George S. Morrison, the famous engineer; Lieutenant Colonel Oswald H. Ernst of the corps of engineers, U. S. A., Alfred Noble, Colonel Peter C. Haines, also an army engineer, and W. H. Burr. With the dropping of Pasco, Haupt and Johnson one vacancy was left in the ' new commission and this will be filled by Senator Jones. Curiously the influence behind his selection came from the Republican leaders of the senate, including Senator Hanna, chairman of the Republican national committee. Jones is chairman of the Democratic national committee. Secretary May Be Civilian. The position of secretary with the present commission is filled by Lieutenant Sidney A. Staunton, who first became known to fame as the author of Sampson’s celebrated dispatch making a Fourth of July present to the nation of the Spanish fleet destroyed at Santiago. Staunton was Sampson’s flag lieutenant. Whether the office of secretary will continue to be filled by a naval officer will depend on circumstances. The chances are, however, that inasmuch as the commission is to be a permanent body a civilian will be selected for the place.