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    "localId": "290017468",
    "label": "Memorandum from Glen E. Edgerton, with Attached Brief",
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    "id": "290017468",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Memorandum from Glen E. Edgerton, with Attached Brief",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/290017468",
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        {
            "logicalDate": "1952-01-01",
            "month": 1,
            "year": 1952
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{
    "seq": 3,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-psf/602191/750348/750348-04-003.tif",
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    "ocrText": "\"NATIONAL\n- 2 -\nARCHIVES AND\nRECORDS\nSERVICE\"\nThe Assistant Secretary of the Army is attempting to direct\nthe Canal business with the assistance of some special consultants and,\nno doubt, of other staff personnel available to him. Thus the business\nwill soon become irretrievably entangled in the affairs of the Army.\nThe Canal has already become in effect subordinate to the Office of the\nSecretary of National Defense in some respects, and is likely to become\nSO in any others in which the staff of that office happens to take an\ninterest.\nOnce any Assistant Secretary of the Army has become estab-\nlished in top control of the Panama Canal, his successors would expect\nto have the same status. Failure to accord it to them would probably\nbe taken as a serious affront in most cases. However, it is unlikely\nthat many of the incumbents of that office will prove to be generally\ncapable managers of a specialized institution like the Panama Canal.\nIt has no counterpart elsewhere. It is essentially neither business\nnor government, although it has both business and governmental functions of\nimportance. Primarily it is a technical project -- the maintenance, opera-\ntion, and continuous improvement of a great ship canal. The business\nactivities, the government of a substantial population of mixed origin,\nculture and nationality, the international relationships with Panama and\nother foreign government, and the other activities, are all merely ad-\njuncts of the primary mission of maintaining and operating the Canal ef-\nficiently. The governors of the Canal have always been specially\nselected and trained for the particular duty of heading the Canal organi-\nzation.\nIn the years since the Canal was completed, the organization\nhas established an enviable record of performance. It has an extraordi-\nnary variety of duties, including engineering, public health and safety,\ngovernment, diplomacy, public and commercial businesses, but they were\nall coordinated and directed by one head, to serve the main objective\nwithout undue influence by extraneous interests. Lacking such single-\nness of purpose, and especially if the management or control becomes\nauxilliary to one or more of the great Executive Departments, deteriora-\ntion in the quality of the performance will be rapid.\nWhile I hold no brief for the corporate form of management re-\ncently adopted, it is not the form, but the essence of management that\nis important. The Canal remains an independent agency only if it is\ntreated so. The Board of Directors have broad authority. If they exer-\ncise it wisely creditable results will follow. A board is not a good\nadministrative device. Executive and administrative functions have to be\ndelegated to officers of the company. They should be delegated liberally\nto the officers best qualified to carry them. There is no good reason to\ngive to the Assistant Secretary of War responsibilities that can generally\nbe borne better by the Governor.\nI believe that the position of Chairman of the Board should be\nabolished. It can be abolished by action of the Board to change the By-\nlaws. Alternatively the Governor should be the Chairman. The responsi-\nbility of the Governor and his authority in the business activities, as"
}