Report of the Commissioner of the State
Highway Department, John A. MacDonald, to Governor Wilbur L. Cross
On February 28, 1938,
the Commissioner of the
State Highway Department,
John A. MacDonald, submitted a rebuttal
report
to
Governor Cross, that focused on
Hurley's "crudely deceptive and cruelly destructive "
allegations toward him and the State Highway Department.
His General Statement argued that Hurley
had no basis or justification for his findings and that the
blame on the State Highway Department stemmed from Hurley's "own
confusion and lack of knowledge." To
illustrate his argument, MacDonald submitted corresponding photographs of
the areas of the Merritt Parkway that were depicted in Hurley's
report.
The photographs may not have generated the desired
effect hoped for by both Hurley and MacDonald, however, for when
questioned by a newspaper reporter as to which photographs were the most
accurate, Governor Cross replied "Give me the right kind of camera,
... and tell me where to stand or stoop and I will corroborate the
truth of both sets of photographs."
Picture
Credit:
MacDonald Report, Exhibit 2B
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