Letter from Harry Johnston to William H. Taft

Subject(s): City planning, Drinking water, Hotels--Sanitation, Imperialism, Mosquitoes, Panama--Chagres River, Panama--Colón, Panama--Gatun Dam, Panama--Panama Canal, Taft, Helen Herron, 1861-1943

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Harry Johnston enjoyed meeting President-elect Taft and his wife, Helen Herron Taft, during their Panama Canal inspection. Johnson is optimistic about Taft’s plan for a dam at Gatun, but advises that the city of Colón poses another significant threat to the Canal. He offers suggestions for improving Colón’s dated and unsafe infrastructure.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-02-02

Creator(s)

Johnston, Harry, 1858-1927

Recipient

Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930

Language

English

Period

U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)

Repository

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Page Count

4

Production Method

Typed

Record Type

Multi-image

Resource Type

Letter

Rights

These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.

Citation

Cite this Record

Chicago:

Letter from Harry Johnston to William H. Taft. [February 2, 1909]. Library of Congress Manuscript Division.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o60183. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.

MLA:

Johnston, Harry, 1858-1927. Letter from Harry Johnston to William H. Taft. [2 Feb. 1909]. Multi-image.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 5, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o60183.

APA:

Johnston, Harry, 1858-1927., [1909, February 2]. Letter from Harry Johnston to William H. Taft.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o60183.

Cite this Collection

Chicago:

Library of Congress Manuscript Division. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-manuscript-division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.

MLA:

Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 5, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-manuscript-division.

APA:

Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-manuscript-division.

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Letter from William H. Taft to Theodore Roosevelt

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President-elect Taft encloses a letter from Sir Harry Johnston about the dreadful conditions at the Hotel Imperial in Colón, and his own reply. He found Johnston’s decision to complain at length about his personal discomfort to another country’s head of state perplexing. Taft’s wife, Helen Herron Taft, did not share his “intense amusement” at Johnston’s “extremely English” tone. Taft also encloses the self-explanatory letter he wrote to President Jose Domingo de Obaldia of Panama after a call from Obaldia’s competitor, Ricardo Arias. Taft is disgusted by Representative Henry Thomas Rainey’s “diatribes” in the House of Representatives.

 

 

 

Letter from William H. Taft to Harry Johnston

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President-elect Taft was sorry to hear about Harry Johnston’s unpleasant stay in Colón, and he addresses Johnston’s grievances in detail. The natural geography of the Colón harbor would make the kind of breakwater Johnston suggests both difficult and expensive to construct, but the board of engineers does plan to address the matter. The weather conditions that stranded Johnston in Colón were unusual, so travelers rarely have to stay at the Hotel Imperial. Although Taft agrees that the hotel is “dreadful,” it will probably be impossible to open the government’s hotels in Colón to ordinary travelers. These government hotels anger local hotel owners who must compete with them for customers. The Hotel Tivoli in Panama City is an exceptional case. Colón’s water supply has already improved greatly, but a filtration system is currently being added. 

Collection

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Creation Date

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Harry Johnston thanks President Roosevelt for facilitating a warm reception when he visited the Panama Canal construction site, where he met president-elect William H. Taft. Johnston then wrote a letter to Taft on his return to Colòn about the city’s appalling hotel and infrastructure. He now worries that this was inappropriate. If Taft is angry, he asks Roosevelt to “placate his wrath.” Johnston also wonders why Roosevelt is going hunting in Africa instead of somewhere in South America, Central America, or the Antilles. He shares his address in England, and hopes that United States Minister to Haiti H. W. Furniss will retain his position in the new administration.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

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