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President Roosevelt will investigate Samuel S. Slater’s charges, but corrects him on his statements regarding any poor work on the Isthmus, and admonishes him for making such claims in a letter that will go to the War Department.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-09-12
President Roosevelt cannot believe that the enclosed pamphlet falls under the auspices of the Republican Club of New York. He believes the pamphlet is an attack upon his administration, particularly regarding canal construction. The signer is a man who argued in favor of the men Roosevelt dismissed last year during the Brownsville affair.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-11
President Roosevelt congratulates Chief Engineer of the Isthmian Canal Commission Goethals and the men at work on the canal for their progress during the rainy month of August.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-05
President Roosevelt requests Colonel Goethals, Chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission, review sociologist Gertrude Beeks’s report and work to resolve the worker safety issues mentioned. Roosevelt counsels that good management only remains so “by constant and alert activity.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-15
President Roosevelt forwards Chairman Shonts a letter from W. H. Needham containing statements from machinists at the Canal Zone regarding complaints about their treatment. Roosevelt tells Shonts and Chief Engineer John F. Stevens that they must get past their natural “impatience with complaints” and judge the issue evenly as government employees.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-10
Isthmian Canal Commission Secretary Bishop updates President Roosevelt on his family. Chairman and Chief Engineer of the Isthmian Canal Commission Colonel George W. Goethals requested Bishop’s presence on the Isthmus to have a channel of communication to Roosevelt, and Roosevelt’s recent letter pleased him. Bishop says the only major issue is the arrogant behavior of Jackson Smith, the Head of the Department of Labor, Quarters, and Subsistence on the Panama Canal Commission. Additionally, the engineer Joseph Ripley created incorrect blueprints and has been proven to be no expert on locks, but Major William L. Sibert is excellent. Bishop thinks the Republican Club of New York’s motives for disparaging Roosevelt’s canal policy are political. In response to Roosevelt’s suggestion to include local events in the new paper, Bishop explains that it may be hard to keep current, but he will try his best.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-03
Joseph Bucklin Bishop shares with President Roosevelt that Colonel George W. Goethals, chairman and chief engineer of the Isthmian Canal Commission, finds the administrative body “cumbersome and inefficient” and wants it reformed. Bishop is preparing a report on August’s work results for publication.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-19
Secretary of War Taft would like to correct the total yardage needed to complete the Culebra Cut. He mentioned an incorrect number in a previous letter to President Roosevelt. Engineers have also been assessing the test pits and have made considerable progress compared to the last time Roosevelt was there. Taft adds in a handwritten note that he had a satisfactory talk with the Panamanians yesterday, which he will report on in his next letter. He also plans to hear the complaints of the citizens in Colon and take up the matter with the workers there.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-01
John F. Stevens requests no action until he has thoroughly discussed the matter with President Roosevelt. This is in regard to Theodore P. Shonts resigning from the Panama Canal Commission.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-24
John F. Stevens, Chief Engineer of the Panama Canal, wires Secretary of War Taft, objecting to a person who has submitted a bid to build the canal. Stevens asserts that the person lacks the “nature, experience or achievement.” He advises that the contract should not have been advertised yet, and that more time should be taken to secure the best combination of contractors for the work.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01
Harrison Gray Otis offers his opinion on immigration policy. He believes that the United States should establish uniform rules for immigrants from both Europe and Asia that bar “the lame, the halt and the blind” in favor of strong, capable men. Otis also agrees with President Roosevelt on the need for a stronger Navy and comments on foreign policy matters pertaining to China and Japan. Additionally, he offers his opinion on adjusting the boundary line between the United States and Mexico.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-14
Major General Hains responds to allegations made by Lindon W. Bates in The Crisis at Panama, claiming the criticisms are exaggerated and unfounded. For example, despite the reference to a lock canal in the original resolution passed on June 29, 1906, the Consulting Board of Engineers provided alternate solutions that have been selected for construction. The resolution passed by Congress focused more on flexibility rather than locking engineers into one type of canal construction, as evidenced by the flurry of changes that were made at the turn of the twentieth-century to the canal. The Isthmian Canal Commission also worked to eradicate the poor sanitary and housing conditions that plagued the workers there. Hains argues that Bates does not understand that before any work is to be done, a large amount of money must be spent on the plant itself. He also writes that Bates’ characterization of everything from the lengths of the locks to the location of construction does not consider best practices.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-11
Secretary of War Taft reports to President Roosevelt on his conversation with John Findley Wallace, chief engineer of the Panama Canal Commission. Taft has asked for Wallace’s immediate resignation, which Wallace has promised to send to Washington. Taft thinks Roosevelt’s response to it is important “as discipline for all others.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-06-25
President Roosevelt uses his “big stick” to stir up the “Panama Canal” pot that has “friction” and “discord” steam coming out of it.
It is a testament to Theodore Roosevelt’s management skills that history largely has forgotten the uneven start to the Panama Canal construction. “I took the isthmus…” Congress debated him instead of Canal routes, yellow fever and malaria were beaten, names like William Crawford Gorgas and George W. Goethals are honored; the Canal, a modern miracle that the French could not build, was finished ahead of schedule and under budget. Such are the bare facts and legends surrounding the Canal.
President Roosevelt cuts another notch—”federal control of railroads”—in his big stick that already has several notches: “meat inspection,” “canal,” “R.R. rate regulation,” and “pure food.” In the background are James J. Hill, J. Pierpont Morgan, and Edward Henry Harriman holding knives with a banner behind them, “Angry R.R. magnates in their one act come by, entitled. We’re always agin the president.”
Seldom does a political cartoon simultaneously hit the mark in the presentation of an idea, or explanation of a situation in the news, and convey real humor (if such was intended). The otherwise little-known St. Louis cartoonist Elmer C. Donnell achieved both in this textbook-explication of President Roosevelt, his reform agenda — “his policies” — and relationship and reactions of America’s most prominent trust magnates of the day.
President Roosevelt reaches for his “big stick” as he holds a paper in his left hand that reads, “Panama Canal–By contract or government work? Change of plans?” Secretary of War William H. Taft depicted in a dress holds up his hands while John F. Stevens, crossing his arms, looks in the doorway. On the wall is a paper with the names of “John F. Wallace” and “Theodore P. Shonts” crossed off. A subtitle reads, “Who will ‘make the dirt fly’ now?”
The Panama Canal, arguably one of the greatest accomplishments of Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency, and called the Eighth Wonder of the Modern World, in its first years of construction met with severe challenges. Personality conflicts and concomitant different theories of design (for instance, whether the canal would be sea-level or employ locks), added to the enormity of the work and serious obstacles of yellow fever and malaria.
Uncle Sam, wearing boots (one that says “Army” and the other that says “Navy”), marches forward with a shovel and a pail toward “Panama.” Beside him is an elephant holding a shovel. President Roosevelt is in the distance away from Panama waving a white paper.
In the last week of February 1907 President Roosevelt held White Houses conferences with Theodore P. Shonts, Chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission (ICC) and Secretary of War William H. Taft over progress on the Panama Canal’s construction. After some challenges and delays, many caused by the necessity to choose between precise routes, health matters, and festering personnel problems, pathways of both geographical and organization natures were in place.
Theodore Roosevelt, dressed as a Rough Rider, leads a group of laborers, armed with shovels, to work on the Panama Canal. One man in the background wears a hat labeled “Jake,” perhaps referring to John F. Stevens, who took over the chief engineer position for the canal construction in 1905.
This lively image of a determined President Roosevelt, clad in Rough Rider uniform and not in presidential formalwear, is iconic, of brilliant simplicity. It explains to readers the tenacity of the famously tenacious president, especially when he was confronted by challenges facing his pet project.
Opponents to the Panama Canal have organized and plan to stop construction in Panama, citing false starts and the suitability of Nicaragua for the project.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-08-16
The Canal Association of Greater New York is making arrangements for a mass meeting on October 30, in support of the canal improvement referendum.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-10-09