Isthmian Canal Commission (U.S.)

Letter from William H. Taft to Theodore Roosevelt

Secretary of War Taft reports to President Roosevelt on his visit to the Panama Canal Zone. Taft was investigating reports of poor conditions in the Subsistence Department to head off a scandal. As a result, Jackson Smith has resigned from the Commission, and Taft suggests personnel and organizational changes. Taft also reports on attempts to rig the upcoming election in Panama.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-05-16

Letter from Joseph Bucklin Bishop to Theodore Roosevelt

Joseph Bucklin Bishop, the secretary to the Isthmian Canal Commission, has failed to get further information about the conduct of Joseph Wilcox Jenkins Lee, the Minister Plenipotentiary in Guatemala.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-01-27

Letter from George W. Goethals to Theodore Roosevelt

George W. Goethals quotes a portion of the minutes from the Isthmian Canal Commission meeting resolving that the width of the locks be increased from 100 to 110 feet in accordance with any reasonable future requirements of the Navy.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-01-11

Letter from Joseph Bucklin Bishop to Theodore Roosevelt

Joseph Bucklin Bishop, Secretary to the Isthmian Canal Commission, asks President Roosevelt when he will issue the medals he had promised American employees the last time he had visited the Canal Zone, remarking that their work has noticeably improved since his visit. Bishop is shocked to hear of Charles T. Barney’s death by suicide following his forced resignation from the Knickerbocker Trust Company and considers it a “lesson of consequences of the craze for wealth.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-28

Letter from Joseph Bucklin Bishop to Theodore Roosevelt

Joseph Bucklin Bishop, secretary of the Isthmian Canal Commission, recounts the Congressional Appropriations Committee’s visit to the Panama Canal Zone and offers several suggestions for how to improve government operations in the Canal Zone. The committee members are enthusiastic about the project and were highly impressed by the abilities and knowledge of George W. Goethals, Chief Engineer of the Isthmian Canal Commission, but were disappointed by Canal Zone Governor Joseph C. S. Blackburn’s abilities. Bishop candidly admits to feeling similarly about Blackburn and encourages President Roosevelt to send Goethals to speak before Congress on the proceedings of the Canal project instead. Bishop also discusses the General Counsel for the Canal Zone Richard R. Rogers, who had criticized the Commission’s operations in a way which demonstrated an intolerable ignorance of the situation and a disloyalty to President Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-13

Letter from Joseph Bucklin Bishop to Theodore Roosevelt

Secretary of the Isthmian Canal Commission Bishop sends President Roosevelt a rough draft of talking points he can use in his message about the Panama Canal. Bishop also includes a detailed description of the canal’s progress, as well as his evaluation of some other members of the Commission.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-16

Letter from Joseph Bucklin Bishop to Theodore Roosevelt

Joseph Bucklin Bishop reports to President Roosevelt on the status of the construction and workers at the Panama Canal. The social discontent following Chief Engineer John F. Stevens’s departure has primarily resolved, and Colonel George W. Goethals has proved himself a capable replacement. Bishop attended his first Isthmian Canal Commission meeting and finds its members “able and intelligent,” and “actively engaged.” At the current pace, excavation will be complete in five to six years, and construction of the dam and lock can commence.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-18

Letter from Joseph Bucklin Bishop to Theodore Roosevelt

Joseph Bucklin Bishop updates President Roosevelt on his arrival to the Canal Zone. Colonel George W. Goethals, chief engineer and chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission, welcomed him and looked forward to Bishop’s aid. Bishop reports that the work is progressing “splendidly,” and it appears the dissatisfaction among the workers has been resolved. Excited by what he sees, Bishop thanks Roosevelt for sending him. He closes by describing his proposed semi-weekly newspaper for the “regular dissemination of accurate information about the canal.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-13

Letter from William H. Taft to Theodore Roosevelt

Secretary of War Taft discussed with Postmaster General George von Lengerke Meyer the comments attributed to Assistant Postmaster General Frank H. Hitchcock about opposing Taft’s nomination for the presidency. Meyer believes there to be some mistake, and he will talk with Hitchcock. Taft is inclined to appoint James Buchanan Aleshire as Quartermaster General of the Army over William Penn Duvall, and will phone Roosevelt later to talk it over. Joseph Bucklin Bishop has not accepted the post with the Isthmian Canal Commission, and Taft is still encouraging him to consider it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-06-30

Letter from Nicholas Longworth to Theodore Roosevelt

Representative Longworth informs President Roosevelt of his and Alice Roosevelt Longworth’s upcoming travel plans but says that he wants to be back in Ohio in the fall for the electoral campaign. He believes Secretary of War Taft’s campaign for the Republican nomination for President is going well, but Senator Foraker is still dangerous. Longworth mentions two men who would like to meet Roosevelt. One is Jackson Smith, a member of the Isthmian Canal Commission and head of the Department of Labor, Quarters, and Subsistence. The second is Julius Fleischmann, whose brother has just returned from a big game hunting expedition in Africa.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-06-22

Letter from J. Sloat Fassett to William Loeb

Representative Fassett writes to William Loeb regarding the Berkhart issue that is still in the air. He hopes that this matter persists until John F. Stevens can address it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-06-10

Letter from Mike Donovan to Theodore Roosevelt

Mike Donovan apologizes to President Roosevelt for his son, Harry A. O’Donovan, writing to Roosevelt about receiving a position on the Isthmian Canal Commission. Donovan hopes that Roosevelt has a restful summer.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-06-12

Letter from Frederick Palmer to Theodore Roosevelt

Journalist Frederick Palmer permits President Roosevelt to share his letter about administration in the Canal Zone where it “will do good.” He also thanks Roosevelt for the invitation to lunch.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-03

Telegram from John F. Stevens to Theodore Roosevelt

Chief Engineer John F. Stevens informs President Roosevelt that he will sail with the first ship and will have all the data regarding the Catun dams and locks.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-04

Letter from Joseph Bucklin Bishop to Theodore Roosevelt

The Secretary of the Isthmian Canal Commission, Joseph Bucklin Bishop, informs President Roosevelt that the missing memorandum has arrived. Bishop informs Roosevelt that Chief Engineer Stevens will have the arrangements for feeding laborers at Culebra complete by January 1, and that he will concrete the floors in all of the labor camp kitchens. Bishop also sends Roosevelt rainfall statistics.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-05

Letter from Theodore P. Shonts to Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore P. Shonts, Chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission (ICC), explains the ICC’s policies regarding passenger accommodation for employees and their families to President Roosevelt, who had reminded Shonts to conduct an investigation on this matter. With increased traffic as of late, some employees have been assigned to second-class accommodations so that women and children might receive the superior accommodations; superior accommodations are also given to all passengers connected to the ICC in any way and employees recruited from the U.S.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-06

Letter from George Campbell to J. A. LePrince

George Campbell, a sanitary inspector in Bas Obispo, informs the Chief Sanitary Inspector for the Canal Zone, J. A. LePrince, that he has not had problems with his pail closets.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-22

Letter from J. A. Corrigan to J. A. LePrince

Sanitary Inspector J. A. Corrigan reports to his superior that in the past year only two pail closets remained unemptied and in those instances only for twelve hours.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-22

Letter from Angel Garcia to J. A. LePrince

Sanitary Foreman Garcia reports to his superior, Chief Sanitary Inspector LePrince, that the night pails are emptied regularly and are never allowed to be over full. The only problem Garcia finds is that the pails in houses 22, 32, and 51 sit too low relative to the height of the seat. Garcia also reports finding the closet that had been carried away by the river.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-22

Letter from L. C. Heinemeyer to J. A. LePrince

Sanitary Inspector Heinemeyer informs his superior, Chief Sanitary Inspector LePrince, that only three night soil pails were nearly full–two on account of water being poured into them and the other from not being emptied the night before. According to Heinemeyer, the pails have to be watched very carefully or men will say they emptied them when they did not.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-22