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Chairman Shonts informs the Isthmian Canal Commission that the request for proposals for construction of the Panama Canal was issued, and that they will open bids on December 12. He asks the Commission to send him any additional plans or specifications which might help the bidders create accurate bids.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-10
Admiral George Dewey sends to Secretary Charles J. Bonaparte a report of United States Navy resources and recommendations from the General Board for the coming year. Dewey feels that, for the foreseeable future, the Navy must continue laying down two battleships per year, and he provides comparisons of the ships both in use and under construction of the principal powers: England, France, Germany, and Japan. In conclusion, he outlines the desired tactical qualities of each type of ship discussed in the report, which includes battleships, scouts, motor ship’s torpedo boats, Helena-type gunboats, small Philippines gunboats, shallow draft river gunboats, and ammunition vessels.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-02
Chief Engineer John F. Stevens prefers Chief Counsel Richard Reid Rogers’s plan for financing the Panama Canal to that proposed by the engineer John Francis O’Rourke. Stevens cautions Panama Canal Commission Chairman Shonts that the Culebra Cut is “such a mix-up” that there will no doubt be complications in the construction project, and so they should avoid financing based on progress estimates.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-02
Chief Engineer Stevens opines on the nature of the government contracts for those building the Panama Canal; he thinks the plan suggested by John F. O’Rourke, a railroad engineer who is one of the bidders, to be “misleading and dangerous.” Stevens says that, in his experience, when dealing with contractors it is necessary “to be ‘as wise as a serpent, and apparently as harmless as a dove.'”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-25
In response to Poultney Bigelow’s article on the conditions in Panama, the author denounces him as a “false witness,” asserting that official records testify contrary to Poultney’s twenty-one claims against the Canal Commission as further detailed.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-30
Theodore P. Shonts notifies President Roosevelt that the Purchasing Officer for the Panama Canal Commission found that by inviting new bids he could get a lower price on sheet lead of domestic production. Shonts would like Roosevelt to approve a rule “where bids submitted on materials of foreign production are lower than on material of domestic production,” that after adding duty to the bids received on foreign materials, the award should be made to the materials of foreign production.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-17
John F. Stevens discusses contracts and contractors for the building of the Panama Canal with Chairman of the Panama Canal Commission Theodore P. Shonts.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-18
Theodore P. Shonts informs John F. Stevens that no railway or canal official owns land in Colon. Shonts adds that Poultney Bigelow’s charges are “the rankest kind of nonsense.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-14
Theodore P. Shonts, Chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission, discusses options for selecting the contracting firms that will be working on the Panama Canal.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-14
Secretary of War Taft informs President Roosevelt that he is forwarding papers regarding changes to the canal construction at Sosa Hill that were approved by John F. Stevens. While Taft recommends that Roosevelt approve the changes, he thinks Roosevelt should speak with F. P. Stearns, an expert in water systems engineering, before giving his approval. Stearns can come to Oyster Bay to speak with Roosevelt later in the week.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-10
Theodore P. Shonts sends John Stevens a copy of the invitation for bids to complete the Panama Canal. Shonts reminds Stevens that it is still a working document and sends a letter that should have gone on a previous boat about the nature of the competitive bids, in particular, that contractors select their own machinery but be held responsible for the work accomplished. Shonts asks for Stevens’ recommendations on these matters.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-11
Secretary of War Taft sends the changes for plans at Sosa Hill to William Loeb. Taft tells Loeb that President Roosevelt will want to use it when he meets with F. P. Stearns.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-11
Chief Engineer of the Isthmian Canal Commission (ICC) Stevens informs Chairman of the ICC Shonts that he has received the invitations for proposals and thinks it would be a mistake to individuals or firms of fewer than six members.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-05
Chief Engineer of the Isthmian Canal Commission (ICC) Stevens has received a telegram from ICC Chairman Shonts, presumably prompted by an article by Poultney Bigelow in the Cosmopolitan, asking whether employees of the Panama Railroad Company or Canal officials own land in Colón. Stevens asks William Grant Bierd, General Manager of the Panama Railroad Company, for a list of those who own land in this town and if any leases have been made within the last year so that he can advise Shonts.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-06
Secretary of War Taft is happy to be the first to receive a letter from President Roosevelt using the new simplified spelling standards, although he does not notice much difference between the standards. Mrs. Taft does not want to join the party going to Panama, mostly because she does not want to travel on a naval vessel and the Taft children are busy with school. However, if two ships leave and Mrs. Roosevelt is on another ship, Mrs. Taft would reconsider, since there would be room on the battleships for one lady each. Taft comments on Theodore P. Shonts and the Isthmian Committee, William Jennings Bryan’s arrival in New York City, the attempt to nullify the 14th and 15th amendments in Georgia, and other domestic matters. He has also ordered Charles Edward Magoon to stay in Panama until the arrive of Elihu Root.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-31
Josiah Kingsley Ohl recommends that President Roosevelt invite William J. Oliver, a railroad builder and contractor, on his team to Panama. Ohl is confident that Oliver’s knowledge of construction would make his advice valuable.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08
Secretary of War Taft forwards a letter to Theodore Shonts from President Roosevelt. Thomas J. Dolan has asked Roosevelt that his men be given first-class passage to Panama and while Taft agrees with the accommodations, he wants Shonts to be clear with Dolan that the men must behave and any objectionable conduct by the laborers is to be met with discipline from the ship’s captain. Taft instructs Shonts to return the enclosure to William Loeb to be filed.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-01
Secretary of War Taft sends President Roosevelt a copy of a letter written to Theodore P. Shonts, chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission. Taft notes the antagonism that often exists between capitalists and labor organizers, and he hopes that it will be possible to avoid “unnecessary quarrels” with labor unions during their work on the Isthmus.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-01
Chairman Shonts rejects the claims of George T. Kenly that the employee selection process for the Panama Canal project is politically biased. He encloses a copy of a letter from Chief Engineer John F. Stevens which outlines Kenly’s deficiencies.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-23
Theodore P. Shonts, Chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission (ICC), tells Secretary of War Taft that he has written to Executive Secretary of the ICC directing him to respond to the charges Poultney Bigelow made in a September article. Shonts asks that Taft tell Lady Townley that they have tried employing Jamaicans as foremen and that Shonts will revisit the matter with Chief Engineer of the ICC Stevens.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-25