William Howard Taft: Special Message

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Special Message
April 29, 1910

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To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I forward herewith a letter from the Secretary of War inclosing the report of a board of officers of the army and the navy, appointed by him to consider the subject of the defenses of the Panama Canal. It is the right and the duty of the United States to defend the work upon which it is expending such enormous sums. An adequate defense requires suitable fortifications near the approaches to the termini.

It was not practicable to submit plans and estimates for the fortifications of the canal at the time when the estimates for annual canal construction were sent to the Secretary of the Treasury, because it was necessary for the board of officers to visit the Isthmus before deciding the place and extent and cost of the fortifications needed. The formal estimates for appropriations for the fortifications have now been submitted through the Secretary of the Treasury, in the manner required by law.

In the act providing "for the construction of a canal connecting the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans," approved June 28, 1902 (the Spooner Act), it is stated that "The President * * * shall also cause to be constructed such safe and commodious harbors at the termini of said canal, and make such provisions for the defense as may be necessary for the safety and protection of said canal and harbors." This act indicates that it is the intention of Congress to provide for the defenses of the canal by appropriations made in the same acts which appropriate moneys for its construction.

The letter of the Secretary of War gives the reasons for submitting the present preliminary report of the board of officers, and for recommending that the Congress take action upon the subject of the report at its present session. I concur in these reasons, and I am of the opinion that such works as may be erected for the defense of the canal should be completed, occupied, and ready for operation at the time that the canal itself shall be completed and opened to the passage of vessels. I am encouraged to believe that this date will certainly not be later than the one which has hereto been fixed, namely, January 1, 1915.

WILLIAM H. TAFT

Note: This Message was accompanied by a report from the military board commissioned to report on fortifications for the termini and the course of the Panama Canal, in which $14,104,203 was estimated as the cost of defenses for the termini, and any estimate as to the cost of inland defenses was deferred until the board could obtain information regarding the availability and price of the necessary land. Congress was urged to make an appropriation for immediate use of at least $4,000,000, so the work might commence during 1910, thus allowing the trained canal workers with their machinery to assist in the work of construction.

Citation: John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters, The American Presidency Project [online]. Santa Barbara, CA. Available from World Wide Web: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=68501.

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