Special Message

To the Senate and House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith the report of the Isthmian Canal Commission, accompanied by a letter of the Secretary of War, under whose supervision I have, by Executive order, placed the work of the Commission. I concur with the Secretary of War in the view that the present provision of law, by which the work of building the canal has to be done only through a body of seven members, is inelastic and clumsy, and I earnestly recommend a change so that the President, who is charged with the responsibility of building the canal, may exercise greater discretion in the organization of the personnel through whom he is to discharge this duty. Actual experience has convinced me that it will be impossible to obtain the best and most effective service under the limitations prescribed by law. The general plans for the work must be agreed upon with the aid of the best engineers of the country, who should act as an advisory or consulting body. The consulting engineers should not be put on the Commission, which should be used only as an executive instrument for the executive and administrative work. The actual work of executing the general plans agreed upon by the Commission, after receiving the conclusions of the advising engineers, must be done by an engineer in charge, and we now have an excellent engineer. It is, in my judgment, inadvisable, therefore, to restrict the Executive's choice of commissioners to representatives of the Engineer Corps of the Army or the Navy. The Commission should consist of five, or preferably three, members, whose respective duties, powers, and salaries should be assigned to them by the President, and who should be placed under the member of the Cabinet whom the President desires. Of these men the one appointed as administrator of the Canal Strip should also serve as minister to Panama.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT.