Ira E. Bennett epub History of the Panama Canal Its Construction and Builders (Classic Reprint)

Panama and the Panama Canal. The information contained herein has been gathered from many publications and from public and private persons. The records of the Government have been available at all times, to the writer, thanks to the courtesy of the authorities at Washington and of Major-G eneral Goethals. Special acknowledgments are due to the Hon. William H. Taft, who, asS ecretary of War and President of the United States, from 1904 to 1913, directed the affairs of the Panama Canal from its beginning to its virtual completion. In 1912 President Taft wrote to the author as follows: THE WHITE HOUSE, Washington, March 25, 1912 MY DEAR Mr. BENNETT: I am very glad to hear from you that you contemplate publishing a history of the construction, of the Panama Canal. There is a great deal of detail connected with it which is forgotten and yet which is interesting to know with respect to the great work. There are a good many facts, indeed, that have never been brought to the public attention, that are of record and ought properly to be put in an historical form. I shall be very glad myself to furnish you with all the data that I have in my correspondence, which covers the whole life of the Canal from the very day that the Canal Zone was turned over by the Republic of Panama to the United States. I am glad that such an enterprise is on foot. Sincerely yours, WM. H. TAFT. Cordial encouragement was extended, also, by the Hon. Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of War, and Col. George W. Goethals, Chairman and Chief Engineer of the Isthmian Canal Commission. Mr. Stimson wrote: I think it is very important that a full and careful history of the construction of the Panama Canal should be written while people are still alive in whose memories many of the most important events will rest, and I am very glad to hear that you are contemplating publishing such a history. I should be g(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)