TAFT WILLIAM HOWARD Typed Letter Signed WmHTaft as Secretary of War to Washington correspondent for The Sun Richard V Oulahan

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DENYING THAT U.S. AGENCY PROVIDED "WIVES" FOR PANAMA CANAL LABORERS TAFT, WILLIAM HOWARD. Typed Letter Signed, "WmHTaft," as Secretary of War, to Washington correspondent for The Sun Richard V. Oulahan, sending copies [not present] of evidence he is submitting to Congress confirming his own opinion concerning the government transportation of women from Martinique to Panama. 1 page, 8vo, "War Department" stationery, with integral blank; staining from cello tape remnants at upper left and lower right. Washington, 10 January 1906

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"In the . . . papers accompanying the President's Message, I have included an addendum to the exhibit about the importation of Martinique women . . . . I do not think it is of great importance, because it only confirms my previous denial . . . ."
On November 25, 1905, the New York Herald published an article from a correspondent in Panama alleging that the Isthmian Canal Commission (ICC: the U.S. agency overseeing construction of the Panama Canal, headed by Taft) was responsible for providing "wives" brought from Martinique for local laborers, and that the women were not fully informed about what was proposed when they agreed to be brought to Panama. Taft denied that any transport of women was being conducted under the authority of the ICC.