William Taft actually said...

"The proper policy, it seems to me, is to determine from the many projects proposed and recommended what are the most important, and then to proceed to complete them with due dispatch, and then to take..."

"I do not think, therefore, the defects of the bill which I have pointed out will justify the postponement of all this important work."

"The total of the bill, $52,000,000, is not unduly large, but the policy of small appropriations with a great many different enterprises without provision for their completion is unwise."

"I fully indorse the views of the Secretary in this particular, which are set forth in his letter, transmitted herewith, and urge upon the Congress an early consideration of the subject."