To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a report by the Secretary of State concerning the legislation that is required on the part of the United States under the treaty between the United States and Great Britain signed on January 11, 1909, providing for the settlement of international differences between the United States and Great Britain, and commonly known as the "Waterways treaty."
It is important that legislation that will enable this Government to carry out its obligations under the treaty be enacted by Congress during its present session, and I ask for the report of the Secretary of State the early and favorable consideration of Congress.
WILLIAM H. TAFT
Note: The Secretary of State recommended that Congress should pass legislation providing for the manner of the appointment of three commissioners on the International Joint Commission, for their compensation and expenses, for the employment of necessary servants and for paraphernalia, for all of which purposes he considered $75,000 sufficient; and the Secretary also recommended that Congress give to the Commission the powers to administer oaths to witnesses, to take evidence on oath, to issue subpoenas and to compel the attendance of witnesses, through the agency of Federal Circuit Court for the circuit in which the Commission shall hold joint sessions.
William Howard Taft, Special Message Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/207444