course, as may be found actually necessary, including possibly the
change recommended by the Secretary of War as to the site of the dam on
the Pacific side."

On June 29, 1906, Congress provided that a lock type of canal be
constructed across the Isthmus of Panama, of the general type proposed
by the minority of the Board of Consulting Engineers, and work has
continued along these lines. The Board of Consulting Engineers
estimated the cost of the lock type of canal at $139,705,200 and of the
sea-level canal at $247,021,000, excluding the cost of sanitation,
civil government, the purchase price, and interest on the investment.
These sums were for construction purposes only.

I ventured a guess that the construction of the lock type of canal
would approach $300,000,000, and without stopping to consider that the
same causes which led to an increase in cost over the original
estimates for the lock canal must affect equally the sea-level type,
the advocates of the latter argued that the excess of the new estimates
was an additional reason why the lock type should be abandoned in favor
of the sea-level canal.

The estimated cost by the present commission for completing the adopted
project, excluding the items let out by the Board of Consulting
Engineers, is placed at $297,766,000. If to this be added the estimated
cost of sanitation and civil government until the completion of the
work, and the $50,000,000 purchase price, the total cost to the United
States of the lock type of canal will amount to $375,201,000. In the
preparation of these estimates there are no unknown factors.

The estimated cost of the sea-level canal for construction alone sums
up to $477,601,000, and if to this be added the cost of sanitation and
civil government up to the time of the completion of the canal, which
will be at least six years later than the lock canal, and the purchase
price, the total cost to the United States will aggregate $563,000,000.
In this case, however, parts of the estimate are more or less
conjectural--such as the cost of diverting the Chagres to permit the
building of the Gamboa dam and the cost of constructing the dam itself.

Much criticism has resulted because of the excess of the present
estimates over those originally proposed, arising largely from a
failure to analyze the two estimates or to appreciate fully the actual
conditions.

The estimates prepared and accompanying the report of the consulting
engineers were