United States. First Isthmian Canal Commission

The proposal of the Compagnie Nouvelle de Canal de Panama in December 1898 to transfer its rights and properties in the canal in Panama to the United States, and the increasing awareness of the need for shorter interoceanic communications in time of war, prompted Congress on March 3, 1899, to authorize an exhaustive series of investigations to determine the most practical route for a canal, which should be owned and controlled by the United States. Accordingly, on June 10, 1899, President William McKinley appointed the first Isthmian Canal Commission, popularly known as the second Walker Commission. Like the Nicaragua Canal Commission, it included Rear Admiral John G. Walker, U.S. Navy, as President, Professor Louis M. Haupt, and Colonel Peter C. Hains. Because of its expanded duties, several other members were added to the Commission. They were Alfred Noble, civil engineer, who has served on the Nicaragua Canal Board in 1895; George S. Morision and William H. Burr, also civil engineers; former Senator Samuel Pasco of Florida; Emory Richard Johnson, transportation expert; and Lieutenant Colonel Oswald H. Ernst, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Lieutenant Commander Sidney A. Staunton, U.S. Navy, served as Secretary to the Commission.

To speed the progress of the investigations and to secure the best results, the Isthmian Canal Commission organized itself into five committees, each of which was to take the lead in examining a particular subject. The fove subjects were: (1) The Nicaragua route; (2) the Panama route; (3) other possible routes; (4) the industrial, commercial, and military value of an interoceanic canal; and (5) rights, priveleges, and franchises. Each committee had three members in addition to Admiral Walker, who was ex officio a member of all five committees.

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