The third Commission, appointed April 1, 1907, which is that under which the work was being carried on at the time of my second visit, differs from its predecessors in that its members are resident on the Zone. Thus the members of the Commission are the actual executive, the chairman of the Commission being himself chief engineer. The other important difference between the present and the former organisations is the fact that almost all the important departments are now under officers of the United States Army, and in one instance of the Navy. The chairman and chief engineer, Lieutenant-Colonel George W. Goethals, of the Corps of Engineers, had previous experience of the Isthmus, having been engaged upon work connected with fortification. With respect to the other officers of engineers, the significance of the appointments lies not in their being military men, but in their being permanent Government servants. The Government of the United States, unlike that of his Britannic Majesty, does not possess a large Civil Service whose members remain in the public employment through all changes of political parties. In the absence of any considerable body corresponding, for instance, to our Indian Civil Service, the Government of the United States frequently relies upon the Corps of Engineers for the supervision of great public works.
At the time of my second visit the scheme of organisation was as shown in the following table:—
GENERAL ORGANISATION OF DEPARTMENTS.
| Men | ||
| Excavation and Dredging | 12,359 | Major D.D. Gaillard |
| Locks and Dams | 9,340 | Major Wm. L. Sibert |
| Machinery and Buildings[26] | 2,164 | H.H. Rouseau, U.S.N. |
| Labour, Subsistence, and Quarters | 2,048 | Jackson Smith (resigned) |
| Material and Supplies | 1,220 | W.G. Tubby |
| Sanitation | 2,449 | Colonel W.C. Gorgas |
| Civil Administration | 451 | J.C.S. Blackburn |
| Panama Railroad | 6,619 | W.G. Bierd |
[26] Now merged in other departments.
STEAM SHOVEL AT CULEBRA.
SHOVEL-MEN AT CULEBRA.
Technically the Panama Railroad is not a department, but practically the construction of the Canal and the reconstruction of the Railroad are worked as parts of a single scheme.