This final thrust determined the fate of the bill, and a vote on it was not taken. … The material points of Minister Rodriguez's criticism, which caused the Senate bill in 1897 to be withdrawn, were that some of the vital provisions of the cessions under which the Maritime Canal Company had the right to construct the canal were violated." _C. M. Stadden, Latest Aspects of the Nicaragua Canal Project (North American Review, December, 1898)._ Congress now (June 4, 1897) passed an Act which created a commission to examine all practicable routes for a canal through Nicaragua, and report its judgment as to the best, with an estimate of the cost of the work on such route. The commissioners appointed were Admiral Walker, Professor Haupt, and Colonel Hains. Their report, submitted to the President in May, 1899, unanimously recommended the route described as follows: "This line, leaving Brito, follows the left bank of the Rio Grande to near Bueno Retiro, and crosses the western divide to the valley of the Lajas, which it follows to Lake Nicaragua. Crossing the lake to the head of the San Juan river, it follows the upper river to near Boca San Carlos; thence, in excavation, by the left bank of the river to the San Juanillo and across the low country to Greytown, passing to the northward of Lake Silico." But while the commissioners agreed in finding this route preferable to any others in the Nicaragua region, they disagreed seriously in their estimates of cost, Colonel Hains, putting it at nearly $135,000,000, while Admiral Walker and Professor Haupt placed the cost at little more than $118,000,000. Before the report of this Nicaragua Canal Commission was made, however, Congress (March 3, 1899) had directed the appointment of another commission to examine and report upon all possible routes for an interoceanic canal, in the Panama region and elsewhere, as well as through Nicaragua and to determine the cost of constructing such a canal and "placing it under the control, management and ownership of the United States." This later commission, known as the Isthmian Canal Commission, was made up as follows: Rear-Admiral John G. Walker, U. S. N.; Samuel Pasco, of Florida; Alfred Noble, C. E. of Illinois; George S. Morrison, C. E., of New York; Colonel Peter C. Hains, U. S. A.; Professor William H. Burr, of Connecticut; Lieutenant-Colonel Oswald H. Ernst, U. S. A.; Professor Lewis M. Haupt, C. E., of Pennsylvania; Professor Emory R. Johnston, of Pennsylvania.