The result of the investigations of the commission was that the Panamanian Company offered their uncompleted canal, their franchises, their plans and specifications, the Panama Railroad, which was worth about $12,000,000, and a line of steamships from Colon to New York, consisting of five medium-sized steel vessels of modern construction, for the sum of $110,000,000. The Nicaraguan Company offered their concessions from Costa Rica and Nicaragua, in addition to all their other property, for $6,000,000. They simply desired to be reimbursed for the amounts spent in securing their concessions and making their preliminary surveys. After careful consideration the commission recommended the purchase of the Nicaraguan proposition. It was at this critical state of the negotiations that President McKinley was removed by the bloody hand of the assassin, and as a result Vice-President Roosevelt took his place as the head of the American Government. President Roosevelt decided on the Nicaraguan proposition; but before the matter was closed the French Panama Company came fully to the realization that if the United States purchased the concessions of the Maritime Canal Company and began the construction of a canal through the Nicaraguan territory, without any question that project would be completed in a reasonably short space of time, as it would have the power of the entire American Government behind it. [Illustrations: BONEYARD OF THE OLD FRENCH MACHINERY.] They also realized that if the Nicaragua Canal was constructed it would probably make their holdings in Panama of far less value; and as they were practically bankrupt then, they begged an opportunity to submit a lower price for their property. This opportunity was granted, and the result was that the French company offered their franchises and holdings, including the railroad and the steamship line, for the sum of $40,000,000. This amount was so much lower than the amount originally demanded that it caused a reconsideration by the President and Congress, which terminated in the decision of the President and Congress to purchase the rights and the property of the French Company. The next step was to ascertain whether or not the French company could convey a valid title to the United States, and Attorney-General Knox was instructed to go to France and consult with the proper French authorities and determine if such a legal conveyance could be made. As a result of his investigations, General Knox on October 30, 1902, decided that the French company could convey an absolute title to the American Government.