[24] Colonel Gorgas, head of the Department of Sanitation, has remained, however, through all changes. See _post_, Chapter V. He, however, resigned, June 26, 1905, and his place was taken by Mr. John F. Stephens, who arrived on the Zone July 27th. At this time there was panic throughout the Isthmus[25] owing to the prevalent sickness, and resignations were so numerous that it was difficult to carry on work at all, and engineering operations were partly suspended for a time. When the sanitary conditions improved, however, work was resumed with vigour. This second Commission proposed that the work should be put out to contract, and bids were invited. It was under this Commission that the 85-foot-level canal became law. Mr. Stephens was in favour of this form. He resigned early in 1907, his resignation taking effect on April 1st, and at the same time the President for the second time reorganised the Commission. [25] See Report of the Governor of the Canal Zone, 1905, p. 30, and "Sanitation in the Canal Zone," by W.C. Gorgas, M.B., Colonel, _Journ. Am. Med. Assoc._, July 6, 1907, vol. xlix. 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.