March 10, 1970
Page 6611
TRIBUTE TO JOHN F. STEVENS: CIVIL ENGINEER, EXPLORER, AND STATESMAN
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, the State of Maine has produced many eminent leaders on the national and international scene but few have attained such heights of constructive achievement of world significance as did John Frank Stevens, a native of West Gardiner.
Despite a lack of formal engineering education, Stevens, who decided in early life to be a civil engineer, rose rapidly in his profession and gained great distinction. Though his accomplishments were extensive, his fame rests mainly on four major contributions. He was–
A key builder of the Great Northern and other U.S. railroads, 1880-1903;
The discoverer of Marias Pass in Montana – 1889 – and Stevens Pass in Washington – 1890 – through which the Great Northern was constructed;
Chief engineer of the Isthmian Canal Commission, 1905-07, exercising the leadership directly responsible for adoption by the President and the Congress of the high-level lake and locks plan under which the Panama Canal was constructed and has since been operated, winning Stevens recognition in history as its "basic architect"; and
Rehabilitation of Russian and Manchurian railroads, 1917-23.
The accomplishments of Stevens show that he was a great civil engineer and also a man of statesmanlike vision who was respected and loved by all associated with him or worked under his guidance.
He was the recipient of many honors during his lifetime, including election as president of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the John Fritz Medal for Great Achievements. A far-visioned planner, he developed solutions for challenging problems, brought projects to the point where success was assured, and then sought new fields to conquer, letting others complete his works according to plans that he had developed.
Stevens died in 1943 as the age of 90, after a life of remarkable accomplishments. He has now been nominated for election in 1970 to the Hall of Fame for Great Americans at New York University. The combination of his important contributions to railroads and to the Panama Canal make him doubly eligible for that great honor.
The John F. Stevens Hall of Fame Committee has been formed to sponsor this election. I am privileged to serve as one of the honorary Chairmen of this committee.
It was, therefore, with great interest that I read a fine summary and appraisal of Stevens' many contributions to the Panama Canal by Representative DANIEL J. FLOOD, of Pennsylvania. The article appeared in the December 1969 issue of the Explorers Journal, a quarterly publication of the Explorers Club. Representative FLOOD is a recognized authority on interoceanic canal history and problems, and he writes with knowledge and objectivity.
Mr. President, because Representative FLOOD's article is of historical interest, particularly in regard to the forthcoming campaign for the election of John F. Stevens to the Hall of Fame, I ask unanimous consent that it be printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection the article was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
[From the Explorers Journal, December 1969]
TRIBUTE TO JOHN F. STEVENS
(By Daniel J. Flood)
(Congressman Flood, a member from the 11th District of Pennsylvania has a long record of participation in civic and public affairs. He was Vice Chairman of a special Committee to investigate the Katyn massacre of Polish officers by Russian soldiers. Among his many interests are Panama Canal affairs and the proposal to elect John F. Stevens to the American Hall of Fame.)
More than 60 years ago, the Government of the United States, which had already chosen the Panama route as the best site for an Isthmian canal, was faced with the tremendous responsibility of deciding upon the best type. In a memorable struggle in the Congress in 1906 between advocates of a canal formed by elevated lakes and those for one at sea-level, later described by Colonel George W. Goethals as the "Battle of the Levels," victory went to the high-level-lake and lock type. That was the key decision by the President and the Congress in building the Panama Canal.
How was this result accomplished? The full story is long and complicated. However, when reduced to its essentials, the explanation is relatively brief, simple, and fascinating. It revolves around one sturdy man of extraordinary vision – Chief Engineer John F. Stevens of the Isthmian Canal Commission. Who was he and what was the path that led him to become associated with the famous project? The answers form an important section of American history.
A native of West Gardiner, Maine, after a try at teaching decided, despite his lack of technical training, to become a civil engineer. In 1874, at the age of 21, he moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where his uncle, Jesse Stevens, was an engineer, and started as an assistant engineer for the city – a rodman.
At that time, not long after the Civil War, railway building in North America was booming. Finding municipal engineering too limited in scope, young Stevens, in 1876, shifted to railroading with a position as a section hand in Texas. Serving as axman, rodman, instrument man, surveyor, location engineer, and construction superintendent, he rose rapidly step by step to executive positions. Eventually attracting the attention of James J. Hill, the great railroad builder, Stevens made an enduring friendship based upon their deep common interests in transportation.
Sent by Hill to locate a route for the Great Northern Railway across the Rocky Mountains, Stevens, on December 11, 1889, in deep snow and bitter cold, made the dramatic discovery of Marias Pass in Montana, through which the railroad was constructed. For this extraordinary feat the engineer-explorer was honored in 1925 by the erection of a large bronze statue near the tracks at summit, Montana, showing Stevens as he appeared at the time of the discovery.
In 1890, Stevens was assigned the task of locating the best line for a railroad from western Montana to Puget Sound in Washington. This involved the choice of a crossing of the Columbia River, the location of which in turn, depended upon the location of a pass in the Cascade Range.
Again Stevens found a suitable pass, this near the Wenatchee River, now called Stevens Pass. Today, this important region of the Northwest is served by the Great Northern railroad through this pass and by the Stevens Pass Highway.
Ever alert to great engineering undertakings in other parts of the world, Stevens naturally became interested in the centuries-old problem of constructing a canal across the American Isthmus, and he read extensively on the subject.
Meanwhile, events that would profoundly affect his career and Isthmian history were occurring. These included the historic voyage of the U.S.S. Oregon in 1898 around Cape Horn, which focused national attention on the necessity for an inter-oceanic canal, the extensive explorations and investigations by the Isthmian Canal Commission under Rear Admiral John G: Walker, 1899-1902, which finally recommended the Panama site, the choice by President Theodore Roosevelt and the Congress in 1902 of the Panama route in preference to the Nicaragua site, after a scorching debate in the Congress, known as the "Battle of the Routes," the Panama Revolution of 1903, which sealed the choice of the Panama location, acquisition by the United States in 1904 of the Canal Zone and the French Panama Canal Company's holdings, and, finally, assumption by the United States, also in 1904, of the vast task of completing the canal under the direction of an Isthmian Canal Commission. Admiral Walker was the first chairman, succeeded on April 1, 1905, by Theodore F. Shonts, president of the Clover Leaf Railroad.
Though not then expecting ever to be actively connected with the great construction project, Stevens had followed the unfolding of Isthmian events with increasing understanding. The grave problems likely to be encountered in constructing a navigation channel across treacherous mountain terrain in an undeveloped and disease-ridden region of heavy tropical rainfall and potential slides appealed to him as offering a singular challenge.
However, he had accepted an appointment with the Philippine Commission to head its railroad building program, and in June 1905 was in Chicago preparing to accompany Secretary of War Taft's Commission to the Islands. It then looked as if he had been definitely diverted from any association with the Panama Canal.
But momentous developments on the Isthmus over many months had culminated in a yellow fever epidemic followed by the unexpected resignation on June 26, 1906, of the Commission's first chief engineer, John F. Wallace. The Canal Zone promptly became a scene of hysteria, and chaos, for a time threatening the security of the canal project, which was still in the experimental and exploratory stage.
President Roosevelt, who had watched the crisis grow, became deeply concerned and sought a new chief engineer. Turning to leaders in the railroad industry for assistance, he consulted James J. Hill, who told the President of Stevens' ability and record of achievements. The President became interested in appointing Stevens as chief engineer of the Canal Commission.
Stevens, when advised of this opening at Panama, appears to have been rather hesitant because of his involvement in the Philippine situation, and wished time to consider. He mentioned the matter to his wife, Harriet T. (O'Brien) Stevens of Dallas, Texas, who since their marriage in 1877 had accompanied him during many travels on the frontiers and had shared the hardships of his upward climb as well as its compensating features.
Mrs. Stevens knew her husband's capacity and had always encouraged him in accepting greater tasks. She promptly replied, "Ever since you left Maine in 1874 you have been training yourself for this, the greatest engineering project in the world, and now it is offered you. Please telephone at once and tell the Secretary that you will accept." This ended Stevens' reluctance, and President Roosevelt appointed him as chief engineer of the Isthmian Canal Commission, effective July 1, 1905.
Before departing for the Canal Zone, the new Chief Engineer visited Oyster Bay, Long Island, to see the President, who described affairs on the Isthmus as being in a "devil of a mess." Stevens understood the difficulties likely to be encountered, but felt thoroughly competent to handle the situation. However, to avoid any possibility of later misunderstanding, he outlined to Roosevelt the conditions of his acceptance: That he was to have a "free hand in all matters"; that he was not to be unduly hampered by any authority, "high or low"; and that he would remain with the project until, in his own judgment, its success or failure was determined.
The President approved these terms and directed Stevens to communicate about the project directly with him rather than through routine channels. When Stevens pointed out that such procedure might result in conflicts with the War Department, Roosevelt waved this point aside, stating that everyone there knew his views.
Then, to impress his desire for action, President Roosevelt told the story of the man of sudden wealth speaking to his newly employed butler: "'I don't know in the least what you are to do – but one thing I do know, you get busy and buttle like hell."
Arriving with Chairman Shonts at Colon on July 25, 1905, Chief Engineer Stevens found a most desperate condition indeed, with general disorganization in the canal work, and with employees "scared out of their boots, afraid of yellow fever, and afraid of everything." The only thing that had kept many on the Isthmus was lack of transportation to go home. In fact, more employees returned to the United States on the ship that carried Stevens to the Canal Zone than had been brought there on it.
At a conference of high officials the same evening on the spacious veranda of Governor Charles E. Magoon's home in Ancon on the Pacific side of the Isthmus, attended by the Governor, Chief Health Officer William C. Gorgas, and Chairman Shonts, Chief Engineer Stevens correctly estimated the most urgent needs: housing and feeding of employees, sanitation and health, recreation and morale, and an adequate and revitalized organization. Within the short period of one week Stevens correctly appraised the overall situation and decided what to do: rehabilitate and double track parts of the Panama Railroad, which he then described as a "phantom railroad," establish commissaries for all employees, build a hotel, the Tivoli, place available labor on housing and sanitary work, design proper track levels in Culebra Cut and a rail transportation system for the disposal of spoil in mass excavation, and organize the forces for construction.
Stevens' extensive experience in comparable situations in frontier areas of the United Stats enabled him to form needed judgments accurately and quickly.
Stopping all unnecessary canal construction activities, he sent excess men to the United States, informed that they would be notified when to return. Others were placed on immediate necessities. Having previously accepted the mosquito theory of disease propagation, Stevens became an ardent supporter of Colonel Gorgas in health and sanitation matters.
A man of imposing stature and commanding personality, then 52, Chief Engineer Stevens tramped the entire length of the Canal Zone viewing the various works and observing the topography. Walking with the energy of youth, he radiated the confidence of the natural leader.
Often speaking to employees, he told them that there were only three diseases on the Isthmus: "Yellow fever, malaria, and cold feet; and the greatest of these was cold feet."
Prior to the appointment of Stevens, President Roosevelt had designated an International Board of Consulting Engineers of 13 members to consider and recommend the type of canal. Until that question was answered, Stevens was seriously handicapped. Nevertheless, he went ahead with the excavation of Culebra Cut, which work would be useful no matter what the decision, and on alternate plans, which he wished to have ready in anticipation of whatever verdict the Government might reach.
Reporting to the President on January 10, 1906, this engineering board split. Eight members, including five Europeans, voted for the sea-level type; and the five remaining members – all Americans – for the high-level lake and lock type. The minority report, which reflected the views of Chief Engineer Stevens, was prefaced by Alfred Noble, a distinguished American member of the International Board.
Meanwhile, on the Isthmus, Stevens thoughtfully examined the significant angles affecting the question of type. Though initially inclined on first arrival toward the popular idea of a sea-level canal, he approached the solution of the problem objectively. Interpreting the topography in the light of operational and navigational needs, as well as engineering and construction problems and the hazards involved, he decided for the high-level-lake plan with the Atlantic terminal dams and locks at Gatun, and the Pacific terminal dams and locks in one group at Aguadulce – a hill south of Miraflores. This was essentially the plan originally presented in 1879 by the French engineer Adolphe Godin de Lepinay, the originating and forgotten genius of the basic plan for the Panama Canal as eventually constructed.
In a special message to the Congress on February 19, 1906, transmitting the report of the International Board, President Roosevelt summarized its main points but strongly supported the high-level-lake plan. He invited special attention to the fact that "the chief engineer, who will be mainly responsible for the success of this mighty engineering feat, and who has therefore a peculiar personal interest in judging aright, is emphatically and earnestly in favor of the lock-canal project and against the sea-level project."
When testifying at Congressional hearings in Washington in January, 1906, Stevens advocated the high-level plan with a conviction that no one could shake, and voiced his determined opposition to the sea-level idea. But one appearance as a witness by this engineering leader was not enough.
In June he was again called to Washington and led in the historic debate. Testifying before committees of the Congress, preparing refutations to statements by sea-level advocates, and drafting addresses for Senator Philander C. Knox, Chief Engineer Stevens faced the great crisis of his canal career.
He went to Roosevelt for assistance but discovered that the President had become lukewarm in his stand. As one who believed in the vigorous handling of superiors as well as subordinates, Stevens talked to him like a "Dutch uncle." Roosevelt was again convinced and thenceforth stood behind Stevens like a brick.
In the end, with the strong support of the President, Secretary of War Taft, and the Isthmian Canal Commission, the plans of Chief Engineer Stevens prevailed. In an act approved June 29, 1906, the Congress adopted the high-level-lake and lock plan. That was the great decision in building the Panama Canal that made its success possible. It is no wonder that the statesmanlike actions of Stevens won the admiration of informed and experienced engineers on the Isthmus!
Regardless of what may have been urged at the time as to the merits of the so-called sea-level design, the existing Panama Canal was constructed substantially in accordance with the plan recommended by Stevens, approved and accepted by the President and the Congress. It has proved an eminent success in both peace and war. The transit since opening the canal on August 15, 1914 through June 30, 1968 of 403,230 vessels of various types of all nations, with just tolls measurably reflecting the costs of construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation, and protection, completely establishes the wisdom of the 1906 decision. Moreover, in addition to its strategic value for national and hemispheric defense, the Panama Canal has been of incalculable benefit to world shipping and to the great ports of our country that serve such shipping.
Moreover, the Canal Zone has been an island of stability in an area notorious for endemic revolution and endless political instability.
The day after approving the act of the Congress as to type, June 30, 1906, President Roosevelt showed his confidence in Stevens by appointing him as a member of the Isthmian Canal Commission in addition to his position as Chief Engineer. His star was ascendant.
Unfortunately, the minority report, following previous French studies, provided for the construction of the Pacific locks in two sets, separated by the small intermediate level Miraflores Lake. Instinctively recognizing this division of locks as a serious error in operational design, Stevens, early in 1906, had recommended to Chairman Shonts in Washington the combination of all Pacific Locks at one location. But he did not present this well-founded proposal with the detailed functional justification required to secure the attention it merited. Nor had there been any ship-transit experience in the canal upon which to base such justification.
Returning to the Isthmus on July 4, 1906, Stevens resumed studies of the Pacific lock situation. A month later, on August 3, he approved a plan for placing all Pacific locks in one group of three lifts, south of Miraflores with the terminal dam and locks between two hills, Cerro Aguadulce on the west side of the sea-level section of the Canal, and Cerro de Puente on the east. This location would have provided the same lock arrangement at both ends of the canal, avoiding a traffic choke at Pedro Miguel, enabling uninterrupted summit-level navigation from the Atlantic locks to the Pacific, and supplied a lake-level traffic mobilization anchorage at the Pacific end of the canal to match that at the Atlantic end – a plan identical with the original conception of De Lepinay, afterward urged by Colonel William L. Sibert, a member of the last Isthmian Canal Commission.
At that time, however, Stevens was under great pressure to start construction. Opponents of any canal at all were seeking some means to delay the enterprise. Advocates of the sea-level idea, stung to the quick by their defeat in the Congress, were set, ready to strike at any change in the approved program as indicating weakness in the highlevel plan of Stevens. These two forces together represented a political and economic power that he could not safely ignore.
In the light of subsequent events, it is indeed regrettable that Steven's foundation studies for the consolidation of the Pacific locks, which were necessarily made in great haste, proved unsatisfactory. He did not dare to jeopardize the project by further delay. Still confident, however, that this important question would rise again, he voided his plan twenty days later, on August 23, 1906, marking it, "not to be destroyed but kept in this office," and proceeded with the plan for separating the Pacific locks as approved by the minority of the International Board of Consulting Engineers.
Many years later, as a result of World War II experience, there was developed in the Panama Canal organization, following the suspension in May 1942 of the 1939 Third Locks project then under construction, what proved to have been the first comprehensive plan for the major increase of capacity and operational improvement of the Canal as derived from marine operations, known as the Third Locks-Terminal Lake Plan. Submitted to higher canal authority it attracted immediate attention and quickly won approval by the President as a post-war project.
Published as a technical paper in the February 1947 issue of the Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers the Third Locks-Terminal Lake proposal, because of its inherent logic and "comparatively low cost," has had a wide appeal as the proper form for increasing the capacity of the Panama Canal. Moreover, it has been strongly supported in the House and Senate.
Let us now return to events of 1906. President Roosevelt, after the great decision as to type of canal had been made, was free to visit the Isthmus as he had long wished to do. Under an itinerary prepared by Chief Engineer Stevens, Roosevelt's visit in the U.S. Canal Zone and to the Republic of Panama, November 14-17, 1906, marks a highlight in Isthmian history – the first time any President of the United States had set foot on foreign soil.
In January 1907, in the midst of a crisis over construction contracts, Chairman Shonts, after receiving an offer to head a large transportation merger in New York, resigned effective March 4, 1907. News of this produced another sensation on the Isthmus. All promptly looked to Stevens as their natural leader and a man of destiny. But even he had been hard pressed for many months protecting the interests of the canal project. Realizing that he had brought order out of chaos, that all basic decisions had been made, that he had formed an effective organization for completing the canal, and that construction was well underway, Stevens felt his creative mission had been fulfilled and, on January 30, 1907, wrote his resignation to the President, expressing his desire to return to railroad work. To his close associates, however, he revealed his disgust and irritation at Washington officialdom, government red tape, and frustrations.
Of two civilian chief engineers, the first had left after one year's service and now the second was planning to leave after two years. The canal could not be satisfactorily constructed with such frequent changes in engineering leadership. Roosevelt acceded to Steven's request but, determined to secure continuity in direction, said "I propose now to put it in charge of men who will stay on the job till I get tired of having them there, or till I say they may abandon it."
He selected Major George W. Goethals, an outstanding engineer officer of the Army as Steven's successor, and reorganized the Canal Commission, effective April 1, 1907. The other engineering members were Majors William L. Sibert and David D. Gaillard, and Rear Admiral Harry H. Rousseau, a former chief of the Navy's Bureau of Yards and Docks. Col. William C. Gorgas, the great sanitarian, who had come to the Isthmus from Cuba in 1904 and had been appointed a member of the commission on recommendation of Stevens, was also named. Two civilian members, Jackson Smith and J. C. S. Blackburn, were later succeeded by Colonel H. F. Hodges and Maurice H. Thatcher, the latter afterward becoming a distinguished member of the Congress, after whom the Thatcher Ferry Bridge across the Pacific end of the Panama Canal is named.
Notwithstanding the resignation of Stevens, President Roosevelt, in recognition of his tremendous contributions, on March 4, 1907, appointed him Chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission, making Stevens the first to hold both positions of Chairman and Chief Engineer. It is noteworthy that neither this reorganized commission nor its predecessor included members experienced in navigational operations.
Stevens planned to leave the Isthmus on April 7, 1907, when the employees arranged a mammoth farewell reception at Colon attended by many throughout the Canal Zone and from the Republic of Panama. In addressing the throng, he gave generous credit to his predecessor, John F. Wallace, for the organization that Stevens had inherited. He revealed that two years previously, on taking charge, he was almost as overwhelmed by the vastness of the preparatory work to be done as had been the President. He added that "until Colonel Gorgas had lifted the dark cloud which the unsanitary conditions placed over the work," he was doubtful of success.
Appealing to the men as their friend to take their "little differences and complaints" to Chief Engineer Goethals and not to Washington, Stevens predicted that the canal would be open to traffic by January 1, 1915. That was a very close estimate indeed, for it was opened on August 15, 1914.
As evidence of the esteem in which he was held canal employees presented Stevens with two bound volumes containing 10,000 signatures requesting him to reconsider his resignation and remain, a gold watch, a diamond ring, and a silver table set. The last included a tray showing the completed canal. Stevens was greatly moved by the exceptional demonstration. He knew that it marked the end of an outstanding chapter in his career.
Long before the departure of the S. S. Panama, full-dressed in honor of her distinguished passenger, the largest crowd since United States occupation of the Canal Zone gathered on the pier. At noon, the Isthmian Canal Commission band, which Stevens had established in 1905, played Auld Lang Syne. The Panama slowly left her dock and headed toward the sea, amid the cheers of the spectators and whistles on vessels in Limon Bay. Stevens, standing at the rail with his young son, John F., Jr., looked on, pale and sad.
After returning to the United States, Stevens continued his upward climb in the railroad industry, becoming one of the most distinguished railroad officials of the Nation. In 1917, after United States declaration of war against Germany, he went to President Wilson in search of an active assignment in the war. As Russia was then an ally and in urgent need of competent railroad advisers in connection with its war transport problems, the availability of Stevens was timely.
Appointed as Minister Plenipotentiary and Chairman of the United States Railway Mission to Russia, he undertook the difficult tasks involved in operating and improving its rail systems. Later, from 1919 to 1923, he was president of the Inter-Allied Technical Board supervising Manchurian Railroads.
In these positions, he observed the start and early years of the Communist revolution. Accurately assessing the tremendous scope of that world conspiracy, he was among the first responsible observers to alert leaders in the United States as to its significance and dangers, among them his friend, Ira E. Bennett, distinguished editor of the Washington Post.
Returning home in 1923, Stevens later became president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and received many honors, including the John Fritz Medal for great achievements. He died at Southern Pines, N.C., in 1943, at the age of 90, keen in mind to the end.
The significance of Stevens' canal contributions, though substantially obscured for a time, has gained stature with the years and has been recorded in authoritative writings. He rescued the project from probable disaster; assembled a major part of the plant and organized the engineering and construction forces, planned the main features of the waterway and brought about the great decision for the high-level-lake and lock type canal, launched the enterprise into the era of major construction, and guided the work until its success was a certainty. He clearly foresaw the necessity for a major change in the Pacific lock arrangement, for which he developed a plan.
Subsequent studies of canal operations, in both peace and war, have established that this plan would have supplied the best operational canal practicable of economic attainment – striking evidence of the high quality of his insight. It is no wonder that the United States in 1962 honored the memory of Stevens at the scene of one of the great chapters of his career by the designation of Balboa's principal traffic circle as 'Stevens Circle,' having at its center a monument inscribed with Goethals' words, "The Canal Is His Monument."
A man of eminent vision whose great gifts were harnessed to practicality, Stevens, by his genius and industry, became the greatest construction engineer in American history. His tremendous services can now be viewed in historical perspective. They establish him as the basic architect of the Panama Canal.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Du Val, Captain Miles P. Jr. And the Mountains Will Move: The, Story of the Building of the Panama Canal. Stanford University, Calif., Stanford University Press, 1947.
Isthmian Canal Policy – An Evaluation U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings (Annapolis, Md.) Vol. 81 (Mar. 1955), pp. 263-75.
"Panama Canal." Encyclopaedia Britannica (Chicago, Ill.), Vol. 17 (1969), pp. 205-12.
Flood, Hon. Daniel J., Isthmian Canal Policy Questions (H. Doc. No. 44, 89th Cog., 2d Sess.) Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1966.
Sibert, William, William L., and John F. Stevens. The Construction of the Panama Canal. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1915.
Stevens, John F., An Engineer's Recollections. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., 1936.
Stevens, John F., "The Truth of History." History of the Panama Canal; Its Construction and Builders. Ed. Ira E. Bennett, Washington, D.C.: Historical Publishing Co., 1915; pp. 210-24.
Roosevelt, President Theodore. Message to the Congress Recommending the High Level Lake and Lock Type Canal as designed by John F. Stevens, February 19, 1906.
Roosevelt, Theodore. "Monroe Doctrine and Panama Canal." Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1920.