Stevens  was  discontented  and  showed  it.  That  his
judgment  would  be  justified  in  the  end  he  could  not
know.  That  it  had  been  set  aside  for  the  moment
he  was  keenly  aware,  and  that  he  was  being  harassed
by  Congress  and  by  innumerable  rules  such  as  no
veteran  railroad  builder  had  ever  been  subjected  to
did  not  add  to  his  comfort.
His  complaints  to  the  Secretary  of  War  were
many,  and  not  of  a  sort  to  contribute  to  that  of-
ficial's peace  of  mind.  When  the  bids  came  in  from
the  would-be  contractors  they  were  all  rejected  on
the  groimd  that  they  did  not  conform  to  the  speci-
fications, but  the  real  reason  was  that  the  President
at  heart  did  not  believe  in  that  method  of  doing  the
work,  and  was  siu^e  that  the  country  agreed  with
him.  This  should  have  allayed  Mr.  Stevens'  rising
discontent.  It  certainly  offended  Chairman  Shonts,
who  stood  for  the  contract  system,  and  when  the


190  PANAMA  AND   THE   CANAL

bids  were  rejected  and  that  system  set  aside  promptly
resigned.  The  President  thereupon  consoHdated  the
offices  of  Chairman  of  the  Commission  and  Chief
Engineer  in  one,  Mr.  Stevens  being  appointed
that  one.  Given  thus  practically  unlimited  power
Mr.  Stevens  might  have  been  expected  to  be  pro-
foundly contented  with  the  situation.  Instead  he
too  resigned  on  the  first  of  April,  1907.
About  his  resignation  as  about  that  of  Mr.  Wal-
lace there  has  always  been  a  certain  amount  of  mys-
tery. He  himself  made  no  explanation  of  his  act,
though  his  friends  conjectured  that  he  was  not
wholly  in  harmony  with  the  President's  plan  to
abolish  the  civilian  commission  altogether,  and  fill
its  posts  by  appointments  from  the  Army  and  Navy.
