Five years before the debate on where the canal should be routed, a highly respected New York lawyer, William Nelson Cromwell, was chosen as the NPCC's agent in the US. The role Cromwell played in eventually convincing the Senate to choose the Panama route was paramount. After contributing large sums of money to the Republican party (which he allegedly reclaimed on expenses through the NPCC) in 1901, as well as convincing the French to lower the price of the NPCC from $109 million to $40 million - thus making Panama cheaper than Nicaragua - the senate passed the bill in 1902. Nevertheless, it had not been easy. Six months before, the senate had overwhelmingly voted for the Nicaraguan route.
