DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE FLORIDA CANAL


exports, domestic or coastwise receipts and shipments, amounts to 87,164,000
tons. Of this gross movement 47,012,000 tons can be definitely earmarked as a
long-haul primary movement; and the remainder, 40,152 000 tons, is a shuttle-
service movement between ports on the Atlantic coast. It is thus analogous to
the ouastwile4adeRbetween the Gulf ports themselves but is far greater in volume.
However, if this intraregional traffic be eliminated in both groups the real increase
in Atlantic coast commerce during the period would have been about 40 percent,
while that for the Gulf would have been about 80 percent.
 16. The increase in Gulf trade has relatively been much greater than that of
Atlantic coast trade. It is clear that an ever-increasing portion of the primary
traffic of the country is passing through the Gulf ports. The increase in the
Gulf shipments of petroleum, cotton, wheat, flour, sulphur, and manufactures
has been particularly notable, and there is a pronounced tendency for the Gulf
ports to attract these shipments against whatever competition is offered. The
ississippi-Missouri and Ohio Valleys route larger and larger portions of their
commerce through the Gulf ports year by year.
 17. The tonnage of exports from the Gulf (18,500,000 short tons) was nearly
 equal to that (19,400,000 tons) from all the Atlantic coast ports combined, and
 the coastwise shipments from the Gulf were nearly three-fifths as large as the
 coastwise shipments from the Atlantic ports. The value of cargo exported from
 the Gulf in 1929 exceeds the value of both exports and imports of all of our
 Pacific coast ports, and it was more than double the value of the foreign trade
 of the South Atlantic custom districts from Maryland to Puerto Rico, inclusive.
 The value of the Gulf exports alone for 1929 was practically equal to that of the
 total water-borne exports of the entire United States for 1899, only three decades
 past.
 18. The Gulf. ports are weak in the import trade, but an upward trend is
 manifesting itself and should increase as conditions for overseas movement as
 well as for internal distribution are very favorable through the Gulf gateway.
 Attention is invited to the detailed information contained in division B relat-
 ing to freight rates and traffic movements and to the maps illustrating condi-
 tions.
 19. It may be asserted that about 42 percent of the total coastwise and foreign
 commerce of this country consists either of direct primary Gulf commerce or of
 reshipments of commodities originating in the Gulf. As these ports improve
 their facilities for -handling, for collecting, and for distributing traffic, as they
 enlarge the areas naturally tributary to them in a commercial sense, the per-
 centage of the total traffic will increase and, pari passu, the benefits to be derived
 from a ship canal across Florida will increase.
 20. On the basis of figures for 1929 the cargo tonnage of the Gulf ports is
 equivalent to 23 percent of the total foreign and domestic cargo of all United
 States ports and is equivalent to 25 percent of all cargo exchanged with foreign
 countries; and 35 percent of the export cargo tonnage of the whole United States
 is credited to our Gulf ports. The records of actual cargo movements between
 ports show that the potential cargo for the canal for 1929 greatly exceeds the
 total inbound and outbound commerce of the Gulf ports for 1920, and it is nearly
 23 times that of all Gulf ports for 1910. It is likewise 2% times the average
 annual cargo tonnage transiting the Panama Canal for the first 15 years of its
 existence (1914-29). Sixty-two percent of the ocean-borne tonnage of all the
 Gulf ports is potential cargo tonnage for the canal.
 21. Elsewhere in our report will be found a very detailed study of savings in
 distance and in time but it appears appropriate to state here that by reason of
 the shorter sailing distance afforded the larger part of the Gulf shipping, the
 eanal, had it been available in 1929, would have effected minimum cargo ton-
 mile savings on water-borne commerce to and from Gulf ports as follows:

 Nautical Nautial ton-
 mim lesaved mile saved

 On in-bound shipments to Gulf ports from United States Atlantic ports---..... 1,341, 070 1, MS365, 67, 811
 On out-bound shipments from Ouf prt to United States Atlantic ports._ 1,313,286 11, 87, 85 273
 On in-bound oreogn ommnom to Oau ports-.............................. 43,5 31, 20
 On out-bound foreign commerce from Gulf ports...---...--..-----....-----. 4,54l 4 l,723, s 
 On al comneroe to and from Gf port...------......---------------- 3,654, 6 17,6 079,468