DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE FLORIDA CANAL


 DOCUMENT NO. 13 (FILES OF CHIEF OF ENGINEERS), MAY 9, 1932
 SPECIAL ORDER ISSUED BY THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, UNDER DATE
 OF MAY 9, 1932
 By this order the Chief of Engineers extended the scope of the
 survey authorized in his special order of January 28, 1932 (see Docu-
 ment No. 9A), to determine:
 (a) Plans and estimates of cost for a ship canal along the most practicable
 route.
 (b) Plans and estimates of cost for a barge canal along the route selected for a
 ship canal, with connections at either end with the intracoastal waterway.
 (c) Plans and estimates of cost for a barge canal to connect the Atlantic and
 Gulf intracoastal waterways along the most practicable and economically
 feasible route, independent of the question of a ship canal.
 The Chief of Engineers in this order further directed that the
 territory to be covered by the survey be extended to include all practi-
 cable routes, and that separate economic studies be made and recom-
 mendations be submitted covering (a, b, and c) above.
 The territory covered by the surveys resulting from these orders
 of the Chief of Engineers extended over all of the Florida Peninsula
 and a large portion of southern Georgia. However, preliminary
 studies eliminated routes outside of the area lying south of the thirty-
 first parallel of latitude and east of the Apalachacola and Flint Rivers.
 The total number of routes surveyed eventually was 28.


 DOCUMENT NO. 14 (FILES OF THE N. G. A. S. C. A.), MAY 9, 1932
 STATEMENT BY ROBERT ISHAM RANDOLPH, PRESIDENT OF THE MIS-
 SISSIPPI VALLEY AssoCIATION, AT CHICAGO, MAY 9, 1932
 At Chicago on May 9, 1932, Mr. Robert Isham Randolph, president
 of the Mississippi Valley Association, made the following statement:
 The physical possibility of constructing a canal across the neck of the Florida
Peninsula has long been admitted by engineers.
 The economic feasibility of such a canal may still be a question for argument,
but the utility of such a canal must be apparent to anyone who looks at the map.
 The Atlantic coastal waterways have been under construction and improve-
ment for a great many years, and the dream of the advocates of a protected
waterway for barges and light-draft vessels along the Atlantic coast is about to
be realized. Similarly, the project for a connected waterway along the Gulf
coast from Florida to Mexico gives every indication of ultimate accomplishment.
The trans-Florida canal is the connecting link between these two great systems
of waterways, and to make these coastwise barge canals completely effective the
trans-Florida canal must be built.
 The advantage of constructing it to ship-canal dimensions is obvious. The
saving of ocean distances and the provision of a very much safer passage for
coastwise shipping than that afforded by the longer route through the Florida
Straits is apparent. These obvious advantages have been recognized by the
Congress of the United States in the authorization for a survey and report, and
the appropriation of $150,000 to make the physical surveys. *