194 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE FLOIDA CANAL

 General MA~KHAM. Just for the record, the Department has never
 concluded upon that.
 Senator VANDENBmRO. I understand, but the whole thing is being
 done without any conclusive report from the Board of Rivers and
 Harbors engineers.
 General MAjKHx. We made no report.
 Senator VANDENBEO. You made no report. According to Gen-
 eral Pillsbury's letter, they have made an inquiry for the purpose of
 receiving economic justification.
 General MamwAM. Not the Board of Engineers.
 Senator VANDENBEmo. Who made it?
 General MAzKHAM. This Board that first reported it, the Special
 Board, as it is called.
 Senator VANDENBE G. Whoever made it, it is the only economic
 survey that seems to be available.
 Senator FarCHvB. Is it not a fact that the President had before
 him all of the data and reports of the P. W. A. engineers, all the data
 and reports of the Board of Review, when he ordered you to start
 work
 General MaxiwAx. The Board of Review had all of the data that
 we got.
 Senator FL~CarE. Yes.
 Senator VANDwmmEm. Well, none of them had this data.
 Senator Fizrc;ma. That was all laid before the President and he
 appointed the Board of Review, before the Board report.
 General MAiwAH Our Board, as such, never laid it before the
 President, but the Special Board he appointed had all the data you
 are talking about. That is contained in the voluminous report of the
 Special Board now in our office.
 Senator VANDENBEB. Here is new data that I am anxious to have
your comment on. The first of these nine letters which seems to be
the reliance for economic justification is the letter from the Gulf
Refining Co., 17 Battery Place, New York City. Their letter to me,
under date of January 15, reads as follows, the pertinent portion:
 We have on different occasions made careful surveys of the practical and
economical features of such a waterway, but it is our conclusion from either
standpoint that even If it were completed, it probably never would be used by
our seagoing vessels.
 It is, therefore, our opinion that such an expenditure as would be necessary to
construct a canal as projected, could not be economically Justified, and the
expense would be unwarranted.
 That is the first of the nine which General Pillsbury quotes to me in
the economic justification for the canal.
 General MABw3w I think I ought to make some comment there.
I think it would be kind of loose. It is my understanding that the
Special Board had a special representative of the Gulf Refining Co.
before them including the captains of some of their vessels, and
directly the contrary was stated to the Board. Who wrote that letter
and what the ramifications are I do not understand.
 Senator VmANDENBEo. The letter was written by James Kennedy,
general manager.
 General MA*KHAM. I am only commenting on the fact that I cannot
follow it, don't you see?