DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE FLORIDA CANAL


merely have caused an attitude on the part of the company of that
kind, might it not?
 Senator VANDuNBRG. Your comments relate chiefly, I presume, to
 the letters I have produced here in the last 6 weeks?
 Mr. BUCKMAN. They are related to the whole weight which should
 be attached to letters of that kind, whether for the canal or against
 the canal.
 Senator VANDENBEG. Yes; but during the last 6 weeks they have
 had information about their subsidies.
 Mr. BUCKMAN. Unquestionably.
 The CyHAI~AN. I think almost without exception the letters pre-
 sented by Senator Vandenberg have been nonmail carrying.
 Mr. BUCxKAN. I agree with you.
 Senator VANDENBERG. Would not the bulk of the trade, as declared
 by the Department of Commerce report, be oil tankers?
 Mr. BUCKMAN. Oh, yes under the present set-up.
 Senator VANDENBERG. Yes.
 Mr. BUCKMAN. The tankers are being gradually overtaken by gen-
 eral shipping, and as the years go by that apparently is going to turn
 over, but at the present time more than 50 percent is tanker trade.
 Senator VANDENBERG. And all of these economic reports to which
 you refer emphasize the fact that the oil-tanker transit is the bulk of
 the basis of that trade
 Mr. BUCKMAN. They point out that that is the bulk of the tonnage
 coming through the Straits at the present time.
 Senator VANDENBEBO. And do not the letters I have presented in-
 clude every major oil tanker in your territory ?
 Mr. BUCKMAN. I do not recall whether they do or not, but I will
 admit that the average oil tanker's letters on this project are appar-
 ently hostile to it.
 Senator VANDENBERG. In other words, those who would represent
 the bulk of the traffic are hostile to it at the moment at any rate .
 Mr. BucKxAN. Their letters are hostile to it, apparently at the
 moment; there is no question about that. But bear in mind, senator,
 we are not discussing at the present moment whether shipping con-
 cerns want this project or not. It is a question whether it would result
 in these savings when open, in these savings to the general public as
 well as to ships, and the best authority on that, I submit, is not the
 opinion of the shipowners, but the disinterested opinion of the Corps
 of Engineers or other disinterested agencies.
 Senator VANDENBEmG. Just to complete the record, I would again
 dissent, because I think that a man who operates a ship probably
 knows a little more what he would do with a ship than the gentlemen
 down at the end of Pennsylvania Avenue.
 Mr. BUCKMAN. In the case of some operators this item of lost mail
 subsidy becomes considerable because of the many ships operated by
 them. However, it must be remembered that the reduction of this
 mail pay by shortening the route is a direct saving to the United
 States Government, and the canal should be credited with this saving.
 At the same time no injustice will be done to the ship operator, pro-
 viding the original theory of determining the mail pay on a mileage
basis is correct, because the reduced pay for reduced mileage will still
leave the American and foreign ship on the same parity. However,
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