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 Army engineers, and all of them, and I do not see that we could have
 had any more engineers than have been had.
 Mr. BUCXzAN. If the committee will be patient for just a few
 more moments, we will clean up this, and I want to get this in the
 record.
 From the Ford Motor Co., 3674 Shaefer Road, Dearborn, Mich.,
 under date of May 15, 1933, signed by O. A. Johnson, marine depart-
 ment:
 We are not at the present time, nor neither do we expect to in the near
 future, operate any service which would utilize this proposal. However, we
 think the project a very worthy one and feel that it would affect a very sub-
 stantfal saving to steamship operations between the North Atlantic ports and
 the Gulf. There is no doubt but what it would effect a saving of approximately
 2 days' transit time on the type of ships that we operate between New York
 and New Orleans or Houston. It is possible that at a later date we may
 reenter the Gulf service, in which case this canal would prove advantageous
 to us.
 Senator VANDENBERG. I said I would not interrupt you, but you
 are terribly close to home when you get up to Dearborn.
 Mr. BUCxMAN. I recall the statement you made to the committee
 with regard to the Ford Motor Co., and I believe that was a state-
 ment from the attorney.
 Senator VANDNBERO. From Mr. Clifford Longley, the general
 accountant.
 Mr. BucwAN. And it was just directly opposite to this statement.
 I introduced this testimony in the record again to support my point
 that all of these letters are in question.
 From the Gulf Refining Co., Charles R. Buerger, vice president,
 17 Battery Place, New York City, under date of May 24,1933, signed
 by James Kennedy, general manager:
 Based upon a 10-knot ship and the distances appearing on the outline map
 accompanying your letter, there would be a net saving of about 25 hours per
 trip or about 50 hours per voyage, which is equivalent to a cash outlay of
 about $208,550 per annum, and the total saving in time becomes approximately
 546 days per annum.
 We believe, however, that you have overestimated the speed at which transit
 can be effected, and that 5 miles an hour would constitute very good progress
 having in mind delays due to locks, bridges, fog, and other unforseen circum-
 stances, and on this basis, the saving would be about 28 hours per voyage, as
 against the 50-hour estimate based on your forecast.
 From the Pennsylvania Shipping Co., 260 South Broad Street,
Philadelphia, Pa., under date of May 24,1933, signed by J. H. Pelly:
 If the above-contemplated canal across Florida is built, its use would cause a
saving of approximately 1 day each way on a round voyage of a steamer from
Gulf loading ports to discharging ports north of Hatteras. estimating the
round trip to require approximately 16 days steaming, the saving on a voyage
in steaming time would be 2 days, or 12% percent of the operating cost for a
round trip.
 This would be quite an item, and if the canal were free of tolls, no doubt a
large number of vessels would use the canal.
 From the Newtex Steamship Corporation, Pier 23 North River,
New York City, under date of May 23, 1933, signed by D. A. Moloney,
president:
 In the coastwise trade, due to the keen competition and the low freight rates,
it would be necessary to either have a free canal, or at the most a nominal
charge per net ton, not to exceed say 5 cents per net ton for one transit of the
canaL This can be readily seen, when I tell you that the current revenue on