DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE FLORIDA CANAL


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 Now, I want you lawyers in the committee to think over these things, because
we have here a technical provision of the act, relief act, and rules of the
Senate, which raise the following question in my mind, a profound question,
as to whether or not we have any right to include this item which has not been
passed upon by a legislative committee, in spite of any recommendation that
has been made by a board or even by the Board of Engineers, until that project
has been actually passed upon by a legislative committee and adopted by the
Congress.
 Senator VANDENBBEG. Mr. Chairman, let me show you the position you are
in if you proceed on the theory that this other authorization is adequate.
Suppose the President had started 500 projects with $1,000 apiece. Would you
say that that committed Congress to complete 500 projects if it cost $5,000,000,-
000 Just because those initial orders had been made?
 Senator FiarcHm. He has not done that.
 Senator VANDENnEBO. No; but that is the theory of the thing.
 Senator FxErCHEB. You are assuming the President would disregard his
responsibility.
 Senator VANDENBEBG. Well, he did pretty nearly as bad as that when he
started the Passamaquoddy project
 Senator FLETCHER. He adopted these projects as Federal projects, which
were authorized by law. They were authorized by the act of 1935, just as much
as if Congress had authorized them and adopted them.
 Senator CoePLAND. Senator, you have to face this question, however. I would
not have any doubt about the power of the President up to the 1st of July of this
next year to use any amount of money that he chooses to use to carry out all of
these projects, but when we come to the rules of the. Senate we are facing a
situation there.
 Senator FLruHE. That rule does not affect this at all, Mr. Chairman, and we
can deal with that when we get to it. Each one of these projects has been
authorized by the President He has appropriated money for them. They have
been allotted so much money for each one of them. Work has been begun and
is in progress.
 Now, suppose these funds give out? They are Federal projects, and as they
are Federal projects they are to be treated just as other Federal projects are
treated-appropriated for annually in order to carry them along. They are in
the same category as any other authorized projects
 Senator OvnrToN. What was the process; did he authorize the construction
of the entire project? Did he review the project as a whole and authorize its
construction, or merely allocate $5,000,000 for the Florida canal?
 Senator FLwrOHim. He considered the project as a whole. He began work
on it, put it in charge of the Chief of Engineers to go on with it, just as he
would with any other rivers and harbors project.
 Senator OVEBTON. He approved the project?
 Senator FLETrom. He gave that project to General Markham; approved it
entirely.
 General MARKHAM. I cannot recall any particular language. It is our under-
 standing that there was allocated $5,000,000 to proceed with the construction
 of the Florida canal.
 Senator CoPaLAND Did he give you instructions that he was approving that
 project?
 General MARKHAM. I think there was nothing that said that literally, so far
 as I know.
 Captain CLA&. The warrant was for the construction of the Atlantic-Gulf
 waterway, to which was thereby allotted $5,000,000.
 Senator FLmUHa And told you to proceed with the work?
 General MABKHAM. That is the implication, of course.
 Senator VANDEmNBO. In the statement I made to the committee I confined
 myself entirely to this question of the propriety of procedure. In Senator
 Fletcher's reply he has entered materially into the merits of the Florida canal
 issue. I would not want the record to indicate that I am not prepared to present
 a counter argument, and I can do it very briefly now, or I can do it later, as
 you wish; but I disagree completely with Senator Fletcher's conclusions.
 Senator COP~AND. I have no wishes, so you may proceed in your own way.
 Senator VAWNDENBI. Let me say just briefly, because I do not want to labor
 the committee with this proposition, because I realize probably my dear friend
 from Florida [Senator Fletcher] and I have got to discuss it on the floor of
 the Senate before we get through-this is my conception of the situation: The