312 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE FLORIDA CANAL

 must bear with me while I present what I believe to be the facts which sus-
 tain the conclusion that there is not one scintilla of economic justification for
 this burden of from $150,000,000 to $200,000,000 which is proposed to be placed
 on the Treasury of the United States.
 Make no mistake what you are voting on, Senators. It is not just a little
 innocent amendment involving $20,000,000-not at all! Now Is the time when
 the Senate must decide whether or not this project shall be validated upon
 congressional responsibility and whether or not it shall proceed to its con-
 clusion. We either stop it now or we manifestly commit ourselves to subsequent
 appropriations over the years to complete the project finally, 6, 8, 10 years
 hence. So the question now pending, Mr. President, is not the question of an
 appropriation of $20,000,000 at all. That is just the admission fee.
 The question pending before the Senate is whether or not we shall commit
 ourselves to an undertaking involving what I believe to be an ultimate $200,-
 000,000, without any economic justification, and without the submission of any
 conclusive proofs upon which any Senator can say that the undertaking is
 warranted.
 That is not all we are asked to do, Mr. President. The Senate is asked to
 to disagree with the considered judgment of the House Appropriations Com-
 mittee. It is asked to disagree with the considered opinion of the House of
 Representatives itself. It is asked to disagree with the considered opinion of
 the subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee. It is asked then
 to disagree with the considered judgment of the Senate Appropriations Com-
 mittee itself. Here in this last possible forum, when this "innocent" thing can
 be validated, we are finally to call the roll.
 Mr. President, let us now see how this project happens to be under construction
 at the present time. I assume that Senators are familiar in a general way with
 what the Florida canal is. My able and distinguished friend the senior Senator
 from Florida [Mr. Fletcher] has decorated the walls of the Chamber with
 exhibits which will facilitate a better understanding of the physical aspects of
 the project. We are discussing, I may say briefly, a canal which will be about
 200 miles long, starting at Jacksonville on the east coast of Florida and slanting
 off southwest to the Gulf of Mexico. I repeat, it will be about 200 miles long.
 It is a very circuitous sort of a route. When it reaches the Gulf it still will have
 to be dug 25 more miles out into the Gulf before it will reach a point where
 ships can travel in unrestricted water. But finally it is to be a canal 80 feet
 deep at sea level, presumably offering a traffic saving between the Atlantic and
 the Gulf waters.
 Mr. President, the canal has been dreamed of for from 50 to 100 years; it has
 been discussed romantically for half a century, but it never occurred to anybody
 actually to start it or to commit the credit and the Treasury of the United States
 to any such expenditure until easy money began to fow out of the I1. F. C. and
 the P. W. A. Then Florida interests, particularly in the Jacksonville area-
 for I may say parenthetically at this point that the State of Florida is sharply
 divided upon this issue, and half of the State, as I shall presently demonstrate,
 believes that the proposed canal is the greatest physical menace that ever
 threatened its welfare-representatives of the northern portion of the State came
 to Washington and asked for R. F. C. funds to start this undertaking. The
 B. F. C. turned the application over to the P. W. A. under Secretary Icke. The
 application went to P. W. A. on August 14, 198. It was manifestly of such
 magnitude that the President felt it very necessary to take extraordinary pre-
 cautions; and I think I am not speaking beside the mark when I say that he has
 been utterly reluctant from start to finish that this project should be undertaken
 solely upon his own responsibility. He appointed a special board of investiga-
 tion, and the special board of investigation reported respecting costs as follows:
 The cost of a 80-foot sea-level canal-the project which is immediately at
 hand-was estimated at 142,000,000 without interest during the time of con-
 struction, or $100,000,000 with 4-percent interest during time of construction.
 Therefore, even upon the basis of these original estimates, I submit that this is
 at minimum a $100,000,000 project.
 I want to call attention parenthetically at this point, however, to the fact that
 the estimate of $100,000,000 is based upon the June 1964 price index; and when
General Markham was before our committee and under crose-examination he
said that prices upon materials have already increased an average of 25 percent
since 1984; so that factor must be added to the $100,000,000.
 That Is not all. The $1600000,000 estimate is made on the basis of contractual
labor, whereas the canal itself to being built as a work-relief project; and General