322 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE FLORIDA CANAL

 in it, and that is what the Department had under consideration? Since then
 the Board has provided for a sea-level canal without locks.
 Mr. VANDwmnmG. Mr. President, all the letters I have been quoting are in
 reference to the proposed sea-level program now being pursued in the construc-
 tion of the canal
 Mr. NoaBm. That reminds me of another question which was one of the very
 vital questions when we were considering the construction of the Panama Canal.
 Is there any difference between the height of the water in the Atlantic Ocean
 where the canal starts and the height of the water in the Gulf of Mexico, at the
 other end of the canal?
 Mr. VANDENBEaG. I judge not, in view of the fact that the engineers are
 planning a sea-level canal.
 Mr. Nonms. Then why is anybody talking about a lock canal? How could
 a lock canal be built in a level country?
 Mr. VANDENBERG. It could be done in connection with a phase of the matter
 that I have not reached, namely, that engineers have said that if there is a
 menace to the ground-water supply of central and southern Florida from a
 sea-level canal, it may be obviated by building a lock canal.
 Mr. Noaus. If a lock canal should be built, it could not be supplied with
 water either from the ocean or from the Gulf of Mexico. It would have to
 be supplied with water from rivers or from some other source. Is that not
 obvious?
 Mr. VANDENBERG. I should think so.
 Mr. Nomas. Unless someone is thinking of supplying the water from rivers that
 are of a higher elevation, I cannot understand how it would be possible, in a
 canal of that kind, to have such a thing as a lock.
 Mr. VANDENBEBG. I cannot answer the Senator's question; and, of course,
 he cannot find any testimony in any Senate or House committee hearings which
 will answer his question. That is the vice of the method under which we pro-
 ceed-snap judgments on the floor of the Senate, without the advantage of
 any professional and dependable advice; no presentation of the matter save
 the voluntary, casual argument that one Senator happens to be making because
 he was challenged by the nature and extent of this amazing enterprise.
 Mr. President, there is another phase of the matter. It has been argued
 that this canal would be a great boon to shipping because of the dreadful haz-
 ard in the Florida Gulf waters; but here, again, realities do not appear when
 summoned to examination. Florida waters are not nearly so deadly as they
 are painted for the purpose of getting this appropriation. I asked the United
 States Coast Guard, which is the official source of information, for a report
 upon this proposition so as to discover whether or not these waters are so
 stormy that the construction of a $200,000,000 canal is necessary as a contribu-
 tion to save life at sea. I asked the United States Coast Guard about it. What
 do you suppose they told me? They sent me a very complete chart which
 shows that in the past 16 years just one passenger's life has been lost in all these
 related waters put together. That is the horrible hazard to safety of life at
 sea which is involved in this contemplation and in this proposition; and, Mr.
 President, the average maritime property loss in these waters during the past
 16 years has been less than $250,000.
 It does not make the slightest difference on what basis we make our ap-
 proach to this amazing expenditure. So far as I am concerned, I am utterly
 unable to find the slightest justification for it, of any name or nature.
 Something else is involved; and this is a matter of home consideration in
 the State of Florida, so I rather hesitate to say anything about it. Certainly
 I do not represent the State of Florida in the Senate; but if half the State
 of Florida thinks it is going to be ruined by this canal-I do not mean economi-
 cally, I mean physically-somebody ought to present that contemplation for
 the benefit of whatever consideration Senators wish to give it.
 There is involved in this matter another consideration which goes to the
responsibility which the Senate must assume when it decides to validate this
amazing undertaking. I suppose there is no more distinguished citizen in the
State of Florida than Mr. Frank B. Shutts, publisher of the Miami Herald
at Miami, Fla. I read a letter dated March 12, 1936, signed by Mr. Shutts.
He is not only a distinguished newspaper proprietor but he is one of the leaders
at the Florida bar:
 "DIzA Sm: The Miami Herald"-
 Referring to his own newspaper-