326 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE FLORIDA CANAL What is there about this project which justifies taking any such chance as that? It has not any justification on the basis of economics. It has not any Justification on the basis of ship operators who say they expect to use it if it is built It has not any justification on the basis of the value that ought to accrue to an investment of $200,000,000 of the public money. It has not any justification on the basis of conclusive reports from the Board of Rivers and Harbors Engi- neers, because there has not been any conclusive report; and this is the first time in 100 years that it has been proposed to launch a project of this sort with- out a conclusive report from the Board of Rivers and Harbors Engineers. It has not a leg on earth to stand on, except that it was launched as a $5,000,000 work-relief project. Mr. President, so far as I am concerned, this is the one and only and last time that the Senate may say whether it desires to have this canal built. If we vote to appropriate this little installment of the coat, we certainly shall be morally committed to the appropriation of the entire balance during the next 6, 8, or 10 years before the work is completed. So far as I am concerned, I should in- finitely rather give Florida another $5,000,000 by Executive decree to fill up what has already been dug than to waste another $190,000,000 by proceeding to conclude the undertaking. At a time when the public credit is at low ebb, at a time when the Govern- ment already is spending $2 for every dollar we take in, at a time when Congress is about to be confronted with a demand from the President for a new tax revenue of a billion dollars, I submit that there is not one scintilla of justification on the face of the living earth for a responsible Senate of the United States to commit our people to any such enterprise as this. Mr. AUSTI. Mr. President, will the Senator yield for an interrogatory? Mr. VAxDwDEBE Yes. Mr. AusTnr. I should like to inquire if there is any record of any committee where the facts which have been discussed by the Senator from Michigan, and similar facts, may be found? Mr. VAmRwNfee. Mr. President, unfortunately there is no complete record. I can only refer the Senator, first, to the printed hearings of the subcommittee of the Committee on Commerce taking testimony upon my resolution to investi- gate the canal. There is a partial summation of the case in that document. I can then refer the Senator to the printed hearings upon the War Department appropriation bill, in which the able senior Senator from Florida and I debated the problem for an hour before the committee. Beyond that, I can refer the Senator to nothing official under the Senate's mark, because, unfortunately, this thing never has had the formal traditional consideration which projects of this sort usually do have. Mr. AUSTN. Mr. President, I think the Senate owes an expression of grati- tude to the Senator from Michigan for bringing these facts to our attention at this time. Mr. FIvrcHE. Mr. President, with regard to the inquiry of the Senator from Vermont, I wish to call his attention to the hearings before the subcom- mittee of the Committee on Commerce, and ask him to read the hearings. They are not very extensive; but the Senator will get a history and a correct record of this whole matter If he will read the testimony of Mr. H. H. Buckman in the hearings. By doing so he can save a great deal of time and obtain the information he desires. I will send the Senator a copy of the hearing if he likes, and especially call his attention to the testimony of Mr. Buckman, which reviews the whole history of the question and the records in the case. Mr. AvusTn. I thank the Senator from Florida. Mr. CoPrLAmn. Mr. President, if it is agreeable to our leader, I suggest that we let this matter go over until tomorrow. Mr. RomNsoN. Very well, Mr. President. I understand the Senator from Florida would like to have that course taken. Mr. FLzrcHxEa It is immaterial to me, but I am agreeable to anything.