DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE FLORIDA CANAL 347

Board for Rivers and Harbors of the Corps of Engineers, the project shows that
it will pay in direct benefits sufficient to meet all interest, operation, and main-
tenance charges and repay its entire cost, including interest during construc-
tion, in approximately 32 years. It is therefore not only economically justified,
but is in a highly preferred class of projects. This becomes even more apparent
when the ratio of cost to benefits of the project is compared with the ratios of
cost and benefits of other meritorious authorized projects. The following is a
list of the most outstanding of these:

 Name of project aobenef to Ran
 beeata W cording to


Florida Canal ..-.....-.....--....-- -----.---------------------1 to 1.6--.-----. First.
Delaware River to Philadelphia and to Trenton.....--------...--..--.. 1 to 1....------.... Second.
New York-New Jersey channels -..-.....------------------------.. I to 1.2-----. Third.
Chesapeake and Delaware Canal--.....----......------------------. 1 to --.......----- Fourth.
Beaver-Maboning Canal-..--......---------------------------- -----do....------. Do.
Cape Cod Canal----.........---------------------------------------------.do.....-----........ Do.

 "The soundness of the above conclusions is enhanced by the fact that the
figures do not include any benefits resulting from stimulation of commerce and
shipping; adjustment of freight rates and mail subsidies; reduction in hazards
to shipping during hurricane season; increased earning power of ships due to
the shorter time required to make the voyage; and the very real value of the
project as a factor in the national defense.
 "It seems appropriate to direct attention to both the support and the opposi-
tion which have been offered to this project The record shows that It is
formally opposed by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, the Florida East Coast
Railway, the Seaboard Air Line Railway, and the Southern Railway. The
record also shows that it is opposed by the chamber of commerce of the city of
Tampa, the city of Orlando, and by certain other civic organizations in the State
of Florida. The record further shows that both the city of Tampa and the
city of Orlando have petitioned the Corps of Engineers to make a survey with a
view to constructing a canal along a route which would le adjacent to those
two cities, respectively.
 "In support of the project, there are in the official record resolutions of the
Mississippi Valley Association, the Atlantic Deeper Waterways Association, the
National Rivers and Harbors Congress, the Texas and Louisiana Intracoastal
Waterway Association, the Legislature of the State of Florida, and numerous
commercial and civic organizations from various parts of the country.
 "I quote from a resolution of the Mississippi Valley Association, in conven-
 tion at St Louis, November 27, 1935:
 "'We recommend * the Gulf-Atlantic ship canal now under con-
 struction, and its completion, under the schedules laid down by the Chief of
 Engineers.'
 "Again, I quote from a resolution of the Atlantic Deeper Waterways Associa-
 tion, in convention at Boston, October 7, 1935:
 "'This association has for many years urged the construction of a canal
 across Florida, and we are gratified that the Federal Government, through the
 Army engineers, has begun work on a ship canal which will not only serve ocean
 commerce but will provide a connecting link between the intracoastal waterways
 of the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. We recommend the further allocation
 of funds for the completion of this project, the benefits of which will be Nation-
 wide.'
 "Again, I quote a letter under date of February 12, 1985, to Senator Fletcher,
 from the National Rivers and Harbors Congress, signed by its president, Frank
 Reid:
 'NATIONAL RIVB8 AND HABBOBs CONGBao s,
 "'Washngton, D. C., February 12, 1936.
 "'Hon. Du wan U. FLETCHEB,
 "'United States Senate, Washington, D. 0.
 "'MY Dz&A SmEATOR FrrCHEB: At its thirtieth annual convention held in
 Washington, D. C., May 2-3, 1935, the National Rivers and Harbors Congress,
 upon the recommendation of its projects committee, voted unanimously to en-
 82710-8-8---23