DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE FLORIDA CANAL 481

York City around to Gulf ports will come around through the Yucatan Channel,
by way of Key West, and may refuse to use the canaL
 Let me give you the statement of Colonel Youngberg [reading]:
 "SAVINGS IN DISTANCE, TIME, AND MONEY

 "Having determined the cargo tonnage to benefit by the proposed waterway,
and knowing the characteristics of the various vessels and the number of
voyages, the data must be translated into terms of distance, time, and money,
and to contrast these factors via the existing shipping lanes and those that
would result from the construction of the waterway. Distances east-bound are
not the same as distances west-bound for the reason that ships follow different
lanes. There are corresponding variations in time or duration of voyages,
determined not merely by the mileage but by the effect of helpful or contrary
currents and winds. The operating costs of vessels vary according to their
characteristics and their management. The studies have taken all these varia-
tions into account, and for purposes of illustration they are indicated as
follows:
 "On an out-bound voyage from New Orleans to New York the canal would
 save 398 nautical miles, but on the in-bound voyage it would save but 385 miles.
 For a vessel of 8 knots in the open ocean and 6% knots in transiting the canal
 a saving of 4 days would be effected, but for a 10-knot vessel the saving would
 be cut to 3 days for the round trip. Correspondingly, between New Orleans
 and northern Europe the savings out-bound would be 371 nautical miles and
 in-bound would be 335 miles, and the round-trip savings in point of time would
 be 3 days for a vessel of a normal speed of 8 knots and 21A days for a vessel
 of a speed of 10 knots."
 WILL THE BOATS USE IT?

 If I had a boat line from New York to Jacksonville and on to Gulf points,
 and if I should refuse to use the canal, then if somebody else with a boat line
 from New York to Gulf points made use of the canal and saved 2% days per
 trip I would have to use the canal to meet that competition or go out of busi-
 ness. There is no line that will not use the shortest route between two
 points. There is no doubt whatever in my mind about shipping lines using
 the canal
 From Jacksonville to where it turns off I will say that, except for a few places,
 I doubt if the banks of the river are over 3 or 4 feet above the water. It will
 be a sea-level canal.
 The canal will be 200 miles. Twenty-five miles of that distance is the route
 going out into the Gulf. It will be wider there, so vessels will have no trouble
 in getting into the canal. As a matter of fact, the canal proper will be only 175
 miles long.
 I will repeat.what one of my colleagues told me the other day: He said he
 was surprised that I was supporting the canal He said, "Do you not realize you
 are putting Florida out of business and making Texas?" I laughed and said,
 "I found some opposition in the Texas delegation, and it might be well to whis-
 per that to them." I said to him, "Let me be frank with you; Texas is four or
 five hundred miles from Florida; they use American machinery, American labor,
 and they use American fertilizer. If they can haul their products and produce
 400 or 500 miles farther on the same boat, as it has to pass by my farm or grove-
 if they can do that and put me out of business, I should be put out of business."
 That is the way I feel about it. I do not think there is anything to it. I do not
 think there are too many oranges and vegetables produced in the country or
 enough to glut the market It is simply a question of distribution.
 I have a letter from a leading citizen of Miami in which he said-and now
 you are getting the facts as to much of the opposition-"If the canal was built,
 it would divert the tourists from Miami." Another constituent wrote me that it
 would change Jacksonville to a fag station and that Palatka, 50 miles in the
 interior, would become the metropolis of Florida.
 My colleagues, you should visit our State and learn of the possibilities. It
 will help to bring about a reduction in freight rates, which will give our people
 a chance to get our fruit and produce to market. We must have a reduction in
 freight rates in order that we may be able to get our fruit and vegetables to
 market after the price goes down. This is now a total loss. At the same time,