Hecht, president of the Hibernia Bank, and a recognized financial
leader in New Orleans, then arose.

"I feel," he said, "that all who have the future of New Orleans at
heart must agree that we are here to discuss not whether the Canal is
to be finished, but how.

"Finished it must be, or our commercial future will be doomed for many
years. If the Dock Board were to stop the work, it would forever kill
its credit for any other bond issue that might be proposed for wharf
development, new warehouses, or anything else.

"The cost of the canal is a surprise to everybody. I was present when
the cost was originally estimated at $3,500,000 with a leeway of
$1,000,000. I said then, and I repeat now, that the canal could be
financed if the people of New Orleans stood squarely behind it.

"The cotton warehouse and the grain elevator cost a great deal more
than the original estimates. So the Industrial Canal, though it is
costing more than anticipated, because of the increased cost of
material and labor and the increased size in the Canal, will, I feel
sure, be justified by the development of the future.

"Are we to be taxed for fifty years for our investment of $12,000,000
and get no return, or are we willing to pay a little bit more and get
something worth while?"

That expressed the sentiment of the meeting.

[Illustration: BUILDING THE LOCK]

"The people of New Orleans," said Hugh McCloskey, financier and dean of
all Dock Board presidents, "have never failed to meet a crisis. It is
the duty of the Dock Board to finish the Canal, no matter what the
doubting Thomases may say."

Similar expressions were made by Thomas Killeen, president of the Levee
Board; Thomas Cunningham, of the Public Belt Railroad; D. D. Moore,
editor of the Times-Picayune; James M. Thompson, publisher of the Item;
B. C. Casanas, president of the Association of Commerce; L. M. Pool,
president of the Marine Bank; J. E. Bouden, president of the
Whitney-Central Bank; Bernard McCloskey, attorney; Frank B. Hayne, of
the Cotton Exchange; Jefferson D. Hardin, of the Board of Trade;
William V. Seeber, representative of the Ninth Ward; Marshall Ballard,
editor of The Item. Others present, assenting by their silence,
included John F. Clark, president, and E. S. Butler, member of the
Cotton Exchange; W. Horace Williams, of Doullut & Williams Shipbuilding
Company; E. M. Stafford, state senator; C. G. Rives of the Interstate
Bank; S. T. DeMilt, president of th