and change, believe that it
will be a fatal error for the nation to commit itself to the practically
hopeless and visionary sea-level project and to delay for many years the
opening of this much needed waterway connecting the Atlantic with the
Pacific. I for one am opposed to a waste of untold millions and to
additional burdens of needless taxation, while the project of a lock
canal offers every practical advantage, offers a canal within a
reasonable period of time and at a reasonable cost, offers a waterway of
enormous advantage to American shipping, of the greatest possible value
to the nation in the event of war, and the opportunity for the American
people to carry into execution at the earliest possible moment what has
been called the "dream of navigators," and what has thus far defied the
engineering skill of European nations.

But in addition to the evidence presented for or against a sea-level or
lock canal project by the two conflicting reports of the Board of
Consulting Engineers, there is now available a very considerable mass of
testimony of American engineers who were called as witnesses before the
Senate Committee on Interoceanic Canals. The testimony has been printed
as a separate document and makes a volume of nearly a thousand pages.
Much of this evidence is conflicting, much of it is mere engineering
opinion, much of it comes perilously near to being engineering
guesswork, but a large part of it is of practical value and may safely
be relied upon to guide the Congress in an effort to arrive at a final
and correct conclusion respecting the type of canal best adapted to our
needs and requirements.

A critical examination and review of this testimony, as presented to the
Senate Committee from day to day for nearly five months, including the
testimony of administrative officers and others, relating to Panama
Canal affairs generally, is not practicable at this stage of the
session. Among others, the committee examined Mr. John F. Stevens, chief
engineer, upon all the essential points in controversy, regarding which,
in the light of additional experience and a very considerable amount of
new and more exact information, Mr. Stevens reaffirms his convictions in
favor of the practicability and superior advantages of a lock canal.

In opposition to the views and conclusions of Mr. Stevens, Prof. William
H. Burr pronounced himself emphatically in favor of the sea-level
project. As a member of the former Isthmian