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gation, thus opening up the heart of the richest county in the State to cheap and efficient navigation.

Polk County has a larger area than either Delaware or Rhode Island, containing 1,250,000 acres. It has more than 20,000 acres planted to oranges and grapefruit trees. It has the three largest individual phosphate-mining plants in the world, the largest deposits of pebble phosphate of any section the same size on earth. It has more phosphate plants than any other county in the United States. It has more than 500 clear, beautiful fresh-water lakes. It has 32 turpentine plants, with gross receipts of more than a half million dollars per annum. It has the largest cypress-lumber plant in the State, with an output of millions of feet of the best of lumber. It has more than 1,000,000 acres of pine timber that will cut 3,000 feet to the acre. It has over 200 miles of good roads, which have cost the county $1,500,000.

De Soto County, through which Peace River flows to its mouth at Punta Gorda, is well known to you by reason of the fact that the United States Government has established at Arcadia, its county seat, two aviation schools at a cost of $1,000,000 each. In order that all these interests may be properly correlated and the rich valley of Peace River developed, the public-spirited citizens of Fort Meade met December 14, 1917, with representatives from Wachula, Arcadia, Bartow, etc., and organized the Peace River Improvement Association, with W. H. Lewis as president and Dr. R. C. McClellan as secretary. A much larger meeting was held December 21, at which a central committee was appointed to secure data and submit same to the Government engineer, composed of the following citizens: R. O. Meek, R. C. McClellan, W. D. Turnley, W. A. Evans, J. V. Chapman, K. O. Varn, L. L. Bean.

As secretary of this committee I take pleasure in submitting the following figures, which appear on the inclosed sheet.

Yours, truly,

DISTRICT ENGINEER,

United States Engineer Office, Jacksonville, Fla.

W. D. TURNLEY, Secretary.

Estimate of receipts and shipments and commodities for shipment along the course of

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Peace River, Fla., per year.

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WITH A LETTER FROM THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, REPORTS ON PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION AND SURVEY OF ST. PAUL (MINN.) HARBOR, WITH A VIEW OF DETERMINING WHETHER THE CHANNEL OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER CAN BE CHANGED TO OR NEAR THE BLUFFS ON THE WEST SIDE THEREOF, ETC.

JUNE 2, 1919. Referred to the Committee on Rivers and Harbors and ordered to be printed, with illustration.

WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, May 29, 1919.

The SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a letter from the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, of 1st instant, together with report by Lieut. Col. Edward H. Schulz, Corps of Engineers, dated June 25, 1917, and report by Mr. George W. Freeman, assistant engineer in charge, dated January 24, 1919, with map, on a preliminary examination and survey, respectively, of St. Paul Harbor, Minn., made by them in compliance with the provisions of the river and harbor act approved July 27, 1916.

Very respectfully,

NEWTON D. BAKER,
Secretary of War.

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