“Does that kind of sum not make you dizzy, Miss Norval?”
“Not at all, Mr. Senator. I have dealt with much higher numbers for months now. And what is a sum of five hundred thousand million dollars if our country’s budget for one year alone, in 1960, was more than seventy-seven thousand million dollars. Taxes not only covered that huge sum but even exceeded it!”
“Well, you have to admit, Miss Norval, that you cannot compare the budget of a large country such as ours to that of a private enterprise you are preparing.”
“I do not see any difference, Mr. Senator. My project is of equal importance to our country as its defense, which devours approximately one-third of the budget.”
“But how do you think you can get a sum of such astronomical proportions? There is not that much money to be had in the country.”
Aslan discreetly played with her right earring and behind her, tables appeared. The television cameras jumped on this opportunity to show their audience something new.
“Mr. Chairman, we have more money than we need for ourselves and our well-being. After World War I, not only did we forgive the war debts of England, France, Italy, and even Germany, which we conquered, but we also forced millions of dollars on those nations to get their devastated economies back on track, which created stiff economic competition for us. We supported czarist generals, white guards, and dissolute insurgents with millions of dollars, since they promised to get rid of Bolshevism overnight.
“Gentlemen of the Senate, we did the same thing after World War II. We gave away our taxpayers’ money to all parties, whether they had asked for it or not; because we did not know what to do with all our money. Without the money that we gave them, England, France, Italy, Greece, Germany, Turkey, Portugal, and Spain would probably not exist as independent countries today. Of course, no honest person in the world would have a right to accuse us of wrongdoing for that.
“Approved by Congress in its session of July 13, 1946, we forgave England a debt of twenty-five thousand million dollars, and on the same day, we gave England a new loan of four thousand four hundred million dollars, without the slightest hope of repayment on their part given that England cannot even pay the interest on current debts and is constantly forced to request extensions. As if that were not enough, on January 1, 1951, we forgave England another two thousand six hundred ninety-four million and three hundred thirty-nine thousand dollars in order to save the crumbling British Empire from collapse, although there is nothing to save anymore.
“And you are asking me, Mr. Senator, where we should obtain the money for the construction of our canal? Honorable committee, our country lost all of that money I have been talking about, all those enormous sums of money. We will not get a single one of those dollars repaid. And the saddest thing about all this is that aimlessly giving away American taxpayers’ hard-earned money has not made us a single friend. Instead, it has garnered distrust and, in most cases, bitter hatred. We have no assurance that we could count on the support of these countries in case of a serious conflict. We cannot even be sure of English help in case such help was contrary to their own interests.”
It was only possible to talk to the public in a hearing in front of a Senate committee, as Aslan was doing. Protected by the Constitution, it was her right to defend herself against an accusation of supposed fraud.
The senators were getting antsy. Senator Shearer cleared his throat loudly and pointedly looked at the chairman. Senator Clifford banged the gavel.
“Miss Norval, I am forced to ask you to avoid any reference to our political circumstances, especially when it comes to international relations.”
“I apologize, Mr. Chairman, if I went too far. However, you are the one who claimed that the amount of money we need could not be found in the entire country. Therefore, you forced me to prove with hard numbers that there must be enough available money in our country that we can count on for our project if we can give away uncounted thousands of millions of dollars without suffering economic collapse.”
“Miss Norval, it is not my intention in the least to deny you your right to defend yourself. However, I will reiterate that our relations with our allies do not have any bearing on the feasibility or lack thereof of building your canal. Therefore, I am asking you to remain focused on your canal and the costs associated with its construction because we have the eyes and ears of millions of people on us.”
“Most honored gentlemen of the Senate, I do not see any other way. I must briefly come back to the tremendous sums that we have given away in all directions—money that we continue to give away almost every week. I must do so to show you the difference between, as I must say, senselessly giving away thousands of millions of dollars and investing thousands of millions of dollars in a company in a healthy and insightful manner.”
“Well, Miss Norval, I do understand what you mean. However, I repeat my request. Please stick to your hard numbers and avoid any digressions into the political realm.”
“Mr. Chairman, I will do my best to follow your advice because it is in no way my intention to cause our government any problems. I will return, then, to the thousands of millions of dollars that we have given away. We will never see any of that money returned, which means that it is lost to our country and economy. On the other hand, the thousands of millions of dollars that we will spend on building the canal will remain in the country. Every single cent will remain in our country and will bear interest. The money we invest in the construction of the canal will give tens of thousands of Americans willing to work well-compensated employment for ten, fifteen, and maybe even for twenty years. The completed project will not only greatly serve the American people, but all nations whose ships sail the oceans or countries who will be able to import needed products at lower prices due to lower shipping costs.
“We will accept money from anyone. And we will sell our shares to anyone who wishes to purchase them. Although we have not yet attempted to reach out to shipping companies, I am convinced that they will make an effort to become shareholders in our company as far as our laws permit, whether they are American or not.”
“Miss Norval,” the chairman interrupted Aslan, “I have declared repeatedly that I know almost nothing about canals and the construction of canals because my private career is in banking and I can only judge the financial aspects of your project. Regarding the financial aspect, I noticed that you always only talk about the canal. You neglect to mention the numerous side projects, many of which will be extremely costly. Just to name a few examples: what about the many bridges that must cross a canal of such length, to maintain regular traffic of trains, trucks, cars, and pedestrians? I know the car route from Houston to Los Angeles, and in my humble opinion, at least four if not six hundred bridges might be necessary. Since those bridges must be very high to allow the passage of large ships with great heights, they will surely be very expensive. So-called bascule bridges, which open and close to allow large ships to pass, will likely not cost much less. In my opinion, you have to add the cost of building bridges to the budget for building the canal. Those costs are part of the entire canal budget. Do you not agree, Miss Norval?”
“You are absolutely right, Mr. Senator. However, I do not intend to build bridges across the canal.”
“The government will not issue you a permit to build your canal if you cut off connecting traffic routes.”
“I will not cut off a single connecting route between the north and south side of the canal. I do not have the details yet, but several of my engineers think that tunneling is less expensive than any kind of bridge because it occurs during excavation for the canal, that is, before the canal is filled with water.”