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HARDWOOD RECORD 



politicians. It has suddenly become a matter of widespread public 

 interest and common knowledge, while its feasibility and the benefits 

 to be derived are so obvious that they need only be set forth to 

 become apparent to the simplest mind. This movement will mark 

 an era of improvement which it is hoped will eventually embrace 

 16,000 miles of inland waterways. It is doubtful if any other 

 national expenditure could be suggested which would yield such -rich 

 returns if rightly managed. 



Aside from the presence and stirring endorsement of President 

 Roosevelt, the attendance of well-known railroad officials at the con- 

 vention was considered of paramount significance. It meant that 

 the great and far-reaching influence of the railroads is no longer 

 against the development of the internal waterways of the United 

 States; it meant that instead of opposing the movement, with its 

 resultant accretion of river traffic, the more far-sighted officials are 

 desirous of seeing it forwarded witli all possible dispatch, and will 

 lend their aid to expedite it. 



The country has reached a stage of prosperity and commercial 

 development where all phases of the transportation problem are 

 becoming appalling, from the shipping of all classes of freight down 

 to the carrying of passengers in congested districts. This has brought 

 many of the roads out of their former attitude of selfishness to a 

 point where they are glad to grasp a helping hand and sue for assist- 

 ance in solving the troublesome question. Not only are they unable 

 to handle their enormous business with satisfaction to patrons, at 

 certain seasons of the year particularly, but the development of river 

 tralEc would be an actual monetary gain, in that it would leave them 

 free to handle higher-class, better-paying passenger and freight 

 trade, since much of their most bulky and least remunerative business 

 would be handled by water. 



President Roosevelt in his speech pursued his usual "buck-the-line- 

 hard" policy and showed in his wonderfully forceful manner the 

 advantages and necessities of the deep waterways proposition. He 

 referred to the river and harbor bill as a great annual drain upon 

 the treasury of the country, and admitted that in spite of the 

 enormous expenditure, results are anything but satisfactory. He 

 explained that the reason for this is because the work done up to 

 date has not been based upon a definite and continuous plan, aud 

 urged that in future it be entered upon only under conditions which 

 will insure results and guarantee the nation against waste of money, 

 with a definite policy and resolute purpose to keep in mind, above all, 

 that the only improvements made should be those really national in 

 their character. It is undoubtedly true that many congressmen have 

 tried to secure appropriations within the limits of their own districts, 

 utterly disregarding national interests, as evidenced by the fact that 

 they have been substantially remembered in the rivers and harbors 

 bill, although the topography of their sections showed nothing more 

 than "a dewdrop and a depression" to warrant it, to use the words 

 of Governor Cummins. 



The president devoted the early part of his speech to a review of 

 the industrial history of the great Mississippi Valley, its immeasura- 

 ble resources, and the astonishing growth of its numerous industries, 

 and continued by saying: 



The valley of the Mississippi is politically and com- 

 mercially more important tlijin any other valley on the face 

 of the globe. There more than anywhere else will be deter- 

 mined the future of the United States, and indeed, of the 

 whole western world ; and the type of civilization reached 

 in this mighty valley, in this vast stretch of country lying 

 between the Alleghanies and the Kocl<ies, the Great Lalses 

 and the Gulf, will largely fix the type of civilization for the 

 whole western hemisphere. 



'i'lie woudertul variety of resources in different portions 

 of the valley malse the demand for transportation altogether 

 exceptional. Coal, lumber, corn, wheat, cotton, cattle — on 

 the surface of the soil and beneath the soil the riches are 

 great. There are already evident strong tendencies to in- 

 crease the carrying of freiglit from the northern part of the 

 valley to the gulf. Througliout the valley the land is so 

 fertile as to make the field for the farmer peculiarly attrac- 

 tive ; and where in the west the climate becomes dryer we 

 enter upon the ranching country ; while in addition to the 

 products of the soil there arc also the manufactures sup- 

 plied in innumerable manufacturing centers, great and small. 



Such being the case, and this valley being literally the 

 heart of the United States, all that concerns its welfare 

 must concern likewise the whole country. Therefore the 

 Mississippi river and its tributaries ought by all means to 

 be utilized to their utmost possibility. Facility of cheap 

 transportation is an essential in our modern civilization, 

 and we cannot afford any longer to neglect the great high- 

 ways which nature has provided for us. 



These natural highways, the waterways, can never be 

 monopolized by any corporation. They belong to all the 

 people, and it is in the power of no one to take them 

 away. Wherever a navigable river runs beside railroads 

 the problem of regulating the rates on the railroads be- 

 comes far easier, because river regulation is rate regulation. 

 Year by year transportation problems become more acute, 

 and the time has come when the rivers really fit to serve 

 as arteries of trade should be provided with channels deep 

 enough and wide enough to make the investment of the 

 necessary money profitable to the public. 



The national government should undertake this work. 

 Where the immediately abutting laud is markedly benefited, 

 and this benefit can be definitely localized. I trust that 

 there will be careful investigation to see whether some way 

 can be devised by which the immediate beneficiaries may 

 pay a portion of the expenses — as is now the custom as 

 regards certain classes of improvements in our municipali- 

 ties ; and measures should be taken to secure from the 

 localities specially benefited proper terminal facilities. 



Planned and orderly development is essential to the best 

 use of every natural resource, and to none more than to the 

 best use of our inland waterways. In the case of the 

 waterways it has been conspicuously absent. It is evident 

 that the most urgent need is a farsighted and comprehen- 

 sive plan, dealing not with navigation alone, nor with irri- 

 gation alone, hut considering our inland waterways as a 

 whole, and with reference to every use to which they can 

 be put. The central motive of such a plan should be to 

 get from the streams of the United States not only the 

 fullest but also the most permanent service they are capable 

 of rendering to the nation as a whole. 



Though President Roosevelt's speech was the feature of the open 

 ing session of the convention, other notable ones were delivered by 

 governors of various Mississippi Valley states during the conven- 

 tion, all advocating the deep waterways project. Gov. Cummins urged 

 that too much attention has heretofore been given to Congress and 

 too little to the voters, and appealed to a patriotism which demands 

 appropriations to be made for those . improvements which most 

 vitally concern tlie commerce of the country as a whole. 



Editorial Notes. 



Sad to relate, the great interurban baseball games, recently played 

 between the lumbermen of Memphis and Nashville to decide which is 

 the greatest lumber market, have resulted in a tie; therefore, the 

 question is still unsettled. As a suggestion for solving this 

 momentous question, how would it do to have President Russe of 

 Memphis, and President Ransom of Nashville, turn over the box? 

 This matter should be settled once and for all. 



The beautiful little prose poem appearing on page 15 of this 

 issue of Hardwood Recokd, entitled ' ' The Mystery of the Forest, ' ' 

 is an excerpt from a sketch forwarded by A. Patriarche of Detroit, 

 traffic manager of the Pere Marquette Railway. Of this beautiful 

 little sketch Mr. Patriarche says: "I notice in your issue of Sep- 

 tember 10, you have entered another domain and have sounded a 

 trumpet announcing ' The Awakening of the Forest, ' and in line 

 with that sentiment I enclose a s.ymposium entitled 'The Mystery of 

 the Forest. ' It is culled from writings of Fiona MacDonald, Bryant 

 and others, and was put together by myself to meet a certain oc- 

 casion. I think it follows out a line of thought and sentiment that 

 fits and I take great pleasure in sending it to you. ' ' 



The Hasdwood Record is indebted to E. F. Perry, secretary of the 

 National Wholesale Lumber Dealers' Association, for a 400-page 

 book covering the r\iclence before the Interstate Commerce Commis- 

 sion of the Nii.icnal Wholesale and ' other associations vs. sundrj- 

 railroads, in the flat and gondola lumber car equipment case. When 

 this document is presented to the average railroad man, it is doubt- 

 ful if Ije will stand out for a minute against the justice of the 

 contention. If he had not rather supply car stakes than to read 

 tliis book, tlie Hardavdod Record loses its guess. 



