34 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



a way that even if you do not get the bonds 

 poted at first if the time arises when the reven- 

 ues will not permit their use — I mean the cur- 

 rent revenues — to continue that worlt with rea- 

 sonable rapidity you can move upon the govern- 

 ment for the issuing of bonds. I would make 

 the iight for bonds when the conditions strength- 

 en the argtiment in their favor. It is a strong 

 argument that you will have to meet ; that if you 

 are going to issue a large amount of bonds 

 just for the purpose of putting them into the 

 waterways as their necessity may develop then 

 (here is a temptation to extravagance. Perhaps 

 it is my judicial experience, but I always feel 

 as if you ought to shape your policy in order 

 to win. not according to the enthusiastic sug- 

 gestions of your imagination but in order to 

 overcome the obstacles 'that you are likely to 

 encounter in winning the end which you seek. 



And now, ladies and gentlemen. I am very 

 much obliged to you for giving me such atten- 

 tion. 1 realize that what 1 have said comes 

 from the lips of a mere tyro, hut it comes from 

 one who has some temporary responsibility in 

 respect to the matter and from one who is 

 thoroughly in sympathy with the general object 

 which you seek here— the development of all 

 the waterways of this country by a general 

 policy in such way as to reduce and control 

 railroad rates and in such way as to stimulate 

 upon the bosom of the waters the transportation 

 of such merchandise as is peculiarly fitted to 

 that character of carriage. 



Address of President of Congress 



Hon. Joseph E. Ransdell, president of the 



congress, next addressed the conference. 



He said in part: 



You have assembled here from every part of 

 the linion without regard to section, political 

 belief or business interest for the purpose of 

 voicing your sentiments on a question that 

 intimately concerns every citizen of the republic 

 — the question of transportation as affected by 

 Improved waterways. A small but resolute band 

 met at the Arlington hotel in January, 1906, and 

 those who were present then are delighted at 

 the marvelous growth evidenced by the gen- 

 eral voice of the press in advocacy of our 

 policies, and by this splendid assemblage of the 

 leading men of the United States. We advocated 

 then, as we do today, a broad, comprehensive, 

 businesslike policy for improving every meritori- 

 ous watercourse in the land without mention 

 of special projects ; and we insisted then, as we 

 do now, upon the necessity of an annual rivers 

 and harbors bill carrying an appropriaiton of 

 at least $.50,000,000 to be expended in the prompt 

 execution of such projects as have been approved 

 by the engineer corps, which sum is fully 

 warranted by the magnitude and importance 

 of the interests involved. Our united forces 

 have become a mighty power, actuated by the 

 patriotic determination to improve all our water- 

 ways and make them what nature's God intended 

 the.v should be — the cheapest of all freight car- 

 riers and the best of rate regulators. Much 

 has been accomplished and many are beginning 

 to study and understand this subject, but the 

 battle is not yet won, and if we divide our 

 strength and grow selfish the result is most 

 uncertain. 



Waterway Improvement A Necessity 



We must carry on the fight with unrelaxing 

 energy and make the people who elect the 

 congressmen and state legislators understand that 

 water transportation is much cheaper than rail 

 for heavy, low class, bulky articles ; that a well 

 improved system of rivers and canals along 

 our seaboard and interior, standardized as nearly 

 as possible so that freight can move to and 

 from any part of the Union without breaking 

 bulk, would furnish admirable facilities and pre- 

 vent the freight congestion which caused such 

 heavy losses three years ago and which threatens 

 to recur : that while nature has given the 

 United States many fine waters, they have been 

 sadly neglected by our national government, 

 which took control of them in 1796. and it will 

 require a large expenditure properly to improve 

 them : that we have given railroads a free 

 hand in the past without any restrictions what- 

 soever, and in many instances their unfair meth- 

 ods have destroyed water commerce, and that 

 most of the terminals on water courses, which 

 should be for the common use of all transporta- 

 tion agents by land and water, are owned 

 by one or more railroads and used for selfish 

 interests with scant regard to public welfare. 



This situation must be changed and will be as 

 soon as the people demand it. It is the duty 

 of the friends of waterways to see that the 

 demand is made immediately and strongly. Let 

 us work together for that end and forget our 

 local interests until our national lawmakers 

 have adopted the broad, comprehensive policy 

 fffr the improvement of the nation's waterways 

 advocated by us. We must insure the success 

 of that policy by an annual appropriation of 

 $50,000,000. secured by an authorized bond issue 

 of fifty millions a year .to be used when current 

 revenues are not available. 



Let me give one concrete example of liow river 

 improvement work lias been carried on : In 1907 



Congress adopted a project for six feet slack 

 water navigation on the upper Mississippi be- 

 tween St. Paul and the mouth of the Missouri 

 river — a distance of 658 miles — at an estimated 

 cost of $20,000,000. An appropriation in cash 

 of $300,000 was made and a like sum for each 

 of the following three years — a total of $i,000,- 

 000 in four years — was authorized, especially 

 providing that not more than $500,000 should 

 be spent in one year. At that rate, as solemnly 

 set down and provided by law, it will take 

 forty years to complete this project, one of the 

 most meritorius in the Union — a splendid river 

 (lowing through as fertile land as we have on the 

 continent, with a large and wealthy population 

 on its shores, and many fine manufacturing 

 cities. Forty years '. and yet these people are 

 taxed to build the I'anama canal in ten years. 

 Where is the reason or justice of such a thing '^ 

 Kcho answer "Where '^" This case is merely used 

 as an illustration, and there are many similar 

 ones. If we had our authorized bond issue of 

 fifty million dollars a year this truly great 

 and worthy project could be placed under con- 

 tinuing contract at two to three millions a year 

 until completed and others of similar merit 

 treated in like manner. 



Attitude of the Railroads 

 Another important subject for this convention 

 to consider is the attitude of our great railways 

 toward a broad, liberal policy of waterway im- 

 provement. From close observation and the best 

 obtainable information, I fear many of our 

 leading railway men are unfriendly to this move- 

 ment and. while not in active opposition, they 

 are either totally indifferent or quietly antago- 

 nistic. In my opinion, this is a great mistake 

 on their part, and it would be much wiser for 

 them to espouse actively the cause of improved 

 waterways. A slight study of the subject will 

 show that nearly all of our great cities and large 

 centers of manufacturing and business are on 

 navigable water courses and receive the benefits 

 of water competition in cheapened freight rates 

 and increased facilities ; and yet it is in these 

 localities that the railroads do their most re- 

 munerative business. If our great river systems 

 were improved thoroughly so that navigation 

 thereon was first class, freight rates would be 

 much cheaper, but there would be such a large 

 growth of population and business of every 

 kind, the cream of which would go to the rail- 

 roads, that they would profit very largely thereby, 

 and as a business proposition it would pay them 

 to have the waterways fully developed. Many 

 of the best paying roads in the Union parallel 

 the improved waters, as, for instance, those 

 adjacent to Long Island sound, the Hudson river 

 and Erie canal and the Great Lakes. 



(loveriior Herbert S. Hadley of Missouri, 

 T'nited States Senator Chamberlain of Ore- 

 gon, Governor Wilson of Kentucky, F. W. 

 Grandell of the Travelers' Protective Asso- 

 ciation of the United States, Hon. John 

 Dalzell of Pennsylvania, and Governor 

 Frank B. Weeks of Connecticut spoke of 

 waterways conditions in their respective 

 sections and advocated both a bond issue 

 and an extension of the program for im- 

 provements. 



Hon. George Burgess, representative in 

 Congress from Texas, made the only adverse 

 speech of the conference. He opposed it on 

 the ground that, compared with the -water- 

 ways improvements of Germany, for in- 

 stance, the task ahead of the American 

 government is too stupendous for contempla- 

 tion. He thought the work might be under- 

 taken more conservatively by improving a 

 little here and a little there until the practi- 

 cability was tested. 



There were other speeches from senators 

 and representatives in Congress as well as 

 from many men prominent in the business 

 and commercial world. John A. Fox, spe 

 cial director of the rivers and harbors con- 

 gress, stated that during the last year he 

 had traveled over the country four times, 

 given out 600 interviews, had written half 

 a hundred articles for newspapers and maga- 

 zines and in that time the sentiment for 

 improved waterways had increased fully one 

 hundred per cent. 



Platform Adopted 



The conference adopted the following 

 platform: 



The National Rivers & Harbors Congress in- 

 cludes m this convention 3,150 accredited dele- 

 gates, farmers, manufacturers, merchants, mari- 

 time and professional men and members of 

 commercial bodies, representing the greater part 

 of the tonnage of the United States, as well 

 as the shipping interests of the country at large. 



This congress is assembled to urge upon the 

 government of the United States the immediate 

 adoption of a broad, liberal, comprehensive and 

 effective policy of rivers and harbors improve- 

 nients, with profound conviction of its respon- 

 sibility, and earnestly requests the attention of 

 the President of the United States and the 

 Senate and the House of Representatives of the 

 national Congress to the matters herein set 

 forth. 



Every commercial country in the world is 

 working to better its transportation methods, 

 knowing that upon ea'sy, cheap, and suflicient 

 transportation depends the material prosperity 

 of Us people, and knowing that to the country 

 which first perfects its system of transportation 

 will come the commercial supremacy of the 

 world. 



Every foreign country is utilizing its rivers 

 and harbors and other waterways as the chief 

 tactors in perfecting its system of transporta- 

 tion, and the government of every foreign com- 

 mercial country has deliberately assumed the 

 responsibility of making its rivers and harbors 

 and other waterways adequate for all transporta- 

 tion purposes. 



The United States, with resources and courage 

 great enough to undertake successfully the build- 

 ing of that gigantic and mose useful water high- 

 way, the Panama canal, controlling its own nav- 

 igable waterways to the exclusion of private 

 effort, is alone among the world powers in neg- 

 lecting the improvement of its waterways, and 

 has so failed to develop them into effective 

 freight-carrying navigability that tbe inadequate 

 transportation facilities now seriously impair 

 our commercial growth, and cause enormous 

 w-aste of our agricultural resources, retarding 

 the settlement of the country and hindering 

 Its productive development. 



Unless these transportation facilities be made 

 sufficient the United States can not hope either 

 to increase its domestic commerce or extend its 

 foreign commerce as it should, or to take ad- 

 vantage of the opening of the Panama canal, in 

 order to compete with other commercial coun- 

 tries in the markets of the world. This govern- 

 ment has the power to give the United States 

 absolute commercial supremacy over all other 

 countries ; and the sixty-first Congress now in 

 session can do much to accomplish this by ap- 

 propriate legislation. 



A rivers and harbors bill should be passed as 

 early as possible in the present session of this 

 Congress, appropriating at least $50.0oii.noo for 

 the purpose of carrying forward, under the con- 

 tinuing contract system, such rivers and harbors 

 projects as have been heretofore entered on or 

 finally approved, and as are of such a character 

 as surely to fit into and carry into effective 

 use any larger, comprehensive" and connected 

 waterway system that may be subsequently 

 adopted : and annually for ten years thereafter 

 an equal sum should be appropriated ; and 



We believe that the annual river and harbor 

 bill should be placed upon an equal footing with 

 other great appropriation bills and we condemn 

 the present method of appropriation whereby 

 the river and harbor bill carries onlv such sum 

 as may remain after the other budgets have 

 been authorized. 



All projects approved by the government engi- 

 neers and adopted by Congress should be put 

 upon the continuing contract system and monies 

 provided for their completion as rapidly as 

 physical conditions permit, such monies to be 

 paid from current revenues when practicable 

 or from an issuance of bonds when necessary. 



To secure the development of our rivers and 

 harlurs on a oomprehmisive and systematic plan, 

 a department of public works, with a cal>inet 

 officer at its head, should be created, which 

 department should have charge of and control 

 over all public works of this and of a similar 

 character. This need in no way prevent the 

 use of the United States corps of engineers now 

 having charge of rivers and harbors work. This 

 corps is now manifestly insuflicient for the 

 work it is called upon to do. and we urge that 

 it be sufficiently increased, utilizing in the 

 permanent organization so far as is practicable 

 the United States assistant civil engineers now 

 in the employ of the government. We indorse 

 the bill now pending before Congress for the 

 increase of this corps and urge its enactment 

 into law. We believe that this corps of engineers 

 should be given authority and it should be made 

 its duty to formulate and suggest to Congress 

 plans and projects for rivers and harbors im- 

 provement. 



In order fully to secure the benefits of water- 

 way improvement to the shippers of the country 

 it Is absolutely necessary that the harbors, lakes 



