604 



CONSERVATION 



many of them increased by settlement, they 

 appealed to the Nation for assistance in 

 overcoming the obstacles in maintaining a 

 river commerce sufficient to meet the needs 

 of the growing population and production. 

 Now, we are hopeful and progressive Amer- 

 ican citizens, yet we are not blind. To-day 

 we must realize that the appeal to the Nation 

 fell on deaf ears. The Nation did not re- 

 spond. As the President of the United 

 States recently said, there is less commerce 

 on the Mississippi and its tributaries to-day 

 than there was fifty years ago. The great 

 packets and busy barges are gone. Their 

 disappearance marks the blackest chapter in 

 the history of the American Nation a chap- 

 ter of National indifference or incompetence, 

 of bitter disappointment, deep discourage- 

 ment, and serious loss to the people. To-day 

 the strength of the Nation lies in the interior. 

 How much greater would that strength have 

 been had the National councils performed 

 their duty and afforded proper facilities for 

 commerce ! 



The decline in our transportation cannot 

 justly be charged to any particular agency, 

 such as the railways; for as a matter of fact, 

 railways and waterways are and always 

 should be complementary agencies for the 

 carriage of freight and for other traffic and 

 it is especially gratifying to note that since 

 this Association was created, the leading rail- 

 way men of the Nation have signified ap- 

 proval of the waterway policy, and have been 

 among the most effective workers in this 

 association. 



But why have the National authorities 

 failed? Surely not because of fear of impos- 

 ing a tax on industry and property, for the 

 indifference, the failure to supply adequate 

 transportation facilities, has always been and 

 is to-day a heavier tax on the energy and 

 enterprise of our people than anv other; in 

 fact, heavier than all others combined. Grow- 

 ing communities need and can bear a just 

 taxation; but no community or country de- 

 serves or can bear up under the taxation of 

 indifference and incompetence. 



What is true of the Mississippi Valley is in 

 some measure true of every section of the 

 country. The rivers of the Atlantic, Pacific, 

 and Gulf coasts require development. Our 

 canals, once a great means of enrichment of 

 the country, should be restored. We, of this 

 Association, are sought and encouraged with 

 the valuable efforts of other sections to find 

 relief from that burden of taxation pouring 

 out of a dilatory and indifferent waterway 

 policy; yet we hold and we challenge any 

 and all to dispute our claim that since the 

 Mississippi is our greatest river, draining 

 half our country and sustaining half our 

 population, it must be the central feature of 

 any plan for waterway improvement. We, 

 of this Association, therefore urge the adop- 

 tion of a broad and vigorous policy of Water- 

 way improvement. Let it begin with the 

 Mississippi and let other rivers and other 



sections follow as rapidly as practicable; 

 let us, as citizens of the common country, 

 unite with those of other sections in advo- 

 cating a broad policy, and let us urge on 

 them the wisdom of joining us in our de- 

 mand for a plan of waterway improvement, 

 beginning with our main trunk line; and 

 let us make it clear that we no longer beg 

 nor crave the indulgence of the Nation, but 

 that as constituents of the Nation and a ma- 

 jority in numbers, we demand that the 

 National duty be performed, and that 

 promptly! What we need, and what this 

 association seeks, is a broad and sound 

 National policy of waterway improvement, 

 and a definite purpose in carrying out this 

 policy. 



Experts declare that our waters form our 

 richest resources, giving value to all the rest. 

 They tell us that our waterways cannot prop- 

 erly be improved without at the same itme 

 improving the lands on which the waters 

 gather, improving the forests about the head- 

 waters of streams, and reducing the drain on 

 the iron and coal now required to transport 

 by expensive agencies the abundant products 

 of our fertile fields and rich mines. 



We concur in every claim for the conserva- 

 tion of our resources and repeat the demand 

 in the interest of this association and the 

 states it represents; yet we insist that any 

 and all plans for the conservation of our 

 natural resources must and shall begin with 

 the improvement and proper utilization of 

 our waterways for the purpose of naviga- 

 tion and commerce. 



Let us not be understood to lav undue or 

 excessive blame on the Nation for the decline 

 of our navigation the failure of our water 

 transportation. This would be glaringly un- 

 just in view of the chief result attending the 

 work of this association. At the instance of 

 the Board of Governors of this association 

 a board than which none other was ever 

 more courageous, devoted and self-sacrificing 

 the President of the United States ap- 

 pointed the Inland Waterways Commission 

 to perfect the plan on which this association 

 was already at work. On the joint recom- 

 mendation of that Commission and this asso- 

 ciation, tne President of the United States a 

 year ago visited the Mississippi, and, for the 

 first time in the history of the country, made 

 it clear that the administrative branch of the 

 Federal Government is determined to enter 

 into and carry to successful completion a 

 broad policy of waterway improvement just 

 as rapidly as the legislative branch will per- 

 mit. Nor can we forget that since this asso- 

 ciation was created, a large number of 

 National Senators and Representatives, to- 

 gether with the state governors and legisla- 

 tors, have signified their adhesion to that 

 policy, and have undertaken to see that it is 

 carried out. These wise and devoted states- 

 men are too many to be mentioned now, 

 their names, with those of the President and 

 his Cabinet, will form the roll of honor in 



