THE LAKES-TO-GULF CONVENTION AT CHU AGO 



605 



this, our second groat American Revolution 

 a revolution against the tyranny of trans- 

 portation. 



l.i-t tin- great army <>f delegates gathered 

 here to-day imbibe this re\ olutii mary spirit, 

 and let each carry back from this convention 

 to his post of duty sufficient enthusiasm to 

 assure the election of candidates for Congress 

 who are willing to pledge themselves to work 

 for the great policy of waterway improve- 

 ment ! 



Following: are the resolutions adopted: 



This, the third Lakes-to-the-Gulf Deep 

 Water Convention, the largest waterway con- 

 vention ever assembled in the United States, 

 including some 4,000 delegates from forty- 

 four sovereign states of this Union, repre- 

 senting the commercial, agricultural, manu- 

 facturing, and mercantile interests of the en- 

 tire Mississippi Valley, and having deeply in 

 mind and at heart the prosperity and welfare, 

 not only of the People of the Mississippi 

 Valley, but of the whole Nation, and realiz- 

 ing that the moral and spiritual stamina and 

 growth of the Nation as a whole depends 

 upon the material welfare and prosperity of 

 the individual citizen, do hereby 



Resolve and Declare: To promote the 

 general welfare is recognized by the Consti- 

 tution of the United States as one of the 

 fundamental principles of government. 



The general welfare of the People of the 

 United States can best be promoted by estab- 

 lishing the commerce of the country on a 

 sound basis, and by so enlarging it that agri- 

 cultural and mineral resources may be devel- 

 oped to the end that production and manu- 

 facturing may be encouraged and that all 

 other lines of independent business may be 

 increased. 



Easy and adequate transportation, effect- 

 ive between producer and consumer, and 

 for carrying the abundant produce of the 

 country to the seaboard for shipment abroad, 

 is the first essential for the development of 

 the commerce of the United States; and the 

 responsibility for this development rests on 

 the general government. 



It has been demonstrated during the past 

 ten years that when business conditions in 

 the United States are normal, the transporta- 

 tion facilities afforded by the railways are 

 utterly inadequate; and it is stated by the 

 great traffic managers of the railways that 

 the development of railway facilities cannot 

 keep pace with the increased demands upon 

 them. The leading railway authorities, in- 

 cluding prominent officials of all the great 

 lines which parallel the Mississippi, declare 

 that water transportation must be developed 

 to supplant the railways in order that the 

 freight of the country may be handled prop- 

 erly and promptly. 



Under the Constitution the regulation of 

 commerce between the States devolves on the 

 general government, and under those deci- 



sions of Chief Justice Marshall, which are 

 universally accepted as our best interpreta- 

 tion of constitutional powers, the control of 

 waterways and the regulation <>f navigation 

 also rest with the general government, and 

 neither States nor private capital can be per- 

 mitted under the Constitution t" a^umc these 

 duties. 



The duty, therefore, devolves on the gen- 

 eral government to give to the country ade- 

 quate transportation facilities by developing 

 the navigable waterways of the country int'> 

 complete freight-carrying usefulness. Tin's 

 duty should be recognized by the Congress 

 at once, and the waterways should be made 

 efficient freight-carriers, otherwise the United 

 States cannot maintain commercial equality 

 with those other nations of the world nw 

 equipping their waterways as freight-carriers 

 and considering their railways and waterways 

 as complementary agencies; and in no other 

 way can this country derive benefits equaling 

 those of other countries from the building of 

 the Panama Canal. 



The all-important question of transporta- 

 tion is a paramount issue. If it be found 

 that the current revenues of the government 

 are insufficient for carrying out vigorously 

 and on a broad plan the development of our 

 waterways, the Corrgress should secure funds 

 for that purpose by providing a sufficient 

 bond issue. 



The interior valley comprises approxi- 

 mately half the area of the United States. 

 It is 2,500 miles in length and 2,000 miles in 

 width. Within its boundaries lie the greatest 

 producing states of the Union. The arms of 

 this great river system form the boundary 

 lines of twenty-one states, and over 20,000 

 miles of possible navigation. This vast val- 

 ley produces three-fourths of our foreign ex- 

 ports. Within this valley live half the peo- 

 ple of the entire United States; and the voice 

 of its citizens must be heard. The foreign 

 commerce of this important portion of the 

 United States should go direct in American 

 bottoms to foreign ports. Harness the rivers 

 of this fruitful valley, and we shall have a 

 cheap and effective means of transportation ; 

 and a mightier impetus will be given to the 

 ship building industry than could be given by 

 any subsidy other than the moderate expcdi- 

 turc required for the permanent betterment 

 of channels. 



This convention does, therefore, declare the 

 opening of a deep channehvay connecting the 

 Great Lakes on the north with the Gulf of 

 Mexico on the south to be an imperative duty 

 of the general government ; and that this 

 work should be immediately begun and com- 

 pleted as speedily as possible. 



Any plan for the inland waterway develop- 

 ment so imperatively necessary to the ma- 

 terial welfare of the valley should comprise 

 a main trunk line in the form of a strait 

 connecting Lake Michigan with the Gulf of 

 Mexico by way of the Illinois and Mississippi 

 rivers. The development of this trunk line 



