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Waterways and the Farmer 



: Here Are Some Things You Should Know About Water 



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r By G. S. Wilkin. 



Inland Waterways Corporation 



IT IS surprising how little is known 

 by the public generally about the ex- 

 tensive system of inland waterway 

 transportation which has been main- 

 tained by the Government for the past 16 

 years; especially by those who are re- 

 ceiving the greatest benefit from this 

 service, namely, the residents of the 

 Mississippi Valley and the Great Middle 

 West. And yet, as President Roosevelt 

 has said, the people are more keenly in- 

 terested in the affairs of govermiient to- 

 day than ever before. They are es- 

 pecially attentive to any information con- 

 cerning the new agencies that have been 

 set up by the Government, under the 

 New Deal, for the relief of unemploy- 

 ment and domestic distress. - 



The great humanitarian program of 

 harnessing our streams for flood control, 

 soil and water conservation, power de- 

 velopment and navigation is by no means 

 the least interesting of these campaigns. 

 Its far-flung effect on the economic and 

 social life of the nation appeals to the 

 iniagination. - ^ ^ 



Ther Tennessee Valley Authority with 

 its announced policy of raising the stand- 

 ards of living of a vast segment of our 

 population; the curbing of the Columbia 

 River, in the far northwest, for irriga- 

 tion and navigation; and the improve- 

 ment of the Missouri, Ohio and Illinois 

 Rivers ahd other tributaries of the 

 mighty Father of Waters, with the con- 



sequent creation of thousands of inland 

 lakes and parks — all these are only a 

 few of the projects that strike a re- 

 sponsive chord in the soul of a people 

 who are stunned by, and groping fbr a 

 way out of the darkness of the present 

 world-wide depression. '■■■•'■"' ^'^■'^■■'^■ 



While this program of river and har-: 

 bor improvement is being executed more 

 vigorously than ever before, the Presi- 

 dent now proposes to place it all under a 

 scheme of national control and co-ordi- 

 nation in lieu of the hit and miss method 

 of the past. This work has been carried 

 on by the Government under the War 

 Department for the past 13 years. The 

 Army Engineers have achieved note- 

 worthy results and an enviable reputa- 

 tion for efficiency and integrity during 

 this period. Foreign nations have sent 

 representatives to study their amazing 



achievements on the Missouri and other 

 rivers. ■'' ''"' '^■■•■•- •■--■•'-:•■■ v-- ■.:^' 



But, the phase of this work about 

 which the public seems to know the least 

 is that of actual navigation on these 

 streams. For most people it*h6s a strong 

 appeal to the imagination. The romance 

 of early steamboat days will live for- 

 ever in "Steamboat Bill/^ **Show Boat" 

 and Mark Twain's works, but they were 

 no more than a glamorous memory by the 



year 1900. ''.v^ '':'-^)--'r.--:-:'v^y\-'::~'l\'^-:v 



The unorganized river packets could 

 not continue the hopeless struggle 



-.■.;*»:*'.-.; 



MILL HOUSE, FARMERS NATIONAL GRAIN 

 Corporation elevator at Peoria in ceurse of con- 

 struction. Hiram Walker distillery in background, 

 July, 1934. 



against the concentrated attack of pow- 

 erful railroad interests, and they were 

 finally driven off the rivers completely. 

 With their competition eliminated rail- 

 road rates soon mounted to prohibitive 

 levels. The opening of the Panama 

 Canal in 1914 inaugurated low ratei^ 

 which put the land-locked interior out of 

 competition with seaboard territory. 

 Population and industry in the middle 

 west immediately began to decrease. ' ' 



■ "i y^'jt * .'•;.'.■•••.,.:■"■•■ ■•?»■'.• .•'". . . ■ •■•' •■,••■ .• > 



For this reason, agitation was started 

 for the rehabilitation of river transporta- 

 tion, as the only means of restoring 

 economic parity; but it was not until 

 1918 that barge service was resumed ori 

 the Mississippi and Warrior Rivers, and 

 then only by the United States Govern- 

 ment as a war measure to relieve rail- 

 way congestion. :^-~7 



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LOADING GRAIN FROM FARMERS NATIONAL ELEVATOR AT HAVANA, ILLINOIS. SHIP 

 Tom Sav^yer and barges in foregrround. Brook and Farmers Co-op. Elevators in background to right. 



It was barely re-established when |he 

 war ended, but operations were continued 

 under the Railroad Administration until 

 it went out of existence in 1920. At this 

 time the Service was transferred to the 

 War Department and re-organized under 

 the title of The Inland and Coastwise 

 Waterways Service. 



: In 1924 it was incorporated under the 

 name of **Inland Waterways Corpora- 

 tion" and $5,000,000 was appropriated by 

 Congress for additional capital. In 1928 

 new legislation authorized an appropria- 

 tion of $10,000,000 more; but, out of the 

 total of $15,000,000 only $12,000,000 has 

 been withdrawn from the treasury to 

 date. 



The Corporation has not only operated 

 on the modest sum since its creation, but 

 up to December 31, 1933, had earned a 

 net income of approximately one million 

 dollars after setting aside more than 

 four and one-half million dollars for de- 

 preciation. So far as known, this is the 

 first instance of the Government making 

 a profit from a business undertaking. 

 This record shines in comparison with 



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OCTOBER, 1934 



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