The age-herald., 1899-09-03

writing series of interesting articles on
 this district. Among the number Is the following on the feasibility of the Warrior
 canal: l Among the interesting possibilities of this district regard nothing quite so important ] as the canal from here to the Warrior 1 river, so to give an all-water route 10 l Mobile or beyond. I am sorry to say that
 it is not much considered, and largely dis ] credited, and, by some, derided as utterly | visionary and impracticable. Nevertheless l 1t is as certain to come as time Is to last | No scheme so vastly beneicient in its con- 1 summation, so authoritatively avouched as
 to feasibility can fail in the end, nor can
 1t be long postponed. What most aston 1 ishes is that Birmingham is so supine
 about 1t, when 1t is considered how won- | derfully its completion would initiate to | her material interests. Yet there Is an ex- l planation and quasi-extenuation of this
 remissness in the fact that the business
 men of Birmingham are an extremely busy 1 set of men. Enterprise works here at a | lever heat. The engrossment in business | cares taxes both brain and body, and as a l rule men who shape public thought are | generally too absorbed in their pressing l engagements to address themselves to mat i ters outside the scope of their business I could make up a roll of prominent men
 who have not investigated the canal ques-
 tion that might astonish one, were yet this | point of intense business strain upon them | duly weighed. They are not hostile to 1t. 1 On the contrary, if feasible, they are in | favor of it. But they have just been too l busy to investigate it, and they will not | lend their Endorsement to anything without | thorough consideration, on the splendid l principle of never commenting anything | not duly considered. For a while I found ] myself 1 study of the subject by what seemed the 1 almost utter indifference of the general
 public to something that seemed of su- | preme importance 10 it. Still I made up nr | mind to ask almost every of impor- | tance 1 met the question, What do you | think of the canal?' Some even never | thought l referred to the canal here, but to | the Nicaragua one. However, I found out | that there were three classes: one who deride the scheme as preposterous another ! who have not Investigated it but say that 1T 1t be practicable it will be a great thing: | another who warmly approve of it. and cordially indorse it. some of the last class ! like eX-Mayor J. A. Van Hoose and Hon. Oscar Underwood congressman from this ! district, who are enthusiastic in it's SUD- port; others, who were until lately neutral
 and non-committal, but who have had a | chance to investigate, are now convinced
 of its practicability and vast importance. | Ihls last category of men will be all the
 time growing in number and importance. l because the matter will all the while be
 commanding Investigation and their in- | huence will be powerful with former resi- 1 dents, from the very fact that they were
 once neutrals opponents. I seriously
 considered making roster of this last
 class. because of the weight of their in-
 fuence and because I thought 1t would nropitiate skeptes and thick and thin op- | ponents. but the moral effect of their pres-
 ent positions is of incaloulable value as q | factor in creating and deepening popular
 opinion in favor of the canal To me this
 seems the brightest presage of the assur-
 ance of the canal Here is q class of men who are not amenable 10 the imnuta tions
 of precipitation or sanguineness who have | been cautious and conservative. who have ) yielded to conviction. and have been con-
 strained to commendation by Investigation | and one who investigates can remain
 unconvinced. The basis of conviction rests 1 upon testimony that is irrefragible It is | free from all tant of suspicion of iobbery l of super-sanguineness, of perfunctory | methods. It rests on grounds to the last ! degree authoritative, the conventional l method of the government. in a survey by i its engineers. It even condescends to give | it's grounds of appreciation. Its tone of dis
 sidence to some features makes it all the | more persuasive, and it enters into eco- l homie computations that demonstrate it's l importance over and beyond the feasibility
 of the enterprise.
 This convincing glance at the vast com | mercial value of the canal ought to disarm | all opposition. The feasibility of the thing
 is a comparative tri1e. The raison d'etre
 of the canal is its power as a commercial
 factor. and 1t would be difficult for imagfn-
 ation to transcend its potentialities in the
 future of this district As a whole. there
 are three opinions on this canal: l. That
 the canalization of Valley river and the | excavation of canal past Birmingham Is 1 feasible but the water supply for this val ! ley is insufficient and the saving on trans
 portation of probable commerce will not
 warrant of S3,000,000 or $4 0G0 900 for that
 division. 2. The water supply for the river | division is ample, that the expenditure of ! $3.150, 000 for canalzing Valley river Is fully ! warranted by the assured and prospective
 shipments from the district. The better 1 ment of these transportation facilities will be far-reaching to tho economics of the i United States. 3. The opinion of Peter c. | Haines. colonel. corps of engineers, division
 engineer. southeast division. He dissents | from the above thus "The report of the
 district engineer shows that the water
 supply for the Valley division from Me- | Adory creek to Five Mile creek, is not suf-
 ficient to feed the canal consequently the
 constructions of that part of the waterway is not advisable.
 ] In respect to the river division viz the
 part from the Warrior river to McAdory | creek, the district engineer regards that 1 both feasible and advisable. I do not | concur in this opinion. Assuming that the | estimate, S4,500.000. is ample, which I think | doubtful. because of the unsatisfactory | manner in which appropriations are made, | there still remains the fact that the i'm. | proyement ends at the Warrior river, which ! is not deep enough to carry the freight to | tide water. If the Warrior river were inl- proved so as to give a six foot navigable i depth from the mouth of Valley creek 10 | the Tombigbee, and the latter so improved { as to carry that depth to the gulf, the im- 1 prcvement of Valley creek would perhaps 1 be A desirable work, forming one link in l the chain from the coal fields to the gulf. l Major William T. Rossell, who was 1 charged with the duty of making the sur vey. is silent as to this last objection; and | inieed it falls to the ground by al, ap- l propriation since made ample, as am in- 1 formed to deepen the river below the 1 canal
 Brigadier John M. Wilson. chief of en- | gineers of U. S. A. notes Colonel Haires l nhiectinn--lack of six foot water below the