Evening star., 1902-01-15
LARGE AMOUNT WANTED
IMPROVEMENT OF RIVERS AND
HARBORS.
Delegations Appear before the Com
mittees Having Charge of
the Subject.

| The Senate committee on commerce yester-
| day heard representatives from the national
| rivers and harbors congress, which met in
convention in Baltimore last autumn. Mr..
| Geo. E. Bartol of Philadelphia, who is the
permanent chairman of the congress, made
the first statement He said that the con-
| gress had represented all the business in
! terests concerned about lower freight rates
and that it had contained representatives of
twenty-five states. The congress, ne said
| had grown out of the fact that no river and
| harbor bill had been passed by the last
| Congress.
Demand for Improvement.
| Ex-Governor John W. Gambler of Massa-
chusetts, chairman of the committee ap-
| pointed to present the resolution of the
| congress, said that never before had the
| sentiment for the Improvement of the rivers
and harbors been SO strong as 1t Is today.
He said that sxty-five different commercial
organizations had been represented in the
Baltimore conference, and they were united
| in the desire for the adequate Improvement
| of the country's water ways. The increas-
| ing Importance of the river traffic was
| making constant demands for vessels of
| deeper draft, and he called attention to the
| fact that the annual business of the Mis-
sissippi river amounts to 100000 tons,
| while 25,GOO,0OO tons annually find their
way through Sault Ste Mary's canal.
Mr.. D. G. Purse of Savannah, Ga. spoke
| of the effect of the Improvement Of the Sa-
| yannah river as an illustration Of the
| benefit to be derived from river improve
| ment. He said that since 1888 the depth
of the river had been increased from four
! teen feet to twenty-siX feet and the aggre-
gate tonnage from 100000 to 10000
pounds. There had been corresponding
increase in the draft and number of vessels
Yet Withstanding this increase in depth
there still nd mn the
failure of the last river and harbor bill had
| been felt very severely. He argued that
the Improvement of rivers and harbors had
an appreciable effect on freight rates.
Large Return for the Expenditure.
Mr.. William II. Lincoln, president of the
chamber of commerce of Boston, expressed
the opinion that expenditure of the
money of the people would bring so large
a return as that upon the rivers and har-
bors He based this opinion upon the bene
fit to the export trade, which trade was
doing more than anything else to bring
prosperity to the United States.
This Improvement in transportation facili-
ties had made it possible to compete with
all other countries and meeting the de-
mands of the world for it's food supplies.
He contended for deeper channels for the
Accommodate of the sea-going vessels,
and said that $75,00O0OO would not be an
unrea sOnable aggregate for a river and
harbor bill.
Mr.. Robert Ramsay of Baltimore said
that most of the vessels engaged in the
foreign trade draw thirty feet of water
and that some of them are of greater
depth. He said that within twenty years
the freight charge on grain had been re-
duced from 1S cents to 11a cents per bushel,
which due to the increased carrying
capacity of ocean-going vessels.
A delegation from the same congress ap
peared before the House committee on riv-
ers and harbors. Secretary VIM. H. Love
summarized the work of the navigation
congress, and the desires which it wished
TO bring to the attention of the federal
Congress. He presented similar arguments
to those made before the Senate commit
tee.
Meeting Monday Night.
The delegations held preliminary meet
ing Monday night in the rooms of the Wash
ington Board of Trade in The Star build
irg. Ex-Governor Gambler was chosen
spokesman. 1t was decided that set Of
resolutions which the congress adopted as
it's cardinal principles should be read to the
sommttees of Congress by Col. William H.
Love of Baltimore, secretary of the con-
gress.
The members of the executive committee.
with the groups of states they represent,
follow: Mr.. W. H. Lincoln of Boston, Mass
Maine, New Hampshire. Vermont, Massa-
chusetts and Connecticut; Mr.. Robert Ram
sey of Baltimore Nd. New York, New Jer-
sey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland; !;
Mr.. E. J. Hale of Fayetteville, N. c., Vir-
glnia, North Carolina, South Carolina and
Georgia; Mr.. W. P. Ross Of New Orleans.
La, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louis
lana and Texas. Mr.. James r. Garfield Of
Cleveland. Ohio, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana,
Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin; Mr.. Thos
H Cavanaugh of Olympia, Wash, Colo
rado, Washington and Oregon; Mr.. J. A.
Ackerson of st. Louis, Mo-, West Virginia,
Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas Missouri,
Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska. The chair
| man ex-officio Of the committee is Mr. Geo.
E. Bartol of Philadelphia, Pa, the president
of the congress and of the Philadelphia
bourse. Colonel w. H. Love, secretary OF
the Baltimore board of trade, is the Sec
retary.
The congressional committee is composed
of one representative from each state rep
resented in the congress. 1t follows:
Chairman, John w. Gambler of Massa-
chusetts; Leslie E. Brooks. Alabama; Pa
trick Henry, Arkansas; D. G. Amber, Flor
ida; D. G. Purse, Georgia; j. J. Kaspar IN
diana; Lyman E. Cooley, Illinois; w. w.
Hite. Kentucky; w. P. Ross, Louisiana; E.
Stanley Gary, Michigan; ]. A. Ockerson,
Missouri; A. G. Delmas, Mississippi; George
w. Tompkins. New Jersey; Theo. S. Fas-
sett. New York; E. J. Hale, North Carolina;
Col. John L. Vance, Ohio: L. Y. Schermer-
horn Pennsylvania; j. NJ. Coleman, Texas;
w. H. Curtis, Virginia; Randolph Stalna-
ker. West Virginia; Thomas H. Cavanaugh,
Washington.