Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-10-12
SAY THERE is PLOT.
River Men Assert Railroads Have
Conspired to Strange
Water Trade.
TO INFLUENCE LEGISLATION
Lumbermen Who Have Upheld
River improvement Soon
Out of Field.

If a deep laid scheme of transpOrta-
ton interests inimical to river traffic
goes through as planned, the next
congress will legislate the upper Mis-
sissippi out of existence by voting to
discontinue the appropriation of mon
ely for the maintenance of navigation.
In 20 years the government has
spent $25, 100000 in improvements on
the upper river, and practical river
men estimate that in three years all
this would be destroyed; the channel
would therefore deteriorate and soon
navigation for anything but smaller
craft would be entirely closed.
Information of this plan, which
would, if eliminated, be n sad blow
to the commercial interests of the
northwest, comes from steamboat
captains of the river. Where the in
formation originated they refuse alb
solutely to divulgc. The facts as dis
closed by one man of high standing
and corroborated by several others in
the steamboat business and by one
influential lumberman, according to
the La Crosse Morning Chronicle, are
as follows:
Force Boycott by Shippers.
The railroads have been antagonis-
tic to the river because in active com
petition on parallel lines it underbids
them in transportation. They have
had to combat this 'leveling' on
freight rates and the big shippers in
every port can tell, if they will, and
many of them openly say that the
railroads have regularly forced them
to sign yearly contracts to handle all
of their business.
The reasons which moved the rail
roads to activity at this time is APP
parent. The strongest factor in OPP
position to the anti-river campaign in
congress has been the lumber inter
ests. While they had logs to tow
they spared neither pains nor ex-
pense in battling with the railroad
interests and eXacting from congress
Il fair support for the waterway.
But the logs are gone. BY the eN-
piration of five years necessary for
natural causes to destroy navigation
the few remaining logs can be RATED
to the mills. The lumber interests.
therefore, have lost interest, and, rid
of their powerful opponent, the rail
roads propose to accomplish their
purpose before public sentiment can
crystalize into actual opposition to
their plans. One further fact is such
common knowledge among riyermen
as to create conviction as to its truth.
is that the railroads have acquired
steamboat interests on the Mississippi
with the direct purpose in view of
forcing steamboat business to stag
nate.
No Influence to Build Trade.
1T is pointed out that there is no
packet line i'll operation which is push
ing to build up river trade, but the
vessels now in commission are sutfi-
cient to handle the straugled traffic.
The entire matter is resting now for
the reason that the facts are not gen
orally known, but the few CONNER
cial men in the upper river towns
who do know them predict storm
of protest when the expected hap
pens at the next congress.
1T is regarded as significant that
the proposed inspection of the upper
Mississippi this month by the CON
gressional committee on rivers and
harbors has been abandoned. the
cause given being the necessity of the
devotion of all time possible to pre-
pairing for the extra session of con
gress, which will convene Nov. g.