The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-09-14

height of the f,o GRAY ana receiving
most Of the immense deposits of sedi-
,nenl Whlch in spast centuries has
aatseu the bed Of the river and the
Tte. country more than 300 feet.
- noIsn II Is trpe. that there are scours
a. Inc gorgess The general bed Of the
ai,.e has peen. irising steadily ever
since the levees began to be built.
should Be Taken Out of Politics.
What is to- he done? The whole
matter should be entrusted to the most
competent civilian engineers and
openeo TO competition. 1t should GER
talnly De taken out of politics, even If
the goVernmentCpays the bills. When
a state or the nation undertakes a.
pupIc work 1t generally costs more
TOT poorer work than when under
taken by private concern
General Haupt planned and started
the Hoos1c tunnel, which he would
nave completed for the sum of two
mliilons and in about one-fourth of
the time; the state of Massachusetts
took the work out of the hands of the
company, expended seventeen millions
ana kept the business interests of the
state waiting many years for its COM
pletion.
Gen. Haupt is himself a graduate Of
west point, in the class with Gen.
Meade; his son, Prof. Lewis M. .Haupt,
the canal commissioner and harbor and
river expert, is also graduate of West
Point as an engineer the general
therefore disclaims emphatically any
antagonlsm to the personnel of the
army engineers. His opposition is only
to the system, of which Senator Frye
has declared that no board of en-
gineers could be found who would dis
sent from the decisions of the previous
board, and no subordinate of the corps
would express an opinion in opposition
to one previously expressed by.
superior officer. The twin jetty plan
OF harbor Improvement, usually adopt
ed by the corps, he says, was entirely
wrong in theory and failure in prac-
ice, yet 1t was persiStently continued.
The Financial Age, of New York, was
quoted, showing that 332,000,O0O had
been expended since the civil work had
been placed in the hands of the army
engineers without beneficial results.
The FADE jetties are no exception, as
they were planned and built by civil
engineer.
THE trouble arises" says the gen
eral, from the. military subordination
and esprit de corps which prevents the
exercise of Independent Judgment and
removes all inducement for research
and improvement, There are many
men Of superior, ability among the
army engineers, but. ability and skill do
not count here, and will secure neither
promotion nor, increased pay. life
position with a. pension upon retire
ment on age is not condition favor
able to efforts to attain the best re-
suits.
1.-The course. of instruction at West
Point is designed for military works
only, but not for civil; yet members of
congress assume that army engineers
are experts in all branches and will
give no consideration to any plans or
estimates. prepared by the most able
civil engineers. Against this the Amer
lean people should protest"
e.a- The Isthmian Canal.
OF the isthmian canal, Gen. Haupt
said: -t'
With the lower Mississippi thus
Strengthened and its navigation i'm
proved, 1T would be a great advantage
. to- the commerce and development of
the whole. Mississippi valley to have an
fsthmian canal. but this canal Should
;be built as close to the territory of the
United States as possible The asser-
ton was made that If the Panama
canal was presented to the United
States with a'clear title and $10O, 0OO, 900
" UoOI, dS a DOpuS Tor accepting 1t, 1t
would be. a great misfortune to the
country to accept it. The Panama
route has not a single feature of com
mercial valiie to recommend it, not
even the fact that many years of labor
and millions of dollars have already.
$ been expended upon it. Its course is
to!sthe southeast and away from the.
west coast of the United States rather
than towards it. The course is over
400 miles longer by sea between At
lantic and Pacific ports in the United
States. If we build the canal we do
not wish to build it purely for the ben
eft of other nations.
AT the present rate, even with the
most improved methods now known to
science. it viii take forty three years
to finish the Panama canal There is
no suitable foundation for the dam at
Bohia; poor sanitary conditions; no
good harbors; frequent periods of con-
tinued calm injurious to sailing YES
sells; none of which disadvantages and
difficulties are to be found along the
Nicaragua route. The influential cit
liens of the mississippi valley should
appeal at once to the authorities
through their senator's and representa-
tives, to proceed without delay to the
building of the Nicaragua canal"