The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-01-15

l A. A. WilSyt nekEOpOtlIdu dOtel, WaSn- ington, D. C.: See Bankhead and Taylor and insist that if necessary to secure decent ap- propriation for Alabama, they must | give concessions on their projects in order to relieve Alabama River situa- | tion. We are looking to you three to see to it that Alabama River receives better treatment than the recommenda- | tion of s25.000 for simple maintenance. You all know situation and amount
 suggested Is absurd. This will not do | and we expect you to see to 1t that fair treatment Is accorded us.
 tfs W. F. Vandiver. Chairman. Telegram.
 l. Washington, Jan. 10. W. F. vandiver, Montgomery, Ala: Bankhead showed me telegram and | reply. Have seen Engineer Board, re- port. It Is your chief obstacle. Bur
 ton always opposed project.
 ;, George w Taylor. Montgomery, Jan. 10. 1905 Colonel A. A. Wiley. Washington, D. e.: Dear Coionel--Your telegram duly at | hand and carefully noted.
 I rep1ie dte same. by wire, and for your information, I herewith enclose a copy of my letter addressed to Chair man Burton, under date of the 5th in | reply to one from him of the 2d. I I enclose also a copy of Chairman Bur tons reply to my letter dated January ! 7th. and also copy of letter am writ ing him today, all of which explain l themselves.
 | do not know of any further argu- ment that can make. or information that I can give, that is not contained either in the memorial. my address to the committee while in Washington and my letters to MT. Burton of the 5th and l today. ] want to say however, if, in | the judgment of Colonel Bankhead, MT. G. W. Taylor. Mir. Sid Bowie, MT. Tom | Hefiin and yourself. that can do any | good by coming on to Washington, all you have to do Is to- notify me. and | will come at the very earliest mo- 1 ment possible, Our people are depend | ing on you five gentlemen doing every | thing In your power to secure a suita-
 bie appropriation for the Alabama ] River. looking towards permanent l Improvement The small appropria- | tions that have been made in the past | twenty-five years for the Alabama l River have put 1t in It's present condi- i tion. and 1t is an outrageous shame that | this policy should be longer pursued. As stated in my telegram of this date, ' our people are in real distress, and each one of you are fully advised of | this situation, and we are expecting you to do what you can for us along | this line. Yours truly,
 (Signed. W. F. Vandiver, Chairman. (Letters and telegrams similar to l above were sent Congressmen Taylor, Bowie and Hef1in.)
 Colonel J. H. Bankhead. M. C., wash ington, D. O.:
 Dear Colonel-Your letter of the Sth duly at hand and carefully noted. I wrote you yesterday sending you
 copy of correspondence between Chair
 man Burton and myself know of
 nothing else to, add to what has
 already been said, except to state to you that Montgomery and the river 1 territory is looking to you more than
 anybody else. and more than all the | results in regard to an ap-
 propriation for the Alabama River,
 and feel that we are justified in
 looking to you more than to others on
 account of the fact that you are on the
 Rivers and Harbors Committee. on the
 inside. and in a position to do more efectual work than the others could
 possibly do. at the same time. we are looking to MT. Taylor, Mir. Wiley, MT.
 Bowie and MT. Hefin to assist you in every manner possible.
 l note what you say about the mat
 ter coming up in the Senate. assure
 you, that if the Rivers and Harbors Committee is not dsposed to treat us 6airly. and do something substantial
 foE the Alabama River in the way Of an
 appropriation for improving same, we
 shall use every effort in our power to
 have the Senate give us some relief. We do not intend to give this matter
 up with any unfavorable report on the part of engineers.
 note in this mornings Advertiser
 from Mir. Watkins. that Lieutenant Colonel Adams expresses the opinion that the work will cost $1,000,O00. I
 do not know where aIr. Adams gets
 his information. It is certainly not
 contained in the estimate of Captain
 Cavanaugh, who alone has given the
 matter personal investigation.
 also note in MT. Watklns's article,
 that 1t Is claimed that locks and dams
 will have to be built in the Alabama
 River. in order to secure a navigable
 depth the year round.
 After experience and close observa-
 tion on the Alabama River for more
 than twenty years, I cannot possibly
 imagine where a lock or dam in the
 Alabama River would be necessary, In
 order to secure transportation on same
 the year round.
 suppose every intelligent man in
 considering the proposition of securing
 a six foot depth means not extreme low water, but with the river in ordinarily normal condition. There might be,
 after having put the river in a condi-
 ton for practically six feet of naviga-
 ton the year round, there might be
 short periods in each year, when we
 might not have exceeding four feet
 Even with this depth, our steamers
 could then come to Montgomery and
 do very considerable amount of busi-
 ness even on four feet Of course, I
 6o not claim to be an engineer. but
 the Alabama River and l protest most
 earnestly against any such proposition
 as to its being necessary to put in
 locks and dams on this stream to
 secure navigation necessary to carry
 on the commerce which is offered.
 But, 1t Is useless for me to argue this
 question with you further. You are
 fully posted about the situation and any further information that you, the com
 mittee or any one else may desire, do
 not hesitate one moment to advise me, and you shall have 1t. We want re- suits, and must have a decent appro-
 priation in the present rivers and har- bors bill.
 I wish you would do me the kindness to send me copy of the report made by the chief of engineers, or by Lieutenant Colonel Adams, in fact, would be glad to have you send me copy of all the