Arizona republican., 1906-11-24
10 MAKE AMFRICA'S
 WATERWAYS SUPREME
fly Million Dollars a Year 10 be Ask cd of the Government by the National
 Rivers and Harbors Congress.


 when it resumes its session next month, should vote its approval Of the move ment which. supported by President Roosevelt and many influential con gressmen, looks for an annual appro- priation of $50.000,OOO for waterway improvements
 The United States has within it's boundaries. exclusive of seaboard. moro than 4S.000 miles of waters which with proper attention would be navigable On these she has spent up to dats $40 000. 900. On the other hand. the tiny kingdom of Holland, with only 2O00 miles of navigable waterways. has already spent on them more than$1,- 800 900 900. France. with 4.000 miles, has spent 20.00O,O0O. while Belgium, with less than 1900 miles. has since 1875 spent in excess of SS0,000,000 These large expenditures abroad have made rates there very low. whereby shippers in general have benefited
 The average appropriation in this country for each of the last ten years for all the rivers and harbors has been about SIs,000, 0OB. Germany, it is point out, has spent about four times this sum on the harbor of Hamburg alone On the habor at Liverpool. England. s2OO OOO 900 has been spent. In fact. many a harbor in foreign lands has been improved and made more useful to both producer and shipper at cast exceeding the whole annual appropria- tion of the United Sates.
 The average cost of shipping one ton of goods one mile by rail in the United States Is 7.79 cents. on the other hand. the average ton mile cost in the Great Lakes Is only s2 of a cent; on the lower Mississippi one mill; on the Ohio River to Cincinnati one-third of a mill, and on the Erie Canal. as estimated for it's l2-foot depth when completed, about half mill.
 President Roosevelt, speaking at the convention of the National Rivers and Harbors Congress at Washington last year. said that "The development of our commerce depends in a large part on the intelligent treatment of the rivers and harbors of the United States"
 Encouraged by this speech. the ad- vocates of cheaper transportation pur- pose to ask for no less than S50.000. GOO a year for the improvement of rivers and harbors. The National Rivers and in Washington on the sixth and sev- lbors Congress, the organization which has been working for this end for more than two years. is to convene in Washington on the sixth and sev- enth of December. when the needs of the codntry's waterways will be urged before congress and again before the president This organization is really a Congress within Congress since 1t numbers among its active supporters. in addition to commercial bodies in all parts of the country. many of the most prominent senators and representa- tives,
 As an illustration of what would be done if the appropriation is granted the case of the improvement of Boston Harbor Is cited. which. through the better facilities for loading and hand ling grain, has produced a saving of severel million dollars every year for the farmers in the West. Last year the shippers depended largely upon President Roosevelts support of the rate bill. but in this years phase of the transportation question they have the practically unanimous backing of con- gress. In this respect the situation is the most remarkable one in years.
 The list of those senators and rep resentatives who want to see sufficient annual appropriations made to provide the country with a system of water transportation is a long one. Repre- sentative Burton. Chairman of tha House Committee on Rivers and Har- bors, where the necessary appropria- tions will originate. has made a public statement in which he strongly advo- cates such appropriations. So has Sem ator Frye. Chairman Of the Senate Committee on Rivers and Harbors. So has Senator Morgan. the Grand old Man of the South" who sees in water transportation not only a tre- mendous saving to the shipper. but the best regulator of rates-"better than q dozen rate bills" Senator Brandegee of Connecticut, Senator Perkins of California. Senator Talliaferro of Flor ida. and Senator Nelson of Minnesota these are but a few of the members of the upper house from the four ends of the country who have accepted the op- portunfty to dwell on the importance of general waterway improvements and to praise the work of the National Riv- CTS and Harbors Congress. Hundreds of representatives have fallen in line. John Wesley Gaines sees in such work awOnde-Ail development for the already fast developing South. Representative Rainey is equally enthusiastic over the chance offered to the West. Congress- man after congressman has shown his enthusiasm for the improvement Of the country's waterways.
 In the past similar attempts have failed for lack of leadership and united actioa. It has been felt in Washington for years that the people wanted cheal water transportation, but the eXplana- ton of the lack of action is that each congressman seemed to expect some one else to do it. on the ground tha. what Is everybody's business is mo- body's business. A number of public spirited men. however. seeing the coun- try's need, decided some two years ago that it was time to make the getting os the necessary appropriations their business These men originated the National Rivers and HarbOrs Congress, a non-partisah and also non-sectional body, for the purpose of uniting the ineffective sentiment in favor of wa terways improvements into such an ex- saN f1,.av