Semi-weekly herald., 1907-10-03

policy which shall secure the utmo
advantage from the navigable water
Finally, on the lower courses of II
mississippi, the nation should do Il
! iull share in the work of levee bull
ing; and, incidentally to its purpos
Oh serving navigation, this will ais
prevent the ruin of alluvial bottom
by Hoods. Our knowledge is not su
helently far advanced to enable m
to speak definitely as to the plan
which should be adopted; but let m
say one word of warning: The DANCE
OF entering ON any such scheme lie
IN the adoption of impossible and nm
deslrAhl" "'ans, plans the adoption O
"micn means an outlay of money ex
travagant beyond all proportion to tht
70 IN, or which. though feasible. are
not, relatively to other plans, of an
| Importance which warrant their adop
tion. 1t will not lie easy to secure
the assent of a fundam italy cautious
people like our own to t. adoption OF
sucn a policy as that | pc to see
| adopted; and even If we BEGIN to fol.
low out such policy it certainly will
not be persevered in If it is found to
entail reckless extravaganza or to be
tainted with jobbery. The interests
t.f ha h,I IA.
always the first consideration
This is properly national move.
nent, because all interstate and for.
9ign commerce, and the improvements
1nd methods of carrying it on. are
subjects for national action. More
'ver, while of course the matter of the
Improvement of the Mississippi river
md its tributaries is one which espe-
tally concerns the great middle por-
ion of our country. the region be-
lonal work, undertaken for and re-
'et it is of concern to the rest of
he country also. for it can not too
iten he said that whatever is really
eneficial to one part of our country is
ltimately of benefit TO the whole. Ex-
ictly as it is a good thing for the in
erior of our country that the sea
lorts on the Atlantic and the Pa
itic and the Gulf should be safe and
'ommodious, so it is to the interest OF
lie dwellers on the coast that the in
erior should possess ample facilities
or the transportation of its products.
Dur interests are all closely inter
roven, and in the long run 1t will be
sound that we go up or go down to-
ether.
Take, for Instance, the Panama ca
ial. If the Mississippi is restored to
IS former place of importance as a
lghway of commerce, then the build
pg OF the Panama Canal will be felt
- an immediate advantage to the
rusiness of every city and country
district in the Mississippi valley.
hink that the building OF that canal
sill be of especial advantage to the
lates that lie along the Pacific and
he states that lie along the Gulf;
nd vet. after all. | feel that the ad-
rantage will he shared in an only
ess degree by the states of the in
erior and of the Atlantic coast In
jther words. it is thoroughly ma
ween the Alleghenies and the Rockies
lounding to the advantage of all of
is-to the advantage of the nation as
/ whole. Therefore | am glad to be
lre doing with the canal There is
lound 10 be certain amount of ex-
pertinent. certain amount of feeling
1ur way in a task so gigantic-a task
greater than any of its kind that has
aver hitherto been undertaken in the
whole history of mankind; but the sue
| cess so far has been astonishing. and
we have not met with a single one
u the accidents or drawbacks which
{ freely confess | expected we should
| rom time TO time encounter. We, in
the first place, laid the foundation for
the work by securing the most ia
gorable possible conditions as regard
the health, comfort. and safety of the
men who were to do it; and now the
canal zone is In point OF health bettel
off than the average district of tnt
same size at home. Then we wen
at the problem of the actual digging
and dam building. For over yea
we have been engaged in making thu
dirt fly In good earnest, and the out
put of the giant steam shovels ha.
steadily increased. II is now tn
rainy season. when work is most dii
icult on the isthmus, yet in the mont
Of August last we excavated over
million and two hundred thousand CT
bic yards of earth and rock, a create
amount than in any previous mOnti
II we are able to keep up substantial
ly the rate of progress that now oil
tains we shall finish the actual dil
ging within five or six years; thoug
, when we come to the great Gatun daI