The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-03-18
PLEASED AT
 APPOINTMENT Bankhead's Selection on New Commission. HAsDoNE MUCH FOR ALABAMA Now Made Member of Body to Study
 Water Transportation. ae4iri.s congre..man, Though of Mis- ority, Has Secured More Funds
 For His state Than Any
 Other Except Michigan.
HAsDoNE MUCH FOR ALABAMA

T |.
 The Presidents action in naming Hon. John H. Bankhead member or the new waterways Commission was learned yesterday from The Advertiser with peculiar eradication and pleas ure in Montgomery---a gratiiication that win undoubtedly be felt throughout the State. Because of Colonel Bank heads prominence and influence with the Rivers and Harbors Committee of the House. Alabama has received mors for the improvement of its waterways and the Mobile harbor, than any other State of the Union except Micnisan
 The Montgomerians who have GaKen an interest in the work of improvins tha Alabama River were especially pleased by the appointment or Colonei Rankhead. Speaking of the appoint- ment of Colonel Bankhead. Cnairmap ". F. vandiver, of the Alabama River Improvement Association said yester- day: .. oioral gankhead No man in the State could be more pleased with 1t than l am It means great things. too, Tor the Ssate of Alabama. The interett have taken in the improvement or the xvatarways of the State has familiarized me with the grcat good that Coioalei Bankhead has already accomplished TOT Alabama came to realize, too. tnat although Democrat on committee of d Republican Congress, he was, nevertheless, one of the most innuentiai members of the committee
 sssrhe appointment was not exactly A surprise to me. l expected some thing of the sort when Congress cre7 afea inc Commission. and when 1t was announced that Hon. Theodore Burton of ohio, would be Chairman or the Commission. I knew how close were the personal relations of the two men
 'sWhen Mir. Burton made his last fn- Rpection trip down the Alabama River in September. he took public occasion to pay a high tribute to the splendid service of Mir. Bankhead on the Rivers and Harbors Committee of which he was the ranking member. On pre-. vious occasion. Congressman Bisnop or Michigan, declared that Colonel BnnB- head had secured more appropriatfons for the improvement of the Rivers and Harbors of Alabama, than had heehe se- cured for any other State except Mich igan which demanded a particularly large appropriation because Of Us ex- tensive lake front.
 s-rhe appointment of both Mir. Bur { ton and Colonel Bankhead iss a good thing for the entire country. Both men have assisted in the shaping or fhe generous policy of Congress to- waras the Improvement of inc water ways, and both men have a thorough knowiedge of river and harbor lm- proyemerat. Colonel Bankhead has made a speciality of this subject dur ing@his eighteen years service in the House. This has enabled him 10 con h I am glad that he can continue in ms usefulness to Alabama.
 s The Waterways Commission on which Colonel Bankhead was named Will snend it's time in a general investiga- tion of the waterways of the entire country. The commission in one sense Of the word resembles the Interstate Commerce Commission. in that if will have the subject of waterways under investigation as the Interstate Com merce Commission has railroads for It's subject of investigation. The com mission will draw up general plans for the improvements of rivers and har- bors, for submission to Congress, and it will formulate a national policy as to these important internal improve ments.
 The President and Congress estab- lished the commission, in response to repeated petitions and requests for such a commission, many of which came from industrial bodies of the Mississippi Valley.
 The principal reason for the crea- tfon of the commission. however, is the unparalleled prosperity of the coun- try. This prosperity has swamped the railroads with business. It was be- lieved that if the waterways were im- proved and that If encouragement was given to river transportation, the prob lem raised by congested railroads would be solved.
 The Presidents tender of the honor to Colonel Bankhead will be heartily approved by the people of Alabama, who named Colonel Bankhead as one of the alternate Senators in the Au- gust primary by a large vote. Colonel Bankhead retired from Congress on March 4, being succeeded by Richmond Pearson Hobson,
 The action of the President in com plimenting a member of the Democrat ic party with lucrative honor. when he has retired after a long and use full service, Is not without precedent.
 The Republican upheaval in Missou- ri retired Senator Francis Cockrell, hut President Roosevelt named him. as a member of the Interstate Commerce. Commission. Fractional politics in Ken lucky ended the long career in the Sen- ate of Senator Joe Blackburn, but the President made him a member of the Panama Canal Commission. Now on the retirement of Colonel Bankhead, the President has named him to one of the important places on the Waterways Commission.