The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1907-12-06

Overlooking OK women, as the fail-
ure to protect employees from loss of
any more than the evils Of rebates and
stock-watering can be reached, without
good laws. To. fail to stop these prac-
tees by legislation means to force
honest men into them, because other
wise the dishonest who surely will
take advantage of them will have
everything their own way. If the states
will correct these evils. well and good;
but the nation must stand ready to aid
them.
Inland Waterway Systems
Sho~ld BE Developed.
"fAe conservation of our national re-
sources and their proper use constitute
the fundamental problem which under
lies almost every other problem of our
national life. We must maintain for
our civilization the adequate material
basis without which that civilization
cannot exist We must show foresight,
we must look ahead. AS a nation we
not only enjoy a wonderful measure Of
present prosperity but If this prosper
ity is used Alright 1t is an earnest Of
future success such as no other nation
will have. The reward of foresight for
this nation is great and easily foretold.
But there must be the look ahead,
there must be a realization of the fact
that to waste. to destroy, our natural
resources, to skin and exhaust the land
instead of using 1t so as to increase its
usefulness, will result in undermining
in the days of our children the very
prosperity which we ought by right to
hand down to them amplified and devel-
oped. For the last few years. through
several agencies, the government has
been endeavoring to get our people to
look ahead and to substitute planned
and orderly development Of our re-
sources in place of haphazard striv-
ing for immediate profit. Our great
river systems should be developed as
national water highways; the Missis-
sippi, with its tributaries, standing first
in Importance, and the Columbia Sec
ond, although there are many others of
Importance on the Pacific and Atlantic
and the gulf slopes. The national gov
eminent should undertake this work.
and I hope a beginning will be made
in the present congress; and the great
est Of all our rivers, the Mississippi,
should receive especial attention. From
the Great Lakes to the mouth Of the
Mississippi there should be a deep wa
terway, with deep waterways leading
from 1t to the east and the west. Such
a waterway would practically mean
the extension of our coast line into the
very heart of our country. It would be
l.
begun at once 1T can be carried through
in time appreciably to relieve the con-
gestion of our great freight-carrying
lines of railroads. The work should be
systematically and continuously carried
forward in accordance with some we'll
conceived plan. The main streams
should be improved to the highest
point of efficiency before the improve
ment of the branches is attempted; and
the work should be kept free from
every faint Of recklessness or jobbery."
Attention is called to the work of ir-
rigation and reclamation Of govern
ment lands. In the same connection he
asks for a revision of the public land
laws along the lines proposed by the
public lands commission. Believes the
government should increase it's efforts
to conserve our forests and should in
crease by purchase the existing forest
preserves. On the subject of the natural
resources of the nation he says:
I'm the eastern United States the
mineral fuels have already passed into
the hands of large private owners, and
those of the west are rapidly following.
1t is obvious that these fuels should be
conserved and not wasted, and it would
be well to protect the people against
unjust and extortionate prices. so far
as that can still be done. What has
been accomplished in the great oil
fields of the Indian Territory by the
action of the administration offers a
striking example of the good results
of such a policy. In my judgment the
government should have the right to
keep the fee of the coal, oil and gas
fields in it's own possession and to lease
the rights to develop them under
proper regulations; or else, If the con-
gress will not adopt this method, the
coal deposits should be sold under linn
itations, to conserve them as public
utilities, the right to mine coal being
separated from the title to the soil.
The regulations should permit coal
lands to be worked in sufficient guam
tity by the several corporations. The
present limitations have been absurd,
excessive, and serve no useful purpose,
and often render 1t necessary that
there should be either fraud or else
abandonment of the work Of getting
out the COAL"
Progress of the Work
On the Panama Canal.
Work on the Panama canal Is pro-
ceeding in highly satisfactory man
ner. In March the total excavation in
the Culebra Cut, where effort was
chiefly concentrated, was 815,270 cubic
yards. In April this was increased to
S79, sgt cubic yards. There was a con-
May and June owing partly to the ad
vent of the rainy season and partly to
temporary trouble with the steam
shovel men over the question of wages.
This trouble was settled satisfactorily
to all parties and in July the total ex-
cavation advanced materially and in
August the grand total from all points
in the canal prism by steam shovels
and dredges exceeded all previous
United States records, reaching 1874
404 cubic yards. In September this rec
ord was eclipsed and a total of 1871
412 cubic yards was removed. OF this
amount 1.4S1,3 cubic yards were from
the canal prism and SO, los cubic yards
were from accessory works. These re-
suits were achieved in the rainy sea-
son with a rainfall in August Of 11.S9
inches and in September of 1165 inches.
Finally, in October. the record was
again eclipsed, the total excavation be-
ing 1,86S,729 cubic yards; truly ex-
traordinary record, especially in view
of the heavy rainfall which was Ill
inches. In fact experience during the
last two rainy seasons demonstrates
that the rains are less serious OBJ
stacle to progress than has hitherto
been supposed.
Work on the locks and dams at
Gatun, which began actively in March
last, has advanced SO far that 1t Is
thought that masonry work on the
locks can be begun within Is months.