Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-10-02
PEOPLE CAUTIOUS,
SAYS ROOSEVELT
Prime Concern of the Present
Is With Railroads. !.
POWER IN CONSTITUTION
Discussed by President in His St.
Louis Speech.
BOSS FOR CORPORATIONS
To Find One Is at Present the Chief
Economic Question of the
Day, He Believes.
POWER IN CONSTITUTION
Discussed by President in His St.
Louis Speech.
BOSS
FOR CORPORATIONS

ST. LOUIS. Mo. October 2-rhe ad-
dress of President Roosevelt in this city
today was as follows:
1t is a very real pleasure to address
this body of citizens of Missouri here in
the great city of st. Louis. I have often
visited st. Louis before, but always by
rail- Now ! am visiting it In the course
OF trip by water, trip on the great
natural highway which runs past your
very doors-a highway once so important,
now almost abandoned. which ] nope this
nation will see not only restored to all
its former usefulness, but given a far
greater degree OF usefulness 10 corre-
spond with the extraordinary growth in
wealth and population of the Mississippi
valley. We have lived in an era of phe-
nomenal railroad building. As routes for
merchandise, the iron highways have
completely supplanted the old wagon
roads. and under their competition tho
Importance of the water highways has
been much diminished. The growth of
the railway system has been rapid all
over the world but nowhere so rapid as
In the United States. Accompanying this
there has grown in the United states a
tendency toward the practically complete
abandonment of the system of water
transportation. Such tendency is GER
tainly not healthy, and 1 am convinced
tina 1t will not be permanent. There
are many glasses of commodities. espe-
cfally those which are perishable I'm
their nature. and where the value IS
high relatively to the bulk, which will
always be carried by rail. But bulky
commodities which are not of a perish
able nature will always be specially suit
ed Tor the conditions Of water transport
N efrof
1t would only be necessary to point to
the use of the canal system n, mapv
countries of the old world; but il can be
illustrated even better by what has hap
pened nearer home. The great lakes offer
a prime example of the Importance Of n
good water highway for mercantile traf-
nc AS the line of traffic runs through
IaKes' the conditions are in some respects
dlHerent from what must obtain on even
the most important river. Nevertheless
1t is well to remember that a very large
part or this traffic is conditioned upon an
artiHclai waterway, canal-the famous
500. The commerce that passes through
the 500 far surpasses in bulk and In
value that of the Suez canal
System of River Highways.
from every standpoint 1t is desirable for
the nation to join in improving the great
est system of river highways within its bor
ders, system second only in importance
to the highway afforded by the great lakes:
the highways of the Mississippi and its
great tributaries, such as the Missouri and
Ohio. This river system traverses too many
states to render 1t possible to leave merely
to the states the task of fitting it for the
greatest of which II is capal,le II in
emphatically a national task for this great
river system is Itself one Of our chief ma
tional assets Within the last few years
there has been an awakening in this coun-
try to the need of both the conservation
and the development of our national re-
sources under the supervision of and by the
aid of the federal government. This is
especially true of all that concerns our run
ming waters On the mountains from which
the springs start are now endeavoring
to preserve the forests which regulate the
water supply and prevent too startling va
riations between droughts and freshets. Be
low the mountains in the high dry regions
of the western plains endeavor to Sc
cure the proper utilization OF the waters for
irrigation. This is at the sources of the
streams. Farther down, where they be-
come navigable. cur aim must be to try to
develop a policy which shall secure the ut
most advantage from the navigahle waters
Finally. on the lower courses of the Missis-
sippi. the nation should do its full share in
the work of levee building; and, incidental
ly to It's purpos- Of serving navigation. this
will also prevent the ruin of alluvial bot
tens by foods. Our knowledge is not suf-
ficiently far advanced to enable me to
speak definitely as to the plans which
should be adopted; but let me say one word
of warning: The danger of entering on any
such scheme lies in the adoption Of impos-
s!ble and undesirable plans, plans the adop-
ton of which means an outlay of money
eXtravagant beyond all proportion to the
return. or which, though feasible, are not
relatively to other plans. of an importance
which warrant their adoption. 1t Will not
be easy to secure the assent of a funda-
mentally cautious people like our own to
the adoption OF such policy that hope
to see adopted; and il we begin 10
follow out such a policy II certainly will
not be persevered in If It is found to entail
reckless extravaganza or to be tainted with
jobbery. The interests of the nation as a
whole must be always the first considera-
ton.
This is properly a national movement. be-
cause all Interstate and foreign commerce,
and the improvements and methods of car
rying 1t on. are subjects for national action.
Moreover, while of course. the matter OF
the Improvement OF the Mississippi river
and its tributaries is one which especially
concerns the great middle portion OF
country the region between the Alleghenies
and the Rockies. yet 1t Is of concern 10 the
rest of the country also, for il cannot too
often be said that whatever is really bene-
f1cial to one part OF our country is ulti-
mately of benefit to the whole. Exactly as
1t is a good thing for the interior of
country that the seaports on the Atlantic
and the Pacific and the gulf should be safe
and commodious, so II Is to the interest OF
the dwellers on the coast that the interior
should possess ample facilities for the
of its products. Our inter
ests are all closely interviewer. and in tn"
long run II will be found that we go up or
go down together.
The Panama Canal.
Take, for instance the Panama canal lf
the Mississippi is restored to lis former
place of Importance as a highway of com
merce. then the building of the Panama
.,