Los Angeles herald., 1907-10-03
SAYS MISSISSIPPI RIVER SHOULD
BE IMPROVED
PRESIDENT DELIVERS ADDRESS
AT ST. LOUIS
Chief Executive Again Takes Occasion
to Urge Need of Sovereign
Power in Dealing with
Railroads
By Associated Press.

In speech here today declared IL tne ma
tion's duty to restore the Mississippi river
to- it's proper place as great artery OF
commerce. and termed the proposed FOUR
teen-foot channel from the lakes to the
gulf a national task" He warned
against plans which might entail reck-
less extravaRance or be tainted with job
berry" But urged a liberal waterway
policy.
The presidents ardor was not dimmed
by the fact that he was drencheo py
sudden downpour of rain while en- route
to the Jai Alai building, where his speech
was delivered.
A tremendous ovation was accorded the
national executive when his steamer, the
Mlssissippl. entered st. Louis harbor to
make the first stop on the voyage from
Keokuk, Iowa, to Memphis, Tenn, where
President Roosevelt will attend the con-
vention of the Deep Waterways associa-
tion on Friday.
The president took occasion to especially
empla size his views on the necessity for
central control of interstate corporations
and he frequently departed from mis-
manuscript to elaborate and make clearer
his views on that point
Need Sovereign Power
His contention was that there must be
some sovereign power that can control
those institutions, especially railroads.
He spoke at length of the difficulty In.
reaching the corporations which are IN
corporated In enc state and operate In an
other. He instanced especially his ex-
perience in getting the Southern Pacific
railroad to repair breaks in the Colorado
river "That disaster occurred In Cali
fornia.'' he said, ''but do you suppose l
found it possible to deal with the railroad
there? No. The railroad is New Jersey
corporation and had to deal with 1t as
such"
He contended that the constitution must
be Interpreted to fit modern day to day
conditions and not conditions that existed
when it was adopted.
.'It must be construed as an instrument
of life and not a symbol OF death, ne
said epigramatically THE judges OF the
courts should always stand against popu-
lar clamor, but they should also recog-
nize the necessity of a general conserva-
ton of public welfare of the present
conditions he asserted, He contended
that in taking this position he was fight
ing the future fight for the rich, for II the
rich commit excess now they invite ex-
cesses against themselves and their pos
terity.
Wildly cheered
Mayor Wells, whose raiment ALSO was
considerably dampened, introduced Gov
ernor Folk of Missouri. who In turn
made brief speech presenting President
Roosevelt At the first mention OF the
presidents name 10000 persons sprang TO
their feet and began waving flags. 'The
ovation continued for three minutes. The
moment he began to talk the cheering
was renewed The president waited
moment until quiet had been restored and
then began the delivery of his address
The president said;
at is a very real pleasure to address
- az of
the great city of st. Louis. have often
visited st. Louis before, but always by
rail. Now I am visiting it in the course
of a trip by water, trip on the great
natural highway which runs past your
very doors-a highway once so important
now almost abandoned which hope TINS
nation will see not only restored to all It's
former usefulness, but given far greater
degree of usefulness to correspond with
the extraordinary growth in wealth ana
population of the Mississippi valley.
1--WE have lived in an era of phenome-
nal railroad building. AS routes for mer-
chandise, the iron highways have COM
pletely supplanted the old wagon roaos
and under their competition the import
tance of the water highways has been
much diminished.
Waterways Abandoned
saThe growth of the railway system has
heRn raDlQ all over the WOIlot Jul iC-
where 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 certainly not healthy and
am convinced that it will not be per-
manent
.sFrom every standpoint it is desirable
for the nation to join in improving the
greatest system of river highways within
its borders a system second only in i'm
portance to the highway afforded by the
great lakes; the highways of the Misslss-
ippi and it's great tributaries, such as the
Missouri and Ohio.
.srThis river system traverses too many
states to render 1t possible to leave
merely to the states the task of fitting 1t
for the grentest use of which 1t is capable.
1t IS emphatically national task Tor
this great river system is itself one of our
chief national assets.
within the last few years there has
been an awakening in this country to the
need of both the conservation and the
deyelopnent of our national resources
under the supervision of and by the aid
of the federal government. This is es-
pecially true Of all that concerns our rum
ming waters. On the mountains from
which the springs start we are now en-
deavoring. to preserve the forests which
T6BQldLe LIfe Wdtcl supply dAid ~ wv
startling variations.
"our knowledge is not sufficiently 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 impossible and un-
desirable plans, plans the adoption of
which means an outlay Of money extrava-
CANT beyond all proportion to the return.
or which, though feasible, are not rela-
lively to other plans of an Importance
which warrant their adoption.
May Be Expensive
rIt will not be easy to secure the assent
OF a fundamentally cautious people like
our own to the adoption of such policy
as that hope to see adopted, and even
IL we begin to follow out such policy it
certainly will not be persevered In If 1t Is
found to entail reckless extravagance or
to be tainted with jobbery. The interests
Of the nation as whole must be always
the first confederation.
Exactly as 1t Is a good thing for the
interior OF our country that the seaports