Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-10-03
Sportin1g New 5
PRESIDENT
CONTINUED from page ~

(COnlnNeQ from page H. .4a
by the Great Lakes; the highways
OIL the Mississippi and its gfeatrtrr
of the Mississippi and its great trib-
utaries, such as the Missouri and
Ohioo. This river system traverses
too many states to render it posi-
BILE to leave merely to the states
the task of fitting it for the greatest
use of which it is capable. 1t is
emphatically national task, for
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
development of our national resour-
ces under the supervision of and by
the aid of the federal government.
This is properly national move
ment, because all interstate and for
eign commerce, and the improve
ments and methods of carrying it
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 our country, the region
between the Alleghenies and the
Rockies, yet it is of concern to the
rest of the country also, for it cannot
too often be said that whatever is
really beneficial to one part of our
country is ultimately of benefit to
the whole. &c. ~ ID.
The Panama Canal. .
Take, for instance, =. the Panama
canal. If the Mississippi is restor-
ed to It's former place of Importance
as a highway of commerce, then the
building of the Panama canal will
be felt as an immediate advantage
to the business of every city and
country district in the Mississippi val
ley. think that the building of
that canal will be of especial advan-
tage to the states that lie along the
Pacific and the states that lie along
the gulf; and yet after all, I feel that
the advantage will be shared in an
only less degree by the states of the
interior and of the Atlantic coast.
In other words, it Is a thoroughly
national work, undertaken for and
| redounding to the advantage of all
of us-to the advantage of the ma
ton as whole. Therefore I am
glad to be able to report to you how,
well we are! doing with the canal.
For over year past we have been
| engaged in making the dirt fly in
good earnest, and the output of the
giant steam shovels has steadily in
creased. 1t is now the rainy season,
| when work is most difficult on the
Isthmus, yet in the month of August
last we excavated over million and
| two hundred thousand cubic yards
of earth and rock, a greater amount
| than in any previous month. If we
| are able to keep up substantially the
rate of progress that now obtains we
shall finish the actual digging within
five or six years; though when we
come to the great Gatun dam and
| locks, while there is no question as
| to the work being feasible. there are
| several elements entering into the
time problem which make it unwise
at present to hazard a prophecy in
| reference thereto.
Importance of the Navy.
Now, gentlemen, this leads me I'D
| to another matter for national con-
sideration, and that is our navy. The
| navy is not primarily of Importance
| only to the coast regions. It is ev-
cry bit as much the concern of the
farmer who dWells a thousand miles
| from the sea water as of the fisher
man who makes his living on the
ocean, for it is the concern of every
good American who knows what the
meaning of the word patriotism is.
This country is definitely committed
to certain fundamental policies-to
the Monroe doctrine. for instance,
and to the duty not only of building
but when it is built, of policing and
defending the Panama canal. We
have definitely taken our place among
the great world powers, and it would
be a sign of ignoble weakness, hay
ing taken such a place, to shirk its
responsibilities. Therefore, unless
/ we are willing to abandon this place
i to abandon our insistence upon the
Monroe doctrine, to give up the Pana.
ma canal, and to be content to &C.
/ knowledge ourselves a weak and tim.
/ Id nation, we must steadily build
! up and maintain a great fighting
navy. Our navy is already so eff
cient as to be q matter OF just pride
to every American. So long as oul
navy is no larger than at present
IT must be considered as an element
1 airy principle that the bulk of oui