The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-03-12

all the other waterways or the Syate- If there has been any unfair distribu- ton the rivers and other waterways have suffered rather than Mobile har- bor Alabama stands twelfth in rank among the states. and Mobile harbor fourth in rank among harbors. as re- cipients of appropriations through the river and harbor bills through almost a century,
 If criticism is to be made, 1t must be to the policy of infreauent dissribu- tions of small amounts rather than annual appropriations of from s5o.ooo.- 900 to s1oo,0o0.oo0 each. rather than the objection that Mobile harbor has not had fair play. It is hardly fair to place the receipts of a harbor in dis play upon discussion of the value of harbor, as a harbor may be very valuable to the country for export. without contributing a single dollar to the revenues of the country upon imports. But this factor of receipts Is an important one and must be con- sidered by any committee in proper ly distributing the revenues of coun- try for any object.
 Following are the appropriations made to the State of Alabama for all of her waterways from April 1926 to September 1900 in detail. as taken from the Index to the Reports of the Chief of Engineers of the United cy4~
 Appropriations to Alabama:
 Alabama River. ......s 3s5,00o Black Warrior River, Tusca-
 loosa to Daniels Crk. .. 74o.574 Operation and care :. ...... 24,2SO Bon Secour to St. Andrews
 Bay .... ........ S,OOo Cahaba River .... .. .....l 45,00o Chattahoochee River in Ala.
 and Ga. ..,... ots,vvv Choctawhactchee River in
 Ala, and Fla. ...... 162,0oo Conecuh River and Escambia 10s.000 Coosa River, Ga. and Ala. 41s,7oo Mobile Bay, Harbor and
 River. ....... .4,Z4S,6so Pass Au Heron .... .. .... 16,000 Tallapoosa River .. .... .. z4,0o0 Tombigbee River, Miss and
 Ala. ........ ovoslc1 Warrior and Tombigbee dIolf
 From all these considerations 1t is difficult to find the less deserving places in the North and West whicn have been named as having received more than Mobile Harbor, since with the exception of Baltimore, Mobile Harbor has received more than any of tn, great harbors of the Nortn and West.
 More than that. The estimates Of the local engineers upon the local works throughout the country called for an aggregate expenditure of be- tween $25o, ,0oO, ,000 and $500. 100000, for all river and harbor projects of the United States. This was cut by the Chief of Engineers and the Board of Estimates at Washington to $ss,S5s.- 742, including continuous contract work, or 25,414,s21 for new improve ments of rivers and harbors. Had Mo- bile been cut in the same proportion. instead of receiving the $560,000 appro- priation as provided for by the last bill, that harbor would have received about $25.0O0.
 The work of Alabama Congressmen, both Senators and representatives. and especially the work of Congress men representing the Mobile district has been most effective and the peo- pie of the Mobile District, should not only be satisfied herewith but ap- plaud 1t as a triumph for the State and city. The late Hon. R. H. Clarke. who for years represented the Mobile District and his successor Hon. George W. Taylor, certainly accom- plished as much as was in the power of human endeavor. There was never a moment when they failed to look af- ter the interests of Mobile bay and harbor, while at the same time they aided the other Alabama representa- | tives in securing what they needed.