Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1907-04-17

shipping rates and as result mer- chants in central and southern Ar kansas were able to get greatly re- duced rates from the railroads. pr. Caldwell bought out the fact that in many cities where river service was maintained, the railroads re- duced the rates voluntarily, and he urged that the river tonnage would not show exactly the great benefit to the people in reduced rates. Dr. Caldwell was prepared with facts and figures and pre- sented his cause with telling af- feet. He said Pine Bluff shipped about 719,O24 tons of freight each year and that an improved river service would greatly reduce the ! rate
 Fort Smith.
 The Fort Smith delegation was headed by George Sengel, and in
 cludes W. J. Murphy. T. C. Davis
 and H. M. Beck. MT. Sengel spoke
 for the delegation as follows:
 MT. Chairman: Responding to
 your invitation to be present upcn
 this occasion the city of Fort Smith has sent this delegation to reyr .-
 sent her interests in the initia ! meeting that means much to the l entire state of Arkansas.
 Fort Smith, as you well know, is 1 commerce, the Arkansas river, flows
 majestically pas our thrifty city to
 tho Gulf of Mcyico without cont"!a-
 uting the gt,.at benefit that shou':i
 be derived, and that justly belongs
 to the tributary territory of that
 great waterway This great annual
 loss is not the fault of the peo.le
 who inhabit the great productive
 valley of our state, through which
 this great Nile of America flows.
 The great length of the Arkansas
 river, it's wonderful width and
 sandy bottom formation, with a
 constantly changing channel, has
 made navigation impracticable, with
 no assistance from the national gov
 ernment
 3. The rapid development of our
 state, and the young giant on our
 western border, whose star will I soon be mingling with the other
 states upon the blue field of Old
 Glory. have much to expect if nav igable water is possibility in the Arkansas river.
 There is no section of the United
 States that contains more fertile
 area than is found on both sides l of the Arkansas river from Musko- I gee to where it empties into the
 great Father of Waters. Yet with el! these splendid agricultural ad-
 vantages the great mineral belt, I the virgin forests and the splendid coal deposits, not one-tenth of per cent is transported by water. In fact, in many instances the Arkan- sas river under existing conditions is a detriment instead of blessing to thousands of thrifty, prosperous farmers who inhabit this fair land. The neglect to properly recognize the importance of a liberal appro- priation for making the Arkansas river navigable and confining the annual rise within it's banks, has destroyed more wealth than is necessary for the protection of the farms along the banks of this great waterway.
 Tn many instances the farmer, miner and the lumberman are com pelled to transport their products in the most primitive manner to and over the Arkansas river, in or der to get railroad transportation. We recognize the importance of transportation to and from the sea board, cheap and rapid transportation are both essential to the rapid devel- opment of this great section of our country. The railroads have done much to develop our section, and we fully appreciate the great and lasting benefit derived from this great factor in our commercial life, yet with all the mileage built in the great Southwest the railroads do not give the relief needed to develop the valley of the Arkansas river. Thousands upon thousands of acres are idle for the want of transportation Permit me to present a few statistics relative to tonnage if the Arkansas river were nayigable.
 l I will give yOu statistics that I have