The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1907-03-21

tom abreast oft production. There ap-
pears to De but one complete rene
dy-the development of compile
mentary system of transportation by
waiter. The present congestion af-
fects chiefly people of the Mississippi
valley and they demand relief. When
the congestion, of which they COM
plain, 10 relieved, the whole nation
Will share the good results.
while rivers are natural resources
OF the first rank, they are also liable
to become destructive agencies en-
dangering life and property and some
OF our most notable engineering en-
terprises have grown out of efforts t.,
control them. 1t was computed by
Generals Humphrey and Abbobt half
century ago THAT the Mississippi
alone sweeps into its lower reaches
and the gulf 4OO,OO0,OOO tons Of float
ing sediment each year (about twice
the amount of material ito be excavat-
ed IN opening the Panama canal) be-
sides enormous but unmeasured
amount of earthsalts and soil matter
carried In solution. This vast load
mott only causes its channels to clog
and flood the lowlands of the lower
river, but renders THE flow capricious
and difficult ito control.
Furthermore the greater part of
the SEDIMENT and soil matter is com
posed of the most fertile material Of
the fields and pastures drained by
the smaller and larger tributaries.
Amy plan for utilizing our finland wa
terways should consider floods and
their control by forests and other
means; the protection of bottom lands
from INJURY by overfows, and up
lands from loss by soil-wash; tne
physics of SEDIMENT charged waters
and the physical or other ways OF
purifying them; the construction Of
dams and locks, not only to facili-
tate navigation but ito control tine
character and movement of the waters
and should look ito the full use of
the control of our running waters
and the complete authorization Of
our Waterways for the benefit Of our
people as a whole.
1t is not possible properly to
frame SO large plan as this for the
control of our rivers without taking
account of tine orderly development Of
either natural resources. Therefore
I ask that the inland waterways
commission shall consider the rela-
tions of the stream to the use of all
the great permanent natural resources
and their conversation for the making
and maintenance of prosperous homes.
"Any plan for utilizing our in
land waterways, to be feasible, should
recognize the means Of executing If
already in existence, both in the fed
eral departments of the war, interior,
agriculture and commerce and labor,
and in the states and in their sub
divisions; and it must not involve
unduly burdensome expenditures from
the national treasury. The cost will
necessarily be large i'm proportion to
the magnitude of the benefits to be
conferred, but 1T will be small in
comparison with THE seventeen billion
dollars off capital now invested in
stream railroads in the UNITED States
AN amount that would have seemed
enormous and incredible half a CEN
furry ago. Yet the investment has
been a constant source of profit to
the people and without our industrial
progress would have been impossi-
bic.
"The questions which will come be-
fore the inland waterways commits
sion must necessarily relate to every
part of the United States and effect
every interest within its borders. It's
plans should be considered In the
light of the widest good Of the couli-
try and its people and from the most
divers points Of view. Accordingly
when it's work is sufficiently advanced,
shall add ito the commission certain
consulting members with whom, !
shall ask, that its recommendations
shall be fully discussed before they
are submitted to me. The represen-
tatives of the commission should in
clude both general statement Of the
problems and recommendations as to
the manner and means of attacking
it,