The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-12-10
HILL WAS FEATURE
. HIS ADDRESS Tn wATERwAys
 CONvESTI0H NOTABLE ONE.
w. F. vandiver hetarns From wash- tngtSn and h Enthusfastic on Progress of Hivers and Har-
 bOrs COngress

| bors Convention just closed is the most successful of the four that this organization has held from every standpoint and 1t cannot help but do a world of good towards developing our waterways. said W. F. yandiyer yes- terday. T never saw body of men so interested and determined as these delegates, assem bleds to discuss the project of bettsring Our shipping fa-
 Mir. Vandiver returned from Wash : ington Sunday. He was one of the delegates from Montgomery to the con vepfion and as he has always taken a great deal of interest in the matters of rivers and harbors he was one of the most enthusiastic of those present.
 Not one plan was discussed at any length and nothing definite was done other than each member pledging him. self to arouse as much sentiment in favor of improving our rivers and harbors as he possibly could. There was no North, South. East or West, but thes convention was a unit on bet tering the conditions of the rivers and connecting waterways over the coun- try generally. In not one speech that was made was any sectional feeling displayed. Everyone thought of the countrylin general and not pet river that he might have had in mind.
 "The fact that the Rivers and Har- bors Congress has done great deal for the country is brought out when 1t is noted that during the year in which the third annual convention was held that Congress appropriated about $20,- 000.000 for the improvement of water ways and in the year coming toya close it has given $53,000,000 towards that cause This was done when we only asked for s50,000,o0o. We want to ed ucate the people to know that such improvement is necessary so that they will back their Congressman in asking for fuvther appropriations. The county has grown so fast that the railroadsfhave been unable to keep up, consequently our transportation facilities are far behind what they should be for nation such as ours. Even by exerting every effort the rail- roads have been unable to build new lines fast enough to Keep up with the progress of the country. That condi- tion will continue and we need the waterways to transport our freigfF.
 James J. Hill, railroad magnate'and President of the Great Northern. de- livered one of the most interesting ad- dresses in which he outlined these principles. It might be said that he was the feature of the convention as we had statements from him to the effect that the railroads Gould not cope with the rapidly growing country. This, coming from a railroad man, struck the delegates most forcibly. w. w. Finley, President of the Southern Railway, also made an address in which he brought out the conditions in the territory traversed by his line. Never before have seen body of men so intently interested as was this when these two msh spoke.
 While there was no sectional talk the South came up quite frequently owing to the fact that the develop ment in this section has been so rapid In the past few years and also that our railroad facilities are. probably not as adequate as those of other sections.
 Different ways of connecting the waterways of the South were discussed but they came in with the general talk on the whole country. The plan that came in for the most discussion was joining Chicago with the Mississippi. This has been long talked of and should it ever be done it would almost revo- lutionize handling freight in that sec tion.
 Everyone was impressed with the broad statesmanlike views expressed by the delegates and the intense inter- est shown by every man present. The influence of the Congress which was the factor in having the appropria- tions for river and harbor work more than doubled in year, instilled conf1- dence in the delegates and they work ed with an air of having done some thing and with determination to keep on until they attain greater success"