Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1907-10-05
w OrId OF Sport

mcnt Is good If 1t does not 30 toe
| far: but | most earnestly hope thai
| this region rs whole will remain
predominantly agricultural The
people who live in the country d.
tricts. and who till the small or me
dium-sized farms on which they live
make up what is Oh the whole the
most valuable asset in our national
life. There can be just as real pro
gross an culture In the country rs
In the city; especially n these DAYS
of rural free delivery, trolleys. bicy.
Giles, telephones, good roads. and
school improvements. Tho valley OF
the Mississippi is politically and com
mercially more important than any
other valley on the face of the globe
Future of the Valley.
Here more than anywhere else Will
he determ ned the future of the
United States and indeed of the whole
western world; and tho type OF civil
lization reached in this mighty vat
ley In this vast stretch of country ly
Ing between the Alleghenies and the
Rockies, the Great Lakes and the
Gulf, will largely fix the typo of c'vi-
lization for the whole Western Hcmis.
phere. Already, as our history
shows, the West has determined our
national political development and
the fundamental principles OF present
American politics. political equality,
was Originally II western idea.
The wonderful variety of resources
In different portions of the valley
make the demand for transportation
altogether exceptional. Coal. lum-
her corn, wheat, cotton. cattlc-on
the surface of tho soil and beneath
The soil the rich's are great. Tnorc
are already evident strong tc1l,n-
cies to Increase the carrying OF freight
from the northern part OF the valley To
tEe Gulf Throughout the valley tho
latG Is so fertile as To mako the field
Tor the farmer peculiarly attractive:
and whore in the W at the climate
becomes dryer we enter upon the
rahching country; while in addition
10 the products Of the SOL there are
also the manufactures supplied in in.
Vulnerable manufacturing centcrs,
great and small Cities of astonsh-
ing growth are found everywhere
from the Gulf to the Great Lakes.
from the Alleghcnics to the Rockies.
most OF them being situated on the
great river which flows by your doors
or npon some of its numerous nav ga
DO tributaries. New mineral fields
are discovered every year; and the
constantly increasing use of all the
devices of intensive cultivation stead
ny ADDS TO the productive power of
the farms. Above ALL the average
man Is honest. intelligent, self-reliant.
and orderly, and therefore n good CT
'izch; ana farmer and wageworker
aiike-in the last ANALYSIS the two
most important men In the community
= enjoys standard of living, and
nave developed standard of solf-rc.
specting. self-reliant manhood. which
are good argnry for tho future OF
me entire Republic. No man can
iorcsee the limit of the possibility of
ley.
Should interest Whole Country.
such being the case, and this val
icy being literally the heart of the
united States. all that concerns its
wciiarc must concern likewise the
whoie country. Therefore. tho Mis-.
sissipp' river and its tributaries
ought by all means TO he utilized 10
their utmost possibility Facility of
cheap transportation is an essential
IN our modern civilization. and we
can not afford any longer to neglect
the great highways wh'ch nature has
provided for us. These highways the
waterways. can never be monopoizcd
by any corporation. They belong to
all the people, and it is in the power
oil no one to take them away.
Rate Regulator.
Wherever navigable river runs
beside railroads, the problem of regu-
iating the rates on the railroads be-
comes far easier. because river regu-
iatlon is rate regulation when the
water rate sinks. the land rate can
not be kept at an excessive height.
therefore it Is of national importanc.
TO develop these streams as high.
ways to the fullest extent which Is
genuinely profitable. Year by wear
transportation problems become
more acute. and the time has come
when the rivers really fit to serve
as arteries Of trade should be pro.