The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-10-03

trava.
 The in must be
 A
 This is prop
 because all intt
 merce, and the in.
 ods of carrying 1t
 national action. Mo.
 course the matter of the
 the Mississippi river and 1t. one which especially concern. middle portion of our country, t. between the Alleghenies and the RC yet 1t is of concern to the rest or h. country also for 1t can not too often be said that whatever Is really beneficial to one part of our country is ultimately of benefit to the whole. Exactly as it Is good thing for the interior of our coun- try that the seaports on the Atlantic and the Pacific and the gulf should be safe and commodious, so it Is to the Interest of the dwellers on the coast that the in- terior should possess ample facilities for the transportation of its products. Our ln terests are all closely interwoyen. and in the long run it will be found that we go up or go down together.
 Take, for instance, the Panama canal. If the Mississippi Is restored to its former place of importance as highway of con- merce, then the building of the Panama canal will be felt as an immediate advan- tage to the business of every city and country district in the Mississippi valley l think that the building of that canal will be of especial advantage to the states that lie along the Pacific and the states that lie along the gulf; and yet, after all, I feel that the advantage will ba gha rad n On1V daQraa Inv the states of the interior and of the Att lantio coast. In other words, 1t Is a thor oug'hly national work, undertaken for and redounding to the advantage of all of us-to the advantage of the nation as whole. Therefore. I am glad to be able to report to you how well we are doing with the canal. There Is bound to be a certain amount of experiment, certain amount of feeling our way, in a task so gigantic-a task greater than any of it's kind that has ever hitherto been un dertaken in the whole history of man kind; but the success so far has been as- tonishing, and we have not met with a single one of the accidents or drawbacks which I freely confess I expected we should From time to time encounter We, In the first place, laid the foundation for the work by securing the most favorable possible conditions as regard the health, comfort and safety of the men who were to do 1t; and now the canal zone is In point of health better off than the aver age district of the same size at home. Then we went at the problem of the actual digging and dam building, For ] over year past we have been engaged In making the dirt fly in good earnest ! and the output of the giant steam shovels has steadily increased It is now the $ rainy season w1en vyarIr Ia most difpicuff or the isthmus, yet in the month of Au- l gust last we excavated oyer 100000 cubic 1 yards of earth and rock greater amount than In any previous month If we are able to keep up substantially the rate of progress that now obtains we shall finish the actual digging within five or six years; though when we come to the 1 great Gatun dam and locks. while there l Is no question as to the work being reas- 1 lble, there are several clements entering into the time problem which make 1t un- wise at present to hazard prophecy In reference thereto.
 Another Matter. Now. gentlemen, this leads me up 10 another matter for national consideration. and that is our navy. The navy is not primarily of importance only to the coast regions. It is every bit as much the concern of the farmer who dwells l0 miles from sea water as of the fisher man who makes his living on the ocean 1 for 1t is the concern of every good Amer ican who knows what the meaning of the word patriotism is This country is defin- itely committed to certain fundamental i polcies-to the Monroe doctrine, for in- stance, and to the duty not only of build 1 ing. but, when 1t is built, of policing and defending the Panama canal. We have | definitely taken our place among the great world powers. and it. would be sign i of ignoble weakness, having taken such j, a place, to shirk it's responsibilities Therefore. unless we are willing to aban- don our insistence upon the Monroe doc l trine, to give up the Panama canal and i to be content to acknowledge ourselves T weak and timid nation, We must steadily i build up and maintain q great fighting navy. Our navy is already SO efficient as i to be a matter of just pride to every 1 American. So long as our navy is nc l larger than al present it must be con. sldered as an elementary principle Y 1 the bulk of our battle fleet must ! be kept together. When the I canal is built it can be transit out difficulty from one part l to the other; but even Def
 is built 1t ought to be
 to and fro from time to
 of months our fleet of
 starts for the Pac
 i gon and Washing
 1 which is our coz ] ally as the cc Maine of LC
 is going tc
 | Pacific. f< turn te At ! lantlc Jf4icel 1 to .erform ip 1y putting 1 Ire. voyage
 ore undertaken
 nation, can WI
 hat Is necessar,
 our naval needi
 .rs and enlisted meY
 of their professioii
 ms here is no body 0
 we owe quite as mucl
 and enlisted men of th,
 If the United States. an,
 you the fullest and heart
 n the name of oilr natiol
 1g. for the services to w'1iel
 ,elong.
 Control Corporations.
 .clusion I wish to say a wor
 body, containing as 1t does s Af business men, npon what fs pre-
 ftly a business proposition, an
 /is the proper national supetvisio
 control of tcorporations. At th feting of the American Bar assocla ton in this last August, Judge Charle z. Amidon of North Dakota read pa per on the nation and the constitutio so admirable that 1t is deserving c very wide study; for what he said wa i as all studies of law in its hfghes l form ought to be. a contribution [ l constructive jurisprudence as 1t shoul