Albuquerque citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1907-1909, 1907-11-26
RIVERS AND HARDORS
COMMITTEE, IN
SESSION
An Exhaustive Report viii
BE Made Showing Compe-
titiOn In Rates.
WATERWAY. IMPROVEMENTS
ee WILL BE DISCUSSED

Washington, ID, c., Nov. 26.-The
inland waterways committee began
three or four-day session here yes-
terday at which its report will be
discussed In full committee and will
be finally shaped for TRANSMISSION
/ to the president. The meetings are
being held in the commute room of
the house committee on rivers and
harbors at the capitol
The report unfolds a plan of i'm
proyement that includes all the riv-
ers OF the Mississippi valley, of the
Pactc coast and of the Atlantic sea-
board and that provides canals for
connecting links between each i'm
portant group OF natural water
courses. As the full committee al
ready has indorsed the plan, 1t will
remain as 1t now stands in the re-
port. IT Is learned from a member
of the committee tooay that an APP
pendiX to the main report has been
prepared. This possesses an interest
all its own and when It comes to
actually working upon the realiza-
tion of the grand plan probably Will
nave an Importance greater than
that attaching to the generallzations
in the report itself
Comparison OF Rates.
This appendix presents the statis-
ties OF traffic, the figures on the
amount Of money expended for Inn
provement in the history of the gov
ernment upon every navigable
stream, canal and water course in
the United States. A further group
of statistics will show the compare
tive cost of rail transportation and
of water transportation and will
compare railroad rates with rates
where rail and water competition
has existed, showing the effect up
on water transportation. The ap-
pendix will back up the general ar
gument set forth in the report prop
er.
Waterways and the scheme of
waterway Improvement, of course,
will form the central idea of the re-
port. This idea is to be considered,
however, as the foremost necessity
conserving the country's other re-
sources. Consequently many other
headings Will enter into the report,
such as:
Forest preservation at the head
waters of streams so as TO insure an |
even and steady volume or wGreR at |
the sources.
Soil erosion in the valleys.
Waste Of coal, gas, oil ana iron. |
fuel and minerals in general.
In connection with soil erosion IL |
will be pointed out that the heaviest |
tax the state of Missouri pays Is the |
million and a half tons of soil wash
ed away annually by the Missouri |
river-earth enough, experts figure,
10 constitute a prism mile square
and 500 feet high. To accomplish
4 saving here, the report recon-
nends 1t would pay to revet the
banks of the Missouri.
Paying More for Coal, Too.
Il is pointed out that waste OF coal
las made the price of coal needless
y high. In the Iowa and Missouri
ields. IT is set forth, the people are
paying 3 per cent more than they
should If the coal supply mad been
properly taken care OF; and IN the
indiana, Illinois and Kentucky fields
0 per cent more. Exhaustion, the
committee finds, has made the price
If iron 25 per cent higher than Il
would have been had a proper pol
cy Of conservation been pursued in
he industry.
The report recalls the discovery of
ron mountain I'm Missouri when
ven technical publieans rejoiced I'm
he discovery of an absolutely mex
laustible iron supply. whereas the
ron mountain now has virtually
'een pulled up by the roots.