Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1907-02-07
HEPBURN OPPOSES
WATERWAY TO GULF

IOWA CONGRESSMAN cHARAc-
.TERIZEs SCHEME At "UToPI.
AN AND cHIMERIcAL."
Declares Sand Bars and Bends in the
Missouri Makes Navigation of
Stream ImpossibIe-WouId Limit
Appropriation.
Washington, Feb. 4.-Representa-
tive Hepburn of Iowa, speaking on the
river and harbor bill, addressed the
house Saturday on the project cham.
pioned by the Missouri and Illinois
members for deep waterway from
Chicago to the gulf He made reply
to Mr.. Clark of Missouri, who, he said,
wanted to build waterway 1000
miles in extent between granite walls
200 feet high. He had seen the Mis-.
sissippi river when it was five miles
jim extent, with a volume of water that
would defy the puny efforts of man
to hold it. He characterized the
scheme as "Utopian and chimerical,"
and declared that when the proposed
waterway from st. Louis to Cairo
should be completed it would have
velocity of from 20 to Is miles an
hour. THAT would be admirable for
downstream navigation he said,
"but how would vessels get up?
when you take out the sand bars
and the sinuosities from river you
increase it's current enormously, MAX
ing it practically impossible for navi-
CATION" he declared.
Missouri River No Coco.
OF the Missouri river, Mr.. Hepburn
said that the sand bars and the bends
in that stream had made it absolutely
impossible of navigation and to his
personal knowledge not one steam
boat had passed up that river in Is
years.
1--WE have spent on the improve
ment of the waterways of the United
States $24O,O0O,OOO, and of this amount
$14O,o00,000 had been spent on the
Mississippi" he added.
His criticism of the bill extended to
q general discussion of the project
for the improvement of the Ohio river,
in which he charged that he had read
somewhere that the gentleman from
Pittsburg (Mr. DalzelD had said that
the people Of Pittsburg wanted $780,
100000 to complete the project. Mr..
Dalzell interrupted to say that "The
gentleman from Pittsburg" had made
no such statement, and said that he
had not asked either for $30,000,000,
$3O,OOO,O00 or 100000.
"Then I assume that you don't
want it," replied Mr.. Hepburn, "but
that the other fellows from Pittsburg
do"
Mr.. Hepburn said that the steam
boat as a means of transportation was
a thing of the past, and it was his
belief that double-track railroad
would have a cheaper carrying ca.
pacity per mile than the Hennepin
canal.
Argue for the Project.
Washington, Feb. appropriation
for rivers and harbors continued to
occupy the attention Of the house Fri
day. In the main the speeches dealt
with the proposed canal from Chicago
to St. Louis and the deepening of the
Mississippi river from st. Louis to the
gulf to II feet.
Mr.. Clark, of Missouri, delivered a
characteristic speech in behalf of the
Mississippi river project
Attack Cape May Project.
Messrs. Crumpacker, of Indiana, and
Madden, of Illinois, called attention to
the Cold Spring inlet, better known as
the Cape May project, in connection
with which $311,000 is appropriated in
the bill for deepening the channel to
a depth of 5 feet, and both members
insisted that this discrimination
against the Mississippi river was out
rageous
Mr.. Shackleford, of Missouri, said
he would not criticise the river and
harbors committee if the Missouri
river did not receive any larger sum
than that appropriated, but would sup
port any effort to increase the sum.
Gambler Reads a Song.
Mr.. Gambler, of Mississippi, made an
impassioned plea for the extensive i'm
provement Of the Tombigbee river. He
Tread a song dedicated to the river,
latter apologizing to the house for his
inability to sing the selection.
j Mr.. Garrett of Tennessee, urged the
Extension of the levee system along
the Mississippi. After his remarks
the committee rose.
! Bills were passed fixing the bounda'
ries of lands adjoining the Occur
d'Alene Indian reservation in Idaho;
permitting persons owning lands in
the Kiowa, Comanche and Apache In.
dian reservations in Oklahoma to com.
mute them for townsite purposes. and
creating two additional land districts
in Alaska located at Nome and Fair
banks