The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1907-11-01
st. Peter Herald Turns Its
Cold Water Loose.
P0URS OVER RIVER SCHEME
Declares That Promoters of the Nayi-
ton Movement Have Lost Sight
OfReal Object Sought.

From Fridays Daily.
st. Peter Herald: In their efforts to
secure river improvement the delegates
to the Southern Minnesota drainage
conference at Mankato last week COM
pletely lost sight of the object of their
meeting. Instead of asking for federal
aid to deepen and widen the channel of
the river, thereby expediting the flow
of water and reducing the crop and
property losses caused by floods, they
changed front and made a plea for
congressional recognition on the
ground that the Minnesota should be
restored as navigable stream. At
best they are pursuing a will-o'-the-
wisp for the chances are about
thousand to one against the resump-
ton of navigation, Only few years
tions to have the MINNESOTA declar-
ed unnavigable, and finally Represen-
tative c. r. Davis secured the pas
sage of a bill fixing lie Sueur as the
head of navigation, Now the drain
age conference would have the bill
,abrogated and the stream opened to
steam and fiat boats Millions would
be needed to dredge the channel and
build system of reservoirs with
which to maintain a power depth of
water, and after the money had been
spent where would the boats find
sufficient amount of business to pay
them to ascend the stream? 1t has
been, pointed out that the waterway
would prove of great value in moving
grain to market and some one has
figured that the steamers could trans
port wheat at a cost of cents
bushel. They would have to look to
wheat as the chief item of freight,
but the fact that their rates would
be materially lower than those charg-
ed by the railroads would not get
them the wheat business. Fifty
years ago they carried wheat because
there were no mills in this region
and there was no other way of get
ting it to market. Today the mills
at New Ulm and Sleepy Eye grind
more wheat than is produced in the
entire Minnesota valley. The larger
mills maintain lines of elevators in
western Minnesota and South Da-
kota, territory not accessible to the'
river, and they ship the grain they
buy to Chicago on a fiat rate, with
the "mill-in transit privilege. None
of this traffic would go to the boats,
and they would be barred from hand
ling other cereals by the lack of
facilities which the roads possess
Their inability to give prompt SER
vice would initiate against them in
carrying manufactured articles and
other materials up the river, and the
that they could make prof
liable trips is extremely remote.
Every practical man who attended the
Mankato conference knows these
things and it is probable that very
few of them believe in the practi-
cabiIity of navigation. They have
faith in drainage, and Nhey have a
practical plan for getting it, but they
should be honest with themselves
and with congress and ask for moth
ing more. This monshine about nav
vication will not deceive the members
of the rivers and harbors committee,
and the newly organized association
will do well to stand or fall on the
drainage proposition. 1t will not do
to build false hopes on the pot of
gold at the foot of the
navigation rainbow.