The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-10-03
RooseDeM Pleads for
 Centralized GoDernl1ent

m his speech at St. Louis yesterday President Roosevelt advocated more centralized form ot government. He demanded supervision of, the rail- roads by the Government and lih- eral interpretation of the constitution. ii the constitution is not sufIicient he declared. let the Constitution be amend d. A4
 The Presidents speech follows:
 Ii Is a very real pleasure to address this body of citizens of Missouri here in the great City of ss; Louis. ,i, n.,ora hut always by rail. Now I am visit ing it-fn the course of a trip by water. a trip on the. great natural highway way once so important, now almost abandoned, which hope this nation will see not only restored to all it's for mer ussfulness, but given far nra1 grestsr s,,sl the extraordinary growth in wealth and population of the Mississippi Valley
 We have lived. in an era of phenomen- cnandfse, the iron highways have conn pletely supplanted the old wagon roads. and under their competition the import ance of the water highways has been much diminished The growth of the railway system has been rapid all over the world, but nowhere so rapid as in the United States. Aceompgnyms States a tendency toward the practical ly complete enlightenment of the sys-' tenn of wafer transportation. Such . tendency is certainly not healthy and am cony5nced that 1t will not be per- n1anent. There are many classes of commodties. especially those which are perishablNe in their tnature ana wherS the value is high relatively to the puik. which wilJ always be carried by rail. But bulky commodities which are not of a perishakNe nature will always hc' specially suited for the conditions os
 To ilIustra te the truth of this state u1ent it would only be neeessary to iAoint to the use of the canal system m many countrlee of the old World; but what has bapp ened nearer home. The Great Lakes ofller prime example of the importance of good water high- way for mercant tle traffic. As the line of traffic runs tihrousn lakes, the con- tiitions are in some respects dinerenf from what must obtain on even the most important river. Nevertheless, t mart of this traffic Is conditioned upon an artificial waterway, canal-the fa- Iflous 500. Tive commerce that passes through the soo far surpasses in buis and in value that of the Suez Canal.
 rmpxove owr waterways.
 From every standpoint 1t is desirable for the nation to join in improving the greatest system & of river nigaawayys ua,y,, in fulportance~t thsA highway afforded hv tfie Great Lakes; the highways Of the Mississippi and its great tributaries. snch as the Missouri and Ohio. This river syNtem traverses, too many States to render it possible to leave merely to the gtntes the task of fitting 1t f0r fhe greatest use of which it is capabta- If is ernphatica1ly a national task. fn. this great river system Is itself one Os our chief national assets. Within the fast few years there has been an awak.. cning in thls country to the need Of noth the conservation and the develop ; rnent of our national resources under fhe supervision of and by aid of the federal Government. This is espeo- taIly true of all that concerns our run ming wafers. On the mountains from which the springs start we are now en deayoring to preserve the forests which regulate the water supply and prevent foo startling variations between drourhts and freshets. Below tho mountains. in the thigh dry regions Of the Western plains, we endeavor 70 av- cure the proper utilization of the wa. teFss for irrigation. This Is at the eohrcea of the streams. Farther dowu, where they become na,vigable, our aim must be to try to develop 6 policy which shall secure the utmost advant- age from the navigabie waters.
 Finally on the lower courses of the Mississippi the nation should do It's