Los Angeles herald., 1907-10-05

ceSSlVc neiEnl. Inert1Ore IL IS OF ma
tional Importance to develop thes'
streams as highways to the fullest exten'
which Is gehuiney profitable.
Year by year transportation prob
lens become more acute. and the time
has come when the rivers really iii
to servl as arteries of trade should be
provided with channels deep enough and
wide enough to make the Investment ol
the necessary money profitable to the
pubic. The national government should
undertake this work
Where the Immediately abutting land
is markedly benefited, and this benefit
can be definitely localized, l trust that
there will be careful investigation to see
whether some way car be devised by
which the immediate beneficiaries may
pay a portion of the expenses-as Is now
the custom as regards certain classes OF
improvements In our municipalities, and
measures should be taken to secure from
the localities speciality benefited proper
terminal facilities.
Expense Would Be Great
'The expense to the nation of enter
ing upor such a scheme of river i'm
provement as that which / believe 1T
should undertake, will necessarily be
great. Many cautious and conservative
people will look askance upon the project,
and from every standpoint 1t is necessary,
If we wish to make 1t successful, that we
should enter upon 1t only under cordi-
tions which will guarantee the nation
against waste OF it's money and which
will insure us against entering upon any
project until after the most elaborate
expert examination and reliable caicu-
lation of the proportion between cost and
benefit
-, /. .-,,,,,s baxya alreadv hepn sDent
upon the Mississippi by the states ard
the nation, yet much of it remains prac-
tically unused for commerce. The rea-
sons for this fact are many. One is that
the work done by the national govern
ment at least has not been based upon
definite and continuous plan. Approprla-
tions by congress, instead of assuring the
steady progress and timely completion
of each piece of work as ii was under-
taken, have been irregular and uncertain.
'sAs a direct consequence, far-reacnins
plans have been discouraged and continu.
ity in execution has been made impos-
sible. It is altogether unlikely that bet
.e- results will he obtained so long as the
method is followed of making partial ap-
at irregular intervals for
works which should never be undertaken
until it is certain that they can be carried
to completion within a definite and rea-
sonable time Planned and orderly de-
velopment is essential to the best use of
every natural resource, and to none more
than the best use of our inland water
ways In the case of waterways 1t mas
been conspicuously absent.
IAN investigation of the proposed lakes
deep waterway is now IN
progress under an appropriation OF tne
last congress- We shall await its results
with the keenest interest. The decision
is obviously of capital Importance to our
internal development and scarcely less so
in relation to external commerce.
'erhis is but one of the many projects
which II is time to consider, although a
most important one. Plans for the i'm
of our inland navigation may
fairly begin with our greatest river and
its chief tributaries, but they cannot end
there The lands which the Columbia
drains include a vast area of rich grain
fields and fruit lands, much of which is
not easily reached by railways. The re-
moval of distinctions in the Columbia
and it's chief tributaries would open to
navigation aed inexpensive freight trans
portation fully 1000 miles of channel.
For California Streams
'The Sacramento and San joaquin
rivers with their tidal openings into San
Francisco bay are partly navigable now
Their navigation should be maintained
and improved, SO as to open the marvel
ously rich valley of California to mex
pensive traffic, in order to facilitate both
rate regulation and the control OF the
waters for other purposes.
"While thus the improvement of inland
navigation is a vital problem, there are
other questions of no less consequence
with our waterways One Of
these relates to the purity of waters used
for the supply of towns and cities, to the
prevention of pollution by manufacturing
and other industries and to the protection
of drainage areas from soil wash through
forest covering or judicious cultivation.
Another important group of questions
concerns the irrigation of arid lands, the
prevention of floods and the reclamation
of swamps. Already many thousands of
homes have been established on the arid
regions, and the population and wealth
of seventeen states and territories have
been largely increased through irrigation.
"Still another fundamentally important
question is that of water power. Its sig
nificance in the future development of our
whole country, and especially of the west,
is but Just beginning to be understood.
The plan of the city of Los Angeles, for
example, to bring water for its use dis
tance of nearly 250 mlleS-pernapS Ine
boldest project of the kind in modern
times-promises not only to achieve its
purpose, but in addition to produce a
water power sufficiently valuable to pay
large interest on the investment of over
$23, 100000.
Much Power Wasted
Hitherto such opportunities for using
water to double purpose have not always
been seized. Thus it has recently been
shown that water enough is flowing un-
used lover government dams, built to ini-
prove navigation, to produce many hun
dreds of thousands of horsepower. 1T is
computed that the annual value of the
available but unusued water power in the
United States exceeds the annual value OF
the products of all our mines. Further
more, it is calculated that under judicious
handling the power of our streams may
be made to pay for all the works required
for the complete development and contro
of our inland waterways.
Forests are the most effective pre-
venters of floods. especially when they
grow on the higher mountain slopes. The
national forest policy, inaugurated pri
marily to avert or mitigate the timber
famine which is now beginning to be felt
has been effective also in securing partia
control of floods by retarding the run-of
and checking the erosion of the higher