The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1907-12-06

u.
any more than the evils of rebates and
stock watering can be reached without
good laws. TO fail to stop these prac
tices by legislation means to force
honest men into them. because other
wise I'll" dishonest who surely will
take advantage OF them will have
| everything their own way. If the states
viii correct these evils. well and good.
but the nation must stand ready to aid
them.
Inland Waterway Syat~ms
should lie Developed.
THE conservation of our national re-
sources and their proper use constitute
the fundamental problem which under
lies almost every other problem of our
national life. We must maintain FOR
our civilization the adequate material
basis without which tina: civilization
cannot exist. We must show foresight.
we must look ahead. As nation we
not only enjoy n wonderful measure of
| present prosperity but If this prosper
| ity is used Alright it is earnest of
| future success such as no other nation
| will have. The reward of foresight foi
this nation is great and easily forctold.
But there must be the look ahead.
there must be Il realization of the fact
| that to waste, to destroy, our natural
resources. to skin and exhaust the land
instead Of using it SO to increase its
| in the days of our children the very
| prosperity which we ought by right to
| hand down to them ampliiied and devel-
| oped. For the last few years through
| several agencies, the government has
| been endeavorinE to get our people to
| look ahead and to substitute a planned
| and orderly development of our re
| sources in place of haphaZard striv-
| ing for immediate profit our great
| river systems should be developed as
| national water highways; the Missis-
sippi. with its tributaries standing first
in Importance. and the Columbia sec
ond. although there are many others of
| Importance on the Pacific and Atlantic
| and the gulf slopes. The national gov
| ernment should undertake this work
| and l hope a beginning will be made
| in the present congress; and the great
est of all our rivers the Mississippi
! should receive especial attention. From
| the Great Lakes to the mouth of the
| Mississippi there should be a deep wa
terway with deep waterways leading
| from it to the east and the west. Such
a waterway would practically mean
| the extension of our coast line into tn.
very heart of our country. 1t would be
! of incalculable benefit to our people. If
| begun at once 1t can be carried through
| in time apprcciably to relieve the con-
| EeStlon OF our great freight carrying
| lines of railroads. The work should be
l
| forward in accordance with some we'll
conceived plan. The main streams
| should be improved TO the highest
| point Of efficiency before the improve
| ment of the branches is attempted: and
| the work should be kept free from
| every taint of recklcssness or jobbcry."
Attention is called to the work of ir-
| rigation and reclamation Of govern
ment lands. In the me connection he
asks for a revision of the public land
laws along the lines proposed by the
| public lands commission. Believes the
| government should increase it's efforts
| to conserve our forests and should in
crease by purchase the existing, forest
| preserves. On the subject of the natural
resources of the nation he says:
/ I'm the eastern United States the
| mineral fuels have already passed into
| the hands of large private owners. and
| those of the west are rapidly following
1t is obvious that these fuels should be
conserved and not wasted, and it would
| be well to protect the people against
| unjust and extortionate prices. far
as that still be done. What has
| been accomplished in the great oil
fields of tn" Indian Territory by the
| action Of the administration offers a
| striking example of the good results
of such a policy In my Judgment the
| government should have the right to
| keep the fee of the coal. oil and gas
| the rights to develop them under
proper regulations; or else. if the con
| Sress will not adopt this method. the
| coal deposits should be sold under linn
| itations, to conserve them as public
| utilities, the right to mine coal being
separated from the title to the soil.
| The regulations should permit coal
| lands to be worked in sufficient guam
tity by the several corporations. The
| present limitations have been absurd.
| excessive. and serve no useful purpose.
| and often render it necessary that
| there should be either fraud or else
abandonment Of the work of getting
| out the coal"
Progress of the Work
| On the Panama Canal.
Work on the Panama canal is pro-
ceeding In a highly satisfactory man
ner. In March the total excavation in
the Culebra Cut where effort
chiefly concentrated. was Sl5.27o cubic
yards. In April this increased to
s79,527 cubic yards. There was con-
siderable decrease in the output for
May and June owing partly to the ad
vent of the rainy season and partly to
temporary trouble with the steam
shovel men over the question of wages.
This trouble was settled satisfactorily
to all parties and in July the total ex-
cavation advanced materially and in
in the canal prism by steam shovels
and dredges exceeded all previous
United States records, reaching 1274.-
4O4 cubic yards In September this rec
ora was eclipscd and n total OF 1.5l7.-
412 cubic yards removed OF this
amount 1.4S1.307 cubic yards were from
the canal prism and 1O5 cubic yards
were from accessory works. These re-
suits were achieved in the rainy sea
son with rainfall in August of 11.S9
inches and in September of II 65 inches.
Finally. in October. the record
again eclipsed. the total excavation be-
ing 1.SGS,729 cubic yards; truly ex-
traordinary record. especially in view
of the heavy rainfall. which was Ill
inches. In fact experience during the
last two rainy seasons demonstrates
that the rains are less serious OBJ
stacle to progress than has hitherto
been supposed.
Work on the locks and dams at
Gatun. which began actively in March
last. has advanced so far that it is
thought that masonry work on the
locks can be begun within Is months.