Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-10-04
Compliment Paid by Pres
ident in Address at
Waterways Meeting.
FRIEND OF THE RIVER
Steamer Columbia Reported to
Have Gone on Bar on Way
Down From Cairo.

Memphis Oct. 1.-THE president and
party arrived at 1880 p. m, immedi-
ately landing amid the screeching of
whistles and cheers from thousands Of
people on the river front.
The rain of the early morning had
ceased, and the parade Immediately
formed. The president received Il cor
dial reception from all sides. In his
address he said:
The Mississippi valley is a magnis-
icent empire in size and fertility. 1t
is better adapted to the development
of inland navigation than any other
valley in either hemisphere; for there
are 10000 miles of waterway now more
or less fully navigable. and the condi-
tiOns are so favorable that it will OC
easy to increase the extent of navig-
able waterways TO almost any required
degree by canalization. Early i'll our
industrial history this valley was the
seat of the largest development of ih.
land navigation in the United StatesI
and perhaps you will pardon my men
tioning that the first steamboat west
of the Aleghenies was built by l
Roosevelt. my great-grandfather's
brother. in 1911, for the New Orleans
trade. and in that year made the trip
from Pittsburg to New Orleans.
Decline Was General.
- But from various causes river and
canal transportation declined all over
the United StaTas as TIE ruffT0ad sys':'
TENS came to their full development.
1t is our business to see that the de-
cline is not permanent; and it is of in
terest to remember that nearly cen
tury ago President Madison advocated
the canaliZatiOn OF the Mississippi.
'In wealth of natural resources no
kingdom of Europe can compare with
the Mississippi valley and the region
around the Great Lakes. taken togeth-
er: and in population this huge fer
tile plain already surpassess all save
one or two of the largest European
kingdoms.
''ln this empire a peculiarly stalwart
and masterful people finds itself in the
surroundings best fitted for the full de
velopment of it's powers and faculties
There has been a great growth in the
valley of manufacturing centers; the
movement is good if it does not go toe
far; but | most earnestly hope that
this region as a whole will remain pre-
dominantly agricultural The people
who live in the country districts, and
who till the small or medium-size
farms on which they live, make NJ
what is on the whole the most valu
able asset in our national life. There
can be just as real progress and cul
ture in the country as in the city; es
pecially in theae days of rural free de
livery. trolleys. bicycles. telephones
good roads, and school improvements
The valley of the Mississippi is polit
ically and commercially more impor
tant than any other valley on the fac'
OF the globe. Here more than any
where else will be determined the fu
ture of the United States and indeed o
the whole western world; and the typ
of civilization reached in this might.
valley, in this vast stretch of countr.
lying between the Alleghenies and tn
Rockies. the Great Lakes and the Gull
will largely fix the type of civilization
for the whole Western Hemisphere
Already, as our history shows the ives
has determined our national pOlitica
development, and the fundamenta
principle of present American polite: