Arizona republican., 1907-10-05

uated on the great river which flows by your doors or upon some of its numerous navigable tributaries. New mineral fields are discovered every year: and the constantly increasing use of all the devices of intensive cul- tivation steadily adds to the pro1uc- tive power of the farms. Above all, the average man is honest, intelligent. self-reliant, and orderly, and there fore a good citizen; and farmer and wageworker alike-in the last analysis the two most important men in the community-enjoy a standard of living. and have developed a standard of self respecting, self-reiiant manhood, which are of good augury for the future of the entire republic. No man can forsee the limit of the possibility of develop ment in the Mississippi valley.
 Such being the case, and this val ley being literally the heart of the United States. all that concerns its welfare must concern likewise the whole country. Therefore, the Miss!s- sippi river and its tributaries ought by all means to be utilized to their ut most possibility. Facility of cheap transportation is an essential in our modern civilization. and We can not afford any longer to neglect the great highways which nature has provided for us. These natural highways, the waterways, can never be monopoliZed by any corporation. They belong to all the people, and it is in the power of no one to take them away.
 Wherever a navigable river runs beside railroads the problem of regu- lating the rates on the railroads be- comes far easier, because river regu- lation is rate regulation. When the water rate sinks, the land rate can not be kept at an excessive height There fore 1t is Of national importance to de- velop these streams as highways to the fullest extent which is genuinely prof itable. Year by year transpo:t tation problems become more acute, and the
 time has come when the rivers really fit to serve as arteries of trade should be provided with channels deep enough and wide enough to make the invest ment of the necessary money profit able to the public. The national gov
 ernment should undertake this work Where the immediately abutting land
 is markedly benefited, and this bene- fit can be definitely localized,
 l trust that there will be careful in vestigation to See whether some way can be devised by which the immediate beneficiaries may pay a portion of the eXpenses-as is now the custom as re-
 gards certain classes of improvements
 in our municipalities; and measures should be taken to secure from the To- calities specially benefited proper ter
 minal facilities. The expense to the
 nation of entering upon such a scheme of river improvement as that which I believe it should undertake. will nec- ! essarily be great. Many cautious and conservative people will look askance
 upon the project, and from every standpoint it is necessary, if We wish to make it successful, that we should enter upon it only under conditions which will guarantee the nation
 against waste of its money, and which will insure us against entering upon any project until after the most elab- crate expert examination, and reliable calculation of the proportion between cost and benefit. In any project like this there should be a definite policy,
 and a resolute purpose to keep in mind that the only improvements made should be those really national in their character.
 "We should act on the same prin-