The Nevada County picayune., 1907-10-10

St. Louis, Oct 3.-When President Roosevelt arose to deliver his address here every seat was occupied and many hundreds of persons crowded around the outside of the building to see the president upon his arrival and departure
 The president was introduced by Governor Joseph W. Folk.
 President Roosevelt said: It is very real pleasure to address this body of citizens Now l am visiting it in the course of trip by water, trip on the great natural highway which runs past your very doors-a highway once so important, now almost aban- doned. which l hope this nation will see not only restored to all it's former usefulness, but given far greater degree of usefulness to correspond with the extraordinary growth in wealth and population of the Mississip- pi valley.
 We have lived in an era of phenom- enal railroad building. As routes for merchandise, the iron highways have completely supplanted the old wagon roads. and under their competition the importance 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. Ae- companying this there has grown .n the United States d tendency toward the practically complete abandonment of the system of water transportation Such a tendency is certainly not healthy, and I am convinced that it will not be permanent. There are many classes of commodities, especial ly those which are perishable in their nature and where the value is high relatively to the bulk, which will al ways be carried by rail.
 But bulky commodities which are not of a perlshable nature will always be specially suited for the conditions of water transport To Illustrate the truth of this statement it would only be necessary to point to the use of the canal system in many countries
  trated even better by what has hap pened nearer home. The great lakes offer a prime example of the impor tance of a good water highway for mercantile traffic As the line of traf- fic runs through lakes, the conditions are in some respects different from what must obtain on even the most important rivers Nevertheless, it Is well to remember that a very large part of this traffic is conditional upon an artificial waterway. a canal-the famous Soo, The commerce that passes through the Soo far surpasses in bulk and in value that of the Suez canal.
 Nation Should Aid River Improvement
 From every standpoint it Is desir- able for the nation to join in improv ing the greatest system of river high ways within it's borders, a system sec ond only in importance to the high way afforded by the great lakes; the highways of the Mississippi and its great tributaries, such as the Missouri and the Ohio. This river system tray erses too many states to render 1t i'm possible to leave merely to the states the task of fitting it for the greatest Ase of which 1t is capable, It is em phatically a national task. for this great river system is itself one of our shief national assets.
 Within he last few years there has been an awakening in this country ts the need of both the conservation and the development of our national resources under the supervision of and by the aid of the federal government RtAs is especially true of all that con serns our running waters. On the mountains from which the springs start we are now endeayorng 10 pre- serve the forests which regulate the water supply and prevent too startling variations between droughts and fresh cts. Below the mountains, in the high dry regions of the western plains. we endeayor to secure proper utiliza ton of the waters for irrigation.
 This is at the sources of the streams. Farther down. where they become nav sgable, our aim must be to try to de velop a policy which shall secure the utmost advantage from the navigable waters. Finally, on the lower courses dE the Mississippi, the nation should do it's full share in the work of leyee building; and incidentally to it's pur- pose of serving navigation this will ,f l. toms by floods. Our knowledge is not sufficiently far advanced to enable me to speak definitely as to the plans wkch should be adopted; but, let me