The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-07
Strong Resolutions Adopted B
 the Rivers and Harbors Congress
MEMORIAL ID BE PRESENTED
 ID CANNON AND ROOSEVELT
Resolutions of the Congress Asked For $5000o, 900 a Year For Ten Years, and This Is To Be Provided
 By Bond Issue.

1 Washington December 6.-The National l Rivers and Harbors congress came to & | close today with the election of officers l and the adoption of resolutions asking 1 the support of the national Congress in 1 carrying out comprehensive plans for l the improvement of the waterways of the United States. For this purpose Con gress is asked to appropriate the sum 1 of s50.0O0 900 year for ten years and to | Issue bonds to carry out the immense 1 project. The closing hours of the con- 1 gress were marked by the greatest l thusiasm over the plans outlined.
 Invited To Frisco.
 1 At the opening of today's session of the convention telegrams were read from Senator Perkins, industrial organizations and commercial bodies of California in- l viting the congress to hold it's next an- l nual meeting in San Francisco.
 | In introducing John A. r'ox of Arkan- 1 sas the special direction of the congress. | President Ransdell said that MT. Fox l had spent the past year in travelling over l the country and Is doing splendid work l for the congress. In the course of his l speech MT. Fox said that during the | past year he had visited 2G states and 1 go cities, had given out A public inter- | views, written five magazine articles and l had delivered 15S addresses, nine of which | had been before national organizations. l He was satisfied that if the United States | Congress was in possession of informa- | tiou which he had presented the work l of the congress practically would have 1 been accomplished. He urged the appro- 1 priation by the association of s4O.000 for | the continuance of it's work during the | next year.
 Col. N. s. Ellison, secretary of tho | congress, whom President Ransdell char | acterized as "one of the finest workers and organizers in the cofhtry." pre- sented his annual report, in which he gave the expenditures on behalf of the national congress during the past year
 The balance on hand, he said. was s2272
 Resolutions Presented.
 J. Hampton Moore of Philadelphia. | chairman of the committee on resolu- | lutions presented the platform of the | association as the unanimous sentiment | of 36 states, and he said that the com | mittee requested the approval of the re- port in the hope that 1t would receive the respectful consideration of the na- tional Congress. The report of the com | mitte follows
 After A years consideration of the pur- l poses of the National Rivers and Har- | bors congress, as expressed in resou- | tions adopted by that body in 1906, the 1 American people have given them em- | phatic indorsement by sending to this | convention assembled at the national capital, December 4-6, 1907 nearly 2O00 delegates from 37 states and territories | representing the comm ercial, producing. and consuming interests of the country, and these delegates unanimously of | the belief
 l. That profitable and successful com | ia anunlt alt
 nomical transportation of commodities. and that the importance of transporta- ton will increase with the growth of populatio and the development of the nations resources
 2. That the railroads of the United States are now unable to handle the business offered them and much loss re- suits from the congested condition of traffic; that, according to high railroad authority, the business of the country has increased over 100 per cent within ten years. while the facilities for hand ling 1t by rail have been increased only about 6 per cent and if the railroads cannot be expected in the near future to increase their facilities sufficiently to re- lieve the situation. other means of trans- portation should be provided at once.
 Water Traffic Cheaper.
 3. That transportation of heavy com modities by water on all rivers and in- | land waterways Is much cheaper and | usually quicker than by rail- that no country has by nature such courses as our own and that If properly improved | and connected by canals, they would fur | nish convenient means of shipping enor- | nous volumes of freight, thereby relev-
 ing the congestion on the railroads and | furnishing cheap and safe transportation for tie benefit of producer and consumer. 4. That the time has come when tho ! policy of the federal government towards 1 waterways over which 1t rightly has su- preme control. should be more liberal, persistent and continuous than hereto- | fore that as result of intermittent ac- tion, meritorious works of importance begun many years ago are still far from | completion; that appropriations for rivers. | waterways and harbors have been made at intervals of three years instead of annually; that for the past ten years | they have averaged only about $22 000o | year. or less than 3 per cent of the | average annual expenditures Of the gov | ernment and that enough money should be appropriated each year for at least the next ten years properly to improve the various rivers, waterways and har-
 DTS on plans which have been and shall be surveyed and approved by the gov ernment engineers and authorized by the Congress of the United States.
 Therefore. be 1t resolved, By the na- floral rivers and harbors congress, at tbe present session containing delegates of every shade of opinion and represent ing every business interest in the land, standing for a policy. not for a project.
 Wide Policy Urged.
 | That we earnestly urge the adoption l by the federal government Of wide. | Iiberal and comprehensive waterway poll fey that will provide for the proper im- l provement within the next ten years, of 1 the rivers. waterways, harbors of our country, the improvement of which is jus tified by present and prospective benefits | to commerce.
 l 2 That without presuming to pre- | scribe the engineering of the financial | details of this great undertaking. this | congress strongly urges upon the Con- | eress of the United States, the mportarce of immediate adoption of comprehensive ] plan of waterway Improvement of the carrying on of the work by adequate