Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-02
NO TIME TO SPARE.
The House Resumes Consideration of
the Waterways Bill.

Immediately after the approval of the
Journal today the House resumed consid-
GRAFTON of the river and harbor appropria-
tIon bill the leaders recognizing that IL the
decks are to he cleared of legislation be-
fore March and the several budgets pass
ed to carry on the several departments of
the government until June 30. 1908. earnest
work will have to be done.
representative Small of North Carolina
insisted that if the internal trade of the
country is to be preserved additional water
ways would have to be developed ana pres
ent waterways deepened and widened. he
addressed the House particularly in favor
OF a canal from Norfolk to beaufort Inlet
the entire distance being 2O4 miles Inc
last estimate of the board of engineers hxed
the cost of the project at S3,oOO,OtD. He SAID
the project covered largely natural water
ways the deepening of the rivers being the
largest cost.
Hepburn Attacks the Bill.
Representative Hepburn of Iowa address
ed the House on the project championed
by the Missouri and Illinois members for
a deep waterway from Chicago to the gulf.
He made reply to Mr.. Clark of Missouri,
who. he said, wanted to build a waterway
1900 miles in extent between granite walls
30 feet high He had seen the MISSISSIPPI
river when five miles in extent, with
efforts of man to hold it. He characterlzed
the scheme as "Utopian and chimerical
and declared that when the proposed water
way from St Louis TO Cairo should be COM
nleted il would have a velocity of from 20
to - miles an hour. That would be ad-
mirable for downstream navigation, he
said. but asked. How would vessels get
up?
'"Vhen Won take out the sand bars and
the sinuosities from river you increase its
current enormously, making it practically
impossible for navigation" he declared.
OF the Missouri river. Mr. Hepburn saio
that the sand bars and the bends in that
stream had made it absolutely Impossible
OF navigation, and to his personal knowl-
edge not one steamboat had passed up that
river in fifteen years.
1--WE have spent on the improvements Of
the waterways of the United States S24o.-
OoOOoO and of this amount nearly $l4o-
OOO.Go0 had been spent on the Mississippi
Improvement of the Ohio.
His criticism of the bill extended to gen.
eral discussion of the project for the i'm
provement of the Ohio river, in which he
charged that he had read somewhere that
the gentleman from Pittsburg (Mr. Dali
zeln had said that the people of Pittsburg
wanted $500 600, 900 to complete the project.
Mr. Dalzell interrupted to say that 1.-THE
gentleman from Pittsburg' had made no
such statement, and said that he had not
asked either for S30O.OOO0 900. $3O,0OO,OOO or
$3.C00.OO0.
Then I assume that you don't want it.
replied Mr. Hepburn. but that the other
fellows from Pittsburg do.
Mr.. Hepburn said that the steamboat as
a mode of transportation was thing OF
the past and it was his belief that double
track railroad would have a cheaper carry
ing capacity per mile than the Hennepin
canal.
Mr. Hepburn's attack on the river and
harbor bill was followed closely by the
House. there being little attempt to inter-
rupt.
MIR Hepburn gave notice of an amend
rnent he intended to offer to limit the ex-
pendture of the appropriation for the Mis-
souri, river to the protection of its banks
and channel not for the improvement or
the navigation of the stream.
Mr. Keller of Ohio opposed the bill and
gave notice of an amendment providing that
before appropriations are made for a river
and harbor project the President snail APP
point a board of three army engineers to
pass upon the necessity of the proposed i'm
provement and its lasting benefit to the
country.
Eulogies of German.
At o clock the river and harbor appro-
priation bill was laid aside that the House
might listen to eulogies on the life. charac-
ter and public services of the late senator
from Maryland, Arthur 2. German.