Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1907-10-04
President Makes Plea For Improvement
of Rivers
Value to Commerce Inestmabe States of Mississippi
Valley Would Feel Great Impetus to Trade-.-
Thousands Greet Roosevelt in Memphis.

Increase the carrying Of freight from
the northern part Of the valley to the
Gulf. Throughout the valley the land
! Is SO fertile as to make the field for
the farmer peculiarly attractive; and
where In the west the climate becomes
dryer we enter upon the ranching
country; while in addition to the pro-
ducts of the soil there are also the
manufacturers supplied in innumerable
manufacturing centers, great and
small. Cities of astonishing growth
are found everywhere from the Gull
TO the Great Lakes, from the Alleghen.
les to the Rockies; most of them be-
ing situated on the great river which
flows by our doors or upon some of
Its numerous navigable tributaries,
New mineral fields are discovered ey.
cry year, and the constantly increas.
ing use of all the devices of intensive
cultivation steadily adds to the pro.
dnctive power Of the farms.
Rivers Furnish Competition.
Such being the case. and this val.
ley being literally the heart of the
United States, all that concerns its
welfare must likewise concern the
whole country. Therefore, the Missis.
slppl river and its tributaries ought
oy all means to be utilized to their
utmost possibility. Facility of cheap
transportation Is an essential In our
modern civilization, and We can not
anord any longer to neglect the
great highways which nature has pro.
vlded for US. These natural highways.
the waterways, can never be monopo-
lized by any corporation. They be.
long to all the people, and it is In the
power Of no one to take them away.
wherever a navigable river runs be-
side railroads the problem of regu.
lating the rates on the railroads be.
comes far easier, because river regula.
ton is rate regulation. When the
water rate sinks, the land rate can not
be kept at an excessive height There.
fore 1t is Of natural Importance to de.
velop these streams as highways to
the fullest extent which is genuinely
profitable. Year by year transportation
problems become more acute, and the
time has come when the rivers really
ut to serve as arteries of trade should
be provided with channels deep
enough to make the investment of the
necessary money profitable to the pub
lie.
Relieve Congestion Of Traffic.
THE industries developed under the
stimulus Of the railroads are for the
most part permanent industries, and
therefore they form the basis for fu-
ture development But the railroads
have shown that they alone can not
meet the demands of the country for
transportation, and where this Is true
the rivers should begin to supplement
the railroads, to the benefit Of both,
by relieving them of certain OF the
less profitable classes Of freight. The
more farseeing railroad man, I am
glad to tell you, realize this fact, and
many of them have become earnest
advocates of the improvement of the
Mississippi, SO that 1t may become
sort of inland seaboard, extending
from the Gulf far into the interior, and
hope ultimately to the Great Lakes.
An investigation Of the proposed
Lakes-tothe-Gulf deep waterway Is
now in progress under an appropria-
tion Of the last Congress. We shall
await it's results with the keenest in
terest The decision is obviously Of
capital Importance to our internal de.
velpoment and scarcely less so in re-
lation to external commerce.
while thus the Improvement of in
land navigation Is vital problem,
there are other questions of no less
consequence connected with our wat
erways. One Of these relates to the
purity of waters used for the supply
of towns and cities, to the prevention
of pollution by manufacturing and 9TH
er industries, and to the protection of
drainage areas from soil wash through
forest covering or judicious cultiva-
tion. With our constantly increasing
population this question becomes
more and more pressing, because the
health and safety Of great bodies of
citizens are directly involved.
Irrigation Of Arid Lands.
Another important group Of ques-
tions concerns the irrigation Of arid
lands, the prevention Of floods, and
the reclamation Of swamps. Already
many thousands Of homes have been
established in the arid regions, and
the population and wealth Of seventeen
States and Territories have been
largely increased through irrigation.
Yet this means Of national develop
ment is still in its snfancy, and It will
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