The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1908-12-10
FOR INLAND WATERWAYS.
Action That Will Result In Permanent
Improvement Demanded.

improvement Demanded.
Action should be begun forthwith, dur.
Ing the present session OF the congress-,
Tor the improvement Of our inland water
ways-action which will result in giving
us not only n%avigable u ~navtgated
lions OF dollars upon these waterways.
yet the traffic IN nearly all Of them 10
steadily declining. This condition Is the
direct result of the absence Of any COM
prehensive and far-seeing plan Of
waterway improvement. Obviously We
cannot continue thus to expend the rev-
enues OF the government without return.
1t Is poor business to spend money for
Inland navigation unless we get It.
Inquiry into the condition Of the Mis-
slssippi and its principal tributaries re-
veals very many instances Of the utter
waste caused by the methods which have
hitherto obtained for the so-called Sim
stance Is supplied by the Improvement"
Of the Ohio. which began in 1924. was
continued under a single plan for half q
century. In 1876 a new plan was
adopted and followed for a quarter Of
a century. In 1902 still a different plan
was adopted and has since been pur-
sued at q rate which only promises q
navigable river from 20 to 100 years
longer.
Such short-sighted, vacillating and fu-
tile methods are accompanied by de-
creasing water"borne commerce and in
creasing traffic congestion on land, by
increasing floods. and BY the waste Of
public money. The remedy lies in aban-
doning the methods which have SO sig
nally failed and adopting new ones
In keeping with the needs and demands
of our people.
In a report on a measure adopted at
the first session Of the present congress.
Pho CoNraforHy ~ %r~- -~(l m -
defect in the methods hitherto pursued
lies In the absence of executive authority
for originating comprehensive plans COW
er1ng the country or natural divisions
thereof" In this opinion I heartily con
cur. The present methods not only fail
to give us inland navigation, but they are
injurious to the army as we'll. What IL
virtually a permanent detail Of the corps
@ engineers to civilian duty necessarily
impalrs the efficiency Of our military es-
Enlistment h military engineers have
undoubtedly done efficient work in actu-
al construction, but they are necessarily
unsuited by their training and traditions
and transmit to the congress the COM
mercial and industrial information and
forecasts, upo which waterway improve
ment must always SO largely rest. Fur
thermore, they have failed to grasp the
great underlying fact that every stream
is a unit from its source to its mouth,
n that all its uses are interdependent.
Prominent officers of the engineer corps
Rave recently even gone SO far as to as
sert In print that waterways are not de-
pendent upon the conservation Of the for
ests about their headwaters. This posi-
ton Is opposed to all the recent work
OF the scientific bureaus Of the govern
ment and to the general experience Of
mankind. A physician who disbelieved
In vaccination would not be the right
mar to handle an epidemic of smallpox.
nor should we leave a doctor skeptical
about the transmission Of yellow fever
by the Stegomyia mosquito in charge Of
sanitation at Havana or Panama. So
with the Improvement Of our rivers: It
Is no longer wise or safe to leave this
great work In the hands Of men who fail
to grasp tho essential relations between
navigation and general development and
to asslmtlate and use the central facts
about u streams.
Modern Methods In Demand.
Until the work Of river Improvement L.
undertaken In a modern way it can not
have results that will meet the needs Of
this modern nation. These needs should
be met without further dilly-dallying or
delay. The plan which promises the best
and quickest results Is that Of q per-
manent commission authorized to co-or-
dinaee the work Of all the government
departments relating to waterways, and
to frame and supervise the execution Of
a comprehensive plan. Under such .
commission the actual work Of construc-
ton might be entrusted to the r~eclarna-
ton service; or to the military engineers
acting with q sufficient number Of civil.
ans to continue the work in time Of war:
or 1t might be divided between the rec
lamation service ana the corps Of en-
sineers. Funds should be provided from
current rovonuaQ ~ T. e daaroaa rSn~
otherwise from the sale Of bonds. The
essential thing IL that the work should
go forward under the best possible plan,
IN with the least possible delay. We
should have a new type Of work and
a new organization for planning and d.
our waterways is past. The country de-
mands results.
I urge that all our national parks ad.
jacent to national forests be placed COM
pletely under the control Of the forest
service Of the agricultural department,
instead of leaving them as they now are.
under the interior department and po-
Iced by the army. The congress should
provide for superintendent with ade-
quate corps of first-class civilian scouts.
or rangers. and further, place the road
construction under the superintendent
instead of leaving it with the war de-
partment. Such a change in park man.
oS"ASA WYNN ASoAAS ~ CSOGlOlIly anu
avoid the difficulties Of administration
which now arise from having the respon-
sibility Of care and protection divided
between different departments. The need
for this course is peculiarly great in the
Yellowstone park. This. like the Yo-
semitic, is a great wonderland, and should
be kept as a national playground. In
both all wild things should be protected,
and the scenery kept wholly unmarried.
I am happy to say that I rave been
able to set aside in various parts of the
country small, well-chosen tracts Of
ground to serve as s~anctuaries and uurs.
cries for wild creatures. q.
Denatured Alcohol.
1 had occasion In my message Of May
I. 1905, to urge the passage Of some law
putting alcohol. used In the arts, indus.
tries. n manufactures, upon the free
list: that Is. to provide for the With
drawal free Of tax OF alcohol which is to
be denatured for those purposes. Tho
law Of June Z, 1905, and its amendment
Of March 2. 1907. accomplished what was
desired In that respect. and the use Of
denatured alcohol, as intended, Is making
a fair degree Of progress and IL entitled
to further encouragement and support
from the congress.
Pure Food.