Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-05-11
OUR WATERWAYS.


The President has called confer
ence of governors and other represent
ntive men TO convene at Washington
on the 18th inst. and discuss the Inn
portant questions relating to the inn
provement OF the waterways of the
country. on March IA, 1907, Presi-
dent Roosevelt appointed a commits
sion to prepare and report COM
prehensivo plan for the Improvement
and control Of the river systems OF
the United States'' This commission
submitted to the president prelim-
mary report, dated February 3, 1908,
which was transmitted to Congress
with n message, dated February rs.
1908: and the conference Of governors
is the next step for the promotion of
the object in view.
In his message of Feb. &C. the
President states that 'our river sys-
TENS are better adapted to the needs
of the people than those of any other
country. In extent. distribution, nav
liability, and ease of use, they stand
first. Yot the rivers OF no other civ
ilized country are so poorly develop
ed, so little used. or play so small
part in the industrial life of the Ma
ton as those of the United States"
There is, of course, natural rea-
son for this. The United States is a
new country. comparatively speaking.
Its development belongs to the rail
way era" and more attention has been
paid, and rightly so. to the building
OF railroads than the deepening of
rivers. The older countries depended,
before the railways. on rivers and
canals for the inland traffic. But, tho
time has certainly como for this
country to develop It's river systems.
for the simple reason that railroad
building can no longer keep UP with
the ever growing demands OF the
country for transportation facilities.
In times OF plenty, we hear OF the inn
possibility OF supplying freight cars
enough. and as a consequence prices
on commodities of life are raised to
famine figures.
From the point of view of the con-
question. According to an article in
Popular Mechanics for January, 1t Is
estimated that so per cent of the en-
tire cost of living Is expended for
transportation OF goods from place to
place. 1t is claimed that a large pro-
portion of the articles we use costs
less than $500 a ton ut the point OF
-. .,a, 10
ton Of freight by water is said TO be
from .92 Of q mill to Il mill per ton
mile, While the cost by rail Is 7.5
mills. Anyone can calculate the inn
r1ense advantages water transporta-
ton gives TO a community And II Is
stroys the railroad lines. In the old
world where canals and railroads
sometimes parallelY one another, the
business Is plenty for both. 1t viii
be so here. Only, the public will get
tho benefit of the reduced rates on
goods, and the increased volume OF
business will more than compensate
the transportation companies for the
lower rates.
The enormous cost Of making the
rivers navigable and deepening the
harbors, etc, could be met by re-
trenchment in the military expendi-
lures. We now spend an unreason-
ably large per centage OF the entire
revenues OF the country for war pur-
poses. Some of that money could be
used to advantage for the purpose OF
developing tho resources and the lines
of transportation OF the country, And
IL must be done, too, If our civiliza-