The Washington times., 1908-10-07
Thinks Movement Should
Be Treated as Panama
Question Was.
CONVENTION OPENS
WITH 1000 PRESENT
Report of Secretary and Candi-
dates Address Featured
the Session.

CHICAGO. oct. President William
K. Kavanaugh called the convention OF
the Lakes To the Gulf Deep Waterways
Association to order at 20 o'clock today.
one thousand delegates. including 80
men prominent in public life. were pres
ent at the opening session William
Howard Taft. who was one OF the
speakers Of the morning, Occupied a seat
on the platform.
The opening address was made by
President Kavanaugh. He outlined the
purposes Of the association, saying that
il might be expressed by the broad
question:
shall our national prosperity be pro-
NOTED and perpetuated?" ?"
Bishop FaIIows pronounced the invo-
cation
Secretary's Report
The report of William H Saunders,
/ secretary Of the association, was then
read. The report stated the history Of
the association, paying a tribute TO the
aid which the movement had received
from President Roosevelt and TO the
/ governors of the various States, who
had acted as members Of the advisory
! board.
/ II was largely due 20 this help. the
( secretary said that the association
/ had been successful IN arOusiug the
/ sentiment Of the people TO the neces-
sity of the development Of internal
. waterways He spoke Of the change
/ In sentiment displayed by Congress
men. since the days when a river and
! harbor bill had been killed by a fill
/ buster. 10 the present. when Congress
had shown Itself deeply interested in
tie water development OF river trans
Crrtation-
/ appointment Of committees and rOu-
/ tine business followed Gov Charles
/ S. Din5en introduced william Howard
Taft. who addressed the convention.
Pledged to Generosity.
Mr.. Taft pledged himself to a sys-
tematic generous policy for the i'm
provement of our rivers and lakes.
/ The cost Of making ocean harbors out
of the cities Of the Great Lakes, the
y Mississippi and its tributaries VIII be
enormous, he said. but large as It
promises to be, 1t viii be a splendid in
vestmeut and pay tremendous divi-
. dendS in the saving Of freight charges
and the opening up Of vast undeVelOped
areas Of the country After referring
To the work already accomplished IN a
. small way. he said that the time had
come when il was imperative 10 con-
/ slider the improvements. according TO
7 some general and comprehensive plan
so as TO mold them into a complete
/ system OF transportation
| we find" he continued, that the
I enormous increase in the productions
Of our people in all lines Of Industrial
activity has Outstripped the ability Of
our great ..IrOad systems, extensive
and efficient as they are. 10 transport
! them. We find that during the ten
/ years ended with ISGJ. the internal com
per cent. while railroad transporta-
ton facilities during the same time
have increased oriy 20 per cent.
Question of the Hour.
Transportation is the question OF
the hour. How can we solve It? we
must have recourse TO our waterways
NO nation has been so favored with
/ so magnificent a system Of navigable
lakes, reaching in their ProvidentIal
distribution every section OF the great
, valley lying between our East and
West mountain ranges, and OF the
slopes from these 10 their respective
coasts. Nor does a policy Of water
| way improvement operate disadvan-
!. I tageoUsly TO the railroads, even though
II cOmpels lower freight rates In tbe
| bulky, raw material, commanding the
Hover freight charge, falls to the
I waterways, while the manufactured
goods Of infinite variety seek the rail-
road.
by reason Of the lower water rate
Continued on Ninth Page)