The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-11-23
BY ALFRED ,. sTOFER.

BY ALFRED !. sToFEN.
 wasAiHss4D df a0s she atiaSss pespe | Waterways Association, wnlcn VIZ held in Baltimore during the week. | will doubtless result in torciniy cAlItnS the attention of Congress to the puE-
 poses of this unusually strong @sS0' | clation.
 It was a fine body of men and they were much in earnest. The proceed ! ings during the closing days or Lne
 week were much talked of here. There were large delegations from all of the
 New England and Middle States ana the delegates from the following Soutn- ern states also were much In evidences | Maryland, Florida, Georgia, South Car oiIna. North Carolina. Virginia ana
 West Virginia.
 Last year the convention was heIa In
 Philadelphia. Next year It VIII as-
 sernble in Norfolk and will doubtless go further South later on.
 Congressman J. Hampton Moore or
 Philadelphia. is the President or tne
 Association. He was unanimously re-
 elected Mir. Moore Is one of the most
 active and untiring men in public life. Before he became treasurer of the city of Philadelphia upwards of a decade ago he was for number of years a | member of the local stan of The Phll-
 adelpfia Ledger. His newspaper ex' l | wide acquaintance. When the Bureau | of Manufactures was established, Pres fdent Roosevelt made Mfr, Moore It's first chief, but he did not remain long | in that oface. The pay was only $4.- | 900 A year. Mir. Moore was elected | President of 6 leading trust company
 in his home city and quit Washington
 to accept that position. Later ne was sent to Congress, and although his
 service here dates back only about | three years. he has made a decided mark among the national legislators. | In addition to his activity and being
 well posted he is an exceptionally
 forcible and ready speaker. ad- River and HarbOr Bill.a It seems to be generally conceded | that Congress will at the coming ses- sion pass a regular river and -harbor bill. There was no measure of this | sort last session, but of course many | public works classed as continuing | contracts were appropriated for in the | sundry civil appropriation bill as pro- vided for by law. The commercial in" | terests are surely crowdtng Congress l In the matter of making better pro- vision for the improvement of water
 ways that have been long neglected It | will not be strange if such demands are made next winter by members from all sections of the United States
 that will agitate Speaker Cannon.
 Uncle Joe" denies right along that
 he Is opposed to a proper improvement | of the waterways That is constantly charged against him, and 1t makes him
 mad all over to read such things in 1 the newspapers. He says invariably when the subject is brought up that | he is willing enough if somebody will | tell him where the money is to come
 from to appropriate for the projects l urged by the various improvement con- ! ventions. Those who differ with the Speaker contend that he comes from | a "dry land" section of Illinois and l that he has never been able to con- vince himself that other parts of the United States would be benefited com- mercially if adequate appropriations were made for the improvement of the
 waterways. Army engineers keep hanmering away in their reports that the reason so little permanent good is | effected is that Congress votes money
 in such little dabs that large propor- ton of the works fall to pieces before l they can be completed.
 It will not be many days before the
 National Rivers and Harbors Congress 1 will assemble in Washington. That convention is expected to endorse prac-
 tically everything that has been rec l commended by the Atlantic Association this week.
 Inland Waterways.
 There is evidently a strong move ment on foot for the improvement of the inland waterways. The canal | question Is coming to the front more than ever. Attention is being called vigorously to the wonderful system of canals constructed in several of the European countries. Canals in the | Atlantic Seaboard States are urged as the proper solution of the water trans portation problem, for they will con- | meet the navigable rivers on which the United States government has spent
 so many millions of dollars.
 | The following editorial from The | Washington Post will be of interest in the South and to Alabamians particular | ly because a reference Is made therein ! to the great speech made by the late | Senator Morgan on the subject of ca ! nals:
 If this government should appro- 1 priate and providently expend on it's | waterways. including canals and har- bors. ten billions, the system-area considered, the number of water courses taken Into computation, and the need ed canals embraced in the account would not nearly attain to the degree of perfection of the French waterway arrangement. But France began im- provlng her rivers and digging her ca | nAls at the initiative of the great Col | bert more than two centuries ago, and | has persisted in the work ever since his day. On the other hand, the peo-
 pie of the United States have devoted