St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1909-11-06

tee-"We the delegates to this fourt1
Lakes-to-the-Gulf Deep Waterwa,
Convention, the largest convention O.
the people of the United States eve,
assembled for the purpose of promot
ing commerce through the develop
ment of our waterways; COMPRISING
ouly appointed delegates to the mum
Der OF more than five thousand from
every State in the Union, includint
the Governors of a majority of tht
States, having as guests the President
and Vice President of the United
states, several members of the Cabi.
net. the Speaker of the House, and g
large number of Senators and Repre-.
sentatlves; repsenting the commercial
and industrial interests of the entire
country; having deeply at heart the
welfare OF the entire nation, no less
than the great part thereof lying
within the Mississippi Valley; having
clearly in mind the duties and respon-
slbilities Of American citizens toward
the initiation and direction of all move
ments for the general welfare of the
country; ana realizing that the moral
integrity and spiritual stamina no less
than the material growth of the ma
clon as whole are and must be shaped
through the conscience and voice of
the people, do hereby resolve and de-
clare:
II. We affirm our conviction that
under the spirit and intent of the Con-
stitution Of the u nited States this is
government of the people by the
people for the people, and declare that
any special or local interest or plat
form or policy in conflict with the
inherent rights and sovereign will of
che people will not be tolerated.
-. We adhere firmly to the princi-
pies embodied in our constitution that
it is the duty and is within the powers
OF the Federal government to promote
the general welfare of the United
States and to regulate commerce
with foreign nations and among the
several States,' and we accept and
affirm the unquestioned Interpretation
Of Chief Justice John Marshall that
the regulation of commerce involves
the Improvement, development and
protection of our waterways. We ad-
here also to the ninth and tenth
amendments to the constitution guar
anteeing to the people all rights and
powers not delegated to the United
States nor prohibited to the constituent
States, and affirm our sovereign right
TO retain and defend all interests es-
aential to our common welfare arising
through the natural growth and order
ly development of our people, our
States and our nation.
''3. We declare our firm conviction
and fixed intention that the Federal
government should, and shall without
needless delay, enter upon definite
policy and plan of waterway develop
ment, beginning with the improve
ment Of the Mississippi and Illinois
rivers, as the main trunk of a great
waterways system in such manner as
to open effective navigation between
the Gulf OF Mexico in the South and
the Great Lakes in the North; such
main trunk to be developed without
disparagement of and with constant
reference to the concurrent effective
development of the tributaries, the
other great rivers of the country and
their tributaries, the lakes, bays,
bayous, and sounds of all sections of
the country, and the canals and con-
Meeting passages required in and for
comprehensive system of inland navi-
CATION adapted to our great and rapid
" growing commercial needs. We
find the warrant for our conviction
and intention, first, in the extent of
the interior valley drained chiefly by
the Mississippi, comprising as it does
about half the area and that by far
the most productive portion-of the
country, including the whole or parts
OF thirty great States; second, in the
commercial needs of this vast area
which, during the last half century,
have increased more rapidly than those
OF any equivalent arear on the globe
in all the worlds history; third, in the
ample ability of the interior States to
bear their necessary burden of any
commercial development required to
meet their growing population and
industries and in their hearty willing
ness to do this except. in so far as they
are stopped by those constitution
provisions which impose the duty
on the Federal government; fourth, IN
the Indifferent and virtually repressive
Dolicy hitherto pursued by the Federal
government, under which the naviga-
tion necessary to proper commercial
and industrial development has been
not only to fall far
behind the growth of the country but
actually to decline, and nearly disap-
near from the finest and grandest
natural waterway system in the world;
and. fifth, in the vast and vigorous
and progressive population Of the
;.terior valley, comprising more than
nalf the people Of the United States
ia ne declare that the voice Of the |
~