The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-02-26
E iGRESSMAN ROBSON , WILL BEGIN EXTENSIVE
 FARMING TOUR APRIL 19
Agricultural Experts Will Accompany MT. Hobson on His Tour and Much. More Time Will
 Be Given Than
 Before.
By WATTERsoN sTEALEY.

ny UHt En0OiN V 6FG1i
 Washington, February 25.-(Special) Representative Burton of Ohio, rne senator -elect, who has reported the last rivers and harbors bill, has made a re- markable record. not only as a legisla tor but as practical, far-seefng build CT of the nations waterways
 Nearly sS0o.OOo, 900 have been appro- for our rivers, harbors and canals and improvements upon quite 5000 miles of waterways have been initiated or con tinued during his term as chairman. Nearly all of the harbors of the coun- try have been materially deepened or enlarged since MT. Burton became chairman, especially the great harbor of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Galveston and Mobile.
 Among other important improvements the present chairman of the rivers and harbors committee has seen accom- plished are: The provision for a 35- foot channel at the mouth of the Missis- sippi; widening and deepening the De- troit river and other connecting water ways of the great lakes. including all of the prominent harbors thereon.
 MT. Burton can lay claim to never having had an amendment put on rivers and. harbors bill against his op- position although several hundred amendments havA been offered on the floor during his chairmanship.
 Theodore F. Burton has always stood for liberality and discrimination to- ward our waterways making these greatest fairness to all localities in the makeup of the bills with which his name has been associated
 What Is needed is a liberal and at the same time comprehensive policy for the improvement of our waterways" said MT. Burton.
 Waste should be avoided and un- worthy projects rejected. But at the same time there should be no fear or hesitancy in spending a sufficient amount of money to bring the naviga- ble channels of the country to a high grade of efficiency.
 Rivers and harbors bills sh ould have to do with navigation primarily and extraneous Improvements, such as flood prevention, drainage and bank protec- tion, sh ould not be included, unless in the interest of navigation and coupled with fair apportionment of the burden of the expense between the federal government and the localities imme- diately interested.
 ultimately under a general plan of conservation and development all the objects mentioned, and others, such as clarification of waters, irrigation and forest preservation will be made part of a comprehensive scheme. But in the meantime immediate provision for navi- gation must by no means be neglected.
 'In time we shall more intelligently appreciate that the waterways of Amer ica as well as the land are a rich pos session of inestimabe value Like other forces of nature when uncontrolled they are a source of injury and danger, but when properly restrained the benefits to be derived from them cannot be overes- timated."
 Too Much Brag.
 'The people of the United States brag too much" said John Sharp Williams, the senator-elect from Mississippi. Tt Is very disgusting to everybody except themselves. They boast even in calling themselves Americans as if people who live in Canada, Mexico and South Amer lea were not equally Americans. We arrogate to ourselves the name of a continent. I think 1t all came about by a sort of intuition that we were to be supremely continental in our greatness in every way.
 Notwithstanding the fact that we brag too much, 1t is still true that we have more to brag of than any other people, more acres more money, more folks more ideas, more activities, a greater productive and a greater con suming capacity, a higher standard of living, and a mere child can read in the book of destiny for us a greater future if we are true to ourselves, our institutions and our ideals of freedom and equality, than any other people.
 "A great many, if not all of us. must get over the notion of loving dollars more than honor As for our prosperity we have been prosperous throughout our entire history, with now and then a set back. and we are destined to re- main prosperous until our land gets over crowded
 Hobson's Farming Tour.
 Representative Hobson of Alabama has arranged for an extensive tour of the Sixth Alabama district under the auspices of the department of agriculture. He will be in personal charge of the tour and will be accompanied by at least six ex- perts from the department of agricul- ture. These specialists will cover the subjects of corn and cotton seed breed ing, animal husbandry including the rais- ing of hogs, mules and poultry, dairy ing and cattle raising in general and in its relation to tick eradication and other veterinary subjects. Beginning at Greens boro, Ala, probably April IS, the party will cover the nine counties of the dis trIct, Hale. Sumter, Greene, Tuscaloosa, Pickens, Lamar. Marion, Fayette and Walker, and will last for period of five or six weeks The time allowed for the trip and for each meeting has been made much longer than on previous tours in order that more time may be given to nersonal interviews and conferences af- ter the meetings. The best experts in