The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-09-06
Plans to Develop Waterways NH Be Matured In a
 Great Gathering
QUICK WORK NEEDED ID
 FIGHT RAILWAY MERGER
People Are Now Beginning to Realize the Possibilities In Water Trans portation and Will Fight For
 Big Waterways.

Washington, September 5.-lSpeciaLD John A. Fox. special director of the National Rivers and Harbors congress. who has travelled upwards of 25.ocU miles in the interest of the congress. preaching the gospel of improving the rivers and canals of the United States. said today that the biggest waterway convention ever held would assemble n Washington December 8.
 The interest in waterway develop ment was never SD pronounced as now. the conventions of the year dealing with conservation irrigation and otner subjects having paramount importance will culminate in this city in a gather ing of delegates from every stats of the Union to impress upon the con- gress of the United States the impoc- tance of treating the waterways in a much broader and more comprehensive nannsi than it has heretofore done
 MT. Fox, speaking on the subject of waterway improvements, not only as d special director of the National Rivers and Harbors congress, but as an en- gineer trained in the solution of wa terways problems, said. Tt becomes more apparent every day that we ex- pect in the near future Tn continental United States a gigantic railway mer- ger. Efforts to compel railways to compete by law seemingly failed. The indications are that before many months have passed the New York Gen. tral lines will be added to the lines of hl Ia aryi,. syndicate. This will give to MT. liar. riman control of nearly 10000 miles of railway within the boundaries of tho United States.
 Harrimans Grab.
 From the commencement of railroad building in the United States until this year no railway magnet ever dreamed of such a combination of railroads ss this great syndicate will be when com plete control of the Vanderbilt lines passes to Hartman
 MT. Hartman and his associates will then be able to fix absolutely so far as the railway systems of the country are concerned, freight rates in this country.
 Fortunately, however, this proposed consolidation occurs just at a time when the people are beginning to re- alize the importance of waterway im- provements.
 Do you know" MT. Fox continued. that the cities on the 45,000 miles of navigable streams in the United States and the cities on the Pacific, the At lantic and the gulf coasts control 70 per cent of the population of the Union?
 They also control most of the com merce. These cities-that is most of them-are now paying high railroad rates that could be immeasurab1y low cred if the waterways were improved
 If these cities can be thoroughly or- ganized and awakened to the need of cheaper transportation and the im- portance of showing Congress that the only way to do this is through a bord issue of one-half million dollars, there would be such an awakening as Wash ington has not seen In many years, and a correspondingly betterment of the en- tire United States.
 Bond Proposition.
 After full and complete discussion at the fifth annual convention of the National Rivers and Harbors congress held in Washington last December a resolution favoring bond proposition or one-nalf million dollars was unanf- mously adopted and became one of the cardinal blanks In the platform of this great organization of waterways en- th usiasts.
 That proposition has more support today throughout the country than can be realized unless brought face to face with the question as I have been dur ing the past year My judgment is that in 'the congressional campaign of next year many members of Congress will stand or fall on the manner in which they answer the question of their con- stituents.
 Are you or are you not in favor of a bond issue for the improvement of the waterways of the United States to the end that railway freights may be cheapened and that freight congestion on our railways be reduced to the minimum?
 "The commercial nations of conti- mental Europe are expending every year many millions of dollars in an intelligent attempt to improve inland waterways so as to offer cheaper trans portation for the heavier freights What Europe Is doing the United States must do in order to hold It's supremacy as the great commercial nation of the worid.'