The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-12
LARGE SUM
 FOR RIVER. Government Appropria- ton for the Alabama. $Ioo,ooo IS NOW AVAILABLE Channel Four Feet Deep Will Be
 Possible.
 eev.r..e,t May survey Hesaw.ters or Ahsana River With Eye To
 Conservation Of Streams Power Production.
$Ioo,ooo IS NOW AVAILABLE

The United States Government has appropriated ss.175.16o for use in river and harbor improvement work. The district of which Alabama is a part will receive 34T5.o0O. and of this amount S1Io.ooo will be used exclusive ly on the Alabama river up to the head of navigation.
 The money is ts be used for. the pres ervation and mGintainance and other requirements of ihe river necessary for navigation and is expected to last un- til June 10, 1910, This sum will enable the local branch of the engineering de- partment to keSp always available. Q channel never lsss than four feet deep. and most of the time a great deal more than that
 Through fsrmer appropriations. something like S30O.oo0, the river has been brought to its present state, and one third of tle number of jetties nec- essary have been built. The last ap- propriation wdll enable the department to complete laif of the number Of jet ties necessary.
 It was stated at the engineers office yesterday that the present carrying ca- pacity of tie river. the year round. isl now equal 10 more than that of five track railryad. and that this compari- son of the rivers use to Montgomery was a low estimate.
 otherimprovement which the gov ernment has under advisement is the survey of the headwaters of the Ala bama river with an eye to the conven- tion of the rivers power production. This survey will include the Etowah, Coosa anl Tallapoosa rivers to deter mine the feasibility of utilizing the na- tural water storage reservoirs, and in particular to arrange one twenty miles long. with, a mean width of two miles and a depth running to 100 feet, to furnish power for electrical work.
 This reservoir. one of the engineer ing force ays. will be sufficient. if properly developed to furnish force that can rua every mill in Alabama. One clause n the provision for the contemplated survey is to see what part of the expense persons interested in the development are willing to bear.
 It was sad by one of the engineer ing officials that the present interest of the eovanment in the Alabama riy- CT Is not que alone to its local trade. but that tie Panama Canal which will tend to dfveiop the mineral resources of Alabama has no little influence in the matter, and that the government wants thu road of traffic to the mineral eelds op4n when the canal Is finished.
 Hon. Xxi Hioki. Charge d'Anairs of Japan. p0S-s has the following to say In refeyence to the United States and khe great Eastern trade:
 ' "Th6 Orient, with more than hAif of the poyulation and moro than one third of the land area of the entire world, and with commerce amounting to three eiiiaots of dollars annually. which is ,A Htae over one-seventh of the total trade or the world. offers an almost un- limied field for future development. The,foreign commerce of Japan. which amounted to ffty-eight million dol- lart in 1880, reached 300 million dol- lars in 1908.
 The foreign commerce of China, waich amounted to 3217.000.0o0 In 1880. amounted ito SS55. 100000 in 1903. The growth of China's commerce was slow. Ehe has ., twenty-six times the srea of Japan and eight times the pop alation, and yet her foreign trade Is only about equal to that of Japan. Should the commerce of China grow to that is $21 per capita. 1t would reach the colossal figure of SIG. 1900. 900. 900. or about one-haif of the worlds commerce of today.
 "What possibilities lie there in Chi- ma? The United States, which has the longest coast line on the Pacific. has entered into the oriental area of com- mercial and industrial competition com- rarativeiy recently. but the prize sine has already gained Is remarkable. The imports of China. Japan and Australia from all the European countries com- hined increased by e45.0oo.o00 during the period of 18s0-19Os. During the same period. the importation from the United States alone increased by $49.- oo0. 900. which is actually greater than fhoae of all Europe combined. That ss the rate of increase of the European during that period was only about 22 per cent. while that of the United States was 1eo per cent
 "But the prospect for future Amer scan trade is still greater. The won- derful facilities afforded by the im- proved cross-continentai communica- fions, the added forces. of the mercan-