Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-23
TAFT IN FAVOR
OF WATERWAYS
PRESIDENT APPROVES OF IN
LAND CANALS
SAYS HE BELIEVES IN PERMA-
NENT SYSTEM OF DlTcHES
Policy of Issuing Bonds for Carrying
Out Practical Scheme of Improve
ments Favored by Chief
Executive
rRv Associated Press. !

! CORPUS CHRISTI, Tex, oct. 22.-
In an address today before the Inter
| state Inland Waterways league and
| citizens of Corpus Christi, President
! Taft announced himself as strongly
favoring a permanent and practical
system of inland waterways as a
means of controlling railroad rates,
and said he favored the policy of is
! suing bonds for carrying out a prac-
| teal system of improvements.
Up to the present time, Mr.. Taft de-
clared, congress has provided for i'm
/ provements in piecemeal fashion, and
the work has been nothing more than
a procession of jerks"
Before any project was entered on,
the president declared, it should be
thoroughly considered, investigated
and reported on by a board of engi-
neers as to it's feasibility and desira-
bility.
Once the improvement was declared
desirable and the communities which
it was to serve could convince con-
gress that their growth had been such
as to justify the expenditure of a large
sum of money to take care of the in
creasing trade, bonds should be issued
so the improvement might be carried
into effect at once and the benefits be
realized quickly.
Value Should Be Considered
The president said he could see no
difference between improving inland
waterways and digging the Panama
| canal. Each project should be consid-
cred separately, to determine whether
or not it was worth doing.
Mr. Taft referred to the fact that
in the Ohio river Improvements are
under way to obtain a nine-foot stage
from Pittsburg to Cairo. An inter-
01 nj - I1n
would be of great service to the entire
country.
The president said he recognized the
| danger of issuing bonds indiscrimi-
nately, and that the people must not
! lose sight of the fact that some day
the bonds must be paid; but he de-
clared his great faith in the conserva-
! tism of congress and the American
people, and he did not believe they
would go into the improvement of
| waterways by means of a bond issue
on haphazard basis, but would con-
| servatively consult whether or not the
time had arrived 10 do the work
More than s600,0000 900 already had
been spent in the improvement of wa
terways. Instead of working toward
a great avenue of commerce, however,
the money had been used in piecemeal
projects provided for by congress in
as matter of party consideration.
Unjust to criticise Engineers
Criticism of party of army engi-
neers for their policy of a waterway
division, the president declared to be
unjust. Committees of the senate and
house, he said, were responsible for the
| policy pursued. AS long as the home
clamor and party considerations alone
were regarded, the president said, only
| piecemeal work could be expected. The
matter should be looked on from a
business point of view, which, after all
he declared to be a patriotic point OF
view, and the whole subject of i'm
provement should be considered with
reference to necessity, practicability
and the common good of the country.
When approved from these points of
view, bonds should be issued, and the
work carried through with a rush.
While improved waterways were the
best methods of controlling rates on
railroads, the president said they We're
not the only means, and the interstate
! commerce laws should be amended so
as to make these laws effective.
The president said he did not be-
lieve in radical laws that would Grip
pie railroads, and he thought all wise
! persons should agree the best policy
| was square deal for the railroads,
that they should be allowed rates which
they ought to have, and that popular
prejudice should not be permitted to
I'VE are funny people," remarked the
I'VE are funny people, remarked the
president. Before the railroad comes,
everybody is in favor of it. A month
after it comes you can't find anybody
in the country in favor of it, unless it
| be the local counsel"
President Taft arrived here at II
a. m. and was taken to a grandstand
placed at the foot of a natural ter
race where the delegates to the water
ways convention and the general pub
| lie had gathered.
When he finished his speech he went
out to the Corpus Christi golf and
country club and dedicated the new
links by driving a ball from the first
! tee.
The club gave him a bag of nine
| splendid golf sticks as a souvenir.
/ The president and several members of
/ his party dined at the home of Mrs
H. NJ King, who owns more land than
any other woman in the United States.
Her ranch here comprises 100000
acres
The president left Gregory at $50
| for Houston and Dallas.