The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1910-02-28
some CONSTRUCTION
AND MIscoNsTRUcTloN

Regarding our little argument about
Highways and Harbors." the Banner
says:
1.-The habit Of misconstruing the ut
terances of this paper has grown
chronic with our neighbor, and we
shall not ask nor do we epect it to
mend it's ways"
This is what the Banner says it
said:
THE Banner did say, however, that
IL the annual appropriations made for
the Improvement Of our rivers and
harbors by the congress of the United
States were going always to result in
Injurious determinations against in
terror towns and cities So as to make
competition impossible, then it were
better for them that we had no nav
igable rivers nor ports Of entry"
And this is what the Banner said:
This paper believes that every town
and city near or remote from our riV-
ers and seaports, would be immensely
better off If there were no navigable
streams nor ports Of entry. Why?
Because then all towns and cities.
would stand upon an equality, so fas
as freight rates are concerned, and it
or unmake our towns and cities"
AS the old farmer said to his ed
ucated son, '1f 'k-a-t-t' doesn't spell
cat what in thunder does it spell?"
The Banner goes on to say:
But IL our neighbor is opposed to
every semblance of Chinese methods,
why Is it so favOring the Payne-Al-
drich tariff wall of exclusion, which
has the Chinese wall skinned to a fin
ish?"
We once heard e-thought or
ator claim that the Bible defended
thieving because the Israelites were
told to despoil the Egyptians, to whom
they had been slaves for hundreds of
years. His argument had about as
much foundation as the Banners
claim that the Star favors the Payne
Aldrich tariff.
Who misconstrues, and who doesn't.
ION the same theory why does not
every state take care of it's own riv-
ers and harbors."
1t isn't a theory but condition.
Looking after the harbOrs and naviga-
BILE streams was delegated to the gen.
eral government at it's formation. The
work has not been confined to the ex-
terror. The federal government has
improved almost every navigable river
In the country, many of them hun
dreds. some of them thousands, OF
miles from the seacOast. Far up to-
ward the headwaters of the MISSISSIPPI
pi. Missouri, Ohio, Arkansas, Red, ST
Johns, even our own little crooked
Oklawaha, you find the marks of the
work of the federal government, in
some instances greater in proportion
to the traffic than at the great sea-
ports.
The Star didn't. hasn't. will not OBJ
ject to the Improvement of interior
highways by the national government
1t mildly said there might be some OBJ
tections to such action.
We think that the stricter school OF
democrats object to the federal gov
eminent doing anything for state
that a state can do for itself. A state
can improve its own highways. but i
can't improve the rivers and harbor:
of another state. therefore, with some
reason, the latter work was given t
the general government. AS far a:
Florida being taxed to improve thu
harbors of Boston and New York, thu
IeueTdl government draws more rev
enue from the harbor of New York il
a day than 1t draws from Jacksonville
in two months, and it stands to reason
that New York pays more for imprOv
ing the harbOr of Jacksonville thar
Jacksonville pays toward improvin:
the harbor Of New York. Just now
the Florida harbors are getting mucl
more in proportion than those of tn
great cities.
considerable majority of the mem
bers Of Congress are elected from in
terror districts. They can appropriat
the money to improve interior high
ways whenever they see fit. The Sta
has no objection to their doing sc
though 1t thinks other people may
What the Star does object to is neg
lecting the rivers and harbors. We ar
sure that such a policy would retar
rather than advance national develop
ment. We needn't go to China for a
object lesson. Her statesmen ar
unanimous in the opinion that tn
slow development of Russia is du
more than anything else to that ma
ton being shut off in almost every di
rection from the sea. When the Ban
ner can point out any entirely milan
nation, past or present, that amounte
or amounts to anything, it will hav
more foundation for its argument.