The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-01-24
WATER POWER SITES MUST
 BE CONSERVED
REPORT FROM INLAND WATER WAYS COMMISSION IS SUB-
 MITTED TO CONGRESS.
DECREASE IN STEAMBOAT TRAF- FIG CREDITED TO RATE STIF-
 LING BY RAILROADS,
IMPROVEMENT OF WATERWAYS PREFERRED AS CHEAPER
 THAN BUILDING
 CANALS
Special from United Press)


 1 Washington. Jan. 4.-Policies design | ed to govern the future improvement | of the waterways of the country and the regulation of water power by the government in order to prevent monop- oly, are set forth in a report submitted to Congress today by the Inland Wa l terways Commission. The commission consists of 12 members of the Senate and House with Senator Burton, of Ohio, chairman. and have been hard at work since last March
 The report credits the general de- crease in steamboat traffic in this country to superior facilities of the rates to stif1e boat traffic where it of fers competition. The Mississippi river shows @ heavy decrease in ton mage and the Great Lakes a notable increase. The Erie canal and the Hudson river have shown a falling off, particularly heavy in the last few years, and the Kanawha, Tennessee and Monongahela rivers among others, have increased tonnage. To the plea that improvement of water routes re- OuceS rates by rail even if the water ways are not used, the report says:
 ''The commission, while fully recog- nizing this fact. cannot endorse this
 
 rests, in the first instance, upon the transparent fallacy that the railroads constitute an intrenched and uncOn- trollable monopoly which cannot be reached by legislation or other orderly legal methods; that the only way in which to compel them to lower rates is by the expenditure of large sums of money in the improvement of channels which are to remain wholly or partial ly in use."
 A majority of the commission recom- mended that the Interstate Commerce Commission be given uower to pre- scribe minimum rates wherever. in it's opinion, the object of a railroad in re- ducing rates is to destroy waterway competition.
 'sWhile the tendency of waterway Improvements to lower freight rates Is an important element to be consider ed,'' says the report. ''the fundamental criterion should be whether a railway or waterway. when constructed or im- proved, will be a, profitable investment of capital. Statistical information on the subject is furnished by several diff ferent bureaus of the service and is strikingly lacking in uniformity and insufficient classification as we'll. It is recommended that a uniform sys- tenn be established applicable to all waterways"
 Improvement of national waterways is much preferred by the commission to the building of canals. the latter work involving far greater expense in the purchase of land and cost of con- struction.
 Canals for sea-going ships are con- sidered favorably by the commission in order to overcome a narrow barrier between navigable waters: to save a great sailing distance as lin the case of the SueZ Canal. The commission comments the present plan of making the adoption of improvement projects subject to the approval of boards of army engineers
 tNThe commission strongly recom- mends." continues the report, ''the greatest care in conservation of water power for the people. It is especially recommended such legislation be pass ed that would prevent a monopoly of that power." It is further recon- mended that the government should have and exercise the power to charge tolls for the use of the power develop ed by dams constructed by and for the improvement of irrigation. The sug- gestion is made that a provision re- serving to Congress the right to alter, amend or repeal should be included in every act granting water power rights.
 A long statement telling what the commission learned on it's trip abroad last summer is to the effect that in Europe the waterways carry a great and constantly increasing tonnage and are most important factors in the com- mercial world