The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-01-14

the description l have given is that
of introducing dams into the Ohio
river from Pittsburg to Cairo, so as to
maintain at all seasons of the year.
by slack water, a depth Of nine feet
Upwards of seven Of these dams
have already been constructed and six
are under construction, while the to-
tai required is fifty. The remaining
cost is known to be $63,OOO,000.
1t seems to me that In the develop
ment of our inland waterways 1t
would be wise to begin with this par
ticular project and carry 1t through
as rapidly as possible.
I assume from reliable information
that it can be constructed economical
ly in ten years. recommend, there
fore, that the present congress, in the
river and narbor bill, make provision
for continuing contracts to complete
this Improvement, and / shall rec
| ommend in the future, IL 1t be neces-
sary, that bonds be included to carry
1T through.
What has been said Of the Ohio
river is true in a less complete way
of the Improvement of the upper Mis-
sissippi from st. Paul to st. Louis, to
a constant depth of six feet, and from
st. Louis to Cairo to a depth of eight
feet. These projects have been pro-
nounced practicable by competnet
boards of army engineers, their
cost has been estimated. and there
is business which will follow the i'm
provement.
AS these improvements are being
made, and the traffic encouraged by
them shows itself OF sufficient i'm
portance, tine Improvement of the Mis-
sissippi beyond Cairo down to the
gulf, which is now going on with the
maintenance of depth of nine feet
everywhere, may be changed to an
other and greater depth If tine neces-
sity for it shall appear to arise out
of the traffic which can be delivered
on the river at Cairo.
The European Plan.
/ am informed that the investigation
by the waterways commission in Eu-
rope shows that the existence of
waterway by no means assures traffic
unless there is traffic adapted to wa
ter carriage at cheap rates at one
end or the other of the stream.
1t also appears i'm Europe that the
rarely more than six feet and never
more than nine. But it Is certain
that enormous quantities of merchan-
dis are transported over the rivers and
canals in Germany and France and
England, and 1t Is also certain that
the existence of such methods OF traf-
fic materially affects the rates which
the railroads charge, and 1t lis the best
regulator of those rates that we have.
not even excepting the governmental
regulation through the interstate
commerce commission. For this reas-
on, hope that this congress will take
such steps that 1T may be called the
Inauguration OF the new system of in
land waterways.
For reasons which 1t Is not here to
state. congress has seen fit to order
an investigation into the interior de-
partmert and the forest service of the
agriculture department. The results
of the investigation are not needed TO
determine the value of, and the neces-
sity for the new legislation which /
have recommended, in respect to the
public lands and in respect to recla-
nation. / earnestly urge that the
measures recommended be taken up
and disposed of promptly, without
awaiting the investigation which has
been determined upon.
William III. Taft, the White House,
Jan. Ia, 1910.