The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-07-20
NEW ENGLAND NEEDS
 CHEAPER TRANSPORTATION

In a recent speech before the Bridge port Manufacturers Association, Con gressman Hill declared that New Eng land was losing it's industrial suprem- acy. that the West and the South are taking away very much of its Dusl- ness that this section is handicapped by it's distance from raw materials and markets and that the manufac- turing cities of the Middle West were profiting by railroad rates lower than those exacted here.
 at: Hill quoted from a speech de- livered by Congressman Moore of Phil a6elphia, in which he declared that the problem for New England is a problem of advancement. or retarda- ton; of submission to existing condi- tions. with all their drawbacks and limitations or of insistence upon the natural, unrestricted, God given meth eds of communication which provide relief. which afford competition, and which encourage the development of a trade This statementN was endorsed by Mr. Hill as right. for situated as we are, hundreds of miles from raw, : materials and from the center of the market for finished products the prob- lem of transportation is the one which yit-lly affects our future"
 Congressman Moore may be called the leading figure in the Atlantic Deeper Waterways Association. the most prominent advocate of an inland waterway from Maine to Florida. This association will hold its third
 .% l., ion August 31 Sept. 1. 2 and 3, the expectation being that it will awaken New. England to a realization of its pressing need of the accomplishm of the organizations object. as such need has been voiced by Congressmen Hill and Moore. The projected inland waterway includes Long Island Sound. upon which Bridgeport is. as yet, a port but with sadly restricted facili- lies.
 In MT. Moore's speech upon this sub ject before the House on June "A. he said:
 Grave and serious questions which affect the entire Atlantic coast affect New England perhaps more seriously than any of the other seaboard States. It was because of these conditions that the distinguished Governor of Rhode Island the Hon. Aram J. POthler. suggested the Providence meeting and helped to arouse his compatriotS of the New England States. Governor Poth- fer realized the vast significance of New England's industrial activity, but he also knew that without adequate transportation facilities New England Stood in danger of losing it's high place as financial and manufacturing cen ter.
 Il. New England with all it's boasted heraldry. intelligence. and progress; with it's natural coast lines. it's splen- did harbOrs and rivers capable of inn provement, is really bottled up''; that it must come and go at the bidding it contributes freely and generously of its population and it's wealth to the ,upbuilding of Western States where competition has forced improved facil- 1tieS and where the public mind had been stirred to a spirit akin to the an cient New England spirit of independ- ence it is now submissive to the re- stricted conditions which environ it.
 MT. Moore also quoted from the res olutions adopted at the last conven- ton of the Atlantic Deeper Water ways Association, as follows:
 The association is willing to rest it's case for the prompt construction of coastwise canals upon the facts
 That the railroads are already over worked: that while in ten years Amer ican railroad traffic has increased 21a times. railroad capacity has increased but little more than one-fifth; that one tow of barges will carry freight that would fill 10 railroad trains of 25 cars each of 30 tons capacity; that the average rate being one-tenth of the rate per ton on the railroads, plainly indicates the advantage that may be gained for American domestic trade by the creation of waterways between great industrial communities; and, finally. that while far more traffic can always be carried upon a canal than upon a railway, there is clear evidence that by no possibility can American railroad capacity expand rapidly enough to meet the require ments of swift-growing home trade.
 We ask that Congress at it's next session make the necessary appropria- ton for the continuance and compile tion of the route from Norfolk to Beaufort N. C.. which is now under construction by the United States Gov ernment.
 We ask that Congress shall immed- lately provide for the purchase of the existing Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, and improve and enlarge the same in accordance with the report made to Congress.
 That construction shall be inaugur-
 
 River and thence to Florida
 That the extension north from the Delaware River to New York Bay and Long Island Sound and thence to Bos- ton is justified by the large existing commerce demanding water transport.
 No city on the Atlantic coast is more greatly interested than the manufac- turing city of Bridgeport in the inland waterway outlined above. 'New Eng land needs.' says MT. Moore, 'im- proved communication with the South and West; it ought to have an anchor to the windward' in transportation. '' And Bridgeport is part of New Eng lard.
 Local manufacturers and business men should evince lively interest in the coming convention at Providence. It will be a notable gathering. Presi- dent Taft, Cabiret members, Cover nors, U. s. Senators and Representa-