The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1910-04-03

whatever may be our legislative prece-
) dents, our governmental ideas, or our
constitutional limitations Unless an OF OF
these are suboTdina ted to the demands or
inevitable natural laws. we shall be
: likened unto him who attacks stone
fronted by conditions which must be met
with the mathema teal accuracy and they,
and they alone, shall dictate along which
: path our legislation and our policies must
go. Just so far as we depart from that
inevitable path just so far shall We miss
the mark and just so surely shall we be
obliged to retrace our steps.
WTERWAYs.
In our new boyd of union the develop
ment of our inland water ways stands
most prominent, and yet. as l. have
! already said, our methods and policies are
so far behind the progress of the people
and they take so little account of the
fundamental laws and engineering neceS-
sites, that thoroughgoing change IS
consecutive plan for the whole country
or even. for a whole river. system. Rep
/, resentatives in Congress introduce bills
providing for this or that river and har-
Dor Improvement. All of these are shaken
: together, and there is brought forth
river and harbor BILL providing for sur
vey here, a dam there, and deepened
channel in another place. There is no
assurance that the work on any particu-
lar river will be prosecuted continuously
until completion-no assurance that ap
preparations will be forthcoming to carry
conservative order, these projects are car
ried along in INTERRUPTED fashion, until
, to-day we have patchwork. In which
some particular plan, but does not neces-
sarily correlate with the others. Although
about FIVE hun9red mill million dollars dollars Il, has
improvement so far carried out is ade
quate. Somewhat more than a year ago
the Mississippi river from ST. Paul. For
three days we encountered not single
boat on that great national waterway, ex-
which halnn IN
ment. Here is an Immensely productive
empire and 1t was al that time in the
: midst of the corn-shipping season. For a
great part of the way, railroads slIirted
the banks on both sides and an almost
endless succession of trains were thunder
ducts Why did not some Of that great
cargo go south by river? There are sew
eral reasons. but the greatest is that
there is provided on this river only a
II four foot channel in low water. Boats of
Il this draft cannot carry sufficient cargo to
compete with railroad service. All of this,
in the final analysis, comes back. to the
provincial and short-sishted public poll
ticians that prevail.
: The River and Harbor bill can no longer
} be called the pork barrel. but this has
been largely due to the wisdom, the stead
fastness,, and the earnest devotion of a
| few men. the present members of the
| Rivers and Harbors Committee. The
Improvement therefore, has been a per-
sonal basis rather than a legislative one.
Whatsoever has been done to place our
waterways improvements on a "a tional
basis has been accomplished in spite of
our policies, rather than by reason of
them.
CONGRESSIONAL EFFICIENCY.
we are sending to congress to-day men
of more patriotic devotion than have ever
years. our National legislature possessed
Few men OF conspicuous ability. who
attained extraordinary fame by reason
of the contrast that they presented to
, the rank and file of their colleagues To-
congress- me nf
extraordinary ability that they have
: leavened the whole lot. Sometimes we
congress- no more Calhoung and Web
| sters, Hills and Blaines, Lamars and
J Conklings The truth, is that we have
, them all by the score, but in spite of this
they are practically helpless to give their
people the waterway improvements they
demand. and the reason is that they are
throttled by a, federal policy that out
CORPORATION EXAMPLE.
J this kind. l think the country can well
pattern after the methods pursued by our
, great corporations. These, great compa-
their history shows that they have re-
duced to science the art of looking af
ter number one. There is no reason why
our government should not look after the
interests of its people with the same ZEAL
in its great projects of development.
i. What now, would such a company do if
: it were to develop our waterways I am
persuaded that its first step would be to
| determine upon a broad ana feasible plan
; for making these improvements, so that
} the results would satisfy all demands.
Their plan would involve the correlation
. of every part of the whole development
and when they had finished they would be
| certain to have provided for waterways
of suitable permanence and guaranteed
depth. You would not, for example, find
such a corporation expanding its money
on a plan that it was perfectly sure would
not be efficient after it were completed.
J 1t would not for example, adopt pro-
ject for a four-foot channel when there
was every assurance that a channel of
, , that depth would be of no particular
benefit. But this is just what the govern
ment is doing at the present time Take,
by this offy The last repoPt of the o chiei
: | of engineers states that the project pro-
vides for a low water channel 100 feet
: Ga, to Chattahoochee, Fla. 1t states,
moreover, that this project was adopted
} now being prosecuted on the Chattahoo-
chez are those that were intended to fit
. conditions as they existed thirty-five
' year sage, The amount expended on this
, work to the close of the fiscal year ending
! June so. 1907, was s571.275 and the pro-
lect is only. about go per cent completed
Eufaula, and 10 per cent in theslower sec
: tion. This attempt to secure a 4-foot
channel is still being pursued, for the
harbor act approved March 2, 1907, appro-
I priated s150,00o. 1t is. pertinent to ask
> 4-foot channel after they get it. 1t has
r been demonstrated beyond controversy
2 that, under the present conditions of
transportation, boats drawing only 4 feet
of water cannot be operated with distinct
= success. because of their limited carrying
? capacity. This is admitted, and yet money
l is being expended to secure that channel.
I Can YOU imagine great business cor
: poration handling things in that way?
t think not for that corporation would
recognize that the way to develop naViga-
| ton on river is TO develop its channe els
so that ii will he navigabie. There is an
: other step which our business corpora
] ton would take.
p Having determined upon a Comprehen-
: sive and all-sufTicient plan. it would then
2 set apart funds sufficient to complete
: that plan. II its immediate financial re-
r sources were not sufficient to provide the
, money. it would he procured by special
bond issue. No hOdepode method would
be followed by which a certain small sum
. | would be appropriated to carry, on a GER
= tain small part of one division of the
PLAN later to be supplemented by another
: small sum to carry ii still further toward
completion. Such method is the method
is the method of the country grocery
store, which is undoubtedly sufficient for
small local trade, but it is by no means
{ adequate for carrying on a business on q
, large scale. This corporation would push
: the work along with the funds secured
/ from its bond issue. considering that the