Arizona republican., 1911-05-19
NATIONAL INTEREST IN WATERWAY IMPROVEMENTS
PLANS FOR DEVELOPING EAST
 ERIN RIVERS.
Largest Inland Cities of Country Lo-
 cated on Waterways.

Washington, May CSpeciaD-J [ Adam Bede. ex-memDer of congress
 from the Duluth district. Chautauqua 1 lecturer, after dinner speaker, an Optimst of the first w2ter and a like 1 ly candidate for epresentative-at- ! large from the commonwealth of Min nesota, should the e-appOrtionment bill. which recently passed the house, become a law, is an enthusiastic ad- vocate of improving the rivers of the United States. Speaking of 5he grow ing sentiment throughout the country looking to a comprehensive waterway policy. MT Bede said:
 Since leaving congress two years ago I have been in almost every state of the Union. particularly in the mid dle west, and have found a steadily growing sentiment in favor of water way development due in 9 large meas
 ure to the educational work of the na- tional rivers and harbOrs congress. This has been stimulated in large part also by the work on the Panama canal,
 which has appealed to both the senti- ment and pride Of the American peO- pie. There is a very general feeling prevalent that with the comple ton of
 the canal we ought to make feeders for it. This sentiment is quite as strong in Dixie as in the north. Ii is generally recognized that the greatest develop
 ment in the next generation will be in
 the south, where capital is flowing in and water powers are being utilized and new industries developed. Indeed
 it would seem that the south .s to re
 ceive the greatest benefit from the
 isthmian canal and the people are awake to their opportunities.
 "One of the reasons why the Ohio
 should be improved as rapidly as prac-
 ticable is the difficulties of reaching the Pacific market with our heavy iron products. With good stage cf water in the ohio from Pittsburg to Cairo there is no reason why Pittsburg might not retain its present supremacy and supply the Pacific coast market by way of the Panama canal with it's steel and iron products. Unless the Ohio is inn proved to the 9-foot stage I1ttsburg will be known within a generation as an educational center rather than as a factory town.
 Tt is a significant fact that all the great cities on our continent are To- Cated on western waterways There must be a reason for this. Of course, one reason might be their accessibility to railroads and easier grsdes along watercourses, but evidently the real controlling factor is the question of re- duced transportation by water.
  velopment of our rivers is the neces- sity of absolute control and owership of terminals by municipalities St. Paul has already acquired terminals and the movement is general in the west and some parts Of the south In many cases railroads owning riparian rights along streams make this situa- ton difficult to overcome. However, as railroads are organizing into larger systems under broad-minded manage ment there must come a closer rela- tionship between rail and water car riers
 If you could destroy the 500 canal between Lake Superior and Lake Hu ron it would paralyze the commerce of the world and would be as disastrous as a war. because the railroads could not handle the bulkier and heavier traffic between the east and the west and the iron mills of Pittsburg would be closed and cobwebs would grow in the thousand factories. The rivers should also feed the railroads by handling the traffic for which the rail- rate is proliibitive.
 For example. consider the differ ence in cost of steel products if all the ores of the Lake Superior district should be shipped by railroad. The layman must understand that the must assemble the ore, the coke. the lime, and other materials at central points, and therefore long shipment for one or the other is obli- gatory and transportation becomes the key to the whole situation.
 The development Of river in itself may be a little thing. but if you could save one penny in cost to every Ameri- 1 can consumer through transportation it ! would make you millionaire Thel real point today to manufacturers is a large volume of business with a mar row margin of profit; therefore the cost of transportation becomes more vital than ever before.
 James J. Hill a few years ago told me that he and his associates were the advisability of con- structing a line from Chicago to New York to connect up his western sys- tenn of railroads. His engineers and attorneys were put to work to acquire a New York terminal which they thought essential to carry out their plans, but they discovered that thel New York terminal alone would make the line cost $165,0OO per mile from New York to Chicago. which was pro- hibitive and the enterprise was aband- oned. No more eloquent plea could be made than this for the development of our waterways.
 Several years ago I was campaign ing in Oregon and held a jOini debate between a silver republican. demo- crat and a prohibitiOnist The prOhi bitionist was a droll humorist and a retired minister In the course of four debates I told him I would give him an incident which he could afford to use in his future talks. thereby avoid throwing cold water on his audiences all the time This was the incident re- ferred to. showing the difference be- tween oregon and Minnesota from an agricultural point of view. Tn oregon they shin wheat to EurnDe by sailing