The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-11-07

ground water, Dut 10 NUN o@@
other ways.
Regulating the Rivers.
These schemes Of Uncle Sam Tor
controlling the water supply embrace
the whole United States They pro-
vide for the regulation OF the now OK
the rivers and OF standardizing them.
They provide for great reservoirs
along the Mississippi. Ohio and MIS-
souri,. They treat of drainage ana IT.
rigation and Of the development OF
our water power. They also 1nciuoe
the making, by means Of canals, OF a
great system Of interior water trans
portation, which shall supplement our
railways, and reduce freight rates 10
the merchant and the consumer. Ac-
cording to DR.. MCGEE, the scheme
means an annual saving in transpor-
tatiOn charges alone Of more than
three-quarterS Of a million dollars Tor
every day Of the year, an annual saw
ing in food damages OF one hundred
and fifty million dollars per annum,
and Il saving in the washing away OF
our soils Of one-half billion dollars
every year In addition to this there
will be an enormous profit from the
water powers created, and altogether
a mighty decrease in the cost OF Hv-
ing should follow.
The plans for this development
have been worked out in connection
with the Commission Of Inland Wa
terways and with the Bureau of Soils
of the Agricultural Department. Sem
ator Newlands and the committee OF
rivers and harbOrs a had the mat
ter under discussion, and in time we
will have a great waterway project
which will add not only to the cheap
ening of all classes Of freight and to
the increase Of our industries, but will
be CT enormous military advantage in
the defense OF our country.
AS far as waterways are concerned,
there are few countries which COM
pare with the United States We have
a coast line which, if stretched out,
would reach twice around the world
and still leave fourteen thousand
miles to spare. The United States shore
line Of the great lakes is half again
as long as from New York to San
Of our rivers, il they could be Joined
in n line, would form a continuous
stream around the globe with a thou
sand miles to spare. The Mississippi
system alone has twenty-five hundred
miles Of waterways which have a
draft of six feet, and our whole coun-
try is SO cut up by streams that a
great system Of anals and rivers
could be made by which the heaviest
OF our freight could be carried by
water.
Some Mighty Improvements.
The plans Of the commission, as
shown to me by DR.. MCGEE, provide
for a deep waterway from the Gulf
Of Mexico to the Great Lakes, and a
deep and continuous Atlantic interior
passage from New England to Florida
and the Gulf of Mexico. DR.. MCGEE
says that canals could be built con-
Meeting the lower Mississippi with the
Rio Grande at Brownsville, Tex, and
another system in the northwest by
which freight could be carried from
the Columbia river to Puget Sound.
The projects embrace the deepening
Of the Mississippi and the Chicago
drainage canal and Illinois river so
the Gulf Of Mexico right into the
Great Lakes. All sorts Of ocean
transportation could go the same way.
Another provision is for the i'm
provement of the Ohio. This, it is es-
timated, would result in a saving in
million dollars a year. A third is the
deepening and improving Of the Mis-
souri,, SO that boats drawing ten feet
could go from the Mississippi at the
gulf as far as Great Falls. Mont, a
distance Of three thousand miles.
DR.. MCGEE say hat the Tennessee
river might be improved SO as to give
slack water navigation for ten-foot
barges, and that barge WATERWAYS Of
equal depth might be made all along
the Atlantic coast from New York to
Florida. There are many natural
waterways there and the land is such
that canals could be easily dug.
What the Consumer Pays.
Have you any idea how much
money you have to pay to the rail-
roads! 1t comes ou OF you in the
price of the goods you buy, in your
own travelling, and in the cost to the
general business OF the country, which
is based upon your consumption. The
sum we annually pay for transporta-
ton is\ about one-third as much as
the value OF all the products Of our
FARMS. 1t equals 2,7O0 million dollars,
making a tax upon the soil equal to
$1.25 per acre for the entire main
land of the United States. Taking the
improved lands, it is equal to a tax
OF $o.23 upon every acre, and, COM
pairing it with our population, it is