Arizona republican., 1911-08-05
SENATOR ENDORSES
HARBOR APPROPRIATION
Work of Congress Should Be National
And Not Confined to Any District.

| Washington, Aug. 1.-(Special Cor
irespondence of The Republican, IL
am most heartily in sympathy and ac-
cord with the policy of annual appro-
priations for rivers and harbors and
for a broad and comprehensive system
B. of waterway improvement that shall
adhere strictly to treating the subject
always from a national standpoint. APP
proving no. locab project that has not
important and intimate relation with
the national scheme of broadening and
maintaining navigation of all our wat
ers. That, 1 understand, is in har-
mony with the purpose and reason for
existence of the National Rivers and
Harbors Congress-
With this enunciation of principle.
Senator Miles Pointdexter of Wash
ington, member of the Senate Com
merce Committee, whose home is at
Spokane, of the great Colubia river, ad-
ded that no people in the United States
were more deeply interested nor more
heenly alive to the Importance of river
and harbor improvement from the
broadcast standpoint than those of the
state of Washington.
Il believe il is of so much importance
TO the country at large and the people
of the United States are now so earn
estly determined upon availing them
selves of every possible means of
reaching a live and-let-live policy with
respect to transportation that all poll
teal parties should speak out in their
next national conventions for annual
appropriations to be devoted to a ma
tion-wide system of improvements. The
Republican party has always been pro-
verbally liberal toward internal i'm
provements, and l have no doubt il
would cheerful in national convention
endorse this idea. Certainly the Demo-
cratic party shouldn't fail to fall in line,
for its father and founder, Thomas JEFF
ferson. was the first of American
statesmen to be attracted by the far
reaching importance of caring for wat
erway means of transportation. One Of
the most interesting things in the great
variety of subjects which engaged the
mind of this versatile thinker was his
attention to the beneficence of navi-
cation. and in all his history nothing
is more striking than when with par
donable pride, in his old age in sum-
ming up what he had done that was
worth while he pointed to the fact that
while a young man he got up sub
scriptiOns to clear distractions from
the little river near his home-the Ri
vanna-and afterward obtained an ap-
preparation from the Virginia General
Assembly for the improvement OF the
river, and that the Improvement enab-
led the shipment of farm products to
market which otherwise would not have
had sale. He was always an eloquent
writer on navigation.
Senator Pointdexter is just row Civ
ing attention to the need of improving
navigation on the Columbia River. par
ticularly between Wenatchee and the
mouth of Snake river. 1t seems the
local engineer officer in charge has
made an adverse report on this pro-
ject, and il is complained by business
men and students of the Columbia riv-
er that it fails to take into considera-
ton the incalculable benefit this i'm
provement-the conquering of the diff
ficulties of Priest Rapids. Cabinet Rap
ids and Rock Island Rapfts-would be
not only to the commerce of the whole
river, but enormously to the whole
country.
1.-The adoption of reciprocity with
Canada, well and good as it is. would
with the proper Improvement of the
Columbia river and the passage of
freight carries from the head Of navi-
CATION in British Columbia to the
ocean, would give a tremendous i'm
petus to commerce with Canada"