The Washington times., 1912-12-05
DEVELOPMENT Of
MIGHTY RIVER IS
PLAN OF sT|MSON
wac Secretary Urges That
Mississippi's Horsepower
Be Put to Use.

Advocating the harnessing Of the Mis-.
os'ppi river by the Government. and
Sne seneration Of untold thousands Of
oleetrical horsepower in the event the
Unitsd States undertakes to spend S6o,-
W0,0W on the stream to prevent floods,
secretary Of War Stimson today sprang
brand new proposition on the dele
eatss to the National Rivers and Har.
bors Congress.
NJ 0timson insisted that such gov
efnmental development of the electrical
possibilities would be only fair to the
Ssneral taxpayer. a. q reduction Of the
net cost Of the Improvement. "for It
the general taxpayer who will pay
the BILL" said the Secretary Of War.
NJ. etimson was followed by Con.
srsssman sparkman Of Florida. who
v.as.S ass Tsf n. hiDry ;s
0ent Of the Mississippi ought to be
undertaken to prevent the floods. Mr..
SpSrkman urged the Congress not to
sovosss ssovossss departure from the time;
barbor improvements.
another novel proposition besides Mr..
Simson's was that set fotth by Harold
Mccormick. Of Chicago, vice president
.s1 ueasurer Ok tne Antern9uonat mar
v;vvssr ;ser C0mpsny, whS ursed psying tor
sues. Mr.. Mccormick also favored the
n..Sn ~ CONGRESS o. an s,Han sddit'onsi ma
ShUmi Ss.ha. rSi,.,, !" ,a .ho LA, ,s,, mvSr anu
ascrs.s@ @ s,,Uson NJ T b.~am ~. S. sSS-o..
h.. N.Y. .%s's,,. % oToan ~ ~. sSiess oSiaess
~ .aain!:,srsa & the IL aeysrn$sns's Go STs.r: re::
Net to Hood sufferers in the Mississippi
valley; saying that 90 quietly and el.
HnGent!y had tney WORKED tnat they
which any other class Of men doing the
same work As effectively unQuestionably
would have received.
This work was placed" said the
Of those 10 whom the country always
turns when work recurring ndeiity and
discretion Ia to be underta ken-the army
00icers.v
KsfsrAnF t, to the hsrne,.,ns Of the
"When the National Government a..
tssE ~ imnrovin1 tn Mi.ds.inpi so
that Il shall do no more nor Hood dsmass;
scn ~nSn -. IL .nnrn assumes ., une expenSi ,nmoivsd o.
sucn eV enormous sum as u inVolveo, IL
- -m0ans IN SoIo: nara ngures 'nat we .aA
Xyeu must pay ~ o9t o. tne sehera'
III we DO that. then by the plainest
oictates OF fair play and common sense,
II 10 required that We taxpayers also
cnouid get the benent OF Whatever re-
s,1cIoS.sn, sSTSs,on Q. cost can Dc eHec'ed oy the
''And this will come through a by
product Of our efforts. I mean the
great water power arising out the
That the United States Supreme
powers 20 created belong to the Govern.
ment, Mr.. Stimson told his auditors.
neS n Va: ss' s sse ne aae sFea.
premo Court was treating our great
questions with 80 broad u view or =
more national spirit than now.
gates that there is danger oi going
surprised the delegates, saying that
since the Government began more than
hsrbor Improvement. of which MS.'
100000 has been spent since 1885. OF this
4e6.0o0. 900 on the gull 0f Mexico. S6A9v0ua
on the Pacific. Sls3, 900 on the Grea,
and It's harbors and $4,000 900 on the
. Mississippi and It's tributaries. inciud'
ing the Ohio and the Missouri.
Congressman Sperkmsn added at tnat .s OF
more for harbors than for inland water;
ways. Most Of his address was devoted
10 . plea that all waterway improve.
ments be done with view to benefttinl
: commerce. and he said that In AZ : tn:
years he has been on the House Rivssi
tons have been made with such an enc
in view.
""Psrhsps you con do otherwise undeI
the welfare clause OF the Constitution,
ssd The F!orda COnErs':%;nn .IS mi; lead Sps IN
cvitably to all sorts Of iogrolling:"
senator Martin Of Virginia was un
expoctedly called to q committee meet
I'M and did not appear today. Yester
dSy afternoon the delegates near
Mayor Fitzgerald. of Boston. In nvel!
ples for water competition against tn
railroads.
The other novelty OF todays program
was in the address Of Harold McCor
mick.
A bond issue. said Mr.. Mccormick
would "create an asset for public trus
Of Increasing value. and would be
quicker way Of accomplishing the de
velopment of our rivers than by appro
priating annual revenue. The margin
between liability and assets Ii goinl
10 grow constantly larger. II econom!
IN transportation IL brought about