The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-09
Addresses the First General Meeting of Southern
 Commercial Congress
SENATOR NEWLANDS
 ON FLOOD REMEDIES
!. 0. Wright, Figure in Everglades Scandal, Speaks--Herbert Knox Smith and Others Speak.
 Harmon Speaks Today

Nashville, April s.--Maurce- Francis EEan. United States minister to Denmark; Senator Erancis c. Newlands of Nevada, J. O. Wright. chief drainage engineer for Florida, and Herbert Myeriek of Springfield, Mass. were the speakers at general meeting of the Southern Com merelal Congress tonight which concluded the first day of the three day session of the congress.
 Danish dalrying'' was the subject of MT. Egans address. In which he reviewed the marvellous development of dairies in Denmark and pointed out the great walth which would accrue to the American farmers who adopt the same methods
 Senator Newlands
 Senator Newlands advocated the appro- priatlon of at least s5o.ooo.oOO year for 10 years by the general government to dam the great rivers and store their flood waters in such a manner as to prevent freshets and afford a constant flow of water throughout the year.
 "The Mississippi foods" he said, 'ac- centuates the agitation for big action re- garding cur waterways. The full regu- latlon of our rivers can never be secured by mere channel dredging and levee pro- tection. The whole river must be treated from source to mouth. including all It's tributaries, by preventing swift run off of the storm waters through storage and di- version of flood waters, both natural and artificial.
 "To accomplish this the forest service, the reclamation service, the geographical survey. now making an investigation of water power, the bureaus of soil and plant industry and the other scientific services of the country should cooperate with the army engineers in plans and work. And in addition a plan of cooperation between the nation and states should he organized so that all can Join in the full develop ment of our rivers.
 We must undertake the work n hlg 1 way. gust as We dlgi the ranamst canal and the irrigation work"
 Other Speakers
 Herbert Myerick said the southern com mcrcial congress has made certain that rural credit systems win be established which will enable small farmers to pool their interests and obtain the money nec- essary to finance their operations. He also said the congress will be instrumental in lnaugurating farm loan associations which will make land the basis for bonds which will be better investments than government securities.
 J. o. Wright told of the manner in which Florida has tackled the drainage problems and advocated similar activity by other states.
 The waterways conference today was addressed by Herbert Knox Smith, com missioner of corporations.
 Smith Speaks
 Commissioner of Corporations Herbert Knox Smith addressed the Southern Com mercial Congress today on the waterways question, and suggested means of bring ing them to a higher degree of efficiency Expressing the belief that the waterways of the country are not being used ade- quately, Commissioner smith explained that this was due to the lack of unity in the whole transportation system and the lack of effective water terminals prop erly controlled
 Referring to the competition between the rail and water lines or the country. he said that ''our transportation system, which should be a unit, perfectly con nected. both physically and in opera tion. is split up into two unequal parts, with destructive struggle going on be- tween these two" and adding, If some practical method of broad cooperation could be brought about between th. and water systems. 1t would add more 10 the efficiency of our waterways than can ever be accomplished by mere improve ment of channels"
 Ownership of Terminals
 Speaking of the ownership and con control of water terminals, MT. Smith asserted that i've really have but two ports, New Orleans and San Francisco, that in any way represent, in organi-