Bismarck daily tribune., 1912-05-23
NFENSEINTERES1
IN WATERWAYS
Panama Canal Should Be Re-
qarded as a Domestic High.
way in Our System
special to The Tribune.

special to The Tribune.
WASHINGTON, D. c., May 2S.-
Senator Francis G. Newlands, of Ne
vada, ever since he came to congress,
in the second Cleveland administra-
ton, as representative from that
state, has taken an intense interest
in all matters relating to waterways
and all its CO. related problems. His
has been a work of construction. SO
far as the laws relating to these
questions go and he has pronounced
ideas looking to a comprehensive
solution to these questions as they
relate to the public welfare He is
a pronounced advocate of free tolls
on the domestic commerce of the
United States through the Panama
Canal.
| II believe that the Panama Canal
should be regarded as a domestic
| highway and as much part of our
| waterway system as the Mississippi
! river and the Great lakes" said Sena-
tor Newlands today. 1T is true that
the Panama Canal will figure largely
in foreign commerce, but our main
use of it will be in domestic COM
merce and as means of simplifying
| our national defense and reducing
| the military expense attendant upon
defending two coasts so far apart.
'In our domestic commerce it has
been our rule to place no restriction
upon it either of duties or tolls. The
old toll canals have been done away
with, and where acquired by the gov
eminent, the tolls have been abolish
ed. We have expended On our rivers
and harbors over six hundred million
dollars, nearly twice as much as the
Panama Canal, and yet the idea would
not be tolerated to change tolls for
the use of such harbors or rivers.
There is no reason, of course, why
We should not seek to compensate
ourselves for the Panama expenditure
by exacting tolls from foreign CON-
merce. Whether we should insist
upon such tolls for our ships engaged
in foreign commerce is a question
for the future, depending largely on
the construction of the Hay7Paunce-
fote Treaty, but there can be no
| doubt as to our immediate duty to
| declare against tolls on domestic COM
merce.
Regarding our rivers, the recent
| floods demonstrate, the importance of
dealing with our waterways under
big and comprehensive plans, like we
did with the Panama and irregation
questions. The spoils system is as
bad regarding projects as it is regard
ing political officers. It is demoraliz.
ing and unbusinesslike. The old pot
hole system of appropriations for
rivers has been very greatly improved
but we have never Yet permitted our
army engineers to present to us big
plan for system of related water
ways, with terminals and transfer
| facilities, including cooperative i'm
| strumentallties with the railroads.
Our waterways have been as defective
| as a railroad would be without ter
minals, stations, or side tracks and
with gap in the track every few
hundred miles and without bridges
over streams.
THE Mississippi river problem is
one simply of 'run-off,' the rains fal-
ling from the heavens and if distri-
buted fairly over the year would re-
suit In standard flow of the river
and its tributaries which would be
safe for navigation and attended with
no destructive results. But the MELT
ing of SHOWS in the Rocky, Allegheny
and Appalachian mountains systems,
together with spring rains, all coming
ABOUT the same time create an enorm-
Gus 'run-off' from an area comprising
nearly tWo-thirds of the United States,
and this 'run-of' Is emptied into the
Gulf through very narrow space.
I'VE must not only increase our
appropriations for bank revetment
and levy projection below, but we
must arrest the 'run-off' by storage
for irrigation and water power. And
We must do this In cooperation with
the states and communities affected,
under common plans, so that all the
sovereignties interested can do the
work and bear the expense belong
ing to their respective Jurisdictions.
But these plans must dove-tail into
each other to create perfected
scheme.
The problem is simple one. All
we need to do lis to organize a
National Board of River Regulation,
inwhich shall be co-ordinated the
Engineer Corps, the Reclamation Ser
vice, the Weather Bureau, the Fores-
try Service, and bring such board in
to consultation and cooperation with
similar boards organized in the re-
spective states. Then fix the gait at
which We shall go by determining at
the outset that we will spend fifty
millions annually for ten years and
then instruct our engineers to plan
accordingly.
DEATH ENDED HIS MISERY
ri II EyNNTIAn II NJ n Nov %