The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1913-03-19
Men From Towns Of Upper Mississippi
To Discuss improvements
For the River.
NELSON %. KS" THE 1918 BILL
Says it is Freer From Objections
Than Any Passed Before-$116,-
600 For This Part of State
"On to Cass Lake,:

vi " CaSS Lake.
This is the slogan which has been
adopted by the Commercial club
boosting committee which has charge
of the trip. At noon today, fifty-one
men had agreed to go to Cass Lake
tomorrow night. The special train
will cost 500 and this will be divid-
ed among the men who take the trip.
The train will leave Bemidji at p.
m. and return. about midnight.
At the rehearsal of the Bemidji
band last night, the men voted to go
to Cass Lake with the Commercial
club so that the entire delegation
from Bemidji will number about sew
enty-fve men. AS the special train
has been obtained at fat rate, the
club decided that the band should be
invited as the extra men made no in
crease in the cost of the train
The Cass Lake Commercial club is
entertaining the commercial clubs of
towns on the upper Mississippi in
order that some concentrated effort
can be made to secure the best expen-
diture of the money appropriated by
congress for the improvement of this
part of the river. Congress has ap-
propriated $4,000 to be expended
between the Winnibigoshish and
Pokegama reservoirs, and the Leech
river from it's mouth to the Leech
Lake dam.
While Bemidji is not directly in
terested in this part of the Missis-
sippi, the Commercial club has been
invited. AS this is the first time
since the normal school fight of six
years ago that the two clubs have
come together in number, the Be-
order to show that the Ratchet has
been buried.
Nelson Helped Minnesota.
Senator Knute Nelson, late chair
man of the committee on commerce,
says that the river and harbor bill
passed March 4 is freer FROM C.;ec-
tions than any passed before. 1t is
under this bill that the upper Missis-
sippi was given $116, 900.
Cup to three years ago. said
Eenator Nelson in a review of the
river and harbor bill of 1913, eve
had spasmodic bills for river and har-
Dor improvement. Very frequently
two years would go by and often
three years elapsed before river and
harbor bills were passed.
''Those bills, under that system,
were subject to criticism in that they
piled up appropriations for few
large projects to the exclusion of
lot of small but deserving projects
that had great deal of commerce.
Then there was another objection
to those intermittent bills in those
days--if it was desirable to initiate
new improvements, the first step
would be to order a preliminary ex-
animation and survey, with the re-
suit that such long delay ensued,
between bills, that it took from three
to four years to get real start on
meriorious project.
'*Three years ago, under the house
craftsmanship of Mr.. Alexander of
New York, congress inaugurated the
plan of having moderate annual bills
for river and harbor work and of
recognizing not only the larger pro-
jects but also the smaller meritorious
ones, those. in which a small expen-
diture of money would lead to immed-
late and direct results. And where
it was the purpose to inaugurate, new
projects a survey could be ordered
one year, and if the report was fav-
orable, appropriations could be made
and work started the next year.
"A number of the appropriations in
the river and harbor bill which be-
came law, in the closing hours of
congress, are for the Improvement Of
so-called creeks, which, on, their face,
might indicate that it was money
wasted to make the Improvement au-
thorized, but, as a matter Of fact,
these creeks are tidal streams and
carry, in many cases, a vast COM
merce needing only. a little dredg-..
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