Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1913-11-14
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1918.
TO TIDEWATER.

49, SINatN tHdU tHc one d
involved i'll the construction of a rail.
roau from here OF the coast. AT least
none on which so much of the future
turns.
For years we have been hoping for
deep water at BraZOs Santiago To MANY
OF us 1T has been a sort Of golden dream
"a dream which we have f0ndly belicy.
ed would some day pass from the realm
OF dreams to the realm Of fact. Dimlv.
vaguely, we have believed il would come
to pass. We have longcd for it We have
fnlly realized what il would mean to
us here in Brownsville and to the Val
ley country. As practical people we have
felt all along that the fulfillment of
our hopes must in the long run rest
with us. The realization is with us.
Just what to do we hardly knew. All
at once the matter is made clear to us.
The thing to do involves some eXpendi-
lure OF money; y me exercise Of faith:
some unity of purpose: some ability to
see and know our opportunity when it
comes; but it involves nothing impos
sible-nothing bordering on the impoS-
sible-sOmething entirely sane and prac
teal. This sane and practical thing is
the raising of the bonus asked and need
ed to secure the construction of a rail
road to the coast-t0 tidewater.
From the beginning we have been
confronted with this one pr blcm. viii
the government be justified in the ex-
penditure of the money needed TO deepen
the pass at BraZOS Santiago?" This is
the question which has veXed the minds
of all engineers and engineering boards
asked to recommend the project. 1t ap
pears that all these pc pie are now
about convinced that the business of tie
valley will justify the deepening of the
channel-prOvidcd the freight possible
to admit through the channel can get in
and out to and from the people of the
valley.
Also. one Of the practical problems of
deepening the pass is the problem of
getting men and material to the place
where the work is to be done. 1t is il
consideration of the first Importance
that this should be lone with Il maxi
mum Of efficiency and a minimum of cost.
If this part of the problem annot be set
tied in advncc of any final action Of the
government, there will be no deep water
at BrazOs Santiago. We have every rea-
son to believe that the construction of
this road to the coast will secure a re
port from the board Of engineers for
deepening the channel. These things
bn;,,v IrIx- urn;uI,aI - -, ~ x,.u.,t;n,
to say that the situation which Rr wnS-
Vile and the Valley faces today is mo
mentOus-fatefnl.
Of course questions will arise: What
if the project for deep water is turned
down? What if it is postponed for
years? We shall have the railr5ad-
and nothing more"
Z We shall have the road. And the road
of itself will be worth while. When we
had no railroad and no deep water. we
had an inlet for freight and an outlet
for freight via the sea. Boats can rome
into the harbOr as it iS-as they did
long ago. We should have a means of
lessening the cost of freight for many
things consumed in the valley: and we
Should nave a cheaper outlet for many
staples produced in the valley. People
who know the country are confident OF
the development of q proftablcfrci9ht
bnsinpss between here and the coast.
1t is the history of railroad building
in this country that the roads have come
before the development-have. in fact.
created the development.
A. to passenger business. we are in
close proximity to the best sea bathing
in the world. All it needs is some way
TO get people t. it and away from it. We
have advertised this Brownsville coun-
try as a winter resort. In point OF fact
It can. with perfect propriety and hon
esty. be advertised as a great summer
resort.
Before leaving the subject for the mo
snent. The Herald suggests that everv
man in the Valley should make a sub
s~cription to the bonus. 1t is for the
Valley. The thousand dollar subscr1p
tsons that have cOme pouring III are
maonifieent. Yet let us try to impress
tTncle Sam with the idea that we all
want this road and the good we expect To
der;ye from it. Rich and po@r, we all
want it. Each of us sheuld give as much