Evening star., 1913-12-04

He was the guest of the New York
delegates last night at dinner at the
hotel among the other guests being Jo-
seph H. Choate Capt. Edward Townsend.
the governors aid; Gen. Howard Carroll,
Robert Adamson, John A. Bensel, Thomas
O. McGil Judge William A. Day and
Judge La Boeuf, all of New York.
Addressing the convention today, Gov.
Giynn said, in part:
Plea for Deeper Hudson Channel.
I'VE plead for a deeper channel in the
Hudson river. but we do not plead with
a mendicant's cringe or suppliants
smirk True. we seek a favor but we
do not beg gift. New York has rem
dered the federal government its quid
pro quo in what we ask today. Upon
the Erie, the Oswego and the Champlain
canals we have spent nearly 100000. coo.
This is about one-third of what Uncle
Sam has spent upon all the rivers and
harbors in these United States. And
these 500. 100000 we have spent not alone
for the benefit Of the people of our own
state, but for the benefit of an area oc-
cupied by 2O,O0O.O0O of people. Our Erie
canal pours wheat into the mouths of
the east and gold into the pockets of the
west.
1T stands as the gift Of New York to
the commerce Of the country. Behind
the New York state canal wave the
wheat Uei0S OF the west, secure TO the
markets of the world-thanks to the pa
triotism of New York state. The New
York state canal unites the cleaners of
the fields with the customers of the
cities. In the Panama canal the United
States yokes the Pacific with the At
lantic- In the Erie canal New York links
the great lakes with the Hudson.
Commerce Warrants Appropriation.
I'm building the Erie canal New York
did what the nation should have done
We have done our part. 1t is time for
Uncle Sam to do his. We have given
500, 100000 to national commerce We
cannot do more; but more remains to be
done, and we ask Uncle Sam to do 1t.
our expenditures on the barge canal de-
serve reciprocity. Reciprocity is what
we have not had. The present commerce
OF the Hudson river warrants the expend-
canal twenty-five feet deep We ask the
federal government to do only or per
cent as much for the Hudson river as We
have done in promoting our national COM
merce. We ask the federal government to
spend upon the Hudson river only or
per cent as much as We have spent
upon the waterways of our state for the
direct benefit of 2O.OOO,OOO OF our people
ana the indirect benefit of the commerce
OF the whole country.
the Improvement which we seek. Seven
sister states bordering on the great lakes
are as much, it not more, interested In
this Improvement than our own state
Under the old indirect system of taxa.
ton New York received and contributed
to the federal government from to Il
per cent of its revenues, and under the
new system of direct taxation, through
the income tax, New York will contrib
ute an even greater percentage.
Need Of Great Lakes States.
The seven states bordering on the great
lakes will very nearly aggregate SO pei
cent OF the revenues received by the fed
eral government, and therefore the people
in these states recognize that they ough,
to have such reasonable expenditures fol
waterway improvements as will answer
the demands that are made upon them fol
cheap transportation for their raw ma
terial and finished products to the sea.
In what l say I do not want it to bs
understood that ! am talking in any mar
row way, simply for the benefit of the
people of the state the honor of whom
IT is mine to represent. While the Hud
son river lies almost entirely within the
confines of the state of New York, the
commerce which trayerses~ it's length il
the commerce of the northern part Of the
great cities on the great lakes and the
headwaters of the Mississippi.
"And the spirit of Improvement which
is now manifested by the Dominion OF
Canada must be met by the nation in the
improvement of the Hudson river, which
with the barge canal system of the state
as link, will connect the great cities oi
the great lakes with the Atlantic ocean
and enable the people of the country tt
preserve not only the pre-eminenceOf the
port of New York, but also enable the
products Of the northern states to reach
the seaboard through the waterways, botf
natural and artificial, that have been pro
vided SO extensively by nature and aug
mented by the state OF New York.
| Not Asking an Impossibility.
Let me remind you that in the las
one hundred years Uncle Sam has spen
upon our beautiful Hudson river the mu
nificent sum of $5,O0OOO0. Think of it
In all that long century all that the fed
eral government would give toward the
Hudson river was $5.O00,00O!
we are not asking for the impossible
Several surveys have been MADE by the
Engineering Corps OF the United States
Army. and in none Of these reports on
these surveys In there any reference to
| unusual engineering or construction diff
ficulties. Before deep-draft vessels
| the head of the Hudson enjoyed foreign
and coastwise commerce. This is now
entirely eliminated. The Engineering
Corps of the United States Army admits
that with the enlarged commerce of the
state canal system, the present improve
| ments to the Hudson river will not suf-
nee, and that greater improvements will
shortly be necessary. Why procrastinate
then? Why not begin now? Why not
have the federal government meet New
York half way? Why not have the fed
eral government do something for the
Hudson to balance the $2O0,OO0.OOO that
we have spent upon our canals?"
DR.. Mary Sherwood of Baltimore gave