East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1913-04-17

one of the most interesting Pdit'H {
given before the Columbia and Snake !
river waterways conference here this
week was that by Captain w. P. Gray
Of Pasco His subject was The Ac-
tual Benefits of an Open and I'm
proved River" and the address in full
follows:
Mr.. President, Ladies and Gentlemen:
There are very few rivers in the
world that do not require Improvement
TO make them uavigable to CONNER
ciaIly successful degree. and the cost
is commensurate with their import
ance in the transportation Of COM
merce.
We are all familiar with the millions
expended in improving the Thames
and the Manchester canal in England
where a harbor for docking the larg-
est ships was constructed out Of the
tributary of a river no larger than the
Tmatilla The Seine, the Rhine, the
Rhone. the Elbe. the Danube, the
Dnieper and the Don, in Europe (only
one of them larger than our noble
Columbia) are improved at enormous
cost to carry the commerce of the
nations they serve.
These countries have trunk rail-
roads and highways paralleling the
rivers and feeders transversing the
bordering territory-then why do they
improve their rivers?
Gentlemen, it is because water
transportation is the cheapest way to
move the products of the world, and
as civilization advances competition
increases and economy in the exchange
of products becomes a necessity. and
every avenue of commerce must be
utilized to its fullest extent
The development of the Columbia
river basin is in its infancy and its
possibilities are only vaguely realized
by the masses. but financiers and
traffic lords are eXpending millions in
creating new routes for the trans
portation of commerce and for com
munication. Already the Snake AM
Columbia rivers are paralleled on eth
er side by railroads from Lewiston tC
tidewater and the beds on which
these roads are operated are barrer
sand and rocks, constructed through
drifting sands, rock cuts and tunnel!
al enormous expense. The land!
through which these roads were bull
did not actually produce one train loaC
a year. Then, why did these fal
sighter financiers incur the enormou!
expense? Gentlemen, they realized
the importance of water level grade
for trunk lines, as We should realize
that nature has given US road beds o
moving water for trunk lines from thu
Rocky Mountains to the sea, free o
cost. There is no drifting sand il
these road beds and after they ar,
once prepared for continuous traffic
there will be no large expenditure
for repairs or for overhead interes
charges on an enormous amount o
capital invested. such as the railroad
must collect. and we ais ohave fre,
motive power TO move the products o
the Inland Empire towards the mar
kets of the world in the swift currents
of our rivers, and by building dam
to aid navigation we can develoI
power to carry our products and sup
plies from and to the fertile upland
bordering our rivers, for factories t
prepare the raw products for market
our sandy deserts and make them int
fruitful fields, orchards and vineyards
These, gentlemen, are the primar
benefits that win result from the Ope
and improved rivers, but actual bene
fits will be received by every dwelle
in the Inland Empire in reduced rate!
in enhanced value of their holding!
in facilities for marketing, travelling
communication and social intercourse
1t must be understood, gentlemen
that those who are interested and &C
tive in their efforts to develop tn
rivers. our natural highways, are nc
antagonistic to railroad development
neither are the advocates of goo
roads, but they believe that for tn
advancement of civilization we mus
have trunk and lateral lines of raj
ways, good wagon roads, and improve
rivers, a tripod of which one leg mus
support the other two.
When the development Of our II
land Empire first began, traffic com
munication from tide-water inlan
was commercially impossible even b
wagons, and the river, though OF
structed by obstacles insurmountabl
to river crafts for short distance
was utilized and all the traffic of tn
Inland Empire was carried on the riy
ers for years. AS development alon
the uplands increased. more reliabl
and speedy communication becam
necessary and railroads were built a
ong the rivers and across the mOGr
tains, but high rates were maintaine
and with the limited amount of traf
fic those rates seemed necessary an
We're not burdensome, but with II
creasinp deYelnnrnent. traffic an