Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1914-07-15
APPROVES Of
hARBOR Bill
River and Harbor Bill d Praised
By Chief Of Engineers
Dan 6. Kingman.

Washington: ID. C., July 14.-"The
River and Harb0r Appropriation bill Il
the product of q representative form
of Government" said General Dan G
|Kingman, Chief Of engineers, as he
discussed the criticisms now being
made against certain features Of the
river and harb0r bill. Il
Combined Judgment.
"The River and Harbor bill Ia the
combined Judgment Of the Corps Of
Engineers engaged q river and har
Dor work, plus the intelligent under
standing of the needs Of particular
localities on the part Of the commit
tees of the two houses Of Congress
having improvements of our rivers
and harbors In hand.
without the representative charac'
ter Of our legislation, 1t is my honest
conviction that appropriations for pro
jects might find their way into bud
gets that would SAVIOR Of pull rather
than have the project stand upon Its
own merit.
Should Present Needs.
"The representative is the mouth.
piece of his constituency, and as such
Is supposed to present to the Commit,
tees Of Congress the needs Of his peo'
pie, and II he should ask for legisla-
ton that his people do not want or do
not demand, they will very quickly
tell him SO and will very readily find
someone who will represent their in
terests.
No "Pork" In Bili.
$50 far as the charges 60 that the
present River and HarbOr bill con-
tains an unlimited amount OF pork
l am happy to state that In SO far as
the Engineer Corps Is concerned.
there has been no recommendation
made that has not been the subject
Of close and painstaking study. The
Act Of 1902 provides that after Con.
gress has ordered q survey Of a pro-
ject, the local or district Engineer re-
ports upon the advisability, adequacy,
cost and commercial importance Of
the improvements This report is, in
turn, referred to the Division Engi.
neer who approves or mobiles 1t as
the facts appear before him. From
the Division Engineer the report gO\s
to the Board Of Engineers for rivers
and harbOrs, who examine it with
scrupulous care, giving their approx
al II the project be meritorious, and
finally it reaches the Chief of Engi.
neers to be examined by him with
just as much discrimination as was
shown the project by those yellow. AT
each stage of the proceeding local In.
terests may be heard, for or against
the contemplated Improvement, and
then, after 1t receives the stamp or
approval OF the Chief or Engineers,
1t IS transmitted to the Secretary of
War, who In turn, sehus It to Con
gress for legislation on the subject.
Careful investigation.
lis 1t not fair to assume, In view OF
the careful investigation that Is given
every individual project by the Corps
of Engineers engaged In river and har-
Dor work. that anything that looks
like pork will be discovered by this
body Of trained engineers, and will be
reported upon adversely? It is ridi,
culous to believe otherwise for the en-.
tire corps Is jealous to a degree of It's
good name, and its reputation fol
clean methods as the servants of the
people.
"creeks" Important.
THE criticism that is being made
against certain appropriations fol
creeks, as carried In the River and
Harbor bill, Is also most unwarranted
What would an appropriation of 5000
accomplish for the mouth of the Miss
issippi or the Ambrose channel? YOU
might just Al well shovel that many
dollars into the sea as to expect it to
make an impression upon either o.
these two great projects. But $5,00l
spent on a creek may be the differ
ence between liner. ased freight move
ment, or the absolute abandonment o
the stream as q means of transports
ton. There are numberless creeks ID
the United States,-the word creek
being but a local designation for 9
stream, whose tonnage may rivaI
mighty rivers and . few thousand dol
lars spent upon them means the de
velOpment Of sections that otherwise
would remain virgin soil. It means
increased markets, and increased pros
perity
MY judgment. is that there Is less
than one-half of one per cent pork
In the River and Harbor bill now
pending in the Senate
ALLEGED BOOTlf66El