Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1914-05-16
JUSTICE rALKs ON VALUE OF
OUR INLAND WATERWAYS

That waterways are of value not
only in time Of peace but in time OF
war and that an inland waterway along
the Atlantic coast rs a means Of ma
tional defense would be Of even great
er value than the Panama canal, is the
opinion expressed by Mr.. Theodore Jus
ticc, Of Philadelphia, who is commits
sioncr Of Fairmount park.
GLOW many of us realize, said
Mr.. Justice, "that but for the sinking
of the battleship Maine the Panama
canal would today not even have been
begunl When We were suddenly fac
ing war we found our fleet divided,
one part in tae Atlantic, the other in
the Pacific, and eaeh division liable to
being defeated in detail The long,
hazardous trip Of the Oregon around
Cane Horn was a matter of intense
anxiety and aroused the whole nation
to the need of the Panama canal as a
means of national defense, so that, in
case Of need, We could unite all our
warships in one mighty fleet and in
either ocean.
"In my remarks before the conven-
tion Of the National Rivers and Har-
bors congress in December last, point
ID out. that the question whether the
Panama canal, which was wholly paid
for by the United States and is wholly
within United States territory, is to be
absolutely within United States con-
troll, had seemingly become an inter
national question and had created a
situation that was surcharged with
danger, one that might lead to conflict
with the whole world united against
us, and that this conflict might come
upon us as suddenly as did the sink
= of the Maine. The danger which
existed at that time has been multi
Piled hundredfold by the situation
that now confronts us in Mexico.
"Under such peril our greatest
cities, New York, Philadelphia, Balti-
more, and even Washington, the cap
ital of the nation, might be at the
mercy of united European fleets, but
this danger would be fully averted if
the waterways that now connect New
York harbor with the Delaware river
and Chesapeake bay were deepened
sufficiently to allow the passage of
torpedo boats. This inland waterway
would be safe from battleship attack
and would have all the advantages Of
a short inside line from which often.
sive warfare might be more safely car
ried on. The benefits indicated for
the section from New York to Chesa-
peake bay would he vastly extended
and multiplied with the completion of
the entire project, giving n protected
waterway the whole length of the At
lantic coast
"''The broad, national value Of such
a waterway would be far greater to the
people of the United States than even
that of the Panama canal, cOnceding,
as | do, quite as much for the national
value Of the latter as is claimed by
its most sanguine advocates.
"Will any broad-minded and patrio.
tic citizen of the United States not
concedc that matters OF national de-
fense should have precedence at all
times over the many other meritorious
projects that have been proposed All
of the latter proposed plans contain
great commercial value to the nation,
and | hope that within the course Of
reasonable time all of them will be
developed, but in the interest of the
whole nation the greatest project of
them all is the immediate preparation
for national defense contained within
the plans of the Atlantic Deeper Wa.
terways association, extending all the
way from Maine to Florida.