The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1914-07-29
DANGER Of
BEING TALKED
To DEATH
RAILROAD OPPOSITION Is PUT.
TING RIVER AND HARBOR
BILL IN GREAT RISK


may be it's epitaph, and by former
chairman of the rivers and harbors
committee of the House. Yet there
are those in the Senate who still be-
lieve the bill will pass that body at
this session, substantially as it came
from the commerce committee, and
one of these optimists is the distin-
guished senior senator of Michigan,
William Alden Smith, whose name
has frequently been heard recently
as a likely candidate for the next
presidency.
Senator Smith in reviewing the
present situation in respect to the
river and harbor appropriation bill,
said 1.-The subcommittee of the
commerce committee which reported
the river and harbor bill to the Sen
ate, consisting of Senators Simmons,
of North Carolina, Chamberlain, of
Oregon, Ransdell, of Louisiana, Nell
son, of Minnesota, Burton, of Ohio,
and myself, spent nearly two months
going over, with government engi-
neers and experts, the House water
ways bill carrying, in round numbers,
| forty-three million dollars.
Hearings were conducted, various
communities throughout the coun-
| try interested in particular water
way projects were listened to and
all projects were gone carefully into,
and l cannot now recall any differ
ence of opinion in the subcommittee
Of any special moment. We were all
in practical accord when the bill was
| finally presented to the Senate.
Some of the larger projects for
which appropriations had been made
from time to time, like the Columbia
river improvement, were closed by
this bill and it was thought by the
subcommittee that this course would
prove more economical than the
piece-meal appropriations of former
bills.
II IT cannot remember but one or two
/ items not recommended and estimat-
ed by the corps of engineers of the
army. Those two items were the
Arcadia project in Michigan, for
which $4,000 is appropriated, and
the other, the Lake Contrary project
on the Missouri river. The Arcadia
/ project is located in a rural communi-
ty entirely dependent on water COM
munication for marketing their
/ crops. Some years ago SIS, 900 was
/ appropriated for the Lake Contrary
project. conditioned upon the rails
ing of like sum by local interests.
The present bill eliminates that con-
/ dition. Scores of meritorious pro-
jects were killed in committee, while
others were not estimated for at all
and do not appear in the bill.
''The system of making appropri-
atoms for rivers and harbors may
not have been scientific or wise when
the practice was begun, but in re-
cent years the most careful and pain
stalking scrutiny has been observed.
This is especially true since the crea-
ton of the intermediate engineer
board which is authorized and en-
powered to review the recommends
lions of district engineer officers even
after such projects have been approx
ed by the division engineers.
i 81 do not recall a single instance
in my own experience where this APP
pellate board has not exercised full
supervisory authority with conserva-
| tism and impartiality. Members of
ECongress have realized for several
years that an adverse report from the
army engineers virtually dooms the
project And this course has done
away, almost entirely, with the old
/ practice of '1og-rolling, which was
many years ago quite commonly
practiced in securing local benefits
in river and harbor bills.
There may be, and probably is,
improvement in rivers and harbors
not as necessary to communities to-
day as when undertaken, but that
system was not without it's cham
pions; boards of trade, chambers OF
commerce, common councils and cit
liens generally. They gave public
men no peace until their local ambi-
tons were initiated. The situation
is entirely different today. And the
work of improving the rivers and
harbors must now have the approval
of the expert engineers of the army
before it can obtain any standing
before the committee of either
house of Congress.
| I wish some better method than
the one now employed could be de-
vised. The National WATERWAYS
| Commission, headed by Senator Bur-
ton, and of which l was a member,
after months of careful study. laid