Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-12-10
Secretary of Greater Davenport Committee Pre-
sents Facts REGARDING Possibilities and
Needs of Stream Before Convention

WASHINGTON. u. &. Dec. IO.-Irving
r Norwood. secretary OF the Greater
davenport committee. Davenport.
Tous. today addressed the convention
~ the National Rivers and Harbors
congress He spoke as follows:
The cities Of the upper Mississippi
-iver have awakened 10 the impor-
,arca OF utilizing the great waterway
AZ freight carrier. They have begun
q APPRECIATE the necessity OF CO
cperat!uc with the federal government
r tle rehabilitation OF the river. 10
understand that modern terminals and
The proper type OF boats are just as
important as an adequate channel and
:, realize that while the Improvement
n the channel Is a government func-
,ic7. that the building OF terminals
must be undertaken by the cities them
selves and the construction Of boats
by private capital
well informed people in the upper
river cities no longer waste time dis
cussirE the reasons why freight is not
carried en- the stream under present
conditions. They are mere concerned
with remedyilg these conditions.
from kee!s and flats to the present
type OF river steamers and understand
hcv il happened that the railroads.
usraIlelinE the river. having excellent
terminal facilities and being uncon-
rolled in the use Of CompeJition-kill-
iuz rates AMI methods. were able TO
absorb the business and reduce the
amount Of river freight TO negligible
quantity But Of much greater mo-
ment. the public Of the upper river
cities has come 70 see that al the pres
eut time the real obstacle in the way
az an immediate revival Of river trans
pcrtarion 5 the absolute lack OF mod
en- freight handling facilities at indus
trial centers along the river.
During the recent fight in congress .
against river and harbor appropria- T.
tons almost every project undertaken f.
By the government in recent years .
came IN for a share Of criticism. The /
prcjecc for t1e improvement OF the 4
upper Mississippi probably was sub /
jscted 10 less abuse than many other f.
waterway improvements. but doubt 4
vas nevertheless expressed in some
quarters as 10 the governments justi-
fcsticn for carrying through the plans
fer 4 six-fCot channel from St Louis Z
to -. Paul at a cost of 100000. 900. OF
which approximately s5.00o.000 has
bsca spent since the work was begun
in 1907.
The Justification OF this project
nav be discussed under three heads:
Is there sufficient potential water
freight along the upper Mississippi to
Justify this expenditure? Second. will
he cities of the upper Mississippi. by
luilding terminals and installing ma
.hinery. make il possible 10 handle
his freight rapidly and economically:
md. third. will the enterprise OF pri-
ate capital keep pace with the efforts
4 the federal government and the cit
IS. so as to assure the building OF
number OF boats of the prop
: type
Let Us consider these questions in
rider. That as 10 the freight POSSIBLE
les OF the upper river is readily
nswered b. available figures. From
.ltcn, Ill. just above St. Louis. 70
Minneapolis. there are &c cities with
n aggregate population of more than
900. OC0. housing $50 factories which
reduce more than $500. 900, 900 worth y,
Z manufactured products annually. ,
The freight in and out of these cities