The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-07-15
RIVER AND HARB0R
 BILL DEFENDED BY CHIEF OF ENGINEERS
Gen. D. c. Kingman Pays Fri bute to Our Representative
 Form of Government.
Every Recommendation Made Has Been Subject of Close and Painstalzing Subject Very Little 'sPOrk'' in Pend ina Administration Bill.
Especial to the Farmer.l)

Washington. July 15.-'The River and Harbor Appropriation bill is the product of a representative form sor Government, and I am a firm believ- CT in the representative character or our Government said General Dan c. Kingman. Chief of Engineers, as he discussed the criticisms now being made against certain features of the river and harbor bill
 ssThe R1ver and Harbor bill is the combined judgment of the Corps of Engineers engaged on river and har- bor work, plus the intelligent under standing of the needs of particular To- caTttes 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 char acter of our 1egisIationS it is my honest conviction that appr roprianons for projects might find tne-t way into budgets that would savor of pull. rather than have the project stand upon it's own merit
 .HThe Representative is the mouth pfece>of his constituency, and as such is supposed to present to the Com miftees of Congress the needs of his people, and if he should ask Tor leg fs1affonk 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 repre- gent their interests
 s~So far as the charges go that the present River and Harbor bill con tatrs an unlimited amount of pork, T. 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 padnsta king study. The Act of 1902 provides that after Con wress .KaB ordered a survey of a pro- 5ect. Ehe local or district Engineer re- ports uDon the a.dvisability, adequacy, cost and commercia1 importance of the knproTernents. This report is, in turn. rs2srred to the Division Engfn- eer who approves or modihes it as the facts appear before him. From the Division Engdn eer the report goes to the Board of Engineers for rivers and harEorH. who examine 1t with al If the project be meritorious. and finally it reaches the Chief of En- Kineer14 to be examined by him with Just as much diHcr11nination as was shown the project by those below. At each stage of the proceeding local in teresfs may be heard, for or against the Contemplated improyelnerts and then. after it receives the stamp of ap- pEova1 of the Chief of Engineers it is Transmitted 10 the Secretary of War, who, in turn, sends 1t to Con greBE for Legislation on the subject
 s.IBA tt not fair to assume in view 0f the careful invssti ga11cn that is rfvens every individual project by the Corps of Engineers engaged in river and hRbor work that anything that looks like pork will be discovered by this body of trained engineers, and will be reported nj pom adverseIy2 It is ridiculous to believe otherwise for the entire Corps is jealous to a de- gree of ttS good name, and it's repu- tation fer clean methods as the ser- vants of the people.
 '-Ths criticism that is being made against certain appropriations for cnRsars, as carried in tho River and Hmmbor bin. is also most unwarrant- cd What would an appropriatton of @E SG@0 acconaplish for the mouth of the 1Gdss6Gstppi or the Ambrose chan ne1f Eou might just as well shovel tha11u1AuT dollars into the sea as to expectsft tOtrna11e an impression upon, either Of these two great projects But %6s000t spent on a creek-may be the d4Merence between increased freight movement, or the absolute abandouzueut Of the stream as a nneaEs 0G trau&portatton. There are nrEnbeEkessk creeks in the United stakes.- 2 word creek being but a local desasnz2fon for stream and a few thozsa11d dollars spent upon them means the development of secx1nns that otherwise would re- main virgin soil It means increased crops, increased markets and in- creased prosperity
 Ny judgment is that there is less than 0ne-half of one per cent pork lin the River and Harbor bill now pending in the Senate.''