Evening star., 1914-04-26

manufactures in that department in
January, 1905 but bureau work did not
appeal to him. and he resigned six
months later to return to Philadelphia
as president of a trust and safe deposit
company. \ vacancy occurring that
year IN his congressional district, he was
put forward for the office, was elected,
and at every election since he has been
reelected.
It is said in Philadelphia that the news
paper business lost a particularly good
man when Hampton Moore quit it. He
was thorough, he was accurate; he was
INDUSTRIOUS he had the ability to get
down to essentials in any story on which
he was working. and he had the human
touch. He knew a human interest
story when he saw it, and he knew how
to make the reader see it, too.
All of these qualities serve a public
man well. They lie at the foundation OF
Mr.. Moores success. They make him u
formidable man III debate, for he alway S
is armed with facts.
But to get back TO this intercoaS Stal
waterway of his. 1t was splendid vision
he painted for himself those years ago;
now it is gradually becoming a reality
Years of incessant hammering, in Con-
SreSS and out, produced last year full re-
ports by the United States Army engi-
neers upon every section of the project
from New England to Florida, for as
early as 1909 Mr.. Moore had secured
congressional authority for survey.
In the rivers and harbors bill of this
year, which carries. by the way, total
appropriations of about $4o,ooooo0-S10,
000,OOo less than is asked by the Attain
tic Deeper Waterways Association as an
annual propriation-proviSion is car
ried for the expenditure of S1.3Oo,ooO to-
ward the purchase of the thirteen-rnile
Chesapeake and Delaware canal a
segment of the proposed intercoaStal wa
terway. To improve this segment and
give it a twelve-foot depth for its entire
distance it is estimated that Ss,0U,UO
will be required The purchase OF the eX-
listing canal would be a great step for
ward in the work.
x :.
This" says Mr. Moore, lis the cheap
est, and, from engineering point OF
view. the easiest section of the whole eN-
tensive project to construct. Ii is the
very center of the busiest transportation
belt of the United States. The existing
canal is a relic of 1879, and is so limited
in depth and width as to discourage its
use by modern vessels. Ii is owned by a
private corporation. whose toll charges
are substantially equivalent to those by
rail-. IN q tfafi1C area lar eSceeulnS lHdl
of the Panama canal. it tends to retard
rather than promote trade.
The government has acquired the Ches-
apeake and Albemarle canal, which opens
the Atlantic coastal trunk line from the
Chesapeake bay and Norfolk south to be-
low Cape Hatteras
To the north, the report of the engi-
neers has approved the construction of
the Delaware and Raritan link across
New Jersey at cost OF S2o,OUo,000 while
to the south the engineers report also
approves the section from Beaufort. y.
c., south to st. Johns river. inside of
Cape Lookout and Cape Fear, and the
dangerous shoals extending hey ond them.
The trunk line plan, you will note. is
distinctly taking shape actuality,
with the Delaware-Ches canal.
which we propose purchasing, as a vital
link in the chain. The cohesive influence
of the main project. proposing. as it
does. to obtain a safe and standard inland
waterway from New England to Florida.
connecting with the great lakes and the
Mississippi valley via the Hudson and
the Erie canal on the north, and with