River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1914-05-14
THE FREAR RESOLUTION

| dOlC SpGGCh III IllC 1lOuOCs IN
river and harbor bill was his sub
ject, and he made a telling analy-
sis of the measure. Taking up
project after project, he quoted
from the engineering reports to
show conditions surrounding them
and the pitifully small volume of
traffic that could possibly be bene-
fitted by enterprises for which
hundreds of thousands of dollars
were asked, demonstrating that
the measure as a whole plainly
aimed to distribute a lot of Fed
eral money as ~equitably as might
be, rather than to devote it to
work that would be of substantial
value.
Mr.. Frear's speech demonstrated
that he had made a great study of
the subject. He followed it on
May 4 by introducing a concurrent
resolution which probably will be
duly smothered for the present,
but which contains an idea that is
certain before many years to be
adopted.
This Frear resolution sets forth
that, while these appropriations
have increased 500 per cent per
annum, navigation on the rivers
has fallen off 80 per cent. Pro-
jects now adopted, or contained
in the pending bill, which is ex-
pected to pass, involve a future
expenditure of $3O5, 900, 900; surveys
are authorized for projects cost
ing another $500, OOO, 900, and other
huge projects are now being in
sistently advocated which would
involve billions. Mr.. Frear de-
clares that many millions have
been spent in the past on rivers
to benefit navigation, and that
these projects have since been
abandoned as of no value, and re-
presents dead loss.
In short, Mr.. Frear presents a
startling Indictment of the whole
river improvement program; in
sists that most of the money spent
on it-several hundreds of millions
in the past has been wasted, and
that, unless there is a change of
policy, billions more will go the
same way. and he winds up his re-
solution with a direction that the
Interstate Commerce Commission
shall investigate and report on the
whole subject. Among other things
he would have the C mission
find out how much value there is
in the $3O5, 0O0,O 900 worth of pro-
iects to which the Government is
now committed; what virtue there
is in the billions of dollars worth
of additional projects that are
in~sistently demanded, and what
are the organizations, interests.
ETC., boosting them. He wants to
know about paid lobbyists in this
connection, and requires detail in
formation as to all river and har-
Dor improvements begun and af-
terWard abandoned, and how much
this waste has aggregated. He
asks the commission to learn
whether it is true that certain
privately owned canals, whose
stock is practically worthless, +
being unloaded on the government
for huge figures, and why. He
yearns' for light, too, as to the ex-
tent of the property values that
would be benefited by certain
great river improvements that arc
urged: and he wants to be inform
ed why States and cities along the
Mississippi, for instance should
not pay a big slice of the expense
for flood protection and the like,
of which they would be the bene-
ficiaries.
In short, Mr.. Frear has cut out
for the Interstate Commerce Com
mission a job which it couldn't
possibly handle, and for which it
has no possible equipment; but,
none the less, a job that very de-
cidedly ought to be attended to.
1t should b. given, not to the In
te~rstate Commerce Commission,
but TO some OIn6F DOuy. GeIudpS
the Department of Commerce is
the right authority. Anyhow, the
board of investigation that Mr..
Frear wants is demanded by the
enlightened sentiment of the whole
country.
We have spent hundreds of mil
lions on our waterways; several
times as much, for instance, as
Germany has spent on hers. Yet
at the end what do we see? Ger
many has restored a vast and
fast-increasing traffic to her riv-
ers; we have let the traffic be
driven from our rivers. Germany
has got immense returns from it's
river investments; we have vast
ed ours, for the greater part, and
are going right ahead and waste
more.
copoo ocuon;1otiOn co-Opd;nafion