The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-05-27
HARD ID KEEP UP WITH DEVELOPMENT. OF VARIOUS KINDS. Thousand Miles of River In
 Great Northwest Just
 Opened |STUPENDOUS TASK
 ALMOST UNKNOWN Far Reaching Results Are Expected to Come From Pan-American Conference In Session This Week
Ny HOLLAND

NeW fork, May 26.-tSpecial. "A predic- ton made many years ago by William II Seward when he was serving in the United States Senate and repeated. not publicly. but in conversation with friends at the time he bought for the United States Russian America-now known as Alaska-has been since May 1 fully iusti- fled. Secretary Seward was consricuous among all the men of public life in the east for his advocacy of anything which would tend to secure the development of the great northwest, and especially the Pacific coast. He was persuaded that in time Seattle would become the gateway to Alaska, and after his visit to Alaska. shortly after he retired from public life in 1869, MT. Seward predicted that our commerce with Alaska would within a generations time reach an amazing total.
 The figures recently reported from Washington which tell of the money value of our Alaskan commerce, high up in the serve as a perfect corolarv to the demonstration MT. Seward made when he was In public life. He was also Der suaded that the government should tri- umph over the navigation difficulties in the Columbia river no matter how much 1t might cost to do that. He believed that engineering science could perfect and ex- ecute a plan by means of which the rap ids and falls of this river could be mas tered and if they were thus mastered nav igation far into the interior would be ob- tained which would be of inestimable value in the development of the wonder fully rich resources of that section MT Seward did not live long enough to know that work of this kind had begun, but nis son, the late Frederick W. Seward, who served under his father as Assistant Sec retary of State, and who a few years aeN visited Alaska, was greatly pleased to know that what his father many years ago had advised had at last been accom- plished.
 It has sometimes been spoken of in this city as very happy coincidence that the mastery of the entire length of the Column bia river for navigation should have beer perfected at the time the Panama canal
 opening is being celebrated at San Francis co and San Diego. and, furthermore, tha announcement can be made to the Pan American financial conference, now in ses sio at Washington, that in the northwest ern corner of the United States there ha. just been achieved what Brazil and Bo livia are accomplishing in the heart 0 South America-namely, the perfee;ing O transportation between the head waters O the Amazon and the navigable rivers O Bolivia. In South America this has beer accomplished by the construction of railway around the rapids and falls whici prevented navigation between Bolivian rivers and the Amazon
 In the far northwest celebrations began early this month as a tribute to the engi neers and the business statesmen of th, northwest who have at last made it possi tle to navigate the upper Columbia re gions. The canal is on the Oregon sid. of the Columbia river and 1t Is eight ana one-half miles in length. There is a trib utary of the Columbia river which ha, also been canalized so that now 1t is pos sible for steamboats to navigate water ways for a little over 1000 miles from tn
 Pacific inland and for little over 20 miles on the Willamette river The worl has been of rapid construction. for tn canal was begun by means of federal alt only seven years ago. Any steamboa
 drawing about eight feet of water ca
 now navigate the whole distance. Com mercially the completion of this artificia waterway is regarded as not only of yer,
 great importance to the northwest, bu also to the United States as whole
 Some one has said that the constructIo
 of this canal means as much to The grea
 northwest as the construction of the Pan
 anna canal does to the entire Unite
 States.
 Something of Surprise
 In an address made by Elihu Root whil he was serving in the Senate, he spok
 earnestly and rather sorrowfully of tn fact that the various sections of the Unite
 States do not have the information eac
 respecting the other which they shoul
 have Senator Root believes that much c
 the sectional irritation that sometime
 amounts almost to antagonism would nc
 exist If the various sections were in pos
 session constantly of full or reasonabl information about each other. This state
 ment was well illustrated by the fact tha
 in this vicinity there has been almost n knowledge of the great work which ha
 just been completed in the northwest En
 gineers, the federal government and tn citizens of those northwestern communl ties have been occupied in perfecting d artificial waterway which will give eas and economic transportation for 1000 mile from the Pacific coast to the interior, an yet this great undertaking while in pro gress has been almost unnoticed in tn east.
 The Secretary of the Treasury, MT. Mo Adoo, is taking the keenest interest in tn meeting of the Pan-American financis conference. It Is an interest which h hopes the entire country will share. H
 has done everything within his power t furnish the country with information ( the purposes of the conference and of tn | character of the distinguished men finance and of public life who have com | to Washington from South and Centrs America.
 | Those in this city who are following bot the organization of the conference and it proceedings and who have some persona Ir, 1adO nf a speak in terms of cordial approval of tn | selections which were made by Secretar l McAdoo of those who. as a whole, are represent the business and financial If of the United States at this conferenc, Especially fortunate is his choice of Pro Leo s. Rowe as secretary general of tn conference It is under the executive ey and direction of Professor Rowe that tn organization and the proceedings of tn conference have been conducted Secrt tary McAdoo knew sometime ago whs | the peculiar qualification of Professc Rowe for service of this kind arr Scholar and student as he is, he has ne, ertheless made no mere closet study Central and South America. He has bee brought in personal touch with the gres ] leaders of affairs in the republics at tt south of us and in that way has gaine the personal friendship of many of then Moreover Professor Rome, whose prt fessional chair is in the University
 Pennsylvania, has been an enthusiast st supporter of the plan since Secretary M, Adoo first broached it. He has expresse 1 himself as believing that the confereno
 will prove of almost incalculable benef commercially and financially so far z the relations of Pan-American states al
 concerned. In his opinion the meeting this conference will even surpass in i
 beneficial result the meeting of the fir + bPan-American conference. which toe place in 1889, the effects of which hay