Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1915-11-17
Improvement of Arkansas Justified by Freight Ton
 mage, Engineers Told.
$1o,ooo,ooo FROM
 GOVERNMENT ASKED
Senators Robinson and Clarke Speak for Liberal Treatment of Waterway Before United States Engineers
 at Little Rock.

Little Rock, Nov. 16.-One million tons of freight annually was the in duce ment offered by deep waterway advocates in the closing session be- fore the United States army engi- nAars Tuesday afternoon, in their plea for four foot waterway in ths Arkansas.
 United States Senator Joe T. Rob- inson made the closing argument and frankly informed the engineers that if the Arkansas river was in any other part of the country the needed Improvements woul5 long ago have been made. He declared that the tonnage is here, and that no matter what the cost If the improve ment is, i. is a good investment on the part of the government. Senator Robinson the improvement of the Arkansas un- til regular channel could be ma in. tained at small cost.
 |s Carl J. Baer, secretary of the Little Rock chamber of cdnmerce, was the principal spe'sker, presenting fig ures to the commission to show ton mage that could be expected if the improvements were made. He de- l clared that Arkansas was the most 1 dscriminatsd against state in the United States, in freight rates. He asserted that this fact alone has re- tarded the development of the state, and had almost paralyzed its indus tries. The speaker stated he was not opposed to the railroads. The open ing of the river would take away the low priced tonnage and permit ths railroads to use the cars demanded In transportation of better classified tlons Of freight.
 MT. Baer estirhtsd the tonnage Little Rock will now give river packets, if transportation is assured. at 100000 tons per annum. The most or o.,1 this is bauxite, but MT. Baer stated tae business interests of ell cities along the river would work with the government engineers to increase it annually until the government was 'eaplng a harvest on the investment
 Retards Coal Mining.
 James P. Hove, for twenty years a uoal operator of Arkansas estimated mat there are S00,000,00O tons of coal Ill Arkansas fields, and the annul plouuctlon now is only 100000. He asserted that lack of freight rates aow restricts the Arkansas coal trade lo the surplus that other states can- net supply, and the higher grades of ,oal, which only Arkansas produces. Mr. Hoye stated that the. annual out put or coal in Arkansas would be in .leassd tass: to 100000 tons if river s. aalllc was opened. MT. Hove did not sup .a wltn Ozark as the head of navi- ea'en' but told of practical harbors e se ane mouth of Vache Grasse, in Se- pas Uassian county at the mouth of the ao'eau at Fort Smith; and the open ua s VI the Pot2au to the fields about eoteau, ee, Okla. which could be ac- ''%pllsned nld at Ia small outlay.
 na oaptaln Hicks. of Pine Bluff; Capt. ra;n au'e's of Little Rock, and Capt. ;o. hs or Hardanelle gave their opin- sM l VT the river Improvement, and an. an expressed the belief that it would th" vs cost great deal to bring back 'Ae oid steamboat days.
 vo" ~sp'aln Jeff Hicks stated that it sslla not cost near as much as the
 Ssaesrs estimated, for there was sr. @ <. . fa wmiles of caving banks. ,o u .Ds other banks would, not have S.Ss touched. This statement was e s". m reply 'tc one volunteered by en. .s',seFnment engineer that perman- riv.. improvements on the Missouri ns,s n mad cost $5O,0O0 per mile, and ths.e was only one bank worked on vo,l where the Arkansas river M. ssastor James P. Clarke, who pre- MY sa tne first argu1 hnt in the river Ess,ns. dalled ~attention of the tvo vosrlng board to the fact that paesious reports, by different Arssneerlng boards, had stamped the hs 1sas r.os. rlver development project
 eoo,s. ssertny proposal. In one of these
 c s;.s which congress later saw fit ~'sleeard, s25,OOO,0O0 was reccm-