The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-27
COMBAT RAILROAD FREIGHT CHARGES WITH WATERWAYS
 SENATOR RANSDELL Louisiana S0lon Addresses Southern Commercial
 Congress
  SAYS HE DOES NOT
 OPPOSE CARRIERS
Recommends Development of Water ways by Private Corporations. Water Competition Will In-
 sure Lower Rail Rates

Muskogee. Okla, April se.-Development of the country's waterways and resultant transportation competition will prove more effective In relieving tho United States of excessive freight rates than ef- forts of tho interstate commerce commis- sion or other bodies to regulate the rai1- roads. according to Senator Joseph H. Ransdell of Louisiana. chairman of the and president of the National Rivers and Harbors association, who addressed the Southern Commercial congress here to- night.
 T am not an opponent Of the raiI- roads," Senator Ransdell declared, "for our railroads have been the greatest civ ilizers the world has known. But the shippers and consumers are entitled to the use of the waterways and such com petition is the proper way to regulate our roads.
 Water Transportation Cheap
 The chief advantage of water trans- poration is it's great cheapness compared to rail" Senator Ransdell said "As an example. S,o0o.0oo tons of freight passed through the Sault Ste. Marie last year al an average cost of 6S of a mill, com- pared with a rail rate of "a of a cent. This same relative difference exists on all we'll improved waterways.
 Another typical case Is the rall rate from New Orleans on the Illinois Central to Hammond. Ia distance of os miles, which is l2h cents while the rate from New Orleans to Memphis on the same road distance of 395 miles, is 12 cents. Memphis Is on the Mississippi river. Ham, mond s in the interior.
 If the government were to charge peo- pie the same proportonate rate for car rying mail, the cost of transporting let fer from New Orleans to Hammond would be about l3 cents, while one to Memphis could be carried for about cents.
 To make competition between water and rail transportation lines possible, Sen ator Ransdell said. the Southern stean- boat man must dispense with the old fashioned negro stevedore and Install me- chanical devices such as are used on tho great lakes
 Should Develop Waterways
 q believe every waterway in this coun- try should be developed to the greatest possible extent. provided it can be done at a reasonable cost" he asserted. They should be given over to privately owned llIle Just ds our fdllfnAuS are. It IS use. less economy to attempt to cut any ap. propriation for such developments"
 w. A. Graham, commissioner of agri- culture of North Carolina, another speaker, declared that several serious problems must be solved before the south can be reJuvenated.''
 We must create home owning voc marry who will raise crops to feed them selves and thus recover their lost inde- pendent condition" he said We must establish the principles of cooperation in buying and selling by means of township. county and state organizations We must teach the farmer to think by inducing him to attend institutes. Too many farm CTS who know that they must live by the sweat of their brow believe the brow Is situated in the back.
 We must have rural credit laws that will free the farmer from the curse of borrowing and must have currency system that will give the farmer the money he needs when he wants it.
 Gabe F. Parker superintendent for the Five Civilized Tribes welcomed the dele- gates for the Indians of Oklahoma. Mir. Parker asserted that while large num- bers of Indians in this section have grown wealthy from the discovery of oil and gas on their land allotments the vast ma jority must look to agricultural pur- suits.
 Tribal and clannish relations should be done away by the Indians of the United States" Mr. Parker said. "The Indians should no longer be dealt with in the mass, but as individuals"
 A number of addresses describing the agricultural needs of the south were de- livered at the opening session of the today.