The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-04-27
CH AMBER. AIN SAYS
 RAIL ROADS FIGHT
 MATERMA AVS WORK

ny Q9 A1tn o1zAeL&s C19FS 1S ore L1esA4 who hos no doubts or n1tagiv1ngs as oo tRs sgMroe of the opuasttaon to wa esrvzssss vaaxch has been so plainly in ereaIlenes during the last two sessions of congress That man is a native of NGtsaaskppd. who moved to Oregon, be- unEn6 attorney general end later gov srror of that sAa6as and Is now ars<v-' lnx his second term as United 8eaheA as.atogs His naz1e is.Georse E. Cham
 .Fnere las been most re1x1arlx- able change says Senator Chamber lAtn, fin the course followed hg the great transportation companies of thin counary since the opening of the Pan- anna. Canal For neaE1y a half com tury before that great work was com aletsd 4a1e efforss of the trans -couta-s mental railways were directed against every efr0rt that was made to con qleot tEas two oceans by the construc- doNhtedly retarded this work for at least forty years It 1s unnecessary to dascuss at length the reasons which led to this opposition 1t Is suncient to say that, so long as it's completion was delayed. 50 long could these great eransts sortat1om connpauaes coztE ol the FasS
 The methods which were rescrted' to to accom- p1ish this are well known fc shippers and producers of the coun- Hyz They not only controlled the ra1fwaEs across the Isfhufus, but they controlled the coast-yv1se trade They hired space on the coasdng steamers, even though that space was not used, and fixed rates at such exorbita-pt hg-5 ures that the products of the coun-. try had to be carried over then rail lines at any price that the railway companies saw fit to charge They were restrained only by the slow and tedious processes of the Interstate Comm cree Commission and the courts It will be remembered that fl took through these processes, nTzkl de- cfsion afeetfng rates to tho inter- mountain country, and even that de- cIsion has recently been very largely nledfhed-
 The Panama Canal has become an aceomp p1ished fact. and in 1s1 an act governing it's use was placed upon the statute books This act granted to nlerfcan vessels engaged in the coastwise trade exemption from tolls and immediately upon it's psssaEei these same compantea put forth their efforts to secure the repeal s9f this exemption clause In that fight they were successful. so that Amertca11 ves-7 sels engaged in fhe coastR1se uadea are nleasurab7y handicapped, for, to at Panama to that same extant the railway companzes can add to their continental freight rates
 Having lost the light agaiIsst ca nal construction, but having won a victOrs with reference to toa1s ex-l ennption thetr organized eforts arel now being dtrecoed agafnst 1egis1a- ton for the Improvement of inland waterways, The purpose of this op- position is too plain for argument. These waterways have now become active competitors with the railways and are more powerful as rate regu- s1ators than either the Interstate Cpm- snnerce Commission or the State Com missions can possibly be. No obJec- ton IS being urged against the i'm proyesaent of harbors where as "a rule railway companies own and com trol all terminal facilities, The op ponents Of appropr1atfons for river improvement seem tos be perfectly shall De appropriated for these har- Dor improvements because. in the final aTlaIysfs. money so expended benefits the railway cerporations-
 am neither a prophet nor the son sDf prophet, but I predict that there will De in the future thoroughly or ganized and well directed efforts to defeat bills approprIating money for the Improvement of internal water ways particularly where those water ways compete with railway transpor- station. know of no better way to- compel the enemies of waterway 51n-s provenent to show the cIoven foot than by placing Appropriations for harbors, W hich are railway term ina Is in one bill and appropriations for in 4erual Waterways which are coInpet-E ztaFs Of railways, in a separate bill 1t is safe to say At4lat in the former instance there would be little if any. opposition; while in the latter the hght against appropriations would continue to be- as strenuous as it has set n since the completion Of the Pan. anna Canal and the passage Of the Act. of 1912
 It will not take the. people Of this country 5ong to wake up to the fact tElaf the opposition to he development and improvement of our waterways is really inspired by interests that con- trol transportation, just as they in- aIIy woke up 10 the fact that opposi- Eion te the construction of the Pana- n1a Canal was inspired by the trans continental railway systens.s
 To quickly wake the people of the country 0 a rea1lzations of the facts and when Inc awakening comes ac-a 7tion is sure to folfow-req qtiires a cam zSafe,yl Of education such as that being eostira11so11sly carried on by the Ma tionaI Rivers and Harbors Congress The opposition is we'll organized and apparently has ample funds at it's dis provenent must be Vigiiant and ae- tive at all times. Their work Is largely a labor Of love and is in the interest Of the masses of the people, ssz1 Fo maintain no lobby at Washing ton. ask no favors and simply desire that justice be done to the shippers and producers Of the whole country.''
 OPEN SUPPLY BIDS
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