Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1915-03-04
Up TO THE STATES.

Tho Iowa statewide publicity COM
mission is sending out the ln1orliidtio,
that there are prospects that iowa lanu
will be selling as high as $ooo pei
acre before very long. The conliils-
sion bases it's belief on the 1act INA,
Iowa farms are becoming smaller anu
are being worked on along intenslneu
lines. Because of this, Iowa,s rlch son
IL being made to produce larger III
comes from smaller tracts.
The commission fails to take lnto
consideration the very latest ana DIG
xest factor in the price OF land III Tue
Mississippi valley-the Panama cana ma.
The opening of this cennectlng MN
between the coasts of the Onlteo
States. may be turned to the aoVan-
tage of the middle section, or II may
absolutely put the middle sectlon OUT
NJ business and send land values away
down instead of to the high Levels tnat
are predicted in the optimistic report
of the statewide publicity commission.
Unless the middle west develops us
waterways, it will be wholly unable 10
comnete with the seaboards IN cater
ing to the biggest and best markets.
tho seaboards will have an advantage
Of low waterway freight rates that the
middle westerners who must per1orce
shin nv rail. will be unable to offset or
maat r. will mean the withdrawing
IF business of all kinds toward the
sea coasts and people-the makers OF
ali markets-will follow. The middle
west will cease to grow and any sec
zion that is not growing is going back
yard Therefore, land values are due
to go down instead of up-unless wa
terways are developed.
The states of the middle west cannot
afford to stand idly by and walt for
IIncle Sam to improve the waterways.
THE states owe it to themselves to
get busy on the project in which their
own futures are so tightly wrapped
nn Cod helps those who help them
selves. If the states start in making
an earnest effort to provide waterways
the federal government may step III
and help, but whether the government
does or does not, nothing Is going TO
be gained by Let George 10 II
attitude.
1t behooves Governor Clarke and the
iowa legislature to take notice OF
what other states are doing IN wafer
way matters. Illinois is seriously con-
B1Ocr1nR an 6Xp0uu1LuA0 " inv -
four millions of dollars for putting in
a connecting link between existing
waterways that will give good chan
nell from Lake Michigan to the Mis-
sissippi through the very heart OF the
state. Only sixty-five miles separate
the two waterways now. M1ssourls
legislature is talking waterway I'M
provement as are other states IN the
Mississippi and Missouri valleys.
Governor Clarke would do we'll to
appoint committee either OF leglsla-
tors or of private citizens to investi-
gate the waterway project In this
state. Iowa has numerous streams that
can be turned into arteries OF traf1c,
lines of communication and freight
carrying that reach practically every
CITY and county in the state.
Iowa cannot afford to look upon
waterway improvement as something
than can wait for the future. Cond1.
tons created by the opening of the
Panama canal make consideration OF
waterway improvements necessity
right away.
The sooner this fact is recognized,
the better. The sooner Iowa gets to
work on improving it's waterways and
making them fit for carrying freight,
me sooner the danger of receding land
values instead of climbing prices, Will
be met and overcome.
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a0Ne CAN'T WORK