Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-06-23
WATERWAYS PART
OF PREPAREDNESS
Army and Navy Experts De-
mand Improvement of Riv-
ers and Canals
speotar Correspondence Evcnir0 LcdOer

| canal item was a notable victory Tor what
| the army and navy experts regard as the
| Kiel canal Of the Atlantic coast The item
was subjected 10 attack In general debate
! and on the reading Of the bill for nearly
/ ten days Tho unklndest things that could
| be conJured up were said about It, ana
| finally n point Of order was made that the
! project did not belong to tho River ana
| Harbor Committee, but should go 10 the
moribund Committee on Railways and
| Canals. This point OF order had been antici-
! pated as the last card OF the antagonists
| Of tho coastal project and was met argu-
| ment for argument and precedent for prece-
dent. But the chairman, following certain
| line OF prcccdents ruled tho point OF ordcT
we'll taken, and thus threw tho item out OF
the bill An appeal from the decision of tho
Chair WAS promptly mndc, and on that ap-
peal the fight for the retention for the item
was renewed with much bitterness on either
side As n result of Il all. the ruling Of the
Chair was not sustained and the item was
put back In the bill by a substantial vote
The failure 20 sustain the Chairs ruling, he
being Of the majority party, was one OF the
unusual incidents Of the SiXty-hfth Con-
grcss, and was widely commented upon IN
congressional circles.
The canal victory however Is not final,
although the item is now safely IN the bill
along with the Delaware River appropria-
ton Of S1,01O,OOO and the Schuykil River
appropriation Of 100000, tho latter being
a brand-new item. The bill itself, carrying
total OF $4,000 900, has not yet passed
the House. nor that other critical body
tho Senate. The New England items are
all right. and so is the East River project
together with the Pennsylvania New Jer-
soy and Delaware projects but hard bat
tie is expected when certain other sections
Of the country are reached. After the
Chesapeake and Delaware fight the river
and harbor bill was displaced for week
in order that the Presidents food dictator
ship bill might have immediate cunsidcra-
ton That bill has been running all the
week, and will be followed by the river and
harbor bin unless some new tactics Of OBJ
struCtion are resOrted to. Meanwhile the
Secretary Of Commerce, speaking as much
for tho Council Of National Defense as for
tho department, has been urging the de-
velopmcnt of waterways for war trans
portation purposes. The car shortage is
being cited as evidence Of the necessity
for waterways, and much is being made
Of the statement Of President Willard, OF
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, who is
chairman Of the advisory commission Of
the Council of National Defense, that even
when the railroads Of the country have
been operated up to 100 per cent Of their
capacity there stll remains %, 30, possibly
still greater per cent of traffic which cam
not be carried at all"
Backing Up the Army
Some Of the leading army and navy
officials feel keenly the desirabiilty Of early
action upon the waterways bill They do
not regard it as pork" but as one of the
sensible mediums Of preparedness. Why
should we send fighting men into the
trenches, they argue unless we are pre-
pared to back them up with the necessary
equipment including the food supply? The
waterways are natural developers Of the
food supply. They irrigate the soil, which
stimulates production and, properly i'm
proved afford n means OF transportation to
and from many fertile sections Of the Coun-
try which are not reached by the railroads.
This is notably the situation with respect to
probably a hundred streams emptynR into
the Atlantic Ocean, penetrating thousands Of
acres Of tillable land not served by the rail-
roads at all If we are to stimulate pro-
duction and conserve our food supply for
war purposes and to keep down the cost
Of living why permit this frIghtful waste
Of good land and Of these natural oppor-
tunites for bringing its product to market?
Washington has been learning much this
week about Mr.. Hoover and the high cost
Of living. II has been said by Mr.. Hoover
that we must keep the Allies supplied with
| food even though their supply Is bound to
| be 40 per cent deficient At the same
| time we are told that, owing to our limited
| transportation facilities in carrying supplies
| to the Allies we must ourselves cCOnOmiZe
| as the cost Of living scars The average cit
| izen, who complains that -four sells at $500
! a barrel in London when the price is S17.60
| in Washington, must also bear i'm mind that
| even the railroads must give way to for
! egn trade or to the needs Of the army and
navy for the provisioning Of our own troops.
! IL the President feels warranted in using
! them. Thus II is held that inland water
ways, In addition 10 such strategic channels
! as the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal,
may fairly be considered in the catalogue
| Of war measures. Upon that hypothesis
] Al Of no ytrat
| ceedinE with their $26,0OO,00O bill
Since the outbreak Of the European war
| Washington has witnessed one grand pro-
| cession of flags The stars and Stripes,
Of course. predominates, but there has been
! such variety of other flags as to suggest
! that the Capital City is Fast becoming
| the melting pot Of the world When the
| French commissioners arrived the French
! flag was thrown to the breeze Then came
| the British commissioners and with them
| the British flag. For several weeks certain
| of the public buildings hoisted these three
| emblems, 1t was popular for n time to put
| them on automobiles and in front Of bust
| ness houses. While this tripartite display
was going on several Of the South Ameri-
can flags appeared, including that of Cuba
| These were our allies Then came the Con-
| federate veterans reunion. with the old
| soldiers Of Lee and Jackson and the spirited
| bellies of the cotton States, wearing the
| Stars and Bars, While such a display in
washington might not have been accepted
with good grace quarter Of a century ago,
the union Of the Stars and Bars with the
Stars and Stripes was effected on this oc-
casion without special comment. The old
soldiers OF the South, who had been won
over to n better fraternal feeling by the
reunion Of the Blue and the Gray at Get
tysburg, adhered to their State emblems
and to the flag under which they had
fought, but always in conjunction with the
one flag which they now honor and support
Troubles of the Suffragists
But while the melting pot has been bub-
bling In Washington there have been one OF
two flies i'm the ointment. The constant dis
play Of the British flag when Mr. Balfour
was here was too much for one Of our Irish
friends on Pennsylvania avenue, who rar
up the green emblem and held II unmolested
until the British diplomats had taken theh
departure. The love of Old Erin thus dis
played was taken in good part by all oh.
servers. but not so with the efforts OF tn,
militant suffragists TO inject their banners
into the melting pot. For many months, IL
bad weather and fair, band of determined
women, insisting on woman suffrage, hav,
placed themselves within the President.
q .FIufn ha 10 ar,H