Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-04-22

SMALL URGES j. s.
TOBUYC D. CANAL
Chaisman of House, River and
Harbor Committee Points
Out Necessity.
BENEFITS ARE APPARENT

Representative John H. Small Of North
Carolina, chairman of the House Rivers
and Harbors Committee, urges immediate
acquisition of the Chesapeake and Della
ware Canal bv the Federal government
and it's enlargement 10 a sea-level water
wav, according TO an interview with HIM
printed in today's Philadelphia Public
Ledger.
Taking over of the Eric canal by Hon.
". G.. McAdoo, dlrector-gencral oi rail-
roads. has gwen new life to the proposal
and it's advocates in Congress are hope
full the government will take advantage
Of the existing tangle IN the transporta-
ton situation TO acquire the waterway.
Government surveys OF the cahal De
tween the Delaware and Chesapeake bays
were made III 1909, and at that time the
Angus commission recommended INC
waterway be bought for S2.5l4.0oo and
improved at a cost not 10 exceed SS,ooo,-
600. This, as Mr.. Small showed, re-
lleves all necessity for any delay ana
would enable the government 10 ac-
quire the property lmm cdiately.
The use Of the Chesapeake and Della
ware canal and the Norfolk to Beaufort,
n G.. waterway MIR Small said
from Philadelphia and other Delaware
river points to Norfolk, Newport News,
To all North Carolina points and even on
10 Savannah and jacksonville by barges,
for there IL little of the storm menace along
the Georgia and Florida coasts The
Southern TRANSPORTATION Go. OF Phlls-
cclphla, established large commercial
barge service between Philadelphia and
southern points prior to the war, and
hid fair to he the pioneer Of much more
extensive activities along the same line,
hut these bargcs have now been diverted
into other service. especially 10 meet the
demands Of war industries for transpor-
tation between Norfolk and Philadei-
phia. There Is no good reason why mil
lions of tons Of freight should not he
carried south from the Delaware river
through the Chesapeake and Delaware
canal and then through the Norfolk
and Beaufort waterways
Regarding the waterway connecting
the Delaware river and hesapeake
Bav. the commission recommended the
existing plant be purchased at maxi
mum cost of s., ,514. 600, and that II be
enlarged and reconstructed 70 a sea
level canal with depth of twelve feet
Al an additional cost Of SS,000.00O.
1T is appropriate to inquire why our
interior WATERWAYS. including the con-
struction of the intracoastal projects,
have been neglected in this way. The
people have become accustomed to q
sort Of exclusive dependence upon the
railroads. although production is expand
ing faster than the railroads can move
II our canals and other waterways
have been condemned as archaic and
useless for transportation IN the face
of the experience Of other countries
Each period Of prosperity during the
last fifteen or twenty years brought on
railroad congestion, and now under the
strain OF the present war they have
broken down.
TERMINALS NEGLECTED.
s'With few exceptions there have beer
no ADEQUATE water terminals constructed
With modern transfer facilities. The
terminals are essential TO local traffic
and absolutely necessary to through
traffic bv rail and water The Fedora
government had never assumed th'
function Of constructing terminals, bu
this activity has been left entirely Il
CITY and State agencies. Phliadelphis
and Trenton and maybe Others have
recognized this condition and either have
or are engaged III the construction O
adequate terminals. 1t may be generally
stated however, OF all interior rivers
particularly the Mississippi, no appro
pirate terminals exist.
Another factor that has worked to
ward the decadence OF the watcrwayS
has been there is no interchange o
! traffic between the waterways and the
| railroads: but this interchange cannot
/ be economically effected without watel
I terminals. Until recently many OF tbs
railroads discouraged IN various way'
| the prorating system between the road:
| and the water carriers. The Interstate
| Commerce Commission has the poWel
to order such interchange,
Another reason why water transp0r
tation has not grown lies III the atu
, tudc Of the railroads regarding wate
competition. which caused them unwlseiy
to conclude their own interests Woul(
be promoted by destroying what wa
considered to be competitive traffic
This was done primarily by establish
ing abnormally low rates To compet'
with water lines and sometimes by tn
purchase of both lines and then aban
doning them Every interested cIti
zen nov rcalIzca that the railroads an'
the waterways are not competitive bu
should be coordinate parts
There must be "a Teadlustmcnt o
railroad rates in competition with tn
waterways sufficient to afford "A dlf
ferential favoring the waterways an
enabling them 10 operate at REASONABLE
profit / believe the director-gencral o
railroads has sufficient power to MAX
such 4 readiustment Of railroad rate
in this respect Let US hope the publ
viii recognize the economic, cOmmercla
and strategic value Of our intra-coasta
system and thereby add a most importan
instTumentaiIty Of transportation aion
the Atlantic scaboard 1t may be noted
but not here that the ntracoastal prolcc
when completed will not only connes
/ every city and town along the Atlanta
seaboard, but will make available fC
traffic more than 5000 miles Of watt
on l48 rivers extending from the ocea
INTO the interior
aDEsEr espy,4 4RfEHD 4CBEnDI