Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-01-26
BY WILL p. KENNEDY.

ILL r. ~
inland waterways development is
going to be pushed hard in the
next Congress as one of the most
important aids to economic trans
portation of raw materials and manu-
featured products to meet increasing
world demands.
Irrespective of party politics or sec
tional prejudices. the great natural car
riers of heavy commodities at minimum
cost are going to be developed through
a big. general scheme of transportation
improvement:
When war crisis Brought about in
dustrial and shipping congestion in the
northeastern corner Of the United
States, principally around the ports OF
Boston and New York; when coal had
to be hauled in there for industrial
uses as we'll as to warm the homes and
to supply ships going overseas-the
railroad transportation system couldn't
stand the strain and broke down. Then
the side-cast waterways had to be
pressed into emergency service
Efforts to Be Redoubled.
This fact has thrown the searchlight
onto what a properly developed water
ways system could do for industrial life
generally and as a matter of national
safeguard. Those who have been push
ing such a scheme for many years IN
Congress are going to redouble their
efforts in the incoming Congress.
The whole country is interested In
New England and the south together.
1t will make easy access from the mid
die west to the ports of the east and
south. 1t will open up delivery chan
nels from new wheat fields of the west.
1t will provide dependable delivery by
several cheap-haul routes from the coal
fields of Pennsylvania and West viz
ginia to the Industrial northeast IT
will bring lumber at minimum cost to
the consuming markets. 1t will put new
life into business generally and be most
powerful in stimulating foreign trade
and fitting America to meet world de-
nands.
Each section of the country has some
big waterway development project.
The great Mississippi river. whose val
ley is called the dread basket of the
world" with it's giant tributary, the
Missouri-the former $500 miles and
the latter 1000 miles Iong-is a great
interior avenue that instead of chang
ing it's course to the destruction of hum
dreds of farms can be made highway
of commerce.
Nine-foot Channel Proposed.
1t is proposed to give it a nine foot
stable channel for 200 miles from New
Orleans to St. Louis as southern out
let for the wide-fung agricultural and
manufacturing regions of the west.
With this channel it should be able to
do as well as the Rhine in serving CEN
trail Europe with seven-foot channel
Last week there was a big convention
held in Pittsburgh to put the Ohio river
to work. This taps the coal fields OF
ward outlet to the Mississippi from
Wheeling to Cairo, Ill. This would be
an important carrier for coal, sand and
other heavy freight. The convention
seeks to bring connecting waterway
down from Lake Erie. through project
now under way from Lake Erie to
Wheeling.
Another big project is to cut through
from Lake Erie to Lake Michigan, thus
cutting off q 500-mile emi-circular
course through Lake Huron
Georgia have for years been working for
a cut through north Florida as short
route to the Gulf of Mexico. but this
plan has stubborn opposition from those
who advocate a cross Florida canal from
Palm Beach to FIT Myers. Fla.
Champion Columbia River.
The northwest has its big project in
the development of the Columbia river,
nearly 1000 miles long, where there is
now navigation which has forced cut
in freight rates. 1t is interesting to
note that the western congressman
through persistent effort have been able
to get larger appropriations for this de-
velopment than fasteners have been
able to get for the Delaware river.
There is another interesting link in
the chain running along the Gulf of
Mexico, and this unites with the big
gest of all the waterways systemS-the
Atlantic Intra-Coastal waterway-on
which a remarkable start has been made
through an organization headed by Rep
resentative J. Hampton Moore of Penn
sylvania. This proposition carries the
Endorsement of the Army engineers and
can I've jput through at a cost of about
SAT. 500. 900
The rivers and harbors bill which
has just passed the House carries inn
portantl appropriations which are links
in this intracoastal chain. principal
among them being s3000,000 for the
Chesapeake and Delaware canal. which
would hnake direct inland water haul
of ninaty miles from Philadelphia to
baltimore on a straight water line from
New York and would bring New Eng
Iand mills and the raw materials and