Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1921-11-17
and harbors during the entire history

ana narpOTS 0uIll6 bic SAis1AS
of the country. !.
The. governor declared that IL
would require nearly 100000, 600 10
complete the river and harbor I'M
movements which have already been
approved by the army engineers ana
nv Congress and which are still heio
desirable and that at the present rate
of progress it would take at least
seven wears to complete these APP
proved projects.
Continuing he said, I'VE need 70
develop every means Of transporta-
ton at hand, we need to develop our
ports and harbors. every one to the
fullest extent possible to meet mod
ern requirements before one doiiar
is spent to construct waterway
through a foreign country. which IL
commercially successful, would mere
Nv serve to divert shipping from our
ports to a foreign country" He ar
firned that the State of New YORK
would gladly contribute her share al
though this might tend to divert
commerce from her own port. lie
a asserted that at best the st. Law
renee canal can serve only a small
part of the commerce of the group of
states clamoring for it, that the great
volume of that commerce was bound
to be carried by rail. Much more OF
it can be carried by existing water
ways to the sea, by the MISSISSIPPI
and it's tributaries to the Gulf OF
Mexico and by the lakes and the New
York State barge canal to the At
lantic. II hope to see the use Of
these waterways developed and
hope to see the great Mississippi and
its tributaries developed to the very
maximum of efficiency" the governor
said.
He pointed out that Montreal was
ice bound for five months in the year
and can not then serve the great
needs of the middle west which would
then be mainly dependent upon the
gulf and Atlantic ports. 1.-THE prime
necessity is to improve our ports and
inland waterways" he declared.
The governor denied the charge
which mad been made that he was
moved by selfish interest in not
wanting commerce diverted from the
DOIt VI NEW IOi N anu ScitA tiut ii'
had no concern whatever about that
for he felt sure that the capacity of
that port would be taxed by COM
merce, owing to its location and
natural conditions. He said that
plans were now underway to modern
ze the terminal facilities of New
York City which were capable Of I'M
limited development and that this
would be accomplished without ask
ing the Federal government or New
Yorks sister states to contribute one
dollar of the expense.
The governor asserted that the
New York State barge canal was ca
pable of handling all commerce which
could possibly reach the Atlantic
even by g ship canal and that grain
elevator was now being constructed
in the harbon of New York so that
for a mere normal Charge the grain
from the middle west can be clevat-
ed and transferred to open vessels
without any of the delays which had
been so bitterly complained Of This
elevator would soon be ready for the
free use of our sister states"
Governor Miller attacked the plan
of financing the proposed ST Law
renee canal by turning over the wa
ter power developed by it to power
interests and giving them permission
to make the consumers of that power
pay the price. saying: TT is indeed a
generous proposition of the middle
western states that the consumers of
-,
land shall pay for the construction
for a ship canal to serve the middle
west and divert shipping from their
own ports. The audacity of that pro-
pOsal is nearly equalled by the imag-
ination CT those who are seeking to
convince the country that ocean go
ing vessels will ever navigate an in
land waterway more than 1000 miles
long, with hundreds of miles of re-
strictcd channels and locks
He declared that no practical
Great Lakes or the sea, would say
that the dream that has fired the
imagination of the middle west on
seeing ocean steamers loading or dis
charging cargo at the lake docks for
all ports of the world" was CONNER
cially feasible. The fact is" he said,
that no unprecedented person compe-
tent to speak believes that ocean-go-
ing vessels will ever navigate such n
waterway. Decp-sea vessels can not
compete with lake vessels in the Great
Lakes. The lake vessels have three
times the capacity of deep sea YES
sells of corresponding draft. Tt costs
under present conditions three times
as much per ton Of capacity to con-
struct dcep-sea vessels. That alone
puts the ocean carrier out of bust
ness on the Great Lakes.
Those facts should arrest the
fight C. imagination even of our
friends of the middle west They
should arrest the attention Of the rest
of the country to the criminal fool
ishness of wasting hundreds of mill
lions of dollars sadly needed for other
Improvements in the attempt to real
iZe an Impossible dream
To Cure a Cold in One Day