The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1922-11-12
Way To National Upbuilding
Is By Developing Waterways

out that there was too much business
| Ihlnk OF 1t! Too much business in
modern America! If the swan7pinR OF
| railroads under the mighty offering OF
! food products from the Western plains
were a necessary evil from which there
| were no escape, statesmanship might
| concern itself properly with a consId-
GRAFTON Of how most rapidly and ad-
Yantageously to bring the railroads I'D
| to the point where they could handle
! the situation. But it is admitted that
| under Government regulation and bu-
reaucratic interference, the destruction
Of competition and the attempt at STAN
dardization, it would require not less
than six billions of dollars of new money
| to bring about this improvement. The
railroads can not get this new money
That is why a very powerful group Of
men are arguing that the only aiterna-
tive is Government ownership and the
rehabilitation Of land transportation by
use Of the credit Of the United States.
The dilemma would seem to be a serI-
Gus one, tndeed-since no country under
the face of the earth can long stand the
absolute loss Of tens of millions Of dol
lars annually in agricultural products,
on account OF failure to move them
were it not that nature itself has pro-
vided, with magnificent largess, a So
luton Of the whole problem. The Great
Lakes-St. Lawrence Waterway would
Put the Atlantic ocean into the heart
of America. It would make Chicago and
Duluth ocean ports. 1t would relieve
the railroads Of long hauls Of heavy
commodity freights, not particularly re.
munerative, and permit them to con-
centrate in the movement Of high. class
~ T1PIS{n ~
notably increased by the stimulation in
general production arising from the In
creased purchasing power of the farmer
as the result of his better marketing
conditions.
A prominent engineer Is quoted as say
ing: THE capital cost as estimated by
the engineers to complete the st. Law
renee Ship Channel, with its by-products
of power. is not sensibly greater than
the annual interest charge would be
upon sufficient amount Of capital to
be put into the railroads of the country
to accomplish the same relief" Think
OF that. The interest alone on the sum
that would be required to put the rail-
roads in proper condition would solve
the Western grain export problem by
means of a waterway. IN view Of this
fact, even allowing for heavy errors, II
there are any in the estimated cost Of
the waterway, 1t is remarkable that
men who profess to have any vision at
all should continue to oppose so desIy-
able an undertaking.
No nation can stand still. II either
goes forward or it goes back. Progress,
after all, is only the capitalization Of
vision. II is the legacy that great men
leave to civilization. To try simply to
a legacy inherited. and not to |
keep it alive by the tonic OF new eu-.l
deavor is to drop into a nut and go |
backward. The hope of the world lies !
in the brave and steadfast exploitation !
and development Of natural resources /
heretofore of only potential and not Of !
practical value to the world Any po- |
,ential transportation route is a natural |
resource of, incalculable value. Only |
nation OF insane people. blinded by |
prejudice or ignorance, could fail to in |
slst on the prompt opening up OF such |
/ route AS it has heen demonstrated is |
ga siDle from the Great Lakes TO the /
sea.
The St Lawrence Waterway and the |
Muscle Shoals development ere the Two
great undertakings that challenge alike
he Intelligence and the integrity Of |
he nation. We do not believe tina. |
anything but colossal selfIshness stands /
n the way Of the full achievement of 1
'ither enterprise. We do not question !.
he sincerity Of the distinguished gen L
lemen who are found IN the opposition. I
But it is difficult to trace their con- Il
lections without discovering. In prac- II
ically every case, that they have bus II
ness or other affiliations which have Il
given color TO their attitude. It Is
charitable thing that some rnen. who
re most eloquent in their description
I the necessity Of snriching the nation
y means Of foreign trade. are equally
I''@T IN their Pronunciation Of any plan
increase the nations wealth by the