Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-05-18
LAYTON PLEADS FOR
DEVELOPMENT OF
INLAND WATERWAYS
Continued from, page I.

o"eA"NS>4 AASAAA A'H6 -
in this bill, including au-
for those already estab-
lished. arc where the people them
selves have spent far more OF their
own money in these improvements and
aids to water commerce than the gov
crnment itself. To be discriminatory,
and therefore moro accurate, / might
say that nearly all improvements on
the Atlantic, on the Gulf, and on the
Pacsno. are OF this self-sustaininE
including as well tho har-
bors on the Great Lakes. OF course,
the people living along the Ohio and
the Mississippi (using them as mere
OF many internal water
ways) could not In the nature OF
things do what cities like New York
and San Francisco, Galveston, or Bos-
ton could do. where the financial power
il concentrated and vested
in one concrete body. To get proper
and necessary coordination for
such n purpose along a river over l.
900 miles long like the Mississippi,
flowing by tho shores OF dozen states.
with multitude OF municipalities of
varying interests and divergent de-
sires. would involve such n problem in
tho HOPELESS clutch OF endless time be-
fore the coordination could be secured.
But even here. there IL a growing will
ingness manifested. n fine display OF
self help in the expenditure Of money
by these municipalities. in the build
ing of wharves and docks and tcrmi-
nails and warehouses for the purpose
of facilitating trade and commerce
pari passu with the development OF the
waterways.
GAS to the manner OF arriving at the
expressed In the bill, de-
sire to say that two principal sources
of information were utilized--the long
and technical experience of the gov
eminent engineers, and the testimony
of the representatives OF the people of
the localities who came before the
asking for it's consideration
think the hearings will show con-
clusively that there was no careless
acceptance of any statement made by
either the engineers or by the pro-
poncnts OF the projects, but that the
committee. by searching interrogation
and analysis. sifted the evidence care
fully and made its own conclusions.
1T is proper to say that the bill
does not contain all the projects that
commended themselves as meritorious,
but only those which the committee
deemed to be paramount, and indis-
pensable TO the immediate welfare Of
,ba copDtrxr opd fharcfora thn.a which
should be at once approved of.
AN examination OF the bill will
disclose further the abandonment of
three waterway projects. namely the
Pearl river project, below Rockport,
the Brazos from old Wash
ington to Waco, Texas. and that part
of the Trinity river project which lies
above Liberty, Texas. These projects
were abandoned upon the advice of
Colonel Taylor as being useless and
impracticable.
Iron Pier at Lewes.
a further government project
known as the iron pier near the town
of Lewes, Delaware, has also been
recommended for abandonment, the
reasons for which will be found in
the annual report Of the chief OF en-
gineers for 1921, page 419.
Section 4 OF the bill provides for
the consolidation of four projects for
Tampa and Hillsboro Bays, and Hills
boro river. Florida: and the consolida-
ton OF Calumet Harbor and Calumet
river, Indiana and Illinois. and ,the
consolidation OF Black river at Port
Huron and mouth OF Black river
Michigan. These consultations were
determined upon through the advice
of the chief of engineers for the pur-
poses of economy and efficiency in ad-
ministration.
| Il desire, also. to observe that In al
the deliberations of the committee, the
utmost harmony was observed among
Its members. The questions of po-
| litical faiths, or of geographical sec
lions, never presented themselves
Whether the project under conside-a
ton was in the East or in the West
! in the North or in the South, upon al
ocean front or a gulf literal, or within
the interior of the continent, the sam,
earnest. impartial and patriotic con
sideration was given to each projec
upon its merits without regard to 1t.
geographical situation. II gave III
equal and unbiased consideration L
the Galveston problems as it gave Il
those of the city of New York, t
Savannah. to Georgia, and TO Lo
Angeles. California.
"As a member Of committee o
such inestimable Importance to III,
real welfare of the people. l canno
fail to declare that il has been actual
ed by an altogether unse!fish purpos
and as long as l have been a membe
of il, il has studiously endeavored I,
lprotect the public interests. keepinl
in mind the tremendous burden unde
which the taxpayer was laboring, ad
herring TO the most rigid economy dur
ing the war. and long after the wal
until in this session of Congress, afte
obtaining abundantly reliable infor
nation concerning the needs of water
way Improvement, the committee wa
Iippelled by a profound sense of ma
tional duty to advocate an appropria
ton in excess of that OF the budget, il
order TO preserve projects already Il
process of construction where furthe
delay in construction would result Il
great government loss, and to exten'
the scope of projects already adopte
in order to increase their utility in tn
Interests of national welfare.
I'm the bill there is no project tina
should not be authorized If transpor
tation is a matter of public concern
Some time ago the very able gentle
man from Ohio, tho Honorable Theo
dore Burton, whose experience in rive
and harbor work is probably as grea
as that Of any man in the presen
Congress, practically advocated tn
abandonment of internal waterway i'm
lprovements except in an extremel