The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-10-28
TO o. K. PLAN FOR .9-FOOT CHANNEL
fContinued From Page one)

corporation in order that 1t might be
 upon the same footing with the rail-
 roads from an administrative view point.
 MT. Brent cited the efficiency of the various municipal boards and commissions of New Orleans, the members of which serve without pay, and urged that in reorganizing the service a commission or board be created. the body to be composed of personal representative of the Secretary of War and representative business men from points through out the Mississippi valley.
 They might be appointed by the Secretary of War, he said. The man agement of the line would be re- sponsible to the Secretary through the board. He also urged, with the proposed incorporation, she issuance of government bonds, placing the amount at s10,000, 900, as an example. the funds to be expended by the gov- erning commission when and as needed.
 Stresses Need Of Equipment.
 The line is soreIy in need of ad- Iditional equipment, MT. Brent said and he pointed out that it was now operating 15 of the 19 bottoms seized by the war department from the Col tra interests of St. Louis If the United States supreme court, which now is considering the action brought ny the Goltra line to recover pos session of the boats, Is untavorabie to the government and the vessels are returned, he said he had no loea what the Mississippi-W Warrior service would do.
 | Other witnesses pointed out that New Orleans is the logical point for concentration of Mississippi valley and Great Lakes shipments to Latin American, the west coast of North America through the Panama canal' and the Orient, while it was de- clared the proposed improvement would result in substantial reduc- tions in freight rates, which would be passed on to consumers. In thls connection, MT. Brent cited the ac- tion of the railroads in reducing from s6 to s3 the rate per ton on ore from the gulf to St. Louis to- mee competition by the Mississippi Warrior service.
 Robert k. LoclSett, representing a machinery company building fac- tory here, said his firm had at tempted to ship steel from PittsDurg on the Warrior line, but that the shallow channel and low water caused frequent and expensive de- | lays.
 Reliable Service Needed.
 Manufacturers cannot depend on that kind of service," he said. We must be assured of deliveries. With the deep channel, we will know when our freight is coming and we will take advantage of the barge line" Neal Lach, of the Pacific, Caribbean and Gulf Steamship line, said there were i4 inter-coastal and two gulf | lines entering the port of New or leans. He favored the inland water way, and the government operation of the service as the only agency that can go ahead with the work" 1"
 Rene Clerc, vice president of the New Orleans Board of Trade, who was with the committee on its tour, received permission to incorporate into the committees final statement of the report of Colonel Goethals on the amount of increased tonnage for river shipment to result from the proposed inter-coastal canal from New Orleans to Corpus Christi. Tex. If both these proposed improvements are carried out there will be nine foot channel from Chicago to New orleans and thence to Texas. John H. Bernard. who instituted a barge service on the Mississippi some years ago, but who later failed in his plans, told the committee the government is the only agency that can compete with the railroads" A delegation from Mobile, which was expected to appear before the committee, did not show up.