The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-12
WEEKS EXPLAINS
 WARRIOR SERVICE; RAPS RAIL RATE
Test Handicapped By Hauling Charge To Bir-
 mingham, He Says
PROJECT TO DECIDE
 OTHER RIVER NEEDS
Warrior Soon Should Be Placed On Paying
 Basis, He Says
(By Associated Press

WASHINGTON, Dec. ll.-Secre- tary Weeks told members of the na- tional rivers and harbors congress in session here tonight that the policy to be pursued by congress as to whether or not any more money shall be spent making streams nav. igable" rested upon the success of the Mississippi-Warrior barge line service.
 If this demonstration proves | sue cess, if the conditions precedent to sue cess are created, if the line proves money maker said the secretary, private capital will invest in that par ticular service and we will have demon ted on that particular river (Missls- sissip) that our money spent Ill devel- oping it as transportation facility has not been wasted. We could then sell the line and place it in the hands of private operators and, with the money thus obtained, create conditions precedent to success on other streams.
 New Demonstrations Seen
 "It would not require many demon- strations to establish most of the con- ditions precedent to success upon all other navigahle rivers. At least there would have been formed a bsis upon which private capital could embark upon other rivers in the rehabilitation of common waterfall carriers without the necessity of suffering the long periods of financial losses which would otherwise be sustained by them.
 "I can well understand the insistens demand for the establishment of lines on other riygrs, but the proponents of such enterprises should wait patient ly until the success or failure of the Mississippi line has been demonstrated. If for no other reason they should do that so they could get the benefit of the building up of the service by the mistakes which have been made.
 Raps Rail Rate Here
 On the Warrior river, he said,
 conditions were different. It lacked
 suitable barges and terminals and
 always had been handicapped, he
 added, "by having a rail haul at
 the upper end, from Birmingport
 to Birmingham, which has ab-
 sorbed such an inOrdinate portion
 of the raiI-water revenue between
 New Orleans and Birmingham as
 to make 1t almost impossible to
 CEOhtc Q paying "dtOA S0AAyAh6
 proposition"
 In addition to this, MT. Weeks said, the corporation has been hampered in the shipping of commodities not of such character as to furnish a sufficiently improved revenue to make the opera tions profitable.
 Its activities have largely been con fined in the past" he said, ito the hauling of sulphur, ore, salt and other bulk commodities upstream, and coal and steel downstream. The officers of the corporation are confident that in time they can work out a solution for the Warrior that will be as satisfactory as that of the Mississippi
 After describing the Inland Water ways corporation which operates the Mississippi service, headed by the secretary of war, chairman of the advisory board and the combined secre- tary and treasurer, Secretarys Weeks declared:
 Ssccess Nears
 Ut can be said that when the unusual conditions precedent to success on the Mississippi section were given suitable consideration it has demonstrated its probable capacity as a self-suppOrting concern. The only time since the fleet has been completed and placed in opera tion that this section has not earned money, has been when the river falls to such an extent that in some places its channel depth is not over six feet. Towboats operating on this section were designed for a channel which was credibly assumed to be eight feet from St. Louis to Cairo and nine feet from Cairo to New Orleans. If such a con-
 (COntinued On Page Two.)