The Winslow mail., 1925-01-23
LONG AND SHORT
HAUL BILL HIT
BY REP. NEWTON

One of the opening guns in the fight
for passage of the long and short bill
(Senate Bill 2327) through the house
of representatives at this session of
congress, was fired when Congress-
man Cleveland W. Newton of ST. Louis
championed the bill in an address on
the floor of the house of representa-
tives. Congressman Newtons address
, was i'll reply to remarks made against
the bill by Congressman Elton Wat
kins of Portland
Congressman Newton dwelt at
length on the benefits to accrue to
farmers with the development of the
country's inland waterways thereby
enabling the farmer to enjoy the bless
ings of cheap water transportation al
ready enjoyed by manufacturing and
other commercial Industries"
Almost every man in public life
Congressman Newton said, lis mani
Testing an earnest desire to do some
thing for the relief of the farmers
of the country, and yet many of them
oppose the only solution which can
solve the farmers difficulty.
''The greatest problem which con-
fronts the farmers of the United
States is the problem of transporta-
ton. You can move the shop, the
factory, and the mill to the seashore
or to the lake shore, where cheap
transportation is available either by
water or by rail, but you can not
move the farm to the seashore.
"The farm must remain where the
good Lord placed it, and the only way
you can relieve the farmers problem
is to develop the waterways which na-
ture has provided through the greatest
agricultural areas of the country,
thereby giving to the farmer the
blessings of cheap water transporta-
ton, which has SO long been enjoyed
by the industries which can establish
themselves along the water lines
throughout the nation.
81 can readily understand why the
gentleman from Portland might be in
favor of the long and short haul sys-
TEN, because it affords unreasonably
low rail rates to the seaport cities,
thereby driving commerce and indus
try to such cities from the interior OF
the country I can as readily under
stand how the people OF the interior
of the country should just as 'vigor-
ously oppose that system, because OF
the penalty in freight rates which
must be levied upon them by the rail-
roads in order to enable them to give
unreasonably low rail rates between
water points throughout the country.
1.-The rail lines today under the op-
Grafton of the Esch-Cummins bill are
in better condition than they have
been in half century, and l believe
in the development and maintenance
of the railroads of the country; but
l believe also that the people OF the
country who pay freight should be
taken into consideration in the devel-
opment of our transportation system,
and since it has been demonstrated
that water transportation is infinitely
cheaper than rail. $50
81 believe that it should be utilized
wherever it is available and that the
commerce of the country should be
given the benefit of the cheap rate
which water transportation can afford
to make, and I believe that where a
cheaper form of transportation is not
available the rail lines should be paid
a rate which is compensatory and
which will enable them to pay their
operating cost, to provide sufficient
improvements to meet the ever-in-
creasing demands of commerce, and
to pay a dividend to their stockhold-
ers. But to do this l do not believe
it is necessary to destroy the water
lines and thereby prevent the people
of the country from enjoying the cheap
transportation which the waterway
facilities of the country afford"