Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-08-26

II water is Americas greatest as
Set-~and this belief has nothing
i i TO do with prohibition.
He has in mind the millions
OF horsepower Of electrical energy which
are going to waste and the hundreds
of miles of potential shipwayS which
are lying idle in undeveloped sections
o. the Nations vast waterway systems,
As Secretary of Commerce he has
sought Enthusiastically 10 stimulate the
country'S interest III a national policy
for development of water resources. and
In his latest role as Republican Candi-
date for President he has seized eagerly
upon the opportunity TO preach anew
his pet doctrine of water"
Development of our inland water
ways for navigational purposes was one
Of the major proposals for farm relief
advanced by Hoover in his speech ac-
cepting the nomination of his party
for the presidency. In the same ad-
dress he stressed the great economic
value of converting waterpower into
electricity,
Hoover'S engineering mind recoilS at
the thought of so much waste of power
and of transportation possibilities in
q nation so modern N its ideas as the
United States. Sweeping his eyes
across the map from coast 10 coast.
he visions at least FIVE great inland
waterway systems in want Of develop
ment These major drainage basins
are the Mississippi system, the Great
Lakes. the Colorado River. the Columbia
River and the Great Valley of Cali
fornia.
Great Lakes Possibilities.
The Mississippi and Great Lakes sys-
TENS are interconnected and should be
co-ordinated into one gigantic trans
portation unit, reaching from the
Atlantic Ocean into the heart of the
Midwest and thence southwark to the
Gulf of Mexico and the ocean again,
in Hoover'S opinion.
With completion OF a great shipway
from the Great Lakes TO the sea and
dredging Of nine-foot channel from
the Lakes to the Gulf. the farmers of
the Middle West would have placed
at their very doors the opportunities
of ocean going transportation facilities.
Broad barges would carry their grain
and other products direct TO New Or
leans. for shipment TO world ports. or
would send them TO the Great Lakes
for transportation through the shlpWay
70 the north Atlantic.
Hoover is satisfied there are many
economic distortions in agriculture and
industry. due to the necessary increases
in freight rates after the war, that can
be cured by conversion Of our inland
waterways into real connected trans
portation systems. He has made the
claim that / 900 hasheIs of wheat can
be carried on lake and ocean steamers
for $50 to $50, or on modern barges
for $50 to $40, as against $50 to 5000
by rail.
The Commerce Secretary views the
so-called Mississippi system. between
the Alleghanies and the Great Plains,
as a possible 9ooo-mile navigational
entity through which 20 States could
ind cheaper transportation for their
import and export raw materials. That
system would embrace an East and
West trunk lire from Pittsburgh
through ST. Louis to Kansas City-a
distance Of 1000 miles along the Ohio
Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and
North and South waterway from Chi
cago to New Orleans along the main
stem"
The Great Lakes are an important
adjunct 70 the Mississippi system, for
they present cheapened transportation
field for import and export grain and
other commodities in the commerce
laden North Atlantic More than
dozen States IN the lakes region would
become ocean markets with construc-
ton Of. shipway for sea-going vessels
Hoover has characterized the Great
Lakes as "tFle greatest inland transpor-
tation system in the world"
At the present time the sea-bound
traffic from the lakes must pass through
double landings and on expensive craft
designed TO operate through the I2-foot
Erie Canal and the 14-foot st. Law
renee Canal.
Feasible TO Engineers.
We know from an engineering point
Of view that 1t is entirely feasible 10
make every lake port an ocean port"
Hoover declares. Chicago. Milwaukee.
Duluth. Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo and
all their hinterland Of States would at
once come miles nearer TO the seaboard
A 25-foot waterway viii admit seven
out Of eight Of all ocean-going ships
that come to our harbors. This system
for ocean-going vessels would comprise
more than 5000 miles OF routes and
give the Midwest its needfuI outlet TO
the Atlantic
Thus We have two great systems Of
inland transportation with a combined
length Of nearly 10000 miles. The pres
ent physical situation Of these partially
developed waterway systems Is much the
same In many respects. The Great
Lakes system lacks deepening OF the