Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-05

tenn is about to be undertaken
~ by Congress with the backing
and cooperation of President
Hoover.
Completion of the vast system of in
land waterways in this country is one
of the great constructive projects on
which President Hoover has set his
mind and for which there is constantly
growing support in Congress and an
increasing demand on the part of the
public The President has emphasized
repeatedly the Importance OF the i'm
provement of the waterways and the
development of their traff1c He said in
his message to Congress at the outset
of the present extra session that some
of the forces working to the detriment
of agriculture can be greatly mitigated
by improving our waterway transporta-
ton.
Will Benefit Agriculture.
"The Government" he continued
has a special mandate from the recent
election. not only to further develop
our waterways and revise the agricul-
! tural tariff but also to extend Syste-
matte relief in other directions"
The administration regards the i'm
| provement of the waterways as the next
! great step to be taken in the interest
of agriculture. after the enactment of a
farm relief bill and tariff revision. Such
| Improvement would not be in the in
tereSt of agriculture alone, but on be-
half of industry and commerce as a
whole. However, because of depressed
conditions in agriculture and the need
| for lower transportation rates there are
special reasons, from the standpoint OF
| farm relief, for pressing the improve
ment of waterways at this time.
1t is generally believed that in order
to rehabilitate agriculture, not one but
numerous remedies are needed. 1t Is
also the opinion of many authorities
that the transportation needs of the
United States, with population which
is moving swiftly toward the 100000
I 900, have outgrown present facilities
The old notion that in order for the
railroads to live water transportation
had to be throttled is beginning to be
abandoned.
Transportation Major Problem.
And So for many reasons, it will
develop that in the coming regular
! session of Congress the question of in
| land waterways improvement is going to
be one of the chief problems. The
present session. no doubt. might well
take up the waterway question, but II
| will have all it can do to take care oil
| the farm relief bill.
| Signs are not lacking that transpor-
tation in variety OF phases will bs
considered in the regular session which
meets in December The controversial
problem of railroad consolidation /:
! likely to be, threshed out Regulation
| of motor bus and motor truck traffiC
will be up. And great national water
way program, calling for the COM
! pletion and improvement of the lead
/ ing water routes in a period of from
! three to five years win be demanded
and probably will be mapped out anC
| Authorised. In certain cases the Ave
year period may be found too limited
| and will have to be considerably ex-
| tended, but as to projects already UNI
der way. from three to Ave years would
| be adequate.
Nicaragua Canal Possible.
A new interoceanic canal. by the
| Nicaragua route, seems inevitable de-
| fore many years. These are great
! projects, whether viewed from the engi-
| neering or the transportation and COM
mercial standpoint.
But they are not as great as the
inland waterway system of the United
| States, including the projected outlet
| from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic
by either the st. Lawrence route OIL
the route across New York State. OIL
by both of these routes, which in time
may be constructed.
The magnitude of the proposition oil
! developing the inland waterways car
! to some extent be grasped by consider
| ing a few basic figures. There are
| nearly 5000 miles of navigable water
ways in this country. This means navi-
gable rivers and canals and does not
| include the Great Lakes
| The Government has already ex-
pended about $1,25O, 200. 900 in its in
| land waterways. On these routes
! including harborS, there is carried every
year a gross total of a billion tons OF
commerce. which is growing rapidly
Most of the waterways projects are in
completed. The great need, from the
| standpoint of those who believe in in
| land water transportation, is to COM
plete these projects, and that is the
! task to which Congress and the admin
| iStration are expected soon to address
| themselves.
Would Require S2OO, zee, 0Oe.
! To complete the waterway projects
already begun would require from $500,
600, 900 to 100000 900. This does not
include the St. Lawrence project or the
all-American canal from the Great
Lakes to the Hudson and thence to the
sea. While the cost of the st. Law
= renee project varies, it would probably
be in the neighborhood of 5000, 900 900
! The cost of the all-American route
| would be $500 0O0, 900, it is estimated
| from OSwego to the Hudson, with about
SIS ,000. 900 more if the Welland Canal
/ were not used for the route from Lake
| Erie to Lake Ontario and an American
| route were constructed for this part of
| the Great Lakes outlet.
! Rounding out of the waterway sys-
, tenn of this country, it is apparent. is
therefore something which will cost the
Government hundreds of millions of
dollars. Canalization and improvement
of some of the rivers call for the solu-
ton of engineering difficulties even
greater than at Panama.
The difficulties of converting some of
the nightly streams of America. with
! their thousands of miles of unruly cur
rents, and their annual floods, into ODE
dent and reliable channels of COM
merce are greater than any faced in
the development of the European water
way systems.
The inland waterway system of the
United States. including the route
from the Great Lakes to the sea, may
be visualized as one great system. and
In many respects 1t Is such This is
! copcClaIiy tiuc III eHe ulISTcnG parts OF
the system from the Atlantic Coast
! westward to the Dakotas and southwest
to Texas. On the Pacific slopes also
are important parts of national inland
waterways.
IntracOastal System.
In considering the system, one of the
important parts of 1t to be taken into
account is the intracoastal waterway
reaching along the Atlantic Coast from
Boston to Miami. a distance of about
l 100 miles. 1t also reaches along the