The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1929-11-30
,offic,al City. state and County Newspaper,

SHASnNO -G
81 tofncial CITY. state and County Newspaper
mat Honest Waterway Projects Acceptable
rra. Waterway Improvement used to provide the pork
Df ,arrei" of congress. In part the policy embraced projects
Mod1f merit in the deepening of navisable streams and IN
We he construction OF harhors. The dredging 81 te Univ
! Tiver 10 nine feet depth and the construction q 'te
1cnri3clawarc breakwater off Levcs. where ships might seek
hmshcltcr from the terrific storms around the Delaware
lnaSapcs, were such improvements.
= But there were many grandiose projects on which mi
,otllions OF dollars were frit;ered away. The iate senator
souBurton exposed some such in a waterways Dill oeoatc ~
ITS years ago. He showed how sums as large as slOOoOoc
tp.o..ad been expended on building locks in Kentucky ana
~ West Virginia streams without a ton OF freight moving
sSchover them in the year following the construction.
Gun Waterway projects are emerging from TINS era d
~ pork" 1t is probable that shortly there Will DC no ques-
fS Zion as to the merit Of any proposal dealing With lrlano
sFa nnaytgation that is brought before congress. The realis
v~..lbig projects will be SO numerous and Of such undouo'eo
III S.rsoundness that the grabs for appropriations to spena
Y corback home which a certain type OF congressman ma,
Is thbeen reaching for each time a waterways Dill mas 0een
"a SEA will be submerged in the serious. nationwide move
" va .synent for restoring water transportation in the interlo.
and speeding up this form Of traffic on the two ocean
III Onkoasts. especially in the East.
Afssal Four factors have contributed to bringing rivers ana
Gs;sharbors expenditures within the purvicw OF a practicas
is svsoolicy which has no leeway for the old practice OF grab
~ Ding pork" The first was the stimulation to the ma
= pa4ional imagination which the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence
m1nroject impaired as its immense possibilities in naviga-
Knr-tien and power production were grasped by the people,
Anothc second was the plan for Harvesting the MISSISSIPPI
xshieriver floods: the third was the completion of the nine
~ foo. channel in the Ohio from Pittsburgh to Cairo. with
Sunmilyons Of tonnage going up and down the stream: and
riesthc fourth. Gaping all these, was the pronouncemcnt q
M president Hoover for q system OF canaizatlon converting
|1.bothc larger rivers into ~navigablc channels and cnlargin3
N 6agsttc coastal canals in the East. It showed the president
and his administration committed definitely, whole
Nnhhcartcdly and un-cservedly not only to the continued
.-nedeepcning and improvement Of the American lake ana
"a ocean harbors but also to the prompt construction OF 4
n great connected system of inland waterways, affording
tnSI..the farmers cheap transportation for the crops they ship
y.chand for the goods they purchase.
resi- The country around Bismarck is with the presidec:
= DIN this stand. North Dakota cherishes hopes that
Arsrnavigation will some day be restored on the Missouri
Z vneAny honest effort at developing the rivers Of the coun-
ss4fiMry for transportation will bring that dream nearer
Il realization. Any trifling with the Hoover program is
cE~usa apt to defer the day when boats again will ply the Big
dsn1duddy.
lwsn All this must work a revival Of waterway legislation
\ MN congress. For three years no rivers and harbors bill
has been passed. This sort Of legislation had to yield TO
a Inthe Coolidge policy of economy and to the dsrepute
\ tthinto which the old pork barrel system had fallen. IN
Z 1.-The efforts to reduce taxes and economic expenditure
\, nby conforming to solely practical and feasible proposals.
N grabbing the national income for cynical uses had to
nnbe shelved.
~ When the policy is revived it will be essential, how
reH8ever, that it deal with honest needs. The old system
vapuf graft must not be allowed to come back. There are
sseH too many reasons why 100 cents value should be got out
Il y of every dollar to be expended on waterway improve.
~ ment lr any Of the funds congress can find available
ayeHrwastc the public substance.
TIL ssHR Congress can probably find no better guidance In this
v Tsaamatter than to adhere to the program which President
:nuIl1loover win lay down for It to follow. He IS an engineer
esli5of vision and he IS supported BY Z large staff Of army
S3arla1neineers Of undoubted professional acumen. Their opn-
a@@!!!tcn win 50 : great ways in clearing away misconceptions