Page:National Waterways A Magazine of Transportation, Volume 1.pdf/43

32 the most populous and wealthy valley of equal length in all the world. No warrior of ancient days returning from foreign conquest was ever accorded more hearty welcome. more distinguished honors and more lavish hospitality than Chairman Burton and the members of his committee on that historic voyage of the "Queen City" from Pittsburgh to Cairo. On all sides nothing was heard but "nine feet from Pittsburgh to Cairo." Thousands of school children in every city and village on the river greeted the committee with banners. music, and national airs.

The very birds sang "nine feet from Pittsburgh to Cairo'... the winds whistled it'. the bands played it: the orators declaimed it: indeed. all nature in the great Ohio Valley. with its millions of souls and myriads of wealth, demanded nine feet of water at all stages from Pittsburgh to Cairo.

At Cincinnati a banquet was spread and many addresses graced the occasion. The writer. who was one of the speakers. suggested the wisdom of all friends of waterways uniting in a great national organization for promoting their cause, and urged the immediate formation of such a body. The idea took enthusiastically and was acted upon at once by the officers of the Ohio Valley Improvement Association. The visiting members of Congress held a meeting on the steamer next day. and gave their hearty approval. A conference of delegates from several waterway associations met shortly thereafter in Cincinnati. and it was decided to ask the executive committee appointed by the Baltimore convention to issue a call for a national waterways convention to be held in Washington the following January. That was done and a meeting of two hundred and ﬁfty delegates. fairly representative of the nation, convened in the Arlington Hotel on January 15,1906. It made up in enthusiasm what it lacked in numbers. A vigorous program was set on foot to arouse public opinion in favor of a liberal, comprehensive policy for improving every worthy watercourse in the Republic justiﬁed by the needs of commerce. No waterway projects were advocated, but a genuine, business-like, waterway policy. The total inadequacy of appropriations for rivers and harbors. which then averaged less than twenty millions a

year. was strongly emphasized. and Congress was urged to raise this sum to at least ﬁfty millions a year. It was pointed out that river and harbor bills were enacted every third year. whereas the other great appropriation bills were paged every '§ar. and a loud cry was made for annua river and harbor bilis.

The slogan of the organization became: "A policy. not a prq/ecl~An annual Rivers and Harbors bill carrying ﬁfty million: a year." And that slogan has been the pole star which ever guided and directed its efforts, and has kept it from breaking on the dangerous shoals of conflicting local interests.

Hon. Harvey T. Goulder of Cleveland. Ohio. was elected President of this convention and it was decided to retain the name adopted at Baltimore ﬁve years before. A strong executive committee was created. with plenary power to carry out the plans of the organization. and its eliorts were untiring. The writer was made chairman of this committee and J. F. Ellison. of Cincinnati, is secretary-treasurer and active manager. Never was a wiser selection made than the latter. When Captain Ellison took the helm in January. iooo. the organization existed only in name: it had no exchequer; it had no contributing members; it had nothing but a good cause and some ringing resolutions. He went to work with great energy. assisted somewhat by the chairman. and soon found a helper worthy of himself in John A. Fox, who has proved a veritable St. Paul of waterways, preaching their gospel in every corner of the Union.

The next convention was held at the Arlington in December, 1906, and was a decided improvement on the last in numbers. enthusiasm and general force. It reiterated the policy of the previous meeting. and arranged to ﬁnance the association and carry on an aggressive campaign of education. The writer was made president and ex-officio chairman of the executive committee. which position he still holds. Ellison retained his position. and Fox became ﬁeld director. which places they ﬁlled with increasing honor to themselves and the greatest beneﬁt to the organization until they resigned recently to accept ﬂattering business offers elsewhere.

No truer and more efﬁcient friends of American waterways ever lived than