The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

THE Marine REVIEW - What Is Needed On the Ohio F there is one river in the United States that should justify the expense of improvement, that river is the Ohio. Still it is doubtful, if, under the pres- ent system, the benefits that will be derived from the completed improve- ment will justify the expense. Rec- -ords will show that more than twen- ty millions of dollars have been spent by the government in improving the Ohio, considerable of which has been actually wasted on works of no value to navigation. To attain the results desired, to provide for continuous nav- igation, will require at least a further $85,000,000. But this will not provide for maintaining' the improvement; and it is doubtful if it will cover the first cost, unless the methods are radically changed. _ No one will question the great ben- efits to be derived from improved riv- ers, but we must keep the cost within reason or our improvements will be- come a burden. The Kanawha river is an example of improvements which will explain the point. It cost the gov- ernment to improve the Kanawha more than $5,000,000, and it costs to- day more than $100,000 a year for op- erating and maintaining. This im- provement provides 6 ft. navigation for 90 miles, the principal commerce be- ing coal. Most of that coal is sent to Cincinnati, but it brings the same price as coal shipped by rail and as- coal shipped from the Pittsburg dis- trict, although the coal from Pittsburg 'is towed about 300 miles farther. If the government charged enough toll on the Kanawha to merely meet the expenses of operating and maintain- ing, not considering the first cost of more than $5,000,000, the commerce would, no doubt, fall off to such an extent as to make the toll rates pro- hibitive. In 1909 (calendar year) only 1,035,401 tons were carried, of which 1,003,274 tons were coal and timber. Do Not Justify Improvement. Take the Muskingum, the Little Ka- - nawha, the Big Sandy and its two forks, and the Kentucky; not one will ever justify the expense of improve- ment, unless the entire system is changed. How then can we expect the Ohio to justify an expenditure of more than $100,000,000 with an annual expenditure of at least $2,000,000 for operating and maintenance? We are losing sight of this operating expense in these improvements; an expense which will likely prove a burden in time unless taken care of by those who receive the direct benefits from the rivers. The Ohio is 975 miles long; its wa- ters wash six states; it flows through rich country--with much good farm land, many large iron and steel mills, large manufactories, etc. There are large deposits of coal along the banks of its tributaries. Such important cit- , ies as Pittsburg, Cincinnati, and Lou- isville are on its banks, not to men- tion Wheeling, Marietta, Parkersburg, Huntington, . Covington, Madison, Evansville, Paducah, and Cairo. Should not the improvement of the Ohio be justified under such conditions? Still, consider the expense to be incurred to improve 975 miles of river, and the expense for maintaining such improve- ment. Consider that this work of im- provement has been in progress for more than 80 years without appreciable results, and that more than twenty millions of dollars have been spent. Is it not time to call a halt--to inau-_ gurate some new system for carrying on the work of improvement? We must have a change--results commen- surate with the funds expended should be obtained or the work abandoned. There can be obtained, but not under pres- ent working conditions. Adoption of Business Methods. Business methods, methods that are recognized by first-class organizations, must be adopted. Every dollar spent should bring a like return in results. Men should be employed who are in- terested in the work. Plans for the structures should be standardized. Un- iformity should rule. Work of im- provement should be commenced at the source of the river and carried downstream step by step. The entire work should be under one managing head; in other words, it should be di- rected from a central office where all information relative to the river and its improvement should be available. - Today there are four separate of- fices in charge of the work on the Ohio, in addition to which there is a board of engineer officers. Not one of. the offices has a complete record of the work done or in progress on the entire river.. This is not business as carried on by successful concerns, nor can such methods bring results at reasonable cost. Think of it, the pres- ent system of improvement for the Ohio river was inaugurated in 1875 and actual construction work begun Aug. 19, 1878, on Dam No. 1, about is no doubt that such results" "may then form obstructions. July, 1910 five miles below Pittsburg. That stryc- ture was available for navigation in 1885. Twenty-four years later locks and dams (five) were built extending slack-water navigation a distance of about 30 miles below Pittsburg at q cost of more than $6,000,000. That is, it has cost the government more than $6,000,000 to provide slack-water navi- gation for a distance of 30 miles. And those works are not completed, al- though available. This amount does not include the cost of operating and maintaining the improvements--it rep- resents first cost only. For operating and maintaining Dams Nos. 1-6 during the year ending June 30, 1909, it cost the government $119,954--part of the locks and dams were not available un- til late in that year. New Method of Appropriating Funds. If congress intends to provide for improving the Ohio river by canaliza- tion, it should adopt a new method of appropriating funds. In the first place, instead of providing funds for each lock and dam, yearly appropriations should be made for the entire river to be applied as directed by the chief of engineers, U. S. Army. The appli- cation of funds to dredging harbors, building dikes and embankments, etc., should be left entirely to the discre- tion of the chief of engineers. Today funds are being expended on works of improvement that will be unneces- sary as soon as the locks and dams are available; in fact, some of those works will be entirely submerged and Con- gressmen are not conversant with the conditions--how can they be? An- other uncalled for condition would be eliminated--the building of locks and dams for the benefit of certain cities, instead of for the benefit of general navigation. For example, slack-water navigation is available to Dam No. 6; Dam No. 8 is nearing completion but no provision has been made to build Dam No. 7. Of what benefit will Dam No. 8 be to navigation interests until Dam No. 7 is completed? Dam No. 11 is nearing completion, but it will take fully five years before Dams Nos. 9 and 10 are available. Had the work of canalizing been done systematical- ly, slack-water navigation on the Ohio would have been extended to below Wheeling. This was designated as the worst stretch by the late Colonel Merrill. Need of Central Office. To carry on the work, a central of- fice, with an experienced officer in sti ete 8 SS tec eae Sy tS ae aaa