OCR Text |
Show A SINFUL RIVER. Traffic on the Mississippi and Missouri Mis-souri rivers must be revived soon or never, says Champ Clark in a defense of appropriations for western rivers. He can think of only two ways to accomplish accom-plish this dream: "First, build steamboats and set them to work; second, construct adequate wharves and river rail terminals." But there is one other requisite. The Missouri river must be persuaded to remain re-main in the straight and narrow path. Hitherto it has been afflicted with wanderlust. wan-derlust. It was never content to stay where it was put, but just when it was most needed at. some particular place it would go gallivanting to some other place far across the fields, leaving leav-ing boats, barges, rafts, willows and fishermen behind. The Missouri river has been most discouraging. dis-couraging. If it were not for the Missouri Mis-souri the Mississippi would fare better, bet-ter, because it is much more respectable and orderly in its habits. But it has been in such bad company so long that it must share in the scorn and neglect which is accorded to the disreputable Missouri. It has long ago been observed ob-served that the Mississippi, above the point where it meets the Missouri, is Btatd, sober and orderly. Just as soon as it begins associating with the Missouri Mis-souri it gets reeling drunk, tears off restraint, overthrows rip-raps and levees lev-ees and behaves like a madman. Undoubtedly the Missouri river can be educated and refined, but it will take several generations. It begins its wayward way-ward career in bad company somewhere in Montana and its course thereafter is in the mire. If an attempt is made to place it under restraint it runs away like a truant. Up to date it has proved absolutely incorrigible. So what is the use of building steamboats and wharves for a river like thatf |