Delaware Ship Canal 
 
 TO CONNECT 
 
 DELAWARE RIVER AND CHESAPEAKE BAY 
 
 SPEECHES 
 
 AT CELEBRATED INTEREST ATEf BANQUET 
 
 By Wilmington Board of Trade 
 
 o • 
 
 Wilmington, Del., Jan. 8, 1904 
 
 INDEX TO SPEECHES. \ 
 
 Page ^ 
 
 Hon. George Gray, Wilmington, Toastmaster, Introductory Remarks 5 f 
 
 Hon. Anthony Higgins, Wilmington, Address, “Mutual Relations Between ^ 
 
 Our Neighbors and Ourselves” 7 i 
 
 Hpn. Charles Emory Smith, Philadelphia, Address, “An Aid to the National A 
 
 ' Defense” ? , . .13 \ 
 
 Alfred 0. Crozier, Esq., Wilmington, Address, “The Delaware Ship Canal”. .18 f 
 
 Blanchard Randall, Esq., Baltimore, Address, “A Commercial Necessity”. . . .27 f 
 
 Representative John F. Lacey, of Iowa, Remarks 29 4 
 
 Representative John Lamb, of Virginia, Remarks 31 4 
 
 Representative Jones, of Virginia, Remarks ...33 i 
 
 John Cadwalader, Esq., of Philadelphia, Remarks 35 j 
 
 Representative Gardner, of New Jersey, Remarks 36 \ 
 
 Hon. L. Irving Handy, Wilmington, Remarks 38 f 
 
 List of Those at Banquet With Committees 40 f 
 
 Greater Wilmington, by Alfred 0. Crozier, Esq 42 ^ 
 
 write, Delaware Ship Canal Executive Committee, 
 
 WILMINGTON, DELAWARE. 
 
 SUNDAY STAR PRINT, WIL., DEL. 
 
PC N N S 
 
 v/| 
 
 I* MILES 
 
 CANAL 
 
 SAVE 
 
 400M/LE& 
 
 on 
 
 40 HOUMA 
 
 ROUTE OF PROPOSED 
 
 DELAWARE 
 SHIP CANAL 
 
DELAWARE SHIP CANAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 
 
 (By Board of Trade.) 
 
 Chairman, ALFRED O. CROZIER, 
 
 L,awyer and President Cement Products Co. 
 
 Vice-Chairman, THOMAS H. SAVERY, 
 
 President Pusey & Jones Co. 
 
 Treasurer, JOHN S. ROSSELL, 
 
 Trust Officer, Security Trust Co. 
 
 Secretary, DANIEL W. TAYLOR, 
 
 Secretary Board of Trade. 
 
 T. COLEMAN DuPONT, 
 
 President DuPont Powder Co. 
 
 ALFRED D. WARNER, 
 
 President Charles Warner Co. 
 
 GEORGE W. SPARKS, 
 
 State Senator and Secretary and Treasurer Dea Milling Co. 
 
 WILLIAM W. LOBDELL, 
 
 President J v obdell Car Wheel Co. 
 
 WILLIAM B. CLERK, 
 
 President Continental leather Co. 
 
 HOWARD T. WALLACE, 
 
 President Diamond State Steel Co. 
 
 CHARLES D. BIRD, 
 
 Mayor and Superintendent Wilmington Transfer Co. 
 
 JOSIAH MARVEL, 
 
 Dawyer. 
 
 DAVID C. REID, 
 
 President Docal Plant U. S. Shipbuilding Co. 
 
 WILLIAM LAWTON, 
 
 President Wilmington Board of Trade and Merchant. 
 
 WILMINGTON, DELAWARE. 
 
 Object: 
 
 An open, free Ship Canal connecting Delaware River and Chesapeake 
 Bay; to be built by United States Government, for national defense and com- 
 merce. Co-operation invited. Inquiries answered. 
 
 1 
 
Delaware Ship Canal 
 
 to Connect 
 
 Delaware River and Chesapeake Bay. 
 SPEECHES 
 
 At Celebrated Inter-State Banquet 
 
 By WILMINGTON BOARD OF TRADE, 
 
 \\ 
 
 Wilmington, Del., Jan. 8, 1904. 
 
 T HE most notable gathering of 
 men ever assembled in Dela- 
 ware attended the banquet 
 
 of the Wilmington Board of 
 
 Trade on the evening of January 8, 1904. 
 
 The sole subject discussed was the pro- 
 posed Ship Canal across the Delaware 
 Peninsula, to connect Delaware River 
 and Chesapeake Bay; the route to be 
 that of the present Chesapeake and Dela- 
 ware Canal, a large interest in which has 
 been owned by the Federal Government 
 for nearly a century. It is proposed that 
 Congress shall appropriate money to ac- 
 quire the other interests and then con- 
 vert the canal into an open and free 
 waterway deep enough for the largest 
 ocean vessels and battleships. This has 
 been recommended by government engi- 
 neers, and by the board of distinguished 
 men appointed by the President of the 
 United States, by authority of an Act of 
 Congress, to “facilitate the national de- 
 fence and commerce.” 
 
 After official borings and surveys, the 
 engineers of the War Department have 
 reported that this canal can be built, a 
 
 little over thirteen miles in length, for 
 eight million dollars, which is “less than 
 it costs to build and equip one battle- 
 ship.” 
 
 The water route from Baltimore to 
 New England ports, and to Europe, will 
 be reduced two hundred miles by this 
 ship canal, saving four hundred miles, or 
 about two days, on each round trip, and 
 avoiding the dangerous Virginia capes. 
 
 Atlantic coast states, north and south, 
 are all interested in this improvement, 
 as well as the interior states which find 
 an outlet on the Atlantic coast for their 
 products, while the nation as a whole 
 demands this ship canal as an aid to the 
 defense of Washington, and for naval 
 strategic purposes. 
 
 The eight thousand registered boats on 
 the Chesapeake desire admission, by this 
 safe canal route, to the markets along 
 the Delaware, multiplying the transpor- 
 tation facilities and commerce and aid- 
 ing in the great industrial development 
 expected to ensue. 
 
 At the November meeting of the Board 
 of Trade, Alfred O. Crozier, Esq., of Wil- 
 
 T 
 
4 
 
 mington, one of the members, called at- 
 tention to the incalculable benefit this 
 ship canal would be to the city, and to 
 the State of Delaware, by attracting in- 
 dustries and commerce, and also to the 
 States of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, 
 Maryland and Virginia, and its impera- 
 tive necessity for national defense and to 
 protect the National Capital. He sug- 
 gested that the Board revive the project, 
 which had long been under consideration, 
 and organize an active movement to se- 
 cure its completion. He was invited to 
 address a special meeting of the Board on 
 the subject. The matter finally took the 
 form of this great Inter-State Banquet. 
 
 There were present a large number of 
 United States Senators and Representa- 
 tives, and many other distinguished men 
 from the five States on these two water- 
 ways. Those from Washington came on 
 a special car, escorted by Delaware’s dis- 
 tinguished members of Congress, and by 
 the President and a Committee of the 
 Board. 
 
 The visiting guests were all entertain- 
 ed at the private homes of the promi- 
 nent citizens of Wilmington, and they 
 had an opportunity of enjoying the far- 
 famed private, as well as public, hos- 
 pitality of the people of Delaware. The 
 list of those in attendance is printed 
 elsewhere. 
 
 Rt. Rev. Leighton Coleman, Bishop of 
 Delaware, in most earnest words, invoked 
 the Divine Blessing, at the opening of the 
 Banquet, and at the conclusion, President 
 William Lawton, of the Board of Trade, 
 called the meeting to order and intro- 
 duced Judge George Gray of Wilming- 
 ton, as toastmaster. 
 
 After appropriate words of cordial wel- 
 come, and warmly endorsing the Ship 
 Canal project, Judge Gray introduced, 
 respectively, the following four regular 
 speakers, who, in responding to the 
 toasts assigned to them, eloquently ad- 
 
 vocated the building of the Ship Canal: 
 Hon. Anthony Higgins, of Wilmington, 
 
 “The Mutual Relations Between Our 
 Neighbors and Ourselves.” 
 
 Hon. Charles Emory Smith, of Phila- 
 delphia, “An Aid to the National De- 
 fense.” 
 
 Alfred O. Crozier, Esq., of Wilmington, 
 “The Delaware Ship Canal.” 
 
 Blanchard Randall, Esq., President of 
 National Board of Trade, Baltimore, “A 
 Commercial Necessity.” 
 
 At the conclusion of these addresses, 
 Judge Gray called on a number of the 
 guests, among who were Representatives 
 Lacey, of Iowa; Lamb and Jones, of Vir- 
 ginia, and Gardener, of New Jersey; and 
 on John Cadwalader, Esq., of Philadel- 
 phia, and Hon. L. Irving Handy, of Wil- 
 mington. All promised loyal and hearty 
 support to the project. 
 
 Every important business interest in 
 this city was represented at the Banquet, 
 and prominent men were present from all 
 parts of Delaware, indicating that the 
 people of this State are united in their 
 support of the Ship Canal enterprise and 
 will earnestly co-operate in carrying it 
 to a successful conclusion. 
 
 Invocation by Bishop Coleman. 
 
 “Almighty and Merciful God, the 
 Bountiful Bestower of every good and 
 perfect gift, we thank Thee for all 
 Thy goodness, and especially for this por- 
 tion of Thy bounty. We pray Thee that 
 Thou wilt sanctify it to Thy honor and 
 glory and to our own comfort and useful- 
 ness. 
 
 “Bless, we beseech Thee, the President 
 of these United States, the Governor of 
 this Commonwealth, the Mayor of this 
 City, and all others in authority and all 
 under authority; enabling them to use 
 what is given to them of power and au- 
 thority wisely and well, and that the 
 
JUDGE GEORGE GRAY. 
 
 U. S. Senator 
 J. FRANK AEEEE, 
 Delaware. 
 
 U. S. Senator 
 
 E. heiseer baee, 
 
 Delaware. 
 
 HON. HENRY A. HOUSTON, 
 Representative in Congress, Delaware. 
 
 WIEEIAM EAWTON, 
 
 President of the Wilmington Hoard of Trade. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates 
 
 https://archive.org/details/delawareshipcanaOOwilm 
 
C- o v -y 
 
 O 
 
 people may live in obedience to Thy law 
 and in harmony one with another. 
 
 “Bless the members of the Senate and 
 the House of Representatives, in Con- 
 gress assembled. Order and direct all 
 their consultations and actions, so that 
 they may promote the welfare of the 
 people and the good name of the Repub- 
 lic. 
 
 “Bless, we beseech Thee, the members 
 of this Board of Trade and all the busi- 
 ness people of this city, and grant that 
 they may ever conduct their affairs with 
 honesty and fidelity, mindful one of an- 
 other. 
 
 “Hear us, we beseech Thee, in these our 
 supplications and prayers, and grant us 
 whatsoever else Thou mayest deem to be 
 needful and convenient; and so help us 
 to live together in this world, in Thy 
 holy faith and fear and love, that, in the 
 world to come, we may have life ever- 
 lasting, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. 
 Amen.” 
 
 The After Dinner Speeches. 
 
 President William Lawton, of the 
 Wilmington Board of Trade, introducing 
 Judge Gray, said: 
 
 “As President of this organization, I 
 greet you. It affords me very great 
 pleasure to introduce the toastmaster of 
 the evening, our eminent fellow -citizen, 
 the Honorable George Gray.” (Prolonged 
 applause and cheers.) 
 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS 
 By 
 
 — Hon. George Gray, of Wilmington, 
 Toastmaster. 
 
 Gentlemen and Members of the Board 
 . of Trade of the City of Wilmington: The 
 position to which I have been called by 
 your favor devolves upon me the very 
 pleasant duty of extending your welcome 
 to the guests who honor us to-night by 
 their presence. We are unfeignedly glad 
 
 to see them, and trust that they will 
 carry away from us none but pleasant 
 recollections of this occasion. 
 
 Whatever may be the drawbacks or 
 disadvantages attendant upon urban life, 
 I think we have all come to acknowledge 
 at this day that our cities, great and 
 small, are most important factors in our 
 national life and in our advancing civili- 
 zation. In fact, civilization depends not 
 only upon individual intelligence and 
 character, but also upon the union and 
 co-operative effort of individuals to ad- 
 vance the interests of society. Man is a 
 social being, and the things that are of 
 most worth in this life of ours spring 
 from the aspirations of social life, and 
 that community is strongest and best 
 whose members work together most 
 strenuously for the achievement of com- 
 mon benefits and public interests, as con- 
 trasted with merely individual aims and 
 selfish interests. Civic virtue and civic 
 pride rest, it is true, upon individual 
 character, but their influence is wider, 
 and their potency infinitely greater than 
 can possibly result from the mere aggre- 
 gate of individual efforts. The members 
 of a community who band together to 
 promote the general interest and com- 
 mon benefit of all, raise the standard of 
 individual character and citizenship, and 
 contribute largely to the assurance that 
 we all want to feel in the future. When 
 men stand together in close association, 
 whether to achieve some betterment of 
 the material conditions that surround 
 them, to resist some deteriorating influ- 
 ence on the body politic, or to strike the 
 hydra-head of corruption and venality in 
 public life, each is stronger for the asso- 
 ciation with his fellows, and has his in- 
 fluence multiplied many fold thereby. 
 
 It is a cause of thankfulness to-day 
 that such associated effort, whether re- 
 ligious or secular, is battling everywhere 
 against the malign and deteriorating 
 
6 
 
 forces of our time — battling to resist the 
 evil and exalt the good that always lurks 
 somewhere in our common human nature. 
 When such associations slacken in their 
 zeal, we drift backward; when we are 
 strong and energetic, our skies are bright 
 with promise and hopefulness. No civic 
 life is wholesome which is not, to borrow 
 the well-known phrase of our excellent 
 President, somewhat “strenuous.” (Ap- 
 plause.) Pride in our homes, pride in 
 our city, and pride in our State expand 
 into pride in our country, and beget a 
 patriotism which makes that country 
 great and strong. 
 
 Object of this Banquet. 
 
 Gentlemen, the object of our meeting 
 to-night is to quicken the interest, not 
 only of this community but of the neigh- 
 boring communities of Pennsylvania, 
 New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia, in 
 the improvement of the great waterways 
 of the Chesapeake and Delaware and of 
 the artificial canal which unites them. 
 No one can even glance at the map of 
 this remarkable region without being 
 struck with the configuration of that 
 Peninsula between the two great bays and 
 the proximity of them and their affluents 
 to the great states that I have named. 
 They extend into and affect all. None of 
 the states named are outside of the 
 sphere of the economic influence that 
 these great waterways exert over the in- 
 dustries, happiness and well-being of the 
 millions who dwell within this favored 
 region. No bays or estuaries on our 
 whole coast line or on the gulf minister 
 to the wants of a population so dense, so 
 varied, so marked and distinguished by 
 its industrial and economic conditions, 
 and by the aggregate of its wealth, as do 
 the great bays and rivers upon whose 
 shores and watersheds the most of us 
 have our homes. (Applause.) In this 
 important respect there is community of 
 
 interest for all of us, and we hope to see 
 a united effort by the representatives of 
 this great population and these enor- 
 mous interests to obtain national recog- 
 nition of their importance. (Applause.) 
 We want, gentlemen, and must have in 
 the near future, a thirty-five foot canal 
 from Philadelphia to the sea. (Ap- 
 plause.) We want to see the Christiana, 
 with its great shipbuilding interests and 
 industries, deepened and widened, so 
 that it may become an American Clyde. 
 (Applause.) We want, moreover, the 
 canal that unites the waters of the Dela- 
 ware and Chesapeake bays made wide 
 enough and deep enough to accommodate 
 our ships of war and all of our merchant 
 marine, so that there may be a safe and 
 secure inland waterway for steamers of 
 the larger size from Norfolk, Washing- 
 ton, Baltimore, and so on to Philadelphia 
 and to New York, (applause) to say 
 nothing of that waterway being a link 
 in that wonderful passageway that ex- 
 tends almost all the way from Sandy 
 Hook to the Keys of Florida. 
 
 The Chesapeake and Delaware canal 
 was built by enterprising, brave and ad- 
 venturous men, at a time when the coun- 
 try was comparatively poor and weak. 
 It was a greater achievement for that 
 day and generation than that to which 
 I have alluded would be for the present. 
 We are more able to accomplish this now 
 than they were at that time to construct 
 theirs; but it requires the intelligent ef- 
 fort of those who to-day represent the 
 energy, industry and intelligence of the 
 region that I have described. What a 
 splendid spectacle it will be when the 
 growing city of Norfolk and the great 
 cities of Baltimore and Philadelphia are 
 united by a great waterway, all but 
 about twenty miles natural, requiring an 
 artificial construction of less than twenty 
 miles, to make these magnificent bays 
 and thoroughfares that the God of Na- 
 
ture has given us one continuous high- 
 way for the commerce of this great re- 
 gion. It seems as if the God of Nature 
 had pointed out that little neck of land 
 and said, “Go in and occupy this great 
 region and make it fertile and wealthy 
 by your endeavor, and do for the people 
 that live here something in addition to 
 what has been done by the kind Provi- 
 dence that has given them this fruitful 
 region and these beautiful waterways.” 
 
 Wilmington the Center. 
 
 I have mentioned Norfolk, Baltimore, 
 Philadelphia and New York, but here lies 
 the beautiful city of Wilmington, right 
 on the line of travel, at the very head of 
 that fair Peninsula, ready to join in the 
 work of achievement, as we shall be to 
 reap the fruits of success. We cannot be 
 ignored; we cannot be forgotten; we can- 
 not be passed by, because, happily, our 
 situation in this region is almost central, 
 and some day it will be metropolitan. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 So, to-night, gentlemen, we who repre- 
 sent these toiling, happy, prosperous mil- 
 lions inhabiting this region — this popu- 
 lation now dense and growing denser; 
 now rich and growing richer; strong and 
 growing stronger — are here to voice what 
 we believe to be their wishes. We are 
 here to speak of what seems to be their 
 exigent necessity — to have cut across 
 that narrow neck of land an artificial 
 waterway that shall unite these navi- 
 gable waters. We are here to-night with 
 one mind and purpose, putting aside all 
 differences of politics, for we are all 
 Americans; we all belong to these states, 
 and we are loyal to them and to our 
 common country, however we may differ 
 as to the means by which we shall show 
 that loyalty, or however we may differ 
 as to the best means of increasing its 
 glory and prosperity. We are here to 
 give an impulse to this movement that 
 
 will result in making it one of national 
 interest and concern. I do not think the 
 national government can much longer ig- 
 nore it. There have been three expert 
 surveys and reports that are now in the 
 archives at Washington, all recommend- 
 ing the project, and all showing how 
 feasible and necessary it is. (Applause). 
 
 But, gentlemen, I can best make my 
 returns for the honor you have done me 
 in asking me to preside at your banquet 
 by detaining you no longer from hearing 
 those to whom it will be your pleasure to 
 listen. (Prolonged applause.) 
 
 Judge Gray, introducing ex- Senator 
 Higgins, said: 
 
 “I have said that we are here to-night, 
 bound together by a community of inter- 
 est. If I may repeat myself and dwell 
 upon the point, after all, the differences 
 in politics in this great country of ours 
 are superficial. The bonds of union are 
 deep down in our common nature, and 
 each citizen seeks to promote the com- 
 mon good of the country. (Applause.) I 
 know of no one who can better illustrate 
 that sentiment, and give you more il- 
 luminating advice upon the matter that 
 has called us together this evening in 
 this social way, than your fellow-towns- 
 man, who has honored you by represent- 
 ing you in the Senate of the United 
 States — our esteemed fellow- citizen, Hon- 
 orable Anthony Higgins. (Applause.) 
 
 “MUTUAL RELATIONS BETWEEN 
 
 OUR NEIGHBORS AND OUR- 
 SELVES,” 
 
 By 
 
 Hon. Anthony Higgins, of Wilmington. 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: I beg 
 to echo the welcome of our distinguished 
 chairman to our guests here to-night, the 
 representatives of our sister States, Vir- 
 ginia, Maryland, New Jersey and Penn- 
 
8 
 
 sylvania, whose territory borders upon 
 these great waterways, which we trust 
 will be united by a canal that will ac- 
 commodate the greatest ships of the 
 present and the future, as the existing 
 one did the crafts of its time. I beg also 
 to extend the same welcome to that rep- 
 resentative from the far-off State of 
 Iowa, who has honored us with his pres- 
 ence, Representative Lacey, of Iowa, (ap- 
 plause) who is himself the distinguished 
 scion of a genuine, old Delaware family. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 We are very glad you are here, not 
 only to eat our salt, but to join with us 
 in council as to what foresight and wis- 
 dom would dictate is best to be done 
 with respect to the great interests, state 
 and national, that grow out of these spa- 
 cious and unsurpassed waterways. 
 
 Delaware in History. 
 
 Delaware has always taken a national, 
 rather than a state or provincial interest 
 in our national affairs. The very child of 
 the Revolution, separated by the Decla- 
 ration of Independence at the same mo- 
 ment from both Great Britain and Penn- 
 sylvania, her conscious existence as a 
 separate state began with the birth of 
 the Republic. The first state to adopt 
 the Constitution, she took an early and 
 honorable part in the steps that led up 
 to the convention that framed the Con- 
 stitution of the United States. (Ap- 
 plause.) This is not the first gath- 
 ering in which she has participated with 
 the states that are represented to-night, 
 for the consideration of a Chesapeake 
 and Delaware canal. After a conference 
 held at Mt. Vernon, in which Washing- 
 ton was a commissioner, between Vir- 
 ginia and Maryland, convened to consider 
 a resolution as to the regulation of their 
 commercial relations on the waters of 
 the Chesapeake bay and Potomac river, 
 Maryland suggested that the co-opera- 
 
 tion of Pennsylvania and Delaware 
 should be asked, with a view to the con- 
 struction of a canal to unite the waters 
 of the Chesapeake and the Delaware. 
 Thereupon Virginia widened the scope of 
 the scheme to calling a conference of all 
 the states of the confederation, for the 
 regulation of commerce between them, 
 and for the purpose of securing uniform 
 duties and currency. That conference, 
 including the States of Virginia, New 
 Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New 
 York, met at Annapolis. The Senate of 
 Maryland, for some reason, declined to 
 join in sending delegates. With the sub- 
 stitution of Maryland for New York, 
 they were the same states that are rep- 
 resented at this banquet. As you all 
 know, the conference, by the unanimous 
 choice of the delegates, was presided over 
 by John Dickinson, Delaware’s famous 
 statesman (applause), and in turn it 
 called the convention that framed the 
 Constitution of the United States. So 
 we may say that the Constitution grew 
 out of the canal. (Laughter.) 
 
 We may be asked what special inter- 
 est has Delaware in the construction of 
 a deep-water ship canal to unite the two 
 bays. Why of all the states interested 
 and present here to-night, should it be 
 Delaware to stand up and summon her 
 sisters into council? If the question is 
 put because we are small in size, I would 
 answer that “though our hoards are 
 little, our hearts are great.” (Applause.) 
 Moreover, as I have already said, we 
 cherish the tradition that never from the 
 first moment of her independent exist- 
 ence has Delaware considered such sub- 
 jects from a narrow or a selfish view. 
 When you reflect, however, that the pro- 
 posed ship canal will pass in the main 
 through Delaware territory, it is pre- 
 eminently proper that she should be the 
 State to convene this gathering. Others 
 will speak to you to-night of the re- 
 
 
9 
 
 sources, the development, the growth and 
 future of our city of Wilmington, for 
 which the Board of Trade stands spon- 
 sor; but whatever advantages from this 
 enterprise will flow to the union, or to 
 Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania or 
 New Jersey, Delaware will share them in 
 proportion to the activities of her agri- 
 culture, her manufactures and her com- 
 merce. 
 
 President Loree of B. & 0. R. R. 
 
 If any state will receive from it special 
 advantages, it seems to me that it will 
 be Maryland. I am not left to this mere 
 assertion of my own. It was with es- 
 pecial pleasure that we heard an expres- 
 sion of views a few days ago, at a meet- 
 ing held in Baltimore, in which Colonel 
 Loree, President of the Baltimore and 
 Ohio Railroad Company, which, with the 
 Pennsylvania Railroad Company, repre- 
 sents the largest single interest in the 
 transportation and commerce of that 
 port, gave his adhesion to our project in 
 the following words: 
 
 “There will yet remain, however, an 
 improvement that is essential to the 
 maintenance of our coastwise trade. 
 Your communication with New England 
 would be shortened by 194 miles through 
 the construction of the Chesapeake and 
 Delaware canal. The dangerous coast 
 between Norfolk and the Delaware capes 
 would be avoided, and your city, for 
 coastwise trade, would be placed prac- 
 tically upon the ocean front, instead of 
 as now. 150 miles inland.” 
 
 But Colonel Loree could have gone 
 much farther. The same advantage 
 would be enjoyed by all ships, in the 
 trans-Atlantic trade, and sailing other- 
 wise than to the southward. 
 
 The interests of Virginia are hardly 
 any, if any, less; while Baltimore is, as 
 a city of the first class, a great emporium 
 not only of the country east of the Alle- 
 
 ghenies, but of the empire west of them, 
 Newport News, by its connection through 
 the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad, reaches 
 the same territory and shares in the 
 same commerce; while Norfolk is a port 
 which draws its prosperity and growth 
 from the entire south. The old, ante- 
 bellum aphorism, “Nothing is certain but 
 negroes and cotton,” (laughter) is com- 
 ing forward with new importance, for 
 with its soaring prices, cotton is again 
 king. The tobacco, coal and lumber, with 
 the manufactures that have grown up 
 there to enrich the land and make that 
 New South in whose prosperity we all so 
 heartily rejoice, (applause) will be tribu- 
 tary to this new instrument of commerce 
 through the Virginia connections, in 
 which Baltimore also will have no slight 
 share. The increased coastwise facilities, 
 and the added safety to shipping, could 
 not but be of great advantage to Penn- 
 sylvania and New Jersey through Phila- 
 delphia and Camden. I shall not extend 
 my horoscope farther to the north and 
 treat of the possibilities of widening and 
 deepening the canal through New Jersey 
 from the Delaware river to the Atlantic 
 coast. 
 
 When compared with the sum of the 
 projects contained in a river and harbor 
 bill, I have already said enough to show 
 that this proposition is of far more effect 
 and importance to our commerce than 
 many others upon which Congress has 
 already made, and will be called upon 
 hereafter to make, larger outlays. And 
 when Congress shall have its attention 
 drawn to the subject by a gathering of 
 the dignity and importance of this as- 
 semblage, we hope they will not fail to 
 give it the sanction of their approval. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 But whatever uncertainty may exist as 
 to Congress entering upon this great pub- 
 lic work, because of the commercial ad- 
 
10 
 
 vantages involved, the other side of the 
 problem is one involved in no doubt. 
 Since the Government has entered upon 
 the construction of a larger navy, one 
 adequate to our population, our re- 
 sources, and our world-wide interests, it 
 can hardly hesitate to adopt a project 
 which can double the effective force of 
 our navy in respect of our home defense 
 and naval base, at a cost of scarcely, if 
 any, more than one -half that of a single 
 battleship. If Germany doubled her ef- 
 fective naval power by constructing the 
 Kiel canal to allow her fleet to pass from 
 the Baltic to the Atlantic, certainly we 
 can undertake a much less costly work 
 that will give us the inside channel from 
 League Island to Hampton Roads — 
 League Island, our great naval depot and 
 construction yard; Hampton Roads, one 
 of the very great harbors of the world, 
 our principal naval station and the base 
 of any naval action, whether of defense 
 or offense, that may be conducted from 
 the Atlantic coast. 
 
 International Dangers. 
 
 We are told, however, that the United 
 States need not fear war; that we are 
 protected by our splendid “isolation,” and 
 that the magnitude of our resources de- 
 ters as well as defies attack. To this it 
 may be replied that our isolation is lost, 
 a thing of the past, while with our in- 
 creased power has come added and grave 
 responsibility, inherently incident to 
 our geographical situation — responsibil- 
 ity which we will not seek to evade, and 
 could not if we would. 
 
 By the Monroe Doctrine, the primary 
 principle of American International Law, 
 we assume the hegemony of the Ameri- 
 can continent, and peremptorily warn all 
 Europe off of it, forbidding them to ex- 
 tend their American possessions, if they 
 have them already, or to act oppressively 
 toward any American republic. Such a 
 position can be maintained only by a 
 
 force equal to the extent and gravity of 
 the responsibility, and it may at any 
 time involve us in war. 
 
 Closely connected with our obligations 
 under the Monroe Doctrine now comes 
 the Isthmian canal. No one doubts that 
 it will be built, and that speedily (ap- 
 plause) because of the present improved 
 instrumentalities of excavation and con- 
 struction. 
 
 Captain Mahan says that when the 
 canal shall have been built, the Carribean 
 Sea will become a point of strategic in- 
 terest as acute as the Mediterranean has 
 always been throughout the course of 
 human history. 
 
 The harbors of Porto Rico and the two 
 naval stations we hold in Cuba give us 
 valuable outposts for the formidable task 
 of guarding the canal, but shall we fail 
 to use the increased power of defense 
 and of mobility in attack to be secured 
 by connecting League Island and Hamp- 
 ton Roads by water? 
 
 But with the duty of maintaining the 
 Isthmian canal, making as it will, a part 
 of our own coast line, closely connecting 
 our Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and 
 carrying, as it will, a large part of the 
 commerce between Europe and Asia and 
 all the countries of the Pacific, the 
 United States will be drawn measurably 
 nearer the vortex of European affairs, 
 and nearer thereby to the perils of war. 
 
 Pacific and the East. 
 
 Next is the problem of the Pacific 
 Ocean. We have on it the longest coast 
 line of any nation on any continent in 
 the world. We are the only Christian 
 nation having such a coast line on the 
 Pacific, and with the exception of Alaska, 
 it is entirely within the temperate zone. 
 Beyond it lies the trade of Oceanica and 
 of the Orient not merely the glittering 
 prize of all the world, but indispensable 
 to the prosperity of the people of our 
 
11 
 
 Pacific coast states. They are instinct 
 with our throbbing American life, and 
 half a century hence, will have a popu- 
 lation as dense as the Atlantic coast has 
 to-day. Does any one suppose that they 
 and the continent of Americans behind 
 them will be content without their free 
 and fair participation in that trade with 
 the Asiatic coast opposite them? From 
 the time of the war between Japan and 
 China, and its demonstration of the im- 
 potence of China, followed by the aggres- 
 sive advance of Russia, it became appar- 
 ent that the United States had an acute 
 interest in the problems involved. With 
 the affairs of Europe, we have no con- 
 cern, and Washington’s rule of absten- 
 tion holds. But this is not Europe; it is 
 Asia, and no longer even the Orient. For 
 us, it not the “East,” it is our “West.” 
 (Applause.) 
 
 No, Mr. Chairman, we are no longer al- 
 together isolated. Our inherent inter- 
 ests in countries aliunde ourselves are 
 not merely latent, but have become pat- 
 ent. We have ceased to be beyond the 
 possibility or fear of war. I have long 
 felt that we can no longer indulge in 
 such optimism. It is nine years since I 
 had occasion to express my views on this 
 subject. Then, when we had a far 
 weaker navy than now, I ventured to 
 urge that the United States could not 
 longer afford to ignore its actual place 
 among the great powers of the earth; 
 that steam and electricity had annihi- 
 lated time and space; that we had as- 
 sumed the place of a planet of the first 
 magnitude in the constellation of the 
 nations, and could not escape from the 
 incidents, the responsibilities or dangers 
 that go with our population, our terri- 
 tory, our importance and our might. I 
 called attention to the fact that we had 
 within the then last two or three years, 
 four incidents to occur with foreign na- 
 tions, any one of which might have led 
 
 to hostilities. One was with Italy, over 
 the Mafia in New Orleans; one with 
 Chile, at the time of their insurrection; 
 another with Brazil, at the time of the 
 insurrection there; and the fourth with 
 Great Britain, when she seized Corinto 
 to enforce the collection of alleged claims 
 against Nicaragua. I ventured to add 
 that we did not know what would hap- 
 pen, but we did know that something 
 would happen. Hardly a year passed by 
 before the curtain of the East was rolled 
 up on that vast and majestic problem by 
 war between Japan and China. Another 
 year, and we were ourselves involved in 
 war with Spain, while since, we have 
 been called upon to settle the harsh ag- 
 gressions of Germany and Great Britain 
 upon Venezuela. We caused them to 
 submit their swollen claims to impartial 
 commissions for ascertainment, and sent 
 their demand for preferential treatment 
 in payment of the awards to the arbitra- 
 tion of The Hague Tribunal. The world 
 stands with respectful submission before 
 this great manifestation of the Monroe 
 Doctrine and our purpose to protect all 
 the republics south of us from the op- 
 pression of European powers. 
 
 Meanwhile we have annexed Hawaii. 
 Dewey’s victory gave us Guam and the 
 Philippines and made us an Asiatic pow- 
 er. Hawaii, Guam and the Philippines 
 give us naval and coaling stations as 
 stepping stones across the wide Pacific, 
 and these, together with our use of the 
 Aleutian Islands on the north, and with 
 the Philippines lying upon the flank of 
 China and the Asiatic continent on the 
 south, make it easily within our power 
 to augment, protect and defend that 
 great commerce of the future on the 
 Northern Pacific, which will grow and 
 grow and forever grow, as our population 
 on the Pacific coast equals, if it does not 
 exceed in density that upon the Atlantic. 
 (Applause.) 
 
12 
 
 Conflict Over Canada. 
 
 Nor can we ignore another problem, 
 whieh, to my mind, will always continue 
 as our largest and most acute concern 
 until it is settled, and settled right. I 
 mean the continuance of British jurisdic- 
 tion upon this continent, preventing that 
 continental unity upon which depends 
 the highest welfare of its English-speak- 
 ing race. No one welcomes more heartily 
 or with warmer feelings of satisfaction 
 than I the manifestations of kindliness 
 which have come with such unreserved 
 flow in recent years from Great Britain. 
 As we all know, it was not always so. 
 But already, and fortunately, we are be- 
 ginning to let the sense of grievance which 
 we carried from the time of the Revo- 
 lution toward our kin beyond the sea 
 fade away with the past. But it cannot 
 be ignored that nations are governed by 
 their interests, and as to our relations 
 with Canada, that there is a conflict of 
 interest deep and profound between us 
 and Great Britain — one to be ended some 
 day only by a solution solely and simply 
 American — a solution that I trust and 
 hope will be the outcome of the economic 
 forces which naturally bind the English- 
 speaking countries of North America in 
 one; certainly never the military aggres- 
 sion of the United States upon Canada. 
 
 So far I have made no reference to the 
 probability of war breaking out between 
 Russia and Japan. We sit to-night un- 
 der its dark and threatening cloud. We 
 all devoutly hope that the cloud may pass 
 away and sweet peace continue to reign. 
 But again, have we a right to be optim- 
 istic about it? The impending conflict 
 is as to who shall possess China, and for 
 that matter, Eastern Asia. After cen- 
 turies of war about its map, Europe 
 seems to have fought its differences out. 
 Europe has peacefully parcelled out Af- 
 rica. Can the problem of China be solved 
 
 without war? Will the opening decade 
 of the twentieth century be free from the 
 wars that bathed its predecessors of the 
 eighteenth and nineteenth? The future, 
 and probably the near future, alone can 
 tell. 
 
 I trust that I have not exhausted your 
 patience, but that I have said enough to 
 show that the United States cannot any 
 longer rest in the complacent satisfaction 
 that it is beyond the danger of war. We 
 trust that it will not come. It may be 
 true that before the “battle flags are 
 furled in the parliament of men and the 
 confederation of the world” mankind will 
 have to tread over many bloody fields. 
 We may hope and trust that we shall be 
 free from participation in them; but it 
 would be the height of folly for us to 
 disdain or ignore any or all protection 
 which can strengthen us, knowing that 
 adequate defenses on land and sea are 
 the surest instrumentalities to deter any 
 nation from meeting us in war. 
 
 Hence I say, let the nation build the 
 little, short, ship canal of fourteen miles 
 from the Chesapeake to the Delaware; 
 make it deep enough and broad enough 
 for the greatest ships that the daring of 
 naval constructors can anticipate; and 
 let it stand there, at once the agency of 
 peace and of war, for the benefit, inci- 
 dentally, of the commerce of the nation, 
 but mainly for the maritime, military 
 and naval greatness and supremacy of 
 the United States. (Prolonged applause.) 
 
 Judge Gray, introducing Hon. Charles 
 Emory Smith, said: 
 
 Gentlemen: You see, if you had not 
 realized the fact before listening to the 
 eloquent portrayal just made, that this 
 subject, which was, in one view, a nar- 
 row and, perhaps, a provincial one, 
 touches the great problems of interna- 
 tional statesmanship. Senator Higgins 
 has made it clear that, at every point, 
 
this comparatively small question of a 
 ship canal not only interests this imme- 
 diate region, but touches all the large 
 interests of this great country, from 
 ocean to ocean, and from the lakes to the 
 gulf. Apparently there is not a single 
 problem that somehow is not connected 
 with and resting upon the construction 
 of this canal. (Laughter.) Somehow 
 or other, the Isthmian canal, the comple- 
 tion of which we hope to see in the near 
 future (applause) has become indissolu- 
 bly connected with the construction of 
 the Chesapeake and Delaware canal. 
 
 I trust that the Isthmian canal will 
 soon be built. It is a great and high as- 
 piration, not only of the people of this 
 country, but of all the peoples of the 
 world. When it is built, it will be for no 
 narrow and sefish purpose, but for the 
 commerce of the world. (Applause.) 
 And gentlemen, I may add also the hope 
 that what we wish highly we may have 
 worthily (applause) that somehow, out 
 of the present entanglement, will come a 
 solution that will enable us all, as Amer- 
 ican citizens, with heads erect, and with 
 eyes flashing with American patriotism 
 and pride, to say that the canal will be 
 built with no stain upon the American 
 name. (Applause.) 
 
 Mr. Higgins has most eloquently por- 
 trayed the necessity of this canal as a 
 means of national defense, but we are to 
 hear more particularly on this subject 
 from a gentleman whom it is our pride 
 and pleasure to have with us this even- 
 ing. A little more than two years and 
 a half ago, we all assembled around the 
 open grave of a beloved President — a 
 man whose administration added honor 
 and dignity to the American name — a 
 man who gathered around him counsel- 
 lors that were worthy of the best tradi- 
 tions of American history. One of those 
 counsellors is with us to-night, and you 
 are to have the pleasure of hearing from 
 
 him. I mean the Honorable Charles 
 Emory Smith, of Philadelphia. (Pro- 
 longed applause.) 
 
 “AN AID TO THE NATIONAL DE- 
 FENSE” 
 
 By 
 
 Hon. Charles Emory Smith, of Phila- 
 delphia. 
 
 Mr. Toastmaster and Gentlemen: I 
 thank you, sir, for the very eloquent and 
 touching tribute which you have paid to 
 the memory of the great President, who 
 was the patriotic President of the whole 
 country. (Applause.) I am sure that if 
 his spirit hovers over this country now, 
 as I feel that it does, it will be touched 
 by the expression of this great assem- 
 blage to your words. 
 
 I congratulate the Board of Trade of 
 Wilmington upon this magnificent oc- 
 casion. I congratulate it upon its suc- 
 cess in gathering here so large a body of 
 representative men of this progressive 
 city, and in bringing to this board these 
 distinguished representatives of neigh- 
 boring commonwealths. 
 
 It is a great pleasure for me to be here, 
 to sit at this board under the presidency 
 of your distinguished toastmaster. (Ap- 
 plause.) You honor him here in this, his 
 home; but you do not honor him, you do 
 not more highly appreciate his ability, 
 his dignity, his patriotism, his lofty pub- 
 lic spirit, than do we of other common- 
 wealths. (Applause.) 
 
 As I rise to speak in response to this 
 toast, after the speech of my distinguish- 
 ed friend, your former Senator (Mr. Hig- 
 gins), who has completely exhausted the 
 subject, I feel, perhaps, somewhat as did 
 the young man who took a walk with his 
 lady love. Contrary to the usual rule, he 
 was full of sentiment and she full of 
 practical sense. They sat down beneath 
 an apple tree, and he said: “My love, do 
 you not hear the limbs and the leaves 
 
14 
 
 sigh and moan ?” And the lady, with the 
 practical sense for which she was dis- 
 tinguished — she was a farmer’s daughter 
 — answered, “Well, do you not think you 
 would sigh and moan if you were full of 
 green apples?” (Prolonged laughter and 
 applause.) The green apples of which I 
 was full have become the ripened fruit 
 in the harvest of your distinguished ex- 
 Senator. And yet, as a Philadelphian, I 
 am glad to participate in this memorable 
 occasion. Philadelphia, as you will dis- 
 cover if you examine the map, is a con- 
 siderable town near Camden. (Laughter.) 
 It has a profound interest in the great 
 project which you are assembled to ad- 
 vance. 
 
 Canal a Vital Necessity. 
 
 The construction of the Chesapeake 
 and Delaware canal is of vital interest to 
 these cities of Philadelphia, Wilmington 
 and Baltimore, which it would bring upon 
 a great interior waterway. It Avould 
 enormously improve the connection and 
 advance the material interests of the 
 five great commonwealths that stand 
 upon the shores of these waters, and 
 whose interests have been so well point- 
 ed out here to-night. 
 
 The world takes no step backward, and 
 it takes no step backward in turning its 
 special and its direct attention, as it 
 does to-day, to the great problem of the 
 waterway. The world has found that 
 both the railway and the waterway are 
 essential to a full and complete system 
 of inland communication. We have had 
 a wonderful era of railroad expansion. 
 Under the genius of American progress, 
 we have built more railway mileage in 
 this country than all Europe with its 
 three hundred and seventy millions of 
 people. (Applause.) Our country is a 
 wonderful network of iron tracks, and 
 the capacity and the capital which have 
 wrought out this splendid system stand 
 
 as a magnificent exemplification of mod- 
 ern power. 
 
 But we now see, as Europe sees, that 
 this great system will be made more use- 
 ful and efficient if it shall be supple- 
 mented by a full and adequate waterway. 
 We are turning again to the method 
 which from the foundation of the world 
 has been one of the primal means of 
 communication. It was 600 years before 
 the Christian era that witnessed the con- 
 ception of the Corinth canal, which 
 should bring the Adriatic and Aegean 
 seas close together, but it has remained 
 for this era of canal construction to wit- 
 ness its completion. One of the great 
 material features of our time is the new 
 realization of the importance of the 
 waterway and the entrance upon its 
 practical and colossal development. We 
 have seen a canal practically save the 
 great chief manufacturing city of Eng- 
 land. We have seen the city of Man- 
 chester make herself a seaport by a gi- 
 gantic engineering work which has 
 brought seagoing vessels to her wharves, 
 thirty-five miles from the sea. Under 
 the stress of the obstacles of trans-ship- 
 ment and of high freight charges, she 
 was in danger of losing her supremacy. 
 Her great mills and factories were seek- 
 ing more eligible locations. But that 
 canal, into which its constructors and 
 projectors did not hesitate to put more 
 than $75,000,000, has rescued Manchester 
 from that danger, has re-established her 
 real estate values, has kept her great 
 mills and factories, and has firmly fixed 
 her industrial and commercial position. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 Canals vs. Railroads. 
 
 Other nations of Europe have gone be- 
 yond England in the adoption of the 
 waterway. Germany has, within a very 
 recent period, expended more than $90,- 
 000,000 in the construction of canals, and 
 
15 
 
 in the last election of the Reichstag it 
 was decided that she would carry this 
 system farther forward by an expendi- 
 ture of more than $40,000,000 in the pros- 
 ecution of the work of inland navigation. 
 The courage, enterprise and spirit with 
 which she has entered upon that work 
 are shown in the construction of the Kiel 
 canal, to which Senator Higgins referred, 
 which unites the North Sea and the Bal- 
 tic, which has developed a great com- 
 merce because it saves the long detour 
 around the Skager Rack, the Cattegat 
 and the sound of Copenhagen. 
 
 In like manner France has entered 
 upon a comprehensive system of public 
 improvements. A commission of the 
 greatest national experts has been for 
 years engaged in the study of that sys- 
 tem. Its fulfillment is to extend over a 
 period of years, and it is calculated that 
 its aggregate cost will not be less than 
 $50,000,000. One of the chief parts of 
 that system of public improvements is 
 the construction and enlargement of in- 
 land waterways, one of them being a 
 canal from the Mediterranean to the bay 
 of Biscay, which shall shorten the way 
 from the Mediterranean to Northern Eu- 
 rope and Northern France, saving the 
 long journey around the Iberian Penin- 
 sula, around Gibraltar, immensely im- 
 proving the means of transit and greatly 
 advancing the material welfare of the 
 people. 
 
 On this continent, Canada has a splen- 
 did system of waterways, to which we 
 may well look with emulation. With her 
 St. Lawrence, Welland and Sault Ste 
 Marie canals, she has completed a system 
 of unbroken water communication from 
 the head of Lake Superior to Montreal, a 
 distance of two thousand miles. By 
 means of that unbroken water communi- 
 cation, which enables a boat to leave Chi- 
 cago and go, without breaking bulk, to 
 Liverpool, she is threatening American 
 
 control of exportations unless we bestir 
 ourselves. (Applause.) That menace has 
 had a large part in inducing the great 
 State of New York to enter upon an ex- 
 penditure of $100,000,000 for the enlarge- 
 ment of the Erie canal. 
 
 It is a period for such undertakings. 
 We stand upon the verge of the Isthmian 
 canal, which shall be the great inter- 
 oceanic waterway that shall wed the 
 two oceasns and change the commerce of 
 the world. (Applause.) I share the sen- 
 timent of your chairman in hoping and 
 believing that it will be speedily under- 
 taken, and I share none the less his sen- 
 timent that it shall be undertaken with- 
 out any stain upon our name. (Ap- 
 plause.) I go farther and say that, in 
 my belief, with the sense of the Amer- 
 ican people, with that saving sense, with 
 that sense of justice which has inspired 
 us on all occasions — which prompted us 
 after the war with Spain,: which prompt- 
 ed us after the trouble in China — with 
 that sense of justice which animates the 
 American heart, and which prompts the 
 American government, by whatever 
 party it may be administered — we shall 
 do our duty to mankind and to our neigh- 
 bors. (Applause.) 
 
 I say it is a time for such undertak- 
 ings. It is a propitious time for the re- 
 newal of the effort on behalf of the 
 Chesapeake and Delaware canal. See the 
 elements of the problem. Here are two 
 great arms of the sea — two great estu- 
 aries, the Chesapeake and the Delaware. 
 On their shores are several of the great 
 industrial and commercial cities of the 
 country. On their shores touch five great 
 states, full of enormous, inestimable re- 
 sources. Through this canal they will 
 be brought together by an inland water 
 communication which will practically 
 cover nearly one-half of the Atlantic 
 coast. Look at the map, and a single 
 glance tells you of the enormous advan- 
 
16 
 
 tage which would ensue from that con- 
 nection. 
 
 The Canal and National Defense. 
 
 Others at this board speak of its com- 
 mercial value; it is for me to dwell for 
 a single moment upon its great signifi- 
 cance as a means of national defense. 
 The exterior line from Norfolk to Phila- 
 delphia, or to the Atlantic coast oppo- 
 site Philadelphia, stretches from the 
 thirty -seventh to the fortieth degree of 
 latitude. When you add the length of 
 river and of bay that must be traversed, 
 the distance is immeasurably augmented. 
 The construction of this canal would re- 
 duce the water distance between Phila- 
 delphia and Baltimore to about 100 miles. 
 But that does not begin to suggest the 
 enormous value of the project. On that 
 line are found the city of Norfolk, with 
 the Norfolk Navy Yard; Fortress Mon- 
 roe and Newport News behind it; the na- 
 tional capital, itself once invaded by a 
 foreign foe, but with such a construction 
 as this, impossible of invasion by any 
 foe; (applause and cheers) the great city 
 of Baltimore, rightly described as “im- 
 perial;” the coming metropolitan city of 
 Wilmington, (applause) and Philadel- 
 phia, with the League Island Navy Yard. 
 No small part of our naval power would 
 be found at the various points on this 
 line, and with this inland waterway con- 
 structed, it would practically be made 
 available at any point at almost any in- 
 stant. We should have the interior, 
 short, defended, impregnable line; our 
 adversary, whether attempting to block- 
 ade or to attack, would have the outside, 
 open, exposed line. The arc of that circle 
 is enormous; the radius is small and 
 easily commanded, and we could bring 
 together our force at any point of danger 
 within the shortest possible compass of 
 time. So that the advantages are pal- 
 pable and obvious. My friend upon my 
 
 right (ex- Senator Higgins) has said the 
 cost would be about half that of a battle- 
 ship. He is better versed than I. I should 
 have said the cost possibly of two battle- 
 ships would cover the entire expense. 
 Two battleships! And it might well be 
 that in the compass of a single week the 
 advantage of that canal would far out- 
 weigh the cost of two battleships. (Ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 General Wilson: Of twenty? 
 
 Mr. Smith: Yes, of twenty battle- 
 ships. 
 
 Navy, Our Protector. 
 
 Our security in the future depends 
 upon our naval power. Buttressed as we 
 are by two great oceans, we are impreg- 
 nable against military invasion. (Ap- 
 plause.) If we had it, if it were under- 
 taken, we have a great body of American 
 people trained in arms, with rea'dy lead- 
 ers, distinguished soldiers, like my vet- 
 eran friend by my side (General Wilson) 
 who has participated in two wars. We 
 should be ready to meet them, but we are 
 not to meet them there. If that time ever 
 comes, we are to meet them on the water. 
 Our defense must be on the water and at 
 the very coast. For that purpose we are 
 building a great navy and also coast 
 fortifications. The chairman of the 
 Naval Committee of the Senate says 
 that with the additions now projected 
 our navy will be second only to that of 
 Great Britain. The people of the United 
 States, of all parties, sustain and ap- 
 prove the building of that navy. (Ap- 
 plause.) They know that it is our cheap- 
 est and our surest security. They wel- 
 come it, not because they expect war, but 
 as the surest guarantee of peace, though 
 war may come at any time. As we build 
 up that navy we must build up its base. 
 
 We are now the greatest agricultural 
 nation of the world, and long have been. 
 Within these last few years, we have be- 
 
17 
 
 come the greatest Industrial power in the 
 world. We are soon, I believe, Mr. Chair- 
 man, to become the great commercial 
 power of the world. We have outstripped 
 England in the advancement of our in- 
 dustries. Thirty years ago our manufac- 
 turing product was just equal to that of 
 England. To-day it is three times as 
 great. We have outstripped Germany 
 and France. Our manufacturing product 
 is equal to that of all those three great 
 powers of Europe put together. (Ap- 
 plause.) We are to-day making half the 
 iron and steel made in all the world. We 
 are consuming one-third of all the wool 
 used in the world. We are doing two- 
 fifths of all the mining done in the world. 
 We stand to-day immeasurably foremost 
 in industrial power, and as the natural 
 fruit of that, with a wise policy on our 
 part, we shall become the great commer- 
 cial power of the world. (Applause.) 
 
 We have a coast line absolutely un- 
 equalled among the nations, a coast line 
 stretching, with but a little break on the 
 Gulf and another on the Pacific, more 
 than 10,000 miles from Quoddy Head 
 in Maine to Puget Sound on the Pacific 
 coast. (Applause.) There never has 
 been anything like it in the history of 
 the world. In the nature of things there 
 never can be anything like it except in 
 the extension of our own coast line cov- 
 ering the larger part of the North Amer- 
 ican continent. (Applause.) 
 
 Can Afford to Build Canal. 
 
 We have a great mission. Undoubted- 
 ly it costs money to enter upon these 
 projects, but the United States is pre- 
 pared for them. It is accumulating its 
 monetary power with a rapidity which 
 the world has never seen equalled in the 
 past and which is nowhere else seen 
 equalled to-day. Do you realize that in 
 1902 (I pass last year for obvious rea- 
 sons) our earnings in this great country 
 of ours were equal to one-half the entire 
 
 accumulated wealth of this country 
 thirty years ago? Do you realize that 
 our earnings in that single year were 
 equivalent to all that we had earned and 
 saved and stored up and put into all 
 forms of property — into railroads, houses, 
 farms, stores, banks, etc., in the preced- 
 ing eighty years of our existence as a 
 nation? These figures are astounding, 
 but they are the simple truth. They 
 dazzle the imagination, but they tell us 
 of the magnificent greatness, grandeur 
 and growth of our country. 
 
 We can afford the expenditure for the 
 Isthmian canal; we can afford the ex- 
 penditure for the Chesapeake and Dela- 
 ware canal. (Applause.) This nation 
 could well appropriate out of its treas- 
 ury the entire amount needed for its 
 completion, and if that expediture, all 
 told, should far exceed our expectations, 
 it would still not equal in its proportion 
 the expenditures of the early days of our 
 republic. We are sometimes called a bil- 
 lion-dollar government. We are not 
 there yet, and shall not be for some 
 time. I certainly would not advocate 
 profuse or lavish expenditure, but would 
 have every expenditure made with judg- 
 ment, economy and a just regard for 
 practical objects. But if we were to be- 
 come a billion-dollar government with 
 expenditures for such great projects as 
 the Isthmian canal and your canal and 
 other works of like character, we should 
 still expend only one per cent of our na- 
 tional wealth. (Applause.) 
 
 So, Mr. Chairman, I want to see this 
 nation of ours enter upon a development 
 commensurate with the greatness of its 
 mission. We have a mission, a destiny, 
 which calls not for narrow views or pro- 
 vincial undertakings, but for the largest, 
 most statesmanlike vision and for great 
 projects. While we are building up that 
 navy we ought to take care that we have 
 an adequate base, and that it shall be se- 
 cure when the hour of conflict comes. 
 Wherever we can strengthen it with an 
 
18 
 
 inland water bulwark and with water 
 communication, we ought to do it. 
 Search the map, and you will find that 
 there is no place on this continent, with- 
 in the great bounds of our country, 
 where that work of building up an in- 
 terior bulwark can be done with so little 
 cost, with such great results and with 
 such immense strategic value as in the 
 construction of this little waterway of 
 fourteen miles, which would practically 
 give us an inward bulwark from Norfolk 
 to the upper waters of the Delaware. 
 (Applause.) And if you could conceive it 
 carried a little farther by a canal from 
 the Delaware to the Raritan, you would 
 have an inward bulwark behind the great 
 breastwork of the coast, extending from 
 Norfolk to Boston, covering nearly one- 
 half of our Atlantic coast, and by far the 
 most important part in population and 
 in point of industrial and commercial de- 
 velopment. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, a few years ago, it was 
 my fortune to be present at Newport, 
 where were gathered 200 of the pleasure 
 craft of our country, many of them 
 afterward converted into war ships of 
 the smaller size, and some also of the 
 great war ships of the Republic. They 
 had gathered in that almost land-locked 
 harbor. It was the night of a fete as 
 brilliant as any that ever glittered along 
 the palace of the Doges and on the Rialto 
 and the grand canal of Venice. Ten 
 thousand Chinese lanterns made it a 
 fairy scene of beauty. Suddenly, high 
 above the light on ship and on shore, un- 
 der the glittering rays of a brilliant 
 searchlight throwing its line of illumina- 
 tion towards the sky, there appeared, 
 far above the topmost mast of the com- 
 modore’s boat — a boat since made famous 
 as the little Gloucester of the gallant 
 Wainwright, in the great fight at San- 
 tiago — the colors of Old Glory, made 
 more radiant as they gleamed under the 
 rays of the searchlight against the dark 
 blue sky. Immediately a hundred can- 
 
 non and a thousand throats sounded out 
 their greeting and their new tribute to 
 the Stars and Stripes in their new sig- 
 nificance. And so, Mr. Chairman, under 
 the searchlight of these great opportuni- 
 ties which are opening before us, the flag 
 of our country — your flag and mine — 
 seems to me to gain new luster and 
 glory, and it is for us to appreciate and 
 rise to the glory and greatness of its 
 mission and of its destiny. (Loud and 
 prolonged applause.) 
 
 Judge Gray, introducing Alfred O. 
 Crozier, Esq., of Wilmington, said: 
 
 Gentlemen: After the eloquent words 
 of our distinguished guest, I know that 
 you all feel to-night, perhaps as you 
 never felt before, that the time has come 
 to make these great results that he has 
 pictured in his glowing language the 
 achievement of our own day and genera- 
 tion. 
 
 I am sure you will be glad to hear 
 what will be said to you on this great 
 subject by one of our own citizens who 
 came from what was once the far west 
 to make his home among us. Full of the 
 inspiration of that great region, he will 
 speak to you words of appreciation of 
 this golden opportunity that is spread 
 out before not only the people of this 
 region, but of this whole great country. 
 
 I have now the pleasure of introducing 
 to you Mr. Alfred O. Crozier, who will 
 give you a general view of this important 
 subject. (Prolonged applause.) 
 
 “THE DELAWARE SHIP CANAL,” 
 By 
 
 Alfred 0. Crozier, Esq., of Wilmington. 
 
 Mr. Toastmaster: Before taking up 
 my subject, permit me to make an an- 
 nouncement. Two months ago, when the 
 invitation to address you in advocacy of 
 a ship canal across the Delaware Penin- 
 sula, to connect the Delaware River and 
 Chesapeake Bay, followed my suggestion 
 at your November meeting that we 
 
HON. ANTHONY HIGGINS, 
 Delaware. 
 
 HON. CHARGES EMORY SMITH. 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 aO&l 
 
 ALFRED O. CROZIER. ESQ., 
 Chairman Executive Committee. 
 
 THOMAS H. SAVERY, 
 
 Vice Chairman Executive Committee. 
 
19 
 
 should at once organize for the secur- 
 ing of this great project, it was currently 
 reported that the Pennsylvania, Balti- 
 more & Ohio, and Reading Railroads, 
 traversing Delaware, would oppose the 
 construction of this canal, because of its 
 competitive features. It seemed of the 
 highest importance that their attitude be 
 at least ascertained and, if possible, their 
 co-operation secured. Accordingly, I 
 took the liberty of addressing a letter to 
 the president of each of these railroads, 
 setting forth in detail the necessity for 
 the canal, to facilitate the national de- 
 fense and commerce, and holding that it 
 would induce a local industrial develop- 
 ment of much greater importance to the 
 railroads than any freights which might 
 be lost through its competition. In re- 
 ply, President Cassatt invited me to meet 
 him in Philadelphia. At the close of our 
 conference, Mr. Cassatt authorized me to 
 announce to you here to-night that the 
 Pennsylvania Railroad would not oppose 
 this ship canal, but would favor it. (Ap- 
 plause.) We have the best of reasons for 
 believing that the other two lines will 
 also support the project, although final 
 answers have not yet been received from 
 them. A few evenings ago at a public 
 banquet in Baltimore, retiring President 
 Loree, of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, 
 advocated this canal, saying it would 
 make Baltimore a real ocean port, avoid 
 the dangerous trip around the Virginia 
 capes, and save about two hundred miles 
 of the distance to New England ports. 
 
 The correspondence on this subject I 
 now place at your disposal. 
 
 Price of Peace. 
 
 We all devoutly hope that the peace 
 of America may never again be disturb- 
 ed. No one now expects war with any 
 European country. Few doubt its pos- 
 sibility. The unparalleled growth of the 
 United States in wealth, industry, com- 
 merce, power and influence, and the gen- 
 eral prosperity and contentment of our 
 
 people are well calculated to excite the 
 envy of rulers whose simple wish can 
 precipitate hostilities. The Monroe Doc- 
 trine is not yet universally acquiesced in. 
 Is there even one great foreign power 
 which would respect and observe our in- 
 junction, “Hands off the American con- 
 tinent,” if the United States possessed 
 no navy whatever? Some countries yet 
 look with covetous eyes on the fertile 
 resources of South America as tempting 
 territory for exploitation by their sur- 
 plus population, whose allegiance the 
 fatherland does not like to lose perma- 
 nently. 
 
 We are obliged for our own safety to 
 take notice of the fact that every great 
 power is increasing its army and navy. 
 They do not disclose their purpose. If 
 our peace and security rest on force, or 
 the knowledge of our ready power, the 
 measure of our preparation and the sole 
 limit to our expenditures for national de- 
 fense, should be its adequacy for any 
 emergency, whether it be the result of 
 design or of accidental circumstance. 
 (Applause.) Anything more than this is 
 unjustifiable, for the United States will 
 never be the aggressor in unreasonable 
 international strife. 
 
 The price of peace, then, is to be pre- 
 pared for war. (Applause.) Preparation 
 is less expensive than actual hostilities, 
 and more humane. If war should come 
 again, it will be sudden, leaving us little 
 time for preparation, and it will be with 
 a nation possessing an army and navy 
 larger than our own. 
 
 National Defense. 
 
 Washington, our national capital, with 
 its priceless records, and with more than 
 one billion dollars of gold and other 
 money in the Federal Treasury, would be 
 the natural object for early attack. 
 Everything contributing towards its 
 greater security should be unhesitatingly 
 provided as an act of the highest patriot- 
 ism and pride. That city is easily ac- 
 
20 
 
 cessible by way of the Potomac, which 
 flows into that immense inland sea, mid- 
 way of the Atlantic coast, of which Dela- 
 ware and Chesapeake bays form the, two 
 great arms. These bays, with their navi- 
 gable tributaries, have a shore line over 
 two thousand five hundred miles in 
 length, or longer than three times the 
 distance from Maine to Florida, or. from 
 the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, 
 and farther than from Wilmington to 
 San Francisco. It is the natural ren- 
 dezvous for our defensive fleet, by reason 
 of its central location, its nearness to 
 the coal supply, and its numerous navy 
 yards, dry docks and shipyards. (Ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 But this great body of water is divided 
 by a pear-shaped peninsula two hundred 
 miles long suspended therein due south 
 by a narrow neck of land about thirteen 
 miles wide at the north end. Situated on 
 this peninsula is all of Delaware, nine of 
 the counties of Maryland and two coun- 
 ties of Virginia. It is proposed to cut 
 this neck of land with a ship canal about 
 thirteen miles in length, and deep enough 
 for the largest ocean vessels. It should 
 be built by the Federal Government to 
 facilitate the national defense and com- 
 merce, should be without locks, and be 
 open and free to all. 
 
 A battleship at one end of this route 
 must now go over four hundred miles, 
 out on the open ocean, past two danger- 
 ous capes, to get to the other end, only 
 thirteen miles distant. 
 
 If Cape Horn had extended twenty 
 miles farther south, the battleship Ore- 
 gon, on her memorable voyage from the 
 Pacific, would not have arrived in time 
 to participate in the great naval battle 
 of Santiago, which, with the battle of 
 Manila Bay, did more than any other two 
 events of the century to fix the status 
 and influence of the United States in in- 
 ternational affairs, and to insure our fu- 
 ture peace and commercial supremacy. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 This canal will reduce the water dis- 
 tance between Philadelphia and Balti- 
 more from more than four hundred miles 
 to about one hundred, saving thirty 
 hours. Baltimore will then be nearly 
 two hundred miles, or twenty hours 
 nearer by water to New York, New Eng- 
 land and Europe. % 
 
 The terminals of this canal will be well 
 above the forts which guard the en- 
 trances to the harbors, and it will en- 
 able the quick concentration at the point 
 of hostile attack on either bay of all the 
 war ships, torpedo boats and other craft 
 on both bays, reducing the number re- 
 quired for the defense of Washington and 
 the other interests centered about this 
 locality. 
 
 It will aid in protecting the powder 
 supply, the manufacture of which is be- 
 ing largely concentrated in this vicinity. 
 This is important (applause) for without 
 powder, all our armies, battleships and 
 forts would be useless. This was shown 
 during the Civil War, when the supply 
 of saltpetre for making powder became 
 exhausted, reducing the government to 
 desperate straits. It was LaMotte Du- 
 Pont, of Delaware, who came to the res- 
 cue. Going to Europe, he quietly bought 
 all of the available supply of saltpetre in 
 Great Britain, and when this was dis- 
 covered, Parliament attempted to pre- 
 vent its being shipped, until Mr. DuPont, 
 armed with a letter from President Lin- 
 coln, virtually threatening war against 
 England, forced the British Government 
 to yield. (Applause.) 
 
 Official Government Surveys. 
 
 After careful borings and surveys, by 
 authority of an Act of Congress, the gov- 
 ernment engineer reported that the en- 
 tire expense of constructing this ship 
 canal would be but eight million dollars. 
 The Navy Department informs me that 
 it costs $8,452,000 to build and equip 
 one battleship. In his report, March, 
 1883, the War Department engineer said: 
 
21 
 
 “It will be doubted by no one that a 
 deep water connection between the two 
 bays would be of vast importance in the 
 contingency of war witii a maritime na- 
 tion. Such a connection would provide 
 a means of concentrating the floating 
 defenses of #the two bays, and besides 
 this, would render more secure the com- 
 munication between the naval stations 
 of Philadelphia, Norfolk and Washing- 
 ton. 
 
 “Vessels defending a port have two of- 
 fices to perform, the one being to assist 
 in the direct defense, or to prevent cap- 
 ture or occupation by hostile forces, the 
 other being ’the prevention or breaking 
 up of blockades.’ Without the canal, a 
 blockade of the capes of the Delaware 
 would close the outward commerce of 
 Baltimore and the other ports of the 
 Chesapeake. With the canal built where 
 communication would be secure, neither 
 the ports of Philadelphia nor of Balti- 
 more could be closed unless an effectual 
 blockade were established both at the 
 Delaware and Virginia capes. 
 
 “The disadvantage to the attacking 
 party is obvious, while the defending 
 vessels could concentrate at either out- 
 let, and breaking the blockade at one 
 point would open both ports and render 
 the blockade useless at the other outlet. 
 It may be admitted that if a war with 
 one of the great naval powers should 
 arise, and the mere appropriation of the 
 money could provide such a channel of 
 communication between the bays, the 
 amount would be at once provided with- 
 out hesitation. That would, however, be 
 too late.” This is high, expert opinion. 
 
 Under the Act of Congress, August, 
 1894, President Cleveland appointed a 
 board of distinguished men, of which Ad- 
 miral Dewey was a member, to deter- 
 mine “the most feasible route for the 
 construction of the Chesapeake and Del- 
 aware canal.” This board reported to 
 
 the Secretary of War on December 8, 
 1894, as follows: 
 
 “After examination of the surveys 
 heretofore made under the direction of 
 the War Department, this board deter- 
 mines the most feasible route for the 
 construction of the Chesapeake and Del- 
 aware canal to be the Back creek route, 
 which is substantially located upon the 
 line of the existing Chesapeake and Dela- 
 ware canal. 
 
 “In the judgment of the board, this 
 route will be the best adapted for na- 
 tional defense and will give the greatest 
 facility to commerce.” 
 
 Every session of Congress appropriates 
 money for objects less meritorious, un- 
 recommended by such high authority. 
 Why has this vital project been so long 
 delayed ? 
 
 Delaware is particularly interested in 
 the improvement of the means of na- 
 tional defense in this locality, for more 
 than three -fourths of all the homes in 
 the state are within the range of the 
 guns of any hostile fleet which might 
 pass the forts below. (Applause.) 
 
 One Hundredth Anniversary. 
 
 The Wilmington Board of Trade ar- 
 ranged this occasion to begin the sys- 
 tematic organization of a movement to 
 have the Federal Government convert the 
 present shallow Chesapeake and Dela- 
 ware canal into a ship canal adequate for 
 all purposes. This we expect to accom- 
 plish through the active co-operation of 
 the five great states lying on the Dela- 
 ware and the Chesapeake. We had no 
 thought of the interesting fact which I 
 discovered a few days ago in a book over 
 eighty years old, by Joshua Gilpin, that 
 we can to-night properly celebrate the 
 one hundredth anniversary of the actual 
 beginning of the work of digging a canal 
 across Delaware on substantially the 
 present route — in 1804, just a century 
 
22 
 
 ago. (Applause.) This was done by 
 leading citizens of Pennsylvania, Mary- 
 land and Delaware, each subscribing con- 
 siderable money for the purpose. 
 
 The United States then had but 5,308,- 
 483 population, of which 40 per cent, 2,- 
 113,628, were in the five states on these 
 waters. If Benjamin Franklin, and other 
 far-seeing men, thought the small popu- 
 lation, nominal industrial development 
 and light draft boat commerce of the 
 time justified a canal across the penin- 
 sult then, what shall we say of its neces- 
 sity now? 
 
 Since the discovery of the Gilpin book, 
 a prominent member of the board has 
 placed in my hands an old history of Ce- 
 cil county, Maryland, in which county is 
 the western terminal of the canal. In 
 this history I find that this canal was ac- 
 tually projected in 1680, 224 years ago. 
 Since this discovery, I learn that there is 
 a place near the head of Chesapeake bay 
 called Mount Ararat, and I feel sure that 
 if I were to search the Old Testament 
 Scriptures, we might find that Noah was 
 the original projector of a canal across 
 the peninsula, that he might get the ark 
 through into the Delaware river and pas- 
 ture his animals on the fertile plains of 
 Southern New Jersey. (Laughter and 
 applause.) 
 
 The Legislature of Maryland, in 1812, 
 when war with England was threatened, 
 passed an act containing the following: 
 
 “Whereas, During the time of war 
 against the United States of America, 
 completion of the work of the Chesa- 
 peake and Delaware canal would be bene- 
 ficial to the United States, by forming 
 the great link of an inland navigation of 
 six or seven hundred miles, and thereby 
 establish a perfectly safe, easy and rapid 
 transportaion of our armies and the mu- 
 nitions of war through the interior of 
 the country, and which would ever tend 
 
 to operate as a cement to the union be- 
 tween the states; and, 
 
 “Whereas, The prosperity and agri- 
 cultural interest of the State of Mary- 
 land, the commonwealth of Pennsyl- 
 vania, and the Delaware State, are more 
 deeply interested than their sister states 
 in the useful work of opening a com- 
 munication between the Chesapeake bay 
 and the river Delaware, by means of said 
 Chesapeake and Delaware canal; there- 
 fore,” etc. 
 
 The Canal and Commerce. 
 
 Bordering on these two waterways are 
 Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, 
 Virginia, Delaware and the District of 
 Columbia. These now contain a popula- 
 tion of 12,000,000, or about one-sixth that 
 of the United States. Their land area, 
 108,810 square miles, is nearly equal to 
 that of England, Ireland, Scotland and 
 Wales combined, which have 111,535 
 square miles. These states grouped 
 about Delaware have enormous resources 
 and activities. According to the United 
 States census of 1900, they have 89,864 
 manufacturing establishments, with $2,- 
 405,153,532 capital, employing 1,203,339 
 wage earners, who annually receive $527,- 
 258,921 in wages, turning out products 
 valued at $2,914,420,945, and using raw 
 materials worth $1,668,652,051. Their 
 farm property is worth $1,821,557,247, 
 and their mines, city property and rail- 
 ways, many times more. The western 
 group of eleven states and territories, 
 with ten times the area, has but one- 
 third as much population and manufac- 
 tories, one-sixth the capital and em- 
 ployes, one-fifth the wages and one- 
 fourth the products. 
 
 The route of this ship canal will be 
 near the center of this eastern group of 
 states, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, to 
 the north, having 53,030 square miles; 
 and Maryland, Virginia and the District 
 of Columbia, to the south, 54,730 square 
 
miles. Delaware, in the middle, is where 
 it is proposed to dig the canal and estab- 
 lish a runway of trade, and thus cut 
 away the dividing barrier which now ob- 
 structs the free play of commerce be- 
 tween these sections, bringing all places 
 on the 2,500 miles of shore line into 
 quick and easy communication with each 
 other, each of which will be within less 
 than two hundred miles of the canal, 
 which distance will also include most of 
 the vast wealth and population of these 
 states. (Applause.) This territory is 
 also the natural outlet for still greater 
 areas and more numerous industries and 
 activities lying to the westward. 
 
 Canals of the World. 
 
 Of the 24,700 miles of canals in the 
 world, Europe has 13,591; India, 2,240; 
 China, 5,270; Canada, 535, and the United 
 States, 3,064 miles. Those of France, 
 Belgium and Germany connect the great 
 sources of supply and production with 
 the chief consuming centers or with tide 
 water, and they are being constantly ex- 
 tended and enlarged. In Russia, a canal 
 boat can now go from the Caspian Sea i>o 
 St. Petersburg and Archangel, 2,500 
 miles; and a ship canal thirty feet deep 
 and one thousand miles long is being 
 planned to connect the Baltic and Black 
 seas, for national defense and commerce. 
 On Russian canals, 60,000 canal boats are 
 employed. 
 
 The Manchester ship canal, in England, 
 to which the distinguished gentleman 
 from Pennsylvania has referred, is twen- 
 ty-six feet deep and thirty-five miles 
 long, and it cost $75,000,000. It has 
 made that city one of the greatest manu- 
 facturing and distributing centers in the 
 world, converting the declining inland 
 town of ten years ago into an ocean port 
 of unexcelled prosperity, with direct boat 
 lines regularly touching 168 of the lead- 
 ing ports of the world. It was opened 
 
 on January 1, 1894, and in the interven- 
 ing ten years it has saved the district 
 tributary thereto more than $40,000,000 
 in freight charges. One wholesale firm 
 announced that it received back during 
 the first eight months the entire $100,000 
 it subscribed, by saving in freights alone. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 The Panama canal, (applause) soon to 
 be built by the United States at a cost 
 of about $200,000,000, to facilitate com- 
 merce and the national defense, will give 
 to all deep Atlantic ports the timber and 
 other raw products of the Pacific coast, 
 and enable the shipment of our manufac- 
 tured goods to China, a distance of 10,000 
 miles, for a lower freight charge than is 
 now made by rail from Wilmington to 
 Chicago. 
 
 The Suez canal traffic, in 1898, was 
 
 8.000. 000 tons, while that of St. Mary’s 
 Lake Superior ship canal was more than 
 
 21.000. 000 tons. 
 
 The “Soo,” Welland and St. Lawrence 
 canals give Canada a water route from 
 the Great Lakes to the ocean, which is 
 already diverting an enormous tonnage. 
 
 New York State Canals. 
 
 During the past eighty years, the State 
 of New York has constructed 638 miles 
 of canals, at a cost of $71,386,092, and 
 her people have recently voted actually 
 to bond themselves for the enormous sum 
 of $100,000,000 to deepen and improve 
 them. The effect of their canals is re- 
 vealed in the immense growth of such 
 cities as Buffalo, Tonawanda, Lockport, 
 Rochester, Syracuse, Rome, Utica, Schen- 
 ectady, Troy, Albany and New York. 
 According to the report of the board ap- 
 pointed by President Roosevelt, when 
 Governor of New York, which recom- 
 mended this improvement, 80 per cent of 
 the assessable property of the State, and 
 90 per cent of the population, are in 
 canal counties. Wherever canals have 
 
24 
 
 been abandoned, towns and industries 
 have declined; wherever canals have been 
 built, they thrive and prosper. This is 
 the history of 80 years. (Applause.) 
 
 Supremacy of New York. 
 
 Why has the city of New York become 
 the metropolis of America, the principal 
 outlet for our exports, and the commer- 
 cial and financial clearing house of the 
 United States? In 1820, the population 
 was: Baltimore, 96,201; Philadelphia, 
 
 135,637; New York, 137,016; in 1900, 
 Baltimore, 508,957; Philadelphia, 1,293,- 
 697; New York, 3,438,202. The people of 
 Baltimore and Philadelphia say they are 
 as enterprising as those of New York. 
 New York is much farther from the cen- 
 ter of population, and from the average 
 sources of grain and other export pro- 
 ducts, than Philadelphia or Baltimore, 
 lrom which cities it costs no more to ex 
 port to foreign ports, and less to bring 
 the products from the interior. Why, 
 then, with superior geographical position, 
 have they been so badly distanced by 
 New York in the great struggle for in- 
 dustrial, civic, financial and commercial 
 supremacy? Was not the initial, con- 
 tinuous, and largely controlling factor, 
 in favor of New York, her superior har- 
 bor and adjacent navigable waters? If 
 she has better steamship lines, reaching 
 more foreign markets, it is because of 
 her perfect harbor. If she has more rail- 
 roads and trunk line terminals, they had 
 to go there, at greater expense, to con- 
 nect with the boats attracted there by 
 her superior harbor, so as to participate 
 in the fruits of export and import com- 
 merce and foreign immigration. If in- 
 dustries have crowded about her, it was 
 to obtain the extra facilities developed 
 by reason of her maritime excellence. If 
 she has become the great populous center 
 of the continent, her fine harbor has 
 made that city the landing place of mil- 
 
 lions of people who left their native 
 countries to seek permanent homes in 
 the land of liberty and opportunity. If 
 she has become the enriched financial 
 power of America, her natural facilities 
 have given her the advantage of the 
 hunter stationed on the runway. (Ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 The rapid absorption by New York of 
 an undue proportion of commerce, at the 
 expense of Philadelphia and Baltimore, 
 will go on until the harbors and water- 
 ways of these two cities are deepened 
 and placed upon a par with those of New 
 York. (Applause.) Then the shorter 
 distance to the western supply, the more 
 favorable weather and climatic condi- 
 tions, the lower expense for terminals 
 and manufacturing sites, the less con- 
 gestion of traffic, and the nearer supply 
 of coal, iron, cotton and timber from the 
 South, may stem the tide and ultimately 
 induce a commercial and industrial de- 
 velopment of enormous proportions on 
 the banks of the Delaware river and 
 Chesapeake bay. This will not be until 
 these waters have a depth to insure safe 
 transit to the largest vessels afloat, when 
 it will be possible to establish direct boat 
 lines to all leading foreign ports, and to 
 those of the Gulf and Pacific coast, to 
 promote the exchange of products at 
 moderate charges. 
 
 Wilmington. 
 
 Wilmington has everything to gain 
 and nothing to lose by these improve- 
 ments. With the Delaware ship canal 
 completed, boat lines between Philadel- 
 phia and Baltimore will stop once at 
 each of those places and twice at Wil- 
 mington. Trans-Atlantic boats of both 
 those cities should then touch here, giv- 
 ing us the best possible transportation 
 abroad. There is every reason for believ- 
 ing that Wilmington is to become a great 
 industrial center. Already her industries 
 are large, diversified and numerous. She 
 
25 
 
 has unsurpassed natural advantages, and 
 her enterprising people are becoming con- 
 scious of their opportunity, and deter- 
 mined, by loyal co-operation, to make 
 the most thereof for the good of the town. 
 (Applause.) But to avail herself of these 
 great possibilities, Wilmington must go 
 to the Delaware for its water front. 
 (Applause.) The largest ocean boats will 
 not come into the Christiana. This city 
 should at once acquire and hold forever 
 the land lying along the Delaware within 
 its limits, or as much thereof as possible, 
 as New York city did in an early day. 
 Much of it can now be secured by gift, 
 or at a comparatively low cost. It is the 
 only certain way to insure our industries 
 permanent access to deep water boats, 
 and it will play an important part in in- 
 ducing the location here of enterprises 
 for all time to come. (Applause.) If 
 this be neglected until some railroad or 
 other interest monopolizes this frontage, 
 we shall witness the location of many 
 new industries, and some old •ones, on 
 the river far beyond the limits of Wil- 
 mington, where they w ill be of much less 
 benefit to the city. 
 
 Securing New Enterprises. 
 
 Delaware, we believe, is the only state 
 in which personal property is entirely ex- 
 empt from taxation. Her corporation 
 franchise taxes meet all of the expenses 
 of the state, and the tax on real estate 
 and licenses, all local requirements. This 
 should be a powerful inducement for in- 
 dustries to locate in Delaware. But no 
 factor is as potent in obtaining new en- 
 terprises as water transportation. To 
 this fact is due the growth and pros- 
 perity of the great cities of the country, 
 nearly all of which are upon navigable 
 waters. (Applause.) Would Philadel- 
 phia, Wilmington or Baltimore be the 
 great cities they are to-day if situated 
 inland, even a few miles? It would be 
 
 interesting to know what would remain 
 of industrial Wilmington if she should 
 lose every enterprise which has come, 
 or grown up, here because the city is on 
 navigable water. The water is the de- 
 termining factor in the location, even if 
 the industry thereafter uses the railroads 
 exclusively. 
 
 If the local railroads are the chief bene- 
 ficiaries of the business of enterprises lo- 
 cating along their rails because of the 
 presence of water transportation, we 
 may reasonably expect their co-operation 
 in improving the waterways, that more 
 industries may be attracted thereby. Cer- 
 tainly so, if it is also the means of bring- 
 ing this way increasing volumes of export 
 and import commerce for them to trans- 
 port to and from the interior, keeping the 
 same from being diverted to other 
 ports, over other railroads or water 
 routes. The great struggle for this im- 
 mense interior business is now on. The 
 Canadian, New York, New Orleans, and 
 other routes are doing everything to at- 
 tract and control this rich stream of an- 
 nual commerce. They are enlarging their 
 terminals, establishing boat lines, and 
 improving their harbors. If our local 
 railroads make New York their transfer 
 point, they must stand greater terminal 
 expenses and delays, and divide the busi- 
 ness with other lines. Here, they would 
 get it all, and the long haul to and from 
 the West. 
 
 Delaware’s Future. 
 
 What is to be the destiny of Delaware ? 
 Here she is centrally located, in the very 
 lap of luxury, with an ideal climate, 
 neither extremely hot or cold, the para- 
 dise of the toiler, the cost of living low, 
 and no severe storms to impede industry. 
 (Applause.) The state is on a line with 
 Cincinnati, St. Louis, Denver and San 
 Francisco to the westward, and the 
 Mediterranean sea to the eastward. One- 
 
26 
 
 half of Delaware lies farther south than 
 Washington. Its soil is fertile and cap- 
 able of yielding many times its present 
 production. 
 
 The problem of industry and agricult- 
 ure is largely one of markets and trans- 
 portation. Railroad rates are all based 
 on mileage. An average haul from Wil- 
 mington of less than three hundred miles 
 will reach more than one-half the people 
 of the United States. From the geo- 
 graphical center of the country, the aver- 
 age would be more than one thousand 
 miles. 
 
 Across the Atlantic, populations larger 
 than that of the entire United States 
 are at our very doors, for they can be 
 reached at less expense than the freight 
 charge by rail from Wilmington to Pitts- 
 burg. (Applause.) In fact, some arti- 
 cles can be shipped four thousand miles 
 by water to Hamburg, Germany, for 
 about the freight charge made by rail 
 thirty miles, from Wilmington to Phila- 
 delphia. The Atlantic ports of North 
 America, and the 60,000,000 people of 
 South America, are also within our easy 
 reach, as will be the ports of the Pacific, 
 on completion of the Panama canal. 
 
 It is impossible for the railroads to 
 make their rates as low as those by wa- 
 ter, because of the greater cost of con- 
 struction, maintenance, operation and 
 terminals. The average freight charge 
 per ton per mile on all of the two hun- 
 dred thousand miles of railroads in this 
 country is ten times as much as the av- 
 erage charge per ton per mile by water — 
 a significant fact, to be used with great 
 power in inducing industries to locate 
 here on tide water. (Applause.) Never- 
 theless, the great railroad systems tra- 
 versing our state will be important fac- 
 tors in our industrial growth, connecting 
 us with the markets and raw products of 
 the interior. 
 
 This industrial development will create 
 
 new markets and better demand and 
 prices for the products of rural Dela- 
 ware. The improved facilities will re- 
 duce the relative expense of production 
 and marketing, and justify doubling the 
 output, which would only glut the local 
 market and lower prices, if this new de- 
 mand is not so created and maintained. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 Honor and Glory of Delaware. 
 
 The people of Delaware are unitedly in 
 favor of the Assawaman, Christiana, 
 Delaware, and every other waterway im- 
 provement which will benefit any part of 
 the state, for each will contribute to- 
 wards our general prosperity. (Ap- 
 plause.) Linked together, then, as we 
 all are, by ties of personal interest, state 
 and city pride, the industrial welfare of 
 this section, and greater security for our 
 country’s capital, let us join for the ac- 
 complishment of everything which will 
 promote the honor and glory of Dela- 
 ware. (Applause.) This unselfish co- 
 operation for the benefit of all will be an 
 inspiration ultimately leading to the bet- 
 terment of social and moral conditions, 
 uplifting Delaware in the eyes of other 
 states, and opening the way for the in- 
 evitable drift of commerce and industry 
 to our hospitable shores. The kindling of 
 great ambitions and hopes in the breast 
 of Delaware will excite admiration, and 
 not envy, in the hearts of her big sister 
 states gathered about us; for the frui- 
 tion of these hopes must contribute in 
 equal measure to their own growth and 
 prosperity. We must pull together for 
 each and for all. (Applause.) 
 
 We are in a vineyard of natural ad- 
 vantages which nature has twined about 
 us, loaded with the fruit of unlimited 
 possibilities. We have but to cultivate, 
 pluck and eat. If we are sober under the 
 stimulus of prosperity, and do not un- 
 duly inflate the prices of property needed 
 
27 
 
 for industry and homes, nothing can 
 stop the growth which will alike benefit 
 the farmer, the artisan, the manufact- 
 urer, the merchant, the professional man, 
 the property holder and the capitalist. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 Industrialize Delaware. 
 
 Then why not industrialize all of Dela- 
 ware? The construction of this ship 
 canal by the national government will 
 attract the attention of the entire indus- 
 trial world to the enormous advantages 
 of this locality. It will surely be follow- 
 ed by the conversion of the present canal 
 connecting Delaware river and New York 
 harbor into a ship canal for the passage 
 of our defensive fleets, giving us easy 
 access to the markets of that great city, 
 and enabling the delivery on our own 
 docks of iron ore from the mines of Lake 
 Superior, by way of the improved Erie 
 canal, without a single transfer, at a 
 transportation charge permitting us to 
 outrival Pittsburg in the cost of produc- 
 ing iron and steel, which we can then de- 
 liver at our seaport cities, and foreign 
 countries, for less than Pittsburg must 
 pay to get her products to the coast. (Ap- 
 plause.) We have the necessary coal and 
 limestone, and this will also bring us 
 many other industries using iron and 
 steel. 
 
 Surely, there is a great future for in- 
 dustrial, agricultural and municipal Dela- 
 ware. (Applause.) With a hundred 
 miles of deep water dock frontage, past 
 which will sweep rich streams of annual 
 commerce from the interior to all parts 
 of the world, with returning vessels laden 
 with raw materials for industries which 
 can here find the best facilities for pro- 
 duction and shipment, who can safely 
 predict the limit of the future develop- 
 ment of our state? 
 
 Considering Delaware and Chesapeake 
 bays as one great harbor with two en- 
 
 trances, as it will be when this ship 
 canal is built, we have here the substan- 
 tial counterpart of New York harbor, 
 only on a more enormous scale. Dela- 
 ware, like New York city, will then be 
 upon an island, with enlivening commerce 
 on all sides. (Applause.) 
 
 There is, then, every reasonable hope 
 that the day will come when the advan- 
 tage of superior location, climate, and 
 other natural causes, reinforced by wise 
 and aggressive action on our part, will 
 be the means of building about the in- 
 viting shores of this unexcelled harbor, 
 the greatest industrial center on the 
 American continent. (Prolonged ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 Judge Gray, introducing Mr. Blanch- 
 ard Randall, of Baltimore, said: 
 
 “Gentlemen: We in Delaware are al- 
 ways glad to hear from the great city of 
 Baltimore, with whose people we have 
 many bonds of sympathy and many sub- 
 jects of common interest. You will now 
 have tne pleasure of hearing the last reg- 
 ular toast of the evening, which treats 
 of the canal as a commercial necessity, 
 by the Honorable Blanchard Randall, of 
 Baltimore, President of the National 
 Board of Trade.” (Prolonged applause.) 
 
 “A COMMERCIAL NECESSITY,” 
 
 By 
 
 Blanchard Randall, Esq., of Baltimore, 
 
 President National Board of Trade. 
 
 Mr. Toastmaster and Gentlemen of the 
 Board of Trade of Wilmington: I have 
 been carried along by the enthusiasm of 
 the occasion, and now feel that the whole 
 case has been proved. I come from Bal- 
 timore to say simply that we are and 
 always have been with you. (Applause.) 
 There is an impression abroad that Bal- 
 timore is not in favor of this canal. It 
 is a mistake. I know, and can say that 
 from the very best authority. For the 
 
28 
 
 last ten years I have been, perhaps, more 
 deeply interested in this question of 
 waterways than any other citizen in Bal- 
 timore. 
 
 I want to tell you another interesting 
 thing in this connection, referred to by 
 the last speaker, (Mr. Crozier) which is 
 that the first waterway projected be- 
 tween Delaware and Maryland was pro- 
 posed by a Marylander. (Laughter.) 
 Augustine Hermann, Lord Baltimore’s 
 surveyor, who lived down here in Cecil 
 county, was the first who thought of a 
 canal. It was in 1670 that he surveyed 
 the whole district, and at this day his 
 map of it is in London, in a good state 
 of preservation. One hundred years 
 later this scheme was thoroughly ex- 
 ploited by Thomas Gilpin and other 
 Philadelphians, and their work has been 
 preserved in a volume entitled “A Mem- 
 oir of the Rise, Progress and Present 
 State of the Chesapeake and Delaware 
 Canal,” edited by Joshua Gilpin, the son 
 of Thomas Gilpin. The book was pub- 
 lished here in Wilmington early in the 
 19th century. However, the canal was 
 not actually begun till 1824, and it was 
 finished some years later. 
 
 One special idea which seems pre- 
 dominant, emphasized by our distin- 
 guished friend from the late cabinet, 
 (Mr. Smith) is that preparedness is what 
 we want. My friend, the late lamented 
 Mr. Hollis, Secretary of the Hague Con- 
 ference, told me that the whole cost to 
 the United States of that conference just 
 about equalled the cost of one day’s 
 practice with great guns on the Cruiser 
 Chicago. (Laughter and applause.) I 
 think, gentlemen, that is a fact for us to 
 think over. The cost of this canal bears 
 about the same proportion to its value. 
 It is trifling in comparison with its ad- 
 vantages to commerce and for the de- 
 fense of the country. 
 
 Baltimore for the Canal. 
 
 I think the whole question has been 
 thoroughly discussed. The arguments 
 adduced in favor of the canal are unan- 
 swerable. I can add nothing to them. 
 Prom the standpoint of commercial ne- 
 cessity, however, I may say that we in 
 Baltimore join you with the greatest en 
 thusiasm in the advocacy of this pro 
 ject, and in our willingness to co-operate 
 with you. We wish the Government to 
 take hold of this project. We wish you 
 to take hold of it and help them and 
 help us. 
 
 We feel that the cause of national de- 
 fense is the prime reason, as I have said, 
 although commercial advantages are no 
 doubt sufficient to present the project in 
 a favorable light to our national legis- 
 lature. 
 
 We, in Maryland, are already engaged 
 in the very project you have in hand. 
 We are deepening the canal on the other 
 side. We are this day digging a ditch in 
 the Chesapeake, which is to be 35 feet 
 deep from our canal to the sea. We are 
 getting ready for you, gentlemen, and we 
 will join you as soon as you are ready to 
 connect with us. 
 
 8,ooo Vessels on Chesapeake. 
 
 Do not forget that we shall bring to 
 this canal one of the greatest fleets that 
 can be congregated in any part of the 
 world. Eight thousand vessels are reg- 
 istered in the State of Maryland as be- 
 longing to the Chesapeake bay. The ton- 
 nage of tnese 8,000 vessels compares 
 very favorably with that of some of our 
 great trans-Atlantic lines. When you 
 consider that the Chesapeake bay, with 
 500 rivers and creeks forming part of its 
 geography, equals in coast line the At- 
 lantic seaboard from Florida to Maine, 
 you will see that we bring here to you 
 and to this proposition, a factor of su- 
 preme importance. 
 
29 
 
 Whether our business will drift to you 
 through the canal, or the business from 
 your city down to us, is a question to be 
 decided by enterprise and commercial su- 
 periority. 
 
 Gentlemen, the people of Baltimore, if 
 L may be so proud as to represent them, 
 send you greeting, and wish you, in the 
 name of the commercial interests of our 
 
 city, God speed in your enterprise. (Pro- 
 longed applause.) 
 
 Judge Gray, introducing Congressman 
 John F. Lacey, of Iowa, said: 
 
 Gentlemen : What do you suppose 
 
 Augustine Hermann, that great and ad- 
 venturous colonizer of those early days — 
 more than 225 years ago— knowing as he 
 did that the natural thing to do was to 
 connect the two bays by an artificial 
 channel, would have thought when he 
 viewed this narrow neck of land, then 
 covered by forests and traversed by In- 
 dians, if he had been told that more than 
 two centuries and a quarter would elapse 
 before the project would be completed? 
 It seems to me that we are here to-day 
 to vindicate our own intelligence and sa- 
 gacity by urging with all the energy that 
 we possess the consummation of this 
 great undertaking. 
 
 If there is one thing more than an- 
 other that has impressed my mind, and 
 doubtless yours also, it is that this is not 
 an undertaking interesting only to the 
 communities living on the shores of these 
 great bays and to the adjacent states, 
 but that it is a work of national interest 
 and concern. It affects the defense of 
 our country, the safety of our people and 
 our strength in the future. As an evi 
 dence of this w r e have here a national 
 statesman whose home is more than 
 twelve hundred miles away, and who is 
 well and worthily representing a portion 
 of the great State of Iowa in the halls of 
 Congress — I mean the Honorable John 
 F. Lacey, who is here as our guest. (Ap- 
 plause.) Although he has not been an- 
 
 nounced, I am very glad to take the lib- 
 erty of calling upon him to say some- 
 thing upon the national aspect of this 
 great project. (Prolonged applause.) 
 
 REMARKS OF REPRESENTATIVE 
 JOHN F. LACEY, OF IOWA. 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: I live 
 in and have the honor to represent a con- 
 gressional district about the size of Del- 
 aware, that does not have a yard of 
 navigable water in it. (Laughter.) It is 
 covered with the richest soil on the face 
 of the earth, and, in fact, if it were pro- 
 posed to dig a canal through that district 
 as wide and as deep as the one proposed 
 by you, the people would hesitate about 
 spoiling so much good land. (Laughter.) 
 At a banquet a few years ago in the lit- 
 tle city of Pella, a gentleman was called 
 upon to give a toast to the town. He 
 said, “Here’s to Pella; she spoils a good 
 farm.” (Laughter.) 
 
 Gentlemen, you must remember that 
 the edge of anything is only valuable 
 when it is the edge. What makes Balti- 
 more, Philadelphia, New York, and Wil- 
 mington important is the fact that they 
 are upon the edge of the great West. 
 (Laughter.) Two hundred years ago my 
 paternal ancestor settled at Indian Creek, 
 down in the lower corner, the jumping- 
 off place in Delaware, and I have always 
 felt an interest in Delaware ever since I 
 have heard its name. Now, this enter- 
 prise that you are interested in is val- 
 uable because of the great country in the 
 rear which has, through these channels, 
 an opening to the outside world, and here 
 you will stand and take toll as our pro- 
 ducts come and go. Down at Norfolk 
 they are planning for a great exposition 
 to commemorate the settlement of 
 Jamestown, which was the greatest event 
 that has occurred since the birth of our 
 Savior. There it was that the first com- 
 monwealth was founded. There it was 
 that the germ was planted from 
 which has grown this wonderful combi- 
 nation of commonwealths known as the 
 
30 
 
 American Republic. (Applause.) That 
 is the great historic center of America. 
 Wilmington is the explosive center — 
 (Laughter), and I have been told, and 
 I thought, till I heard Mr. Charles Em- 
 ory’s speech to-night, that solemn, old 
 Philadelphia is the center of gravity. 
 (Laughter.) I shall take that back, it is 
 the center of wit, of humor and of logic 
 as well. (Applause.) The center of ag- 
 riculture of this country is Iowa. 
 (Laughter.) That is no laughing matter 
 either. (Renewed laughter.) 
 
 I remember, Mr. ex-Postmaster Gen- 
 eral, that when you had an exposition in 
 Philadelphia in 1876, Iowa was called 
 upon to make an exhibit there, and the 
 best exhibit we made in that city was a 
 collection of thirty or forty glass jars, 
 higher than I could reach and about a 
 foot in diameter, each filled with a sec- 
 tion of Iowa soil, just as it came; so the 
 people of this country could look on it 
 and see what soil is like that needs no 
 fertilizer. That same exhibit was taken 
 to the Chicago Exposition and set up 
 there. There was nothing better that we 
 could send, although we did send many 
 other good things. One day a careless 
 fellow was wheeling a truck around those 
 glass jars. He struck one of them, broke 
 it and scattered the precious soil around 
 for ten or fifteen feet. After a few min- 
 utes a New England gentleman came by 
 with his daughter. She held up her 
 skirts and started to walk through that 
 dirt, but the old gentleman said, “Mary, 
 Mary, don’t step in that; that is Iowa 
 soil; it will make your feet grow.’ 
 (Long continued laughter.) 
 
 I am reminded to-night that we often 
 gain by looking backward. The first in- 
 vention of steam traction was what is 
 now known as the automobile, then 
 called a road engine. That preceded the 
 railroad, and Leitch Ritchie, in one of 
 his books, learnedly discussed the prob- 
 lem as to whether a railroad that was 
 then being projected from Havre to Paris 
 
 was practicable. He said that it was not. 
 It might, he said, be used on level ground, 
 but what if you struck a grade? Then 
 you would need cogs on the wheels so 
 they would not slip. He decided that the 
 railroad was not a good means of traffic, 
 but that the road engine was. Sixty 
 years have passed by, and the road en- 
 gine, now known as the automobile, has 
 come to stay. The velocipede was inven- 
 ted, tried and used for many years, then 
 discarded. Someone invented the im- 
 proved rubber tire, and now the veloci- 
 pede, known as the bicycle, is seen every 
 day upon our streets. It is a common 
 vehicle. 
 
 Canals to Supplement Railways. 
 
 We have covered the land with rail- 
 roads, and we are supplementing them 
 with canals, to be used not as the rivals 
 of railroads, but to strengthen them and 
 build up their business. Many of you, 
 no doubt, have looked through the great 
 telescopes at our universities, and seen 
 what astronomers tell us are canals upon 
 Mars. Mars is probably older than the 
 earth, and they have their canals com- 
 pleted. (Laughter.) We are going back 
 once more to canals. The canal at Suez 
 to-day is a revival of one built many 
 ages ago, which had been filled up with 
 sand. Renewed in our day it has become 
 a highway for the nations, revolutioniz- 
 ing the whole East and bringing it to 
 the doors of Europe. 
 
 I suppose your idea in inviting some of 
 us gentlemen here to-night was very 
 similar to that which our wives recognize 
 as one of the principles of good policy, 
 and that is when they introduce a bill 
 from their committee on appropriations, 
 they call it up immediately after dinner, 
 in order to secure its passage. I know 
 that my wife selects that occasion as the 
 most fitting one, and you gentlemen have 
 shown your wisdom by inviting a num- 
 ber of us here to listen to the eloquent 
 addresses we have heard to-night, and 
 
31 
 
 with all the good, sound logic, history, 
 with and humor, preparing us for voting 
 to grant your appropriation. 
 
 As I told you, my state has no inter- 
 est in a river and harbor bill, and yet I 
 never voted against one, because I recog- 
 nize the fact that these harbors, rivers, 
 canals, light houses and various other 
 improvements upon our coasts are simply 
 the means of conveying our excess pro- 
 ducts out of the country. They are the 
 outposts of that great center, the Mis- 
 sissippi Valley, which is in the future to 
 dominate this country. I speak not in a 
 political but a commercial sense. There 
 is the center; and when Thomas H. Ben- 
 ton, in the Senate, turned his face to the 
 West and pointed, saying, “There is the 
 East; there lies India,” he spoke in pro- 
 phetic tones. Upon the pedestal of his 
 statue, which stands near the grounds of 
 the great Exposition, which you will all 
 visit in the West this year, is inscribed 
 that immortal sentence. 
 
 But gentlemen, I will not detain you 
 longer at this late hour. Some of these 
 other men will tell you how they will 
 vote. I tell you how I feel, and you will 
 have to infer how I will vote. ( Ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 Judge Gray, introducing Representa- 
 tive John Lamb, of the Third Congress- 
 ional District of Virginia, said: 
 
 Gentlemen: We are all very much ob- 
 liged to Mr. Lacey, not only as a descen- 
 dant from a Delaware family, but as a 
 Representative in Congress, for what he 
 has said in encouragement of our enter- 
 prise. 
 
 There are other gentlemen here from 
 whom we would be very glad to hear, and 
 among them is Mr. Lamb, of Virginia. 
 (Prolonged applause.) 
 
 REMARKS OF REPRESENTATIVE 
 LAMB, OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: I am 
 grateful for the kind invitation that 
 makes me one of your number upon an 
 
 occasion so interesting and so inspiring. 
 I represent a district in the Common- 
 wealth of Virginia, not dissimilar to the 
 one represented by my friend and col- 
 league from this state; and there is a 
 striking resemblance between the capital 
 of the State of Virginia and your own 
 Wilmington. They have about the same 
 population — I think about 10,000 differ- 
 ence. Wilmington is a manufacturing 
 center, and so is Richmond. It may be 
 interesting to the people of Wilmington 
 to know that the city of Richmond has, 
 in the last thirty years, increased in 
 population from 36,000 to nearly 90,000 
 inhabitants — (Applause); that one man- 
 ufacturing establishment there turns out 
 an engine every day of the year; that 
 we have a shipyard, as you have, and 
 that, with the city of Manchester, we 
 have sixty-three manufacturing estab- 
 lishments, great and small. If it were 
 not for the lateness of the hour I could 
 very well show you that the city of 
 Richmond itself will be interested and 
 most likely greatly benefited by your 
 ship canal. (Applause.) 
 
 I bring you to-night the greeting of 
 the people of the old Commonwealth of 
 Virginia. (Applause.) They stood 
 shoulder to shoulder with you in the 
 days of 76. As I remember now, this 
 proud little Commonwealth, numbering 
 then only 36,000 people, furnished even 
 more than her full quota to the Revolu- 
 tionary army. As I look into your faces 
 here, it seems to me that I am before the 
 Chamber of Commerce of Richmond city. 
 (Applause.) We are homogeneous, the 
 same ties bind your people to ours; you 
 are in striking sympathy and accord with 
 the Virginia heart and the Virginia in- 
 telligence. I might go back and show 
 you how our respective commonwealths 
 are united by the bonds of sympathy and 
 affinity, but the hour is too late to press 
 that point. However, in passing, let me 
 refer to four of the characters of our re- 
 spective commonwealths. If the Virginia 
 
32 
 
 of to-day feels, as she does, a pride in 
 the same son (John W. Daniel) from 
 Lynchburg, whom she has sent to the 
 Senate time and again, she likewise re- 
 veres the memory of your own chivalric 
 Bayard. (Applause.) And if Virginia 
 remembers with reverence and cherishes 
 the name of John Marshall, whom she 
 gave to this country, she likewise has a 
 tender regard for your own Gray. (Ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 My good friend and colleague from 
 Iowa, (Mr. Lacey) who has made you a 
 most interesting speech, has boasted of 
 the soil of his state, which he says is so 
 rich that when scattered around, a beau- 
 tiiul l\ew England girl will not walk 
 over it, for fear it will make her feet 
 grow. It may be interesting to you who 
 come from the sandy soil of your Sussex 
 county, where my friend’s ancestors first 
 saw the light of day, — to know that this 
 wonderful science that lias been making 
 such amazing progress in our country, 
 has now found an ingredient that will 
 make the sandiest soil of Sussex county 
 equal to that of Iowa. (Laughter and 
 applause.) Why, gentlemen, it has just 
 been developed during the last few days, 
 before the hearings of the Agricultural 
 Committee, of which I am a humble 
 member. Only yesterday it was demon- 
 strated before this committee by the sci- 
 entists of the Agricultural Department, 
 that what these worn-out lands along this 
 eastern coast need is only nitrogen. They 
 have found an ingredient of which a 
 small quantity put into a vessel and left 
 to stand for a few hours, will, when 
 sprinkled over the seeds of plants, inocu- 
 late them so that when you sow them 
 in the soil the plants will draw the nitro- 
 gen from the atmosphere. When that is 
 done all this Atlantic coast territory will 
 equal in fertility the rich lands of my 
 friend from Iowa. (Laughter and ap- 
 plause.) Will it not then be the grand- 
 est and best soil in God’s earth? And, 
 besides, we have all these advantages of 
 
 Avater transportation. There is necessity 
 for a canal in this state. 
 
 But I suppose I was invited here to 
 give you an opportunity to find out how 
 we Virginians are going to vote on this 
 canal. I thought the distinguished mem- 
 ber from the First District of Virginia 
 would make this speech, and sent him 
 word to do it. He and his people are 
 more interested than are the people of 
 the Third District, and I hope he will 
 tell you how the people of the rich 
 county of Accomac, on the eastern shore, 
 regard the project. I will illustrate my 
 own position, and be just as frank as you 
 would have me, by telling an incident 
 that occurred in the upper valley of Vir- 
 ginia a long time ago, during that little 
 “unpleasantness” in which my friend 
 from Iowa was on one side and I on the 
 other. 
 
 When that magnificent body of cavalry 
 commanded by Phil. Sheridan was 
 spreading desolation through the garden 
 spot of Virginia, the valley militia, those 
 who descended from that old Irish -Ger- 
 man stock, who despised the so called 
 virtues of New England and the vices, 
 if you choose, of the Cavaliers, were 
 marshalling for the defense of their 
 homes and firesides, an old lady with a 
 broom came out and stood on the left of 
 the ranks being mustered in. The officer 
 said, “Old lady, what are you doing 
 here? You can’t do anything with that 
 broom.” But she replied, “You don’t 
 know what an old lady with a broom 
 can do.” When he remonstrated again, 
 she said, “I’ll tell you what I’m here for. 
 I’m here to show on which side I am.” 
 (Laughter and applause.) 
 
 Now, Mr. Chairman and friends, if I 
 had come here to-night with any other 
 opinion, after hearing all these argu 
 ments and this eloquence to-night, I 
 should have been won over, and would be 
 compelled to say, “You know which side 
 1 am on.” 
 
33 
 
 Destiny of America. 
 
 We have heard a great deal here to- 
 night that is inspiring and uplifting, out- 
 side of the immediate question of the ca- 
 nal. A question that has been on my 
 mind while listening to all these speeches 
 is, What will be the destiny of America? 
 We have heard of our magnificence, our 
 wonderful achievements and progress, 
 that has not been equalled in the world’s 
 history. My friends, there is always 
 danger in overconfidence such as this 
 might induce, and the philosophical point 
 that I raise to-night is — and it is my 
 parting injunction to you — that all our 
 mighty armies, tremendous as they are, 
 if marshalled in its defense, cannot save 
 this country; that a mighty navy — and 
 I favor everything necessary to make 
 ours equal to the French, or even the 
 English navy — all this cannot save our 
 country. The history of Rome will tes- 
 tify to this. The proud nations that re- 
 lied upon their navies in those olden 
 times prove it. What will do it then? 
 I will tell you. The spirit that presided 
 at the natal hour of this proud city, the 
 spirit of William Penn, the spirit of Wil- 
 liam Shipley, the spirit of one of tne 
 noblest Presidents this country has ever 
 had, William McKinley, will do it. (Ap- 
 plause.) I would say to these young 
 men, into whose faces I look with ad- 
 miration to-night, that this is the spirit 
 which you must cultivate in this re- 
 public of ours if you would save this 
 land. 
 
 When my friend, Mr. Smith, closed his 
 eloquent and inimitable speech with that 
 ringing apostrophe to the Gloucester and 
 to the American flag, I could but remem- 
 ber that during the battle that ship bore 
 upon her deck a man from my own dis- 
 trict, living within four miles of my own 
 home, who directed the guns that sunk 
 the two torpedo boats in the battle of 
 Santiago bay. (Applause.) 
 
 Another thing I want to say, and it 
 may be a grain of comfort to some of the 
 
 older men here to-night. Dr. John 
 Bransford was a surgeon in the United 
 States navy for eighteen years. He car- 
 ries in his pocket to-day an honorable 
 discharge from the Confederate army at 
 Appomatox, where he surrendered. He 
 came to Washington, and 1 secured for 
 him the position of assistant surgeon. 
 He happened to be placed on the Glouces- 
 ter. He aimed the guns that sunk those 
 two torpedo boats, thus adding to the 
 glory of the American navy. 
 
 My friends, 
 
 “Who saves his country save all things, 
 And all things saved shall bless him. 
 Who lets his country die lets all things 
 die, 
 
 And all things, dying, curse him.” 
 
 (Prolonged applause.) 
 
 Judge Gray, introducing Congressman 
 Jones, of Virginia, said: 
 
 Gentlemen: I intended to call upon 
 the member from the First District of 
 Virginia, my old friend, Mr. Jones. If 
 you knew him as well as I do, you would 
 all want to hear him. (Applause.) 
 
 REMARKS OF REPRESENTATIVE 
 JONES, OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: The 
 gentleman who came to Washington, and 
 who so courteously invited me to attend 
 this banquet, at the same time informed 
 me very courteously, very respectfully, 
 but very positively, that I would not be 
 permitted to say anything upon this 
 occasion. And so I now feel very much 
 like the man who was invited to 
 attend the funeral of his mother- 
 in-law. The funeral director insisted 
 that he should ride in the carriage with 
 the principal mourner, and he objected 
 very seriously to doing so. But when 
 the director pointed out that it was the 
 proper thing for him to do, and that 
 there was nothing else for him to do, ne 
 said, “Well, if I must, I must; but I as- 
 sure you that it takes away half of the 
 pleasure of the occasion.” (Laughter.) 
 
34 
 
 Having assented to the principal stipula- 
 tion in the contract which was made 
 with me when I came here, I do not feel 
 that it would be honorable upon my part 
 if I were to violate it; and I am sure 
 that those of you who have remained 
 here so long this evening, listening to 
 such excellent expositions of the subject 
 which we have assembled here to dis- 
 cuss, do not care to have me speak any 
 longer. 
 
 Canal an Absolute Necessity. 
 
 I simply want to say that I did not 
 come here for the purpose of being con- 
 verted to an advocacy of the proposition 
 which has been so forcefully and elo- 
 quently discussed here this evening. For 
 years I have been convinced that the 
 construction of a larger canal than that 
 which now connects the waters of the 
 Chesapeake bay and the Delaware river 
 is not only feasible and practicable, but 
 that it is an absolute necessity in order 
 to develop and to increase the already 
 great trade and commerce of the Chesa- 
 peake bay. I have been delighted this 
 evening in listening to the magnifiicent 
 presentation that has been made of this 
 important question. I am a rather strict 
 constructionist, so far as the Federal 
 Constitution is concerned, but I have no 
 shadow of doubt, gentlemen, upon my 
 mind about the feasibility of this pro- 
 position. I believe it to be entirely with- 
 in the power of the Federal Government, 
 under our constitution, to construct this 
 canal, and I think it is the imperative 
 duty of the United States Government 
 to undertake this great project. (Ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 Why, gentlemen, it has been stated 
 here this evening that to construct this 
 canal would cost less than to build a 
 first-class man-of-war. It would cost less 
 than the United States Government has 
 already expended and is prepared to ex- 
 pend upon a fair in the city of St. Louis, 
 th« benefit of which could not possibly 
 
 be anything like that which would re- 
 sult to the people of these five or six 
 states from the purchase and enlarge- 
 ment of the present canal. 
 
 I understand that at least three routes 
 have been surveyed and talked about, 
 but so far as I understand this question, 
 and speaking, as I do, for a large num- 
 ber of those who live upon the shores of 
 Chesapeake bay in the State of Virginia, 
 that this particular project of acquiring 
 and enlarging the present canal, is the 
 most feasible and the wisest of all the 
 plans that have been proposed. (Ap- 
 plause.) And I believe that this ought 
 not to be done by the State of Delaware, 
 notwithstanding the fact that the state 
 is so fortunate as to have neither state 
 taxes nor a public debt. I believe that 
 the people of Virginia are even more 
 largely interested in the construction of 
 this canal than are the people of the 
 State of Delaware. Speaking entirely 
 from a commercial, and not from a mili- 
 tary standpoint, I believe that it is a 
 matter of such great national importance 
 as to require the assistance of the Fed- 
 eral Government; and for one I want to 
 say that so long as I have the honor of 
 representing any portion of the people 
 of Virginia in the halls of Congress, I 
 shall always be ready to do everything 
 in my power to bring about the purchase 
 and construction of a ship canal along 
 the route of the present Chesapeake and 
 Delaware canal. (Applause.) 
 
 Judge Gray, introducing Mr. Cad- 
 wallader, of Philadelphia, said: 
 
 Gentlemen: I am going to ask for a 
 few words from a gentleman from our 
 neighboring city of Philadelphia, who 
 bears a historic name that is associated 
 with all the great enterprises of our sec- 
 tion that have distinguished the last 
 century, and especially with the Chesa- 
 peake and Delaware canal — the Honor- 
 able John Cadwallader, of Philadelphia. 
 (Applause.) 
 
35 
 
 REMARKS OF JOHN CADWALLADER, 
 ESQ., OF PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: I need 
 hardly to tell you that I came here to- 
 night to listen, and not to speak. At 
 this late hour I recall an occasion which 
 I think your chairman will remember, 
 when the late minister for China, Mr. 
 Wu, was at a banquet held to honor John 
 Marshall’s memory. Mr. Wu was called 
 upon to speak a few words. He rose and 
 said that the occasion recalled two of the 
 precepts of Confucius. Confucius directed 
 that no one should speak during eating, 
 and that it was most improvident to talk 
 before going to bed. So I presume you 
 do not want to hear from me. (Laugh- 
 ter.) 
 
 I have one fact to state which may 
 be of interest to tne representatives of 
 our Government at Washington, and to 
 others not familiar with affairs connected 
 with this canal. I believe I am the only 
 person here who happens to be related 
 to it or directly concerned in it. The 
 canal is of very great interest to me, and 
 I have considerable personal knowledge 
 of it, being a director in the Canal Com- 
 pany, and president of the only naviga- 
 tion line carrying passengers through it. 
 
 The condition of the canal has resulted 
 in one evil already. For many years one 
 of those transportation lines which runs 
 from New York to Baltimore used this 
 canal. Owing to its inadequacy and to 
 the delay, which made it impossible to 
 meet the demands of that line, they had 
 to abandon the canal system and adopt 
 ocean steamers. So the canal — that 
 short route — has been abandoned, and 
 their business is now conducted by way 
 of the route around the cape. 
 
 United States Now Part Owner. 
 
 Another fact which I think is import- 
 ant is this. One gentleman was speaking 
 of his views on the constitutional powers 
 of our Government. Like him, I am a 
 strict constructionist. It may relieve 
 
 the minds of many gentlemen to know 
 that the work of constructing this canal 
 was substantially aided by the Govern- 
 ment. The United States Government 
 holds $750,000 worth of the stock of the 
 Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Com- 
 pany. That is so little known that when, 
 some years ago, it became important to 
 obtain the power to vote that stock and 
 we went to the Secretary of the Treasury 
 to obtain the desired permission, there 
 was no record of it and none of the offi- 
 cials knew anything about it. 
 
 I think it is a matter of some interest, 
 as well, that nearly one hundred years 
 ago the Government of the United States 
 considered this as a national matter, a 
 matter for which the public moneys were 
 properly appropriated for the general 
 good. But unfortunately it was appro- 
 priated to a private corporation. It 
 should have been for the use of the whole 
 people, as I hope it will now soon be, by 
 its conversion into a public canal. 
 
 I do believe that it will be done, and 
 that it is a proper expenditure of money. 
 It is interesting to recall that our Gov- 
 ernment, in its most conservative period, 
 aided this project. That was an enor- 
 mous sum of money for them to spend at 
 that time. 
 
 The reports of the various commission- 
 ers and engineers of the Government con- 
 cur in the view that the present route of 
 the canal is the best, although other 
 routes have been surveyed. The work 
 can be carried out now with a compara- 
 tively small expenditure; and I trust 
 that those gentlemen who have come 
 here and heard of its great utility, and 
 who have learned the fact not known be- 
 fore — that the Government has already 
 aided this canal, and is now a stockholder 
 in it— -will see that there is reason to 
 hope mat the Government will aid us in 
 carrying out the present project. (Ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 Judge Gray, introducing Representa- 
 tive Gardner, of New Jersey, said: 
 
36 
 
 Gentlemen: It would not do to ad- 
 journ this convocation without hearing 
 from the state which you could see right 
 across the river if you walked to the rear 
 of this building — our sister state of New 
 Jersey. There she is, right in full view 
 of the citizens of Wilmington through 
 every hour of the day, and we certainly 
 must hear from her. Whether Mr. Gard- 
 ner wants to say anything or not, we 
 are going to ask him. (Prolonged ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 REMARKS OF REPRESENTATIVE 
 GARDNER, OF NEW JERSEY. 
 
 Mr. Chairman: I came here under the 
 promise that I should be mentioned only 
 in the list of those who also ate. I have 
 been very much delighted to-night by 
 many things. I presume that all the 
 people of this state are delighted, as I 
 always am, when the presiding officer of 
 the evening (Judge Gray) talks. I am 
 also delighted to listen to the distin- 
 guished gentleman, ex-Postmaster Gen- 
 eral Smith, of Philadelphia. (Applause.) 
 If he talks to the waters the waves grow 
 still. And I think when the gentleman 
 from Iowa (Mr. Lacey) talked about 
 Mars the heavens drew near, and it 
 would not have required a telescope to 
 see them if somebody had had sufficient 
 presence of mind to run out and look. 
 (Laughter.) 
 
 I was also deeply interested in a part 
 of the discourse of the eminent ex- Sena- 
 tor of the State of Delaware (Mr. Hig- 
 gins) in which he made it evident that 
 many great things have come about 
 through the instrumentality of this 
 waterway; that among other things the 
 Constitution of this great republic grew 
 out of this canal. (Laughter.) In view 
 of the great importance of water, it 
 would seem that the momentous question 
 that for years has agitated great socie- 
 ties and institutions of learning as to 
 what would be our most appropriate na- 
 tional flower, might be settled by say- 
 
 ing that henceforth it shall be the water- 
 lily. Some other people have been grow- 
 ing nervous over the matter of what 
 should be our most appropriate national 
 hymn, and it would now seem that it 
 might properly be a frog concert in the 
 twilight. (Laughter.) 
 
 New Jersey for the Canal. 
 
 Now, although you didn’t call on the 
 right person, I thought you would want 
 to hear something from New Jersey in 
 connection with this canal, because if I 
 remember history rightly, no good thing 
 has ever transpired in this country, no 
 worthy object has ever been carried to 
 completion, unless New Jersey was there 
 and had a shoulder at the weel. (Laugh- 
 ter.) 
 
 I have no doubt that all New Jersey 
 will be for this waterway, or any other 
 great improvement. Certainly Delaware, 
 Maryland and Virginia are solidly for it, 
 but don’t you rely upon Lacey; and I 
 fear that Lacey voices much of the sen- 
 timent of the West. To-night, coming 
 up on the train, something had to be 
 talked about to pass away the time. I 
 said : 
 
 “Lacey, suppose that by the improve- 
 ment of our waterways, or some other 
 method, the cost of transportation could 
 be reduced to a minimum; what would 
 be the immediate result on the commerce 
 of this country?” 
 
 He replied, “If transportation were 
 cheap enough, you fellows would have 
 the whole state of Iowa down here and 
 be selling it for dung.” (Laughter.) 
 
 I don’t know much about armies and 
 navies and future wars and the import- 
 ance of an inland base of operations, but 
 I do know that commerce, the general 
 affairs of life, demand every day more 
 and more ready, convenient and cheap 
 methods of transportation. I do know, 
 or have long thought that I knew, (for 
 you know we all have the weakness of 
 thinking that we thunk,) (Laughter) 
 
37 
 
 that there was something wrong about 
 the situation around here — something 
 wrong when a ship had to start from 
 Philadelphia and go away down here (in- 
 dicating on the map) to get out of the 
 capes, and then go away up to Fire Is- 
 land to get her bearings, and then pro- 
 ceed across the Atlantic ocean. I could 
 not see why the commercial interests of 
 this country did not take hold of this 
 problem and solve it and, as there could 
 be but one solution, carry the matter to 
 execution. 
 
 In looking over the map I have often 
 had occasion to felicitate Delaware, and 
 to think that she had a happy lot in that 
 her shores were kissed by the waves that 
 had lately lapped the feet of the New 
 Jersey sand dunes. (Laughter.) 
 
 Just why you should go away out yon- 
 der, outside, down a dangerous coast and 
 around a dangerous cape, to get into the 
 other bay, is doubtless a problem that no 
 engineer could give an intelligent answer 
 to. The only explanation I know is this : 
 Things have to develop, to grow; ideas 
 come to society only at intervals. I seem 
 to have been one among the few to whom 
 this idea occurred at any reasonable 
 time. I have no doubt that we of the 
 vanguard will be duly thankful that it 
 has struck the people of Wilmington at 
 last. (Laughter.) 
 
 A comparatively small matter is this 
 in expenditure. In my judgment it is no 
 particular problem in engineering. I 
 don’t know much about engineering, but 
 I never could see very much trouble from 
 an engineering standpoint in construct- 
 ing a great waterway. You know there 
 is a story told in a pathetic strain of 
 some old lady from the West, perhaps 
 from Lacey’s district, (laughter) — who 
 went down to the seashore last summer 
 and sat down upon the boardwalk, (there 
 fore it must have been in Atlantic City) 
 looked in silence out over the boundless 
 sea, and by and by she said, with a deep 
 sigh, “Well, thank God there is some- 
 
 thing in this world that there is enough 
 of!” (Laughter.) There is in this world 
 at the present time enough of salt water. 
 I spent my early life in playing and 
 boating upon the tidewater and the mud 
 flats of New Jersey, and I observed that 
 wherever I dug a hole in the sand below 
 the water level the water would fill it. 
 So, to the untutored mind, unskilled in 
 engineering, the whole system of making 
 a waterway consists in water; not in 
 some great scientific matter of dredging; 
 not in some problem difficult to under- 
 stand. As I have said, if you simply dig 
 the dirt out, water fills up the place; so 
 making a great waterway consists in the 
 simple process of digging earth out where 
 you want water. (Laughter.) That may 
 not be the statement of the whole prob- 
 lem, but it simplifies it very much. 
 
 Inland Waterway for Safety. 
 
 The sea is dangerous; it has always 
 been hazardous. From a money stand- 
 point it becomes more and more so every 
 year, because the ships which go upon 
 it represent each year greater values, 
 both in themselves and in their cargoes. 
 I think it is a known fact, any way it 
 was the opinion of the sailors in my 
 early life, that the largest vessels were 
 not the safest. So I repeat that just why 
 they should always have been exposed 
 to the hazards of the sea when it has al- 
 ways been apparently an easy matter to 
 convey our commerce by water, prac- 
 tically the entire length of the Atlantic 
 coast, inland and safely — why our at- 
 tention was never turned in that par- 
 ticular direction I, for one, have not been 
 able to understand. It is my opinion 
 that statistics will show that the value 
 of the ships and cargoes which have gone 
 down in consequence of this exposure — 
 not to mention the value of those thous- 
 ands upon thousands of lives of men 
 whose bones lie somewhere undiscovered 
 in the bottom of the sea — has been 
 enough to pay again and again and again, 
 every dollar of the cost of a waterway 
 
38 
 
 almost the entire length of our coast, ab- 
 solutely free from exposure to the dan- 
 gers of the gTeat deep. Not only will it 
 cost nothing in the long run, but it will 
 absolutely save money to the nation. 
 Only the higher mind, with a full appre- 
 ciation of the value of life, could fix any 
 estimate upon the value of the human 
 lives it will save. (Applause.) 
 
 Now, you gentlemen believe this to be 
 a worthy project, don’t you? You sin- 
 cerely believe it to be of value to the na- 
 tion, and that it ought to be carried 
 through? You already knew something 
 of the history of New Jersey, didn’t you? 
 Then why did you want any Jersey man 
 here, unless to persuade you that it is a 
 worthy object? Knowing the story of 
 New Jersey from tne beginning, did any 
 of you ever do her the injustice to doubt 
 for a single moment where any true Jer- 
 seyman would stand on any meritorious 
 project like this? (Applause.) If there 
 is anything further than that behind 
 your interest in New Jersey just now; if 
 there is anything more that you want, 
 just name it, and if it is anything rea- 
 sonable, New Jersey will be there when 
 the clock strikes. (Applause.) 
 
 I want to say in conclusion that no 
 gentleman who has spoken here to-night 
 goes before me, or any other real Jersey- 
 man, in the possession of those grand 
 sentiments for the development and 
 glory of our nation, and for her future 
 greatness, to which utterance has been 
 given here. Speaking for New Jersey, I 
 want to say that wherever a great act 
 shall occur on the future scenes of na- 
 tional or international life; wherever the 
 nation needs a strong arm and a cour- 
 ageous heart; wherever something brave, 
 or great, or glorious is to be done; wher- 
 ever a grand national or international 
 sentiment is to be upheld; wherever the 
 glory of that flag apostrophised here to- 
 night shall need a defender or an arm 
 to advance it; wherever a grand national 
 exigency may require grand action of 
 
 grand sons — there you will find the Jer- 
 sey blue forever! (Prolonged applause.) 
 
 Judge Gray: 
 
 Gentlemen: We cannot have too much 
 of a good thing, and I am going to call 
 upon another representative of New Jer- 
 sey, the Hon. Mr. Loudenslager. (Ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 Upon learning that Mr. Loudenslager 
 had gone, Judge Gray introduced the 
 Honorable L. Irving Handy, saying: 
 
 Gentlemen: I am going to call on one 
 of our own citizens to make the last 
 speech. We all know him, and are al- 
 ways glad to hear Mr. L. Irving Handy. 
 (Prolonged applause.) 
 
 REMARKS OF HONORABLE L. IRV- 
 ING HANDY, OF WILMINGTON. 
 
 Mr. Toastmaster and Members of the 
 Board of Trade: I understand that the 
 committee on arrangements of the Board 
 of Trade, realizing how delightful this 
 occasion would be and how fascinating 
 would be the other speeches, arranged for 
 me to speak last, in order that they 
 might be sure of clearing the hall in 
 time for Peacock to use it in the morn- 
 ing. (Laughter.) 
 
 I wisn to say to the guests of the 
 evening, that your presence here has 
 contributed largely towards making tins 
 a memorable occasion. To me it has 
 had a kind of reminiscent flavor. As I 
 have heard these former Congressional 
 colleagues of mine, it has seemed like an 
 old time field-day in the House. It really 
 seems to me that they talk better than 
 they did of yore; that they make a great 
 deal better speeches than they used to 
 make. So much so, that I have been re 
 minded of the story of a little girl who 
 was standing one evening looking at her- 
 self in the glass, enjoying her beauty. 
 Her father was not very pretty. You 
 know it is hard for men to be pretty. 
 The little girl said: 
 
 “Mamma, did God make me?” 
 
39 
 
 “Yes, my daughter,” her mother re- 
 plied. 
 
 ‘'Well, mamma, did God make papa, 
 too ?” 
 
 “Yes, my dear,” said her mother, “God 
 made everybody.” 
 
 “Well mamma, don’t you think God 
 has been doing a good deal better work 
 lately?” (Prolonged laughter.) 
 
 I think that my friends, Lacey, Lamb, 
 Gardner, Jones and the others, have been 
 doing better work lately than they used 
 to uo. (Renewed laughter.) 
 
 There is one thing brought out by the 
 gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Lacey) which 
 rather alarms me. The gentleman from 
 Iowa told about the effect which the 
 Iowa soil has on the feet of the girls of 
 that state, and the gentleman from Vir- 
 ginia told us that they have found a way, 
 by adding nitrogen to our soil, to make 
 the sandy soil of Delaware have the 
 same effect. Gentlemen, we don’t want 
 anything like that done to the feet of 
 our girls. (Laughter.) 
 
 A voice: All the angels have big feet. 
 
 Mr. Handy: Not all. I know one an- 
 gel — God bless her — whose feet are in 
 perfect proportion to the rest of her 
 charming shape. 
 
 I was brought here to-night to give the 
 verdict. I came here absolutely impar- 
 tial. I had neither expressed nor formed 
 an opinion, and so I am now prepared 
 to give an impartial verdict in favor of 
 the plaintiff. I am convinced by the 
 speeches to-night that the canal is a good 
 thing, that ours is a great country, that 
 every individual state is the best state of 
 them all, and that every individual state 
 has more interest in the fulfillment of 
 this project than any other. (Laughter.) 
 
 I was very much surprised that ex- 
 Senator Higgins did not speak of an- 
 other advantage to be gained by the con- 
 struction of this canal, for he knows the 
 importance of what I am about to say. 
 He dilated upon its importance to the 
 commerce of the eastern shore of Vir- 
 
 ginia, of Philadelphia, of Jersey and all 
 the rest of the world; but the thing in 
 which Delaware is most interested is in 
 fishing in the waters of the canal. 
 (Laughter.) It is rumored that a bass 
 was once caught in that vicinity, and 
 Anthony Higgins, famous as a bass fish- 
 erman, has spent days and months fish- 
 ing in the lonely waters of the canal; he 
 has been, ever since, thrashing the banks 
 in the hopes of finding its mate. (Laugh- 
 ter.) When the canal is done, think of 
 the opportunity we Delewareans will 
 have of fishing down there. That is the 
 only argument which remains to be ad- 
 vanced — the importance of the fishing 
 rights. Man does not get all there is out 
 of life until he spends a day wetting a 
 line in this canal. For this reason I, too, 
 am in favor of digging the canal, digging 
 it broad and deep, so deep that there 
 will be no locks. I never expect to own 
 a boat, but a rod and line are within the 
 limits of my fortune. I, too, may in that 
 way enjoy the canal. (Laughter.) 
 
 Speaking seriously, if this project con- 
 tributed to the interests of Delaware and 
 of Delaware alone, it would not be ask- 
 ing too much of the Federal treasury to 
 ask it to undertake the enlargement of 
 this canal. Small as we are in territory 
 and meagre as our numbers may be when 
 compared with larger states, it is not 
 asking any more than our due to demand 
 a few millions now and then from the 
 Federal treasury. Into that treasury 
 Delawareans have paid many millions of 
 dollars and we have received but little 
 in appropriations for public improve- 
 ments. By our system of indirect taxa- 
 tion it is a safe estimate that the people 
 of Delaware pay into the Federal treas- 
 ury at least a million and a half of dol- 
 lars every year. This thing of which we 
 speak to-night is not for ourselves 
 alone, but even if it were we need not be 
 shy or over-modest in asking for it. In 
 asking for an improvement that will cost 
 
eight or nine millions of dollars we are 
 only asking for our fair share. 
 
 I want personally to return my thanks 
 to the Board of Trade for the pleasure of 
 being here to-night. It has been a de- 
 lightful occasion. It reflects credit on 
 tne Board. And I cannot fail, gentle- 
 men, to remark the dignity, grace and 
 thoughtful kindliness with which the 
 toastmaster of the banquet has presided. 
 Nothing in the world but his own mod 
 est presence prevents my saying to you 
 further that he is qualified to preside 
 not only at a banquet, but over the des- 
 tinies of this great republic. (Applause.) 
 
 Others talk about the advantages of 
 digging a canal through Delaware. Let 
 me say to you, if you all want to be 
 happy, you can, by taking our toastmas- 
 ter for President, get something from 
 happy little Delaware that will make 
 you happier than any canal can make 
 you.” (Prolonged applause.) 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 Judge Gray then called on Bishop 
 Coleman to dismiss the assemblage with 
 the benediction, which he did, saying: 
 
 “To God’s gracious mercy and protec- 
 tion we commit you. The Lord bless you 
 and keep you; the Lord make His face 
 to shine upon you and be gracious unto 
 you; the Lord lift up His countenance 
 upon you and give you peace, both now 
 and ever more. Amen.” 
 
 Committees in Charge of the Banquet. 
 
 William Lawton, President. 
 
 Daniel W. Taylor, Secretary. 
 
 Thomas H. Savery, Chairman General 
 Committee. 
 
 Finance Committee — John S. Rossell, 
 Chairman; T. Coleman DuPont, John B. 
 Martin, Holstein Harvey, J. P. Winches- 
 ter, Henry B. Thompson. 
 
 Invitation and Reception Committee — 
 Thomas F. Bayard, Chairman; Josiah 
 Marvel, John N. Carswell, W. W. Lob- 
 dell, John S. Rossell, Hon. George Gray, 
 Gen. James H. Wilson, J. P. Winchester, 
 
 T. Allen Hilles, Alfred D. Warner, Wil- 
 liam Lawton. 
 
 Entertainment Committee — George B. 
 Moore, Chairman; George W. Sparks, H. 
 H. Ward, Alfred O. Crozier, Howard DeH. 
 Ross, John B. Martin, John M. Rogers, 
 R. J. Maclean, Captain Horace Wilson, 
 C. A. Rudolph, John Bancroft, Howard 
 T. Wallace, L. P. Bush, J. Parke Postles, 
 William Lawton, C. E. Kingston. 
 
 Names of Persons Present at the Banquet 
 
 Special guests and press representa- 
 tives: General James H. Wilson, Hon. J. 
 Frank Allee, Hon. R. Moon, Hon. L. Heis- 
 ler Ball, Hon. John F. Dry den, Hon. S. R. 
 Dresser, Major R. S. Hoxie, Hon. William 
 Hughes, Hon. Boies Penrose, Hon. James 
 T. Lloyd, Hon. John Lamb, Hon. H. Burd 
 Cassel, Hon. Henry D. Clayton, Hon. J. 
 W. Denney, Hon. John J. Gardner, Hon. 
 Henry R. Gibson, Hon. William H. Jack- 
 son, Hon. Sydney Mudd, Hon. George A. 
 Pearre, Hon. Frank C. Wachter, Hon. 
 Henry A. Houston, Hon. William A. 
 Jones, Hon. Henry C. Loudenslager, Hon. 
 Allan Benny, Hon. Thaddeus M. Mahon, 
 Hon. Daniel Lafean, Hon. John L. Lacey, 
 Hon. William M. Lanning, Hon. William 
 H. Wiley, Hon. Edward Morrell, Hon. 
 Henry L. Maynard, Hon. John Hunn, 
 Hon. Caleb R. Layton, Hon. Charles B. 
 Maull, Thomas B. Holmes, Francis B. 
 Lee, Hon. W. C. Sproul, Major C. B. 
 Baker, Reuben Foster, Blanchard Ran- 
 dall, L. L. Jackson, Hon. John H. Small, 
 Hon. Charles Emory Smith, Hon. Ebe W. 
 Tunnell, Hon. John B. Causey, John B. 
 Daish, Hon. Thomas S. Butler, A. O. H. 
 Grier, Every Evening; Morris J. Roberts, 
 Sun; John I. Beehan, Jeffersonian; G. B. 
 Hynson and Charles E. Gray, Evening 
 Journal; H. R. Smith, Freie Presse; A. 
 R. Saylor, Labor Herald; Joseph H. Mar- 
 tin, Sunday Star; Frank P. Gorman, 
 Philadelphia Record; Louis Sebar, Phila- 
 delphia North American; Thomas T. 
 Allen, Philadelphia Press; Mr. Daven- 
 port, Philadelphia Ledger; William B. 
 
41 
 
 Bray, Philadelphia Inquirer; H. T. Price, 
 The Morning News; Dr. A. D. Jacobson, 
 W. Scott Vernon, Hon. L. Irving Handy, 
 Jerome B. Bell, George W. Roberts, Hon. 
 Charles D. Bird, Hon. Francis J. McNul- 
 ty; A. J. Koocli, S. M. Joseph, Mahlon 
 Betts, J. F. McCoy, William E. Rothwell, 
 Richard Reese, Preston Lea, Hon. John 
 Cadwallader. 
 
 Other persons present were: 
 
 W. S. Allmond, Edward Andrews, Max 
 Abramson. 
 
 Dr. H. R. Burton, George R. Bower, 
 James H. Beggs, Jr., Thomas S. Bellah, 
 W. H. Beacom, S. H. Baynard, Prof. A. 
 H. Berlin, Samuel C. Biddle, E. H. Bren- 
 nan, N. W. Bard, John Biggs, Edward 
 T. Betts, L. A. Bertolette, J. Frank Ball, 
 Thomas F. Bayard, Rev. Alexander T. 
 Bowser, James M. Bryan, L. J. Broman, 
 J. Warren Bullen, Philip Burnet, Jr., 
 Lewis P. Bush, Isaac S. Bullock, Fred E. 
 Bach, John Bancroft, William Beaden- 
 kopf. 
 
 R. B. Chillas, Truman W. Campbell, 
 T. B. Cartmell, Philemma Chandler, Ed- 
 win R. Cochran, Jr., George S. Capelle, 
 P. J. Cahill, Dr. Smith Cooper, Joshua 
 Conner, W. B. Clerk, A. R. Chandler, Al- 
 fred O. Crozier, J. N. Carswell, Joshua 
 Clayton, Edward T. Canby. 
 
 T. Coleman DuPont, onarles P. Dough - 
 ten, Charles E. Dubell, Millard F. Davis, 
 Samuel M. Dillon, C. W. Diggins, S. H. 
 Durstein, John H. Danby, John M. Door- 
 don, Thomas Donaldson. 
 
 O. W. Everett, George A. Elliott, Harry 
 Emmons, Howell S. England, J. A. Elle- 
 good. 
 
 George M. Fisher, W. B. Fitts, J. E. 
 Fuller, W. E. Frank, Dr. Lewis W. Flinn, 
 Herbert N. Fell, A. E. Frantz, P. J. Ford, 
 James I. Ford, W. J. Faulkner, Dr. Ir- 
 vine M. Flinn. 
 
 Dr. Charles Green, John G. Gray, Clif- 
 ford Greenman, John Govatos, J. N. 
 Gawthrop, Charles S. Gawthrop, Samuel 
 Greenbaum, Spotswood Garland, Alfred 
 Gawthrop, H. S. Goldey, Andrew C. Gray. 
 
 John G. Hartmann, Joseph Hess, Geo. 
 
 B. Hanford, Edgar M. Hoopes, William 
 H. Heald, Vincent B. Hazard, John A. 
 Cranston, W. C. Hammond, F. D. Hop- 
 kins, William D. Haddock, T. Allen 
 Hilles, T. Chalkley Hatton, Anthony Hig- 
 gins, William S. Hilles, Holstein Harvey, 
 George H. Hollis, Dr. W. H. Hancker, S. 
 E. Harpel, Joseph F. Hamilton. 
 
 Daniel Jones, Jr., Gilbert S. Jones, J. 
 Parker Jefferis, William H. Jones, Chas. 
 
 R. Jones, A. L. Johnson, Thomas W. 
 Johnson, Jr., C. R. Jefferis, Joseph C. 
 Jolls, W. D. Jackson, Dr. Robert H. Jones, 
 Robert O. Janvier. 
 
 H. G. Knowles, Daniel M. Knox, wil- 
 liam H. Kirn, Leonard Kittinger, W. M. 
 Kennard, Charles E. Kingston, William 
 H. Kenworthy, William F. Kurtz, Charles 
 
 C. Kurtz. 
 
 Thomas H. Latimer, John W. Lawson, 
 Jr., John R. Lambson, Theodore A. Lei- 
 sen, Samuel B. Lees, Dr. J. Paul Lukens, 
 Nathan Levy, William Lawton, William 
 T. Lynam, D. L. Levy. 
 
 John M. Mendinhall, J. H. Mendinhall, 
 George B. Moore, James Megary, George 
 C. Morton, Edmund Mitchell, Fred C. 
 Mammele, E. C. Minor, Josiah Marvel, 
 David T. Marvel, Max Matthes, John B. 
 Martin, J. H. Mehaffy, Thomas H. Mel- 
 vin, William D. Mullen, R. J. MacLean, 
 
 G. A. Messick, Alfred B. Moore. 
 
 David McCoy, James Keough, George 
 
 H. McCall, Fred C. McCall. 
 
 Benjamin Nields, Otho Nowland, John 
 P. Nields. 
 
 James B. Oberly. 
 
 Irvin F. Paschall, W. C. Phillips, Rob- 
 ert Pennington, G. Parke Postles, J. 
 Parke Postles, E. L. Peacock, W. A. 
 Powell, Victor R. Pyle, Edward W. Pyle, 
 Richard T. Pilling, O. C. Purdy, A. D. 
 Peoples. 
 
 Robert Reynolds, John S. Rossell, A. 
 
 S. Reed, C. A. Rudolph, John N. Rice, 
 John M. Rogers, Robert H. Richards, L. 
 M. Rockefeller, G. W. Remington, David 
 
C. Reid, J. W. Reybold, Howard D. Ross, 
 Henry P. Rumford. 
 
 George I. Speer, J. Ernest Smith, An- 
 drew E. Sanborn, Robert S. Stuart, 
 Frank C. Searle, S. C. Singleton, Jr., 
 Willard Saulsbury, Clarence Southerland, 
 William H. Savery, Henry S. Swayne, 
 George W. Sparks, Edwin B. Sadtler, S. 
 H. Staats, John M. Sheehan, Samuel 
 Slesinger, David Snellenburg, J. J. Sat- 
 terthwaite, Harry J. Stoeckle, Benjamin 
 F. Shaw, Thomas M. Stayton, Elwood C. 
 Souder, Dr. H. J. Stubbs. 
 
 Sylvester D. Townsend, Walter S. Tay- 
 lor, H. A. Thayer, Jr., L. Scott Town- 
 send, Harry E. Thomas, Henry M. Tay- 
 lor, Willard Thomson, John E. Taylor, 
 Frank Taylor, P. W. Tomlinson, Dr. 
 Frank W. Talley, Robert C. Tolmie. 
 
 H. W. Vandever, Aubrey Vandever, Dr. 
 B. R. Veasey, J. C. Van Trump. 
 
 Howard T. Wallace, Lea P. Warner, 
 James H. Wright, W. T. Westbrook, 
 George J. Wink, Clarence E. Williams, 
 James P. Winchester, Samuel J. Wrignt, 
 Alfred D. Warner, Jr., Charles Warner, 
 Colonel John Wainwright, Francis M. 
 Walker, Gilpin S. Woodward, Captain 
 Horace Wilson, H. H. Ward, J. Harvey 
 Whiteman, J. Frank Williams, James 
 Wilson, Frank Woolley, A. D. Warner, 
 John M. Walker, G. B. Ward, Charles W. 
 Woods. 
 
 Hiram Yerger, Thomas E. Young. 
 
 GREATER WILMINGTON AND 
 
 ITS MANY ADVANTAGES. 
 
 Exhaustive Treatment of This Subject 
 by Alfred 0. Crozier, a Prominent 
 Member of the Local Board of Trade, 
 Lawyer and Manufacturer. 
 
 Alfred O. Crozier, who has taken such 
 an interest in all affairs for the better- 
 ment of Wilmington and the State, at 
 the request of The Evening Journal, has 
 written the following able article on 
 “Greater Wilmington:” 
 
 Delaware, we believe, is the only State 
 where personal property is entirely ex- 
 empt from taxation. The income from 
 corporate franchise taxes pays the ex- 
 pense of the State and all local matters 
 are met by the tax from real estate and 
 licenses. This fact should be used as a 
 powerful instrument for inducing indus- 
 tries to locate in Delaware. It is far 
 more efficacious than bonuses, while the 
 prospect of permanent exemption from 
 personal taxes appeals to strong and ex- 
 tensive industries. There are many 
 manufactories paying $10,000 to $25,000 
 annually as personal taxes, located in 
 places with less advantages than are here 
 available. 
 
 There are abundant instances of enter- 
 prises moving from one town to another 
 solely because of assurance of exemption 
 from taxation for ten years. It is com- 
 mon knowledge that some men of finan- 
 cial prominence break one law to evade 
 another, in their desire to avoid paying 
 personal taxes. They sometimes reside 
 in one State and live in another, where 
 there is a variation in the personal as- 
 sessment rates in the two states. 
 Wilmington’s Opportunity. 
 
 Time was when the drift of industries 
 was all towards the large cities. This 
 flood tide is now ebbing rapidly. Bitter 
 experience wrestling with unexpected 
 and insurmountable difficulties and con- 
 ditions peculiar only to congested indus- 
 trial communities is impelling many to 
 contemplate removal to smaller cities 
 and towns. Enhancement of the prices 
 of realty, even in the suburbs, of large 
 cities, makes the cost of suitable ground 
 prohibitory to the ordinary establish- 
 ment. This is especially so as to small 
 enterprises, which are often the begin- 
 nings of large ones. The cost of homes, 
 or of rentals, becomes so high as to con- 
 stitute an excessive burden on working- 
 men, perhaps leading to poverty or 
 strikes, or to both. This condition pre- 
 vails to considerable extent in Pliiladel- 
 
43 
 
 phia, Baltimore, New York and other 
 large cities hereabouts. 
 
 It was precisely this which gave Wil- 
 mington the immense freight clearing 
 house facilities of the Pennsylvania rail- 
 road, taken away from Philadelphia, 
 where there was intolerable congestion, 
 no room for needed expansion without 
 ruinous expense and with the situation 
 becoming worse every year. We do not 
 know that that railroad intends making 
 this place its transfer point for export 
 and import commerce between the inter- 
 ior and foreign countries, but it is cer- 
 tainly an ideal place for the purpose, and 
 for docks, grain elevators and ware- 
 houses, convenient to the miles of stor- 
 age and switching tracks, and past 
 which must go every ocean boat to or 
 from Philadelphia. We suspect that half 
 the story of “Todd’s Cut” has not yet 
 been told. 
 
 The Baltimore ocean liners can also 
 run up here from Delaware City, when 
 the Delaware ship canal is completed, 
 and still save over one hundred and fifty 
 miles on the trip to Europe, over the 
 hazardous route by way of the Virginia 
 capes. 
 
 Wilmington has just what all large 
 cities need and lack; that is, miles of va- 
 cant deep river frontage, easily reached 
 by railroad switches, which land can be 
 had for mere nominal prices in compari- 
 son with the cost of corresponding loca- 
 tions in larger cities. Every other ad- 
 vantage offered by those cities can be 
 had here, without their disadvantages, 
 in fact the immense river frontage of 
 Philadelphia can be reached from Wil- 
 mington by water for a smaller freight 
 charge than from any suburb of that city 
 off the river. 
 
 Wilmington to Buy Water Frontage. 
 
 The greatest stroke of business New 
 York city ever did in the interest of its 
 future development and greatness was 
 tne acquiring of the. title to its river 
 frontage. Wilmington should do the 
 
 same thing with the Delaware river 
 front, if the industries of the town are 
 to have proper access to ocean boats, and 
 it is desired that new industries be lo- 
 cated here instead of on the Delaware 
 beyond the limits. It should be made cer- 
 tain that the deep channel being dredged 
 in the Delaware by the Government, 
 comes close enough to this shore to meet 
 our docks; and the dredgings should be 
 utilized to fill the marsh land, preparing 
 it for industries, and conserving the pub- 
 lic health. 
 
 With the average freight charge per 
 ton per mile on water only one-tenth 
 what it is by rail it should be easy lo 
 show industries the advantage of settling 
 in Wilmington. 
 
 Industries on our water frontage are 
 more advantageously located for water 
 shipment than if in Philadelphia or Balti- 
 more. The boat lines from Philadelphia 
 to North Atlantic ports, and the lines 
 from Baltimore to South Atlantic and 
 Gulf ports, absorb and themselves pay 
 our local boat lines the freight from the 
 factory dock in Wilmington to those 
 cities, and cost of transfer, on our ship- 
 ments. Industries in those cities must 
 deliver shipments at the dock at their 
 own expense and risk, by wagon or rail, 
 and cost of loading and unloading. 
 
 When these waterways are properly 
 deepened and improved so that we can 
 have more direct boat lines to the lead- 
 ing foreign ports, it will be no longer 
 necessary for our industries to ship goods 
 to Philadelphia, New York and Boston by 
 rail, as they sometimes do now, to get 
 them aboard foreign bound boats, often 
 paying more freight to get them to the 
 boat than for transporting them by water 
 to Europe. 
 
 Our twenty-one foot channel, main- 
 tained by the government in Wilming- 
 ton harbor, with miles of available front- 
 age, is adequate for all local purposes. 
 
 Railroad freights are all based on mile- 
 age, but places on navigable waters are 
 
i 
 
 44 
 
 classified specially, and given advantages 
 as to rates. No town in the United 
 States on navigable water is better sit- 
 uated than Wilmington to reach the 
 largest number of markets with the 
 shortest average haul. No place is more 
 favorably situated to secure the neces- 
 sary raw materials. 
 
 The labor situation is better here than 
 in almost any other city, for our labor is 
 intelligent, a large portion being home- 
 owners, and there seems to be that rea- 
 sonable and conciliatory spirit among 
 both employers and workmen which is 
 essential to the welfare of each. No sec- 
 tion of our population is more vitally 
 interested in this industrial development 
 than the workingmen, for to them it 
 means steady employment at good wages. 
 
 We have neither time nor space to 
 enumerate the one hundred and twenty 
 different interests, and the more than 
 six hundred concerns, which make up 
 the present industries of Wilmington. 
 Many of these are among the largest in 
 the country, their products ranking high 
 in the markets of the world. There are 
 few kinds of industries not found here. 
 
 This city, during the past ten years, 
 produced more tonnage of iron and steel 
 vessels than the entire Pacific coast, and 
 was exceeded on the Atlantic seaboard 
 only by Philadelphia and Newport News. 
 
 The 80,000 population of Wilmington 
 should easily be doubled in a few years, 
 benefiting all individuals and interests. 
 
 All Delaware Mutually Interested. 
 
 Of course any industrial, commercial 
 or agricultural development in Delaware 
 outside of Wilmington will benefit this 
 city. Wilmington is the Philadelphia of 
 rural Delaware. Everything which tends 
 to help the southern part of the State 
 benefits the entire State, Wilmington 
 included. The State is not so large but 
 what every part of it is intimately and 
 vitally interested in the welfare of every 
 other part. If orchards multiply in Kent 
 and Sussex, and good crops add thous- 
 
 ands of dollars to the income of their 
 people, the merchants of this city will 
 profit through this prosperity of their 
 brethren. If the industries of Wilming- 
 ton are doubled, this will mean the sale 
 of more fruit, fish and farm products at 
 better prices by the agricultural portion 
 of the State. 
 
 The influence of the whole State, and 
 of its entire representation in Congress, 
 will be needed to obtain necessary water- 
 way improvements in any part of Dela- 
 ware. 
 
 With the right spirit of generous and 
 friendly co-operation by the people of all 
 localities in the State, for the general 
 growth and prosperity, long strides 
 should be made during the next few 
 years towards industralizing every part 
 of Delaware. No place in the United 
 States is better suited for the purpose, 
 and if industries can be multiplied and 
 the rural and municipal population be 
 doubled everyone will participate in the 
 fruits of this growth, and the momen- 
 tum thus obtained will insure a continu- 
 ous and rapid increase. Other plaees 
 with not one -half the justifying condi- 
 tions have been thus developed through 
 the wise action and energy of public 
 spirited citizens. 
 
 We have seen the sheer energy of a 
 few people at some point on a western 
 plain or in some mountain valley in the 
 South, with but one railroad, more than 
 five hundred miles from population ag- 
 gregating more than a few hundred 
 thousand, actually secure important in- 
 dustries, often resulting in permanent 
 growth. Many large cities and towns 
 started in that way. 
 
 There are but few things an industry 
 desires which are not found here, while 
 millions of people and some of the lead- 
 ing markets of this country are within 
 one hundred and fifty miles of Wilming- 
 ton, and a hundred million in Europe are 
 easily accessible from our water front. 
 But we must remember of old, that it 
 
45 
 
 was the party who used his talents, and 
 not the one simply possessing them, who 
 received the commendation of the master. 
 
 Personal modesty is one of the vir- 
 tues; but the business modesty which 
 hides desirable wares from view, or neg- 
 lects to exploit the merits of things 
 which will bring profits, is out of place 
 in this era of close competition anu 
 struggle for business success. 
 
 This State occupies the real runway of 
 big opportunities. She has but to seize 
 them for her own advantage, for they 
 will not themselves stop and crawl into 
 her bag. The aggregate of the advan- 
 tages of many a state with ten times the 
 area and population will not equal those 
 which Delaware possesses by nature 
 through her peculiar location and en- 
 vironments. 
 
 Delaware Ship Canal. 
 
 The best possible means of getting the 
 unexcelled advantages of this locality 
 
 before the entire country will be the con- 
 struction of the Delaware ship canal as 
 a public enterprise by the Federal Gov- 
 ernment. It will bring a flood of in- 
 quiries, leading to investigation, which 
 must result in factory and population 
 immigration. When the digging of this 
 canal is followed by making a govern- 
 ment ship canal of the one now connect- 
 ing Delaware river with New York har- 
 bor, both canals being open to all with- 
 out tolls, this State, being midway of 
 this great system of inland navigation, 
 and near the coal supply, will be the best 
 situated of any for cheap production and 
 distribution. 
 
 To even a casual observer there is 
 every indication that the people of Wil- 
 mington see their opportunity and intend 
 to loyally and energetically co-operate 
 with each other in the interest of them- 
 selves, the city and the State, pulling to- 
 gether for Delaware. — Wilmington Even- 
 ing Journal. 
 
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