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ia1 tn A I r ct
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Entered as secondclass matter May 30th
1907 at the post oflice at Panama City Florida
ender the Act of Congress of March 3 1879
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PANAMA CITY FLA DEC 31 1908
hd
dO
Harbor Improvement
On Monday January 11th a meet
ing is to be held in Washington at
which the Board of Engineers re
quest that the facts showing the ne
cessity of immediate improvement of
the entrance to St Andrews Bay be
presented before them
This meeting is of vital importance
to all interested in the opening of
tthis
this magnificent harbor to the com
merce of the world and should beI
attended by every one interested in I
this important project It is not a
local matter confined to this Bay but
it directly affects all that territory
south of Atlanta Ga east of Mont
k
gomery Ala and west of Macon
gGa
Ga
GaWith
With the improvement of the Apa
lachicola river and its tributaries the
above mentioned territory in Ala
bama and Georgia would have a di
rect and economical way to reach a
deep water harbor and be in close
commercial touch with all the ports
of the world To the inhabitants of
that section the improvement of the
entrance to this harbor means a sav
ing in freight of a million dollars
yearly
From Atlanta to the Gulf and
from Montgomery to Macon every
citizen should take immediate and
active steps to be represented at this
meeting They should write their
Representatives in Congress their
Senators and all other public men
who can aid them requesting that
they appear before the Board of En
gineers and advocate the immediate
improvement of this harbors en
trance
By such action the Board would be
forcibly impressed with the impor
tance of the work and of the great
saving in freights that it would bring
to such a large and influential terri
tory Our West Florida citizens
V should also write their congressmen j
and see that they are fully posted as
to the requirements of this section of
the country and also see that they
are fully furnished with all the facts
as to amount of freights c that
would pass through this port
Senators Taliaferro and Milton will
do all in their power to cause the
Board to report favorably upon this
improvement but they must be back
ed by every possible fnct that may
have a favorable bearing upon the
case and by an attendance at the
meeting of public men that will show
the interest of the people in the sub
ject Let there be a full attendance
of those interested and a full pre
sentation of all the facts showing the
necessity of immediate action in the
premises
Presidential Primaries
Although nomination by the Pri
niarys undoubtedly has its defects
yet there is so much to the good j
about it that it will not easily be
eradicated from our political econo
my Like all new methods it is sus
ceptible of improvement and will be I
changed as time develops the neces 1
sity j
sityBut the principle is right and right II
will prevail Not only has the S3rstem i
been growing rapidly in these United i
States but it Iris been extended from
local to State nominations and now I
there begins a campaign to nominate
the president in that way
A late issue of the Boston Trans
i
cript has the following upon this
subject
How would the voters of the
United States like to wake up some
morning in June of a presidential <
year to go to primaries to indicate
their preference for the nominations j
of their respective parties Either j
States or districts might be made the
units The candidate getting the
largest amount of such State and
F
if riot Sjpnort WMilrl then become
he party choice the national con
ventions falling into secondary im i
portance useful chiefly for drafting I
the platform and for formally regis I I
tering the decrees already made by j
I
the people That presidential nomi I
nations will some time be made in
this way is not wholly unlikely C I
Edward Merriam the author of a j
work on Primary Elections re
cently published by the University of
Chicago Press makes the prediction
that this method is coming as the
culmination of our direct primary de
velopments
Is it not already under way This I
author recalls that this last year j
Wisconsin and Pennsylvania chose I
their delegates by a direct vote on
the presidential issue The next I
step he believes will be a I
definite provision for a prefer
ential vote on the presiden I
tial nominations everywhere with the
understanding that the delegates se
lected shall be bound in honor there
by Whether the direct vote system
will be carried so far as to provide
for tho nomination of a President by
the popular vote of the entire party
is problematical But at least States
are likely to choose their delegates to
the national convention by direct
primary and these delegates will be
instructed by the popular vote upon
the question of the presidential nomi
nation That would mean about the
same thing as the Wisconsin plan of
direct presidential preference ex
pressed by the direct voters in the
primary booths
Dr Merriam leads up to this con
clusion by a study of direct primaries
lie recalls that as long ago as the
sixties Pennsylvania experimented
with them and that in the South they
easily gained great headway because
there but one party had to be con
sidered It may be popularly recall
ed that in Mr Breckinridges famous
contest for renomination in 1894 the
returns came as if by conplete popu
lar vote in the various towns and
cities This was the first evidence
which many Northern people had of
the method of nomination that had
gained a foothold in a large section
of the country In the last ten years
it has spread rapidly Twothirds of
the States have enacted direct pri
mary laws It has brought its pro
blems and these the
1 JAV > kJJ llll VI HI VO 1 411 experimenting
I States are trying to solve
National Waterway Policy
The improvement of our waterways
is a National problem Two weeks
ago the President the Presidentelect
the VicePrcsident the Governors of
more than half the States the Speaker
of the House of Representatives Sen
ators Representatives and members
of important civic and commercial
associations from all over the coun
try united at Washington in express
ing their appreciition of the impor
tance of this question As Mr James
Bryce the British Ambassador said
we have in this country a system of
great rivers such as is to be found
nowhere else on the face of the earth
except in the tropical jungles of South
America This system of natural
channels of transportation ought to
be cotttpichen5 ely improved Our
great rivers like the Mississippi the
Missouri the Ohio the Columbia
should be made safely and easily
i navigable for freight carrying vessels
and should be connected by canals
into a complete waterway system
wherever the exigencies of freights
i transportation require A continu
ous inland channel parallel to the
i I Atlantic coast should be constructed
I from Boston to Florida The devel
opment of our waterways would help
I the railways by relieving them from
I the great flood of heavy and bulky
freight which congests them at cer
I tain times of the year with unfortu
1 nate effect upon their fast freight and
clcl
passenger service It would also aid
the shipper and the consumer by pro j
yiding a check on excessive freight
charges The need is a National i
I
one The development which it de I
mands should be Nationally carried II
on I
onIn
In 1S82 President
Arthur vetoed a
Rivers and Harbors Bill carrying ap f
propriations of eighteen million dol j
lars and the bill was passed over his
veto The Outlook that time char
acterized the in asure as one for the
Improvement of the Chances of Re
election of the present Members of
Congress For years the Rivers and j
Harbors Bill has preserved this char j
I
acter and has been known as the leg j
islative pork barrel It is true thati
in the last few years under the lea
dersbip of the present chairman of
1
the Rivers and Harbors Committee j
of the House of Representatives Mr i
Theodore E Burton the method of
legislating for waterway improve
ment has been greatly bettered Now i
no project is included in a Risers and i
Harbors Bill until it has been passed
upon by the engineers of the Army
and has received their approval But
even with this desirable change the
question of improving the waterways
of the country remains if we ma I
believe Speaker Cannon a matter of
compromise The process of pre
paring a waterways measure was de
scribed by him as that of throwing
into the pot projects from different
parts of the country in order to se
cure majority for the bill in Con
gress And according to Mr Can
non an important consideration in
the selection of the projects to be
included is the desire for reelection
on the part of individual Congress
men Such a method of procedure
may improve the chances of Con
gressmen for reelection but it will
never adequately and comprehen
sively improve the waterways of the
country What is needed is a Na
tional plan scientifically prepared and
efficiently carried out in accordance
with the dictates of National public
policy by an executive branch of the
Government Congress should pro
vide the moneywhether out of cur
I rent income or by a charge upon fu
ture generations in the form of a
bond issue is a matter for later con
sideration But the money should be
expended by the executive branch of
the Government free from the local
demands which inevitably make
themselves felt in Congressional ac
tion
By good fortune we have a model
ready to hand which may well be
followed in waterway development
The Reclamation Service a branch
i of the Department of the Interior is
engaged in the development of
twentyfive projects in sixteen dif
ferent States and Territories which
when completed will irrigate nearly
two million acres and will cost seventy
million dollars The location of the
i
j projects the selection of the lands
i to be irrigated and of the waters to
I be used upon them are determined
I by considerations of public policy and
good engineering practice There is
no com promise in the work of re
clamation except the compromise
i between the many things that ought
I to be done and the not unlimited
i i funds available for their doing No
I irrigation project is located at a cer
j tain point because the Senator or
Representative from that region is
I
powerful on a certain committee in
Congress and needs for his reelec
t tion the prestige of the securing ot
I that project for his district
Our vast waterway resources de
I mand development They should be
developed Nationally along the
lines laid down in the Reclamation
Service without compromise and
free from the influences of special
i interests and individual localities
The Outlook
p
I
I In the oninion of William E Curtis
the annual reports of the department
I
of agriculture ought to he published
before Thanksgiving day every year
in order to furnish material for
I Thanksgiving sermons This years
I report is certainly well adapted to
such use as it gives the farm products
of 1908 as 87778000000 the most
I extraordinary amount in the history
I of the world It is about four times
i the value of the products of the
mines of the United States including
i coal and petroleum Corn is repor c a
at 2643000000 bushels worth SI616
i
i 000000 hay is valued at 8621000000 y
I wheat 660000000 bushels at 8620
j 000000 oats 789000000 bushels at
8321000000 Thi value of the cattle i
sold and slaughtered totals nearly
I
3000000000 and the dairy product is I
reported at 8800000000 The farmer i
stills occupies a front seat in the na
tions industrial household
ij
Congressman Sparkman says that j
from the expression he has heard and i
from the conditions with which he is I
familiar he entertains little hope that I
congress will have a general river
and harbor appropriation bill this ses I
sion though he believes there will be
an emergency bill In view of the
large treasury docit it is evident that
congress will be disposed to exercise
the moat rigid economy this session l
and many projects of the highest
merit will have to wait for more I
prosperous times The great falling
off in the internal revenue receipts j
at a time when the check in our
foreign trade has seriously reduced
tithe amount of the customs receipts l
coupled with the past extravagance
of the government makes retrench
ment a necessity TimesUnion i
By direct information from Tally
oJ
bassee se learn that the State Su
preme Court has rendered a decision
VTwhich declares in effect that all statu
tes providing for state aid to schools
in the state are unconstitutional
This decision comes as a severe blow
to the public schools of our state and
iin
places them in about the conditions
they were ten or twelve years ago
Times0ourjer Marianna
S
i
r 4 4 iT i
W R Flowers Lumber Co
DOTHAN ALA
We Handle Luwber Our Prices are Right
We can Furnish Mixed Cars of Framing
Ceiling Moulding Finishings Hardware
Write Us and Let Us Name You Prices
W R FLOWERS LUMBER CO
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F B CLINGO
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Dry Goods Notions Shoes Furnish
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Stoves Enameledware Staple
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M B JENKS
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Hardware Enameledware Staple Fancy
Groceries and Feed Stuffs Etc
i Panama City Fla
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I A J GAY A HOGEBOOM R L McKENZIE
PRESIDENT VII PnERIJET SKCTKKAS
Panama City Real Estate Co
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i IMCOKPORATED < n J
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i Houses For Rent
Farm Lands City Lots For Sale
Insurance Loans and Investments
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Panama City Florida
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A G ClIANDLEE IL T QUAULES c M OlIANDLEIS
i GULFVIEW LAND COMPANY
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j i REAL ESTATE
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I Business Beach and City Lots Acreage
I and Timber Lands
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Lots in Glenwood Addition to Panama City
I a Specialty
Lots Sold Cheap on 500 Monthly Payments
Panama City Fla
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Bank of Panama City I
This Bank is now open for business
A General Banking business conducted
Savings Accounts received from 100 up
Start an Account now It will pay you
J
WCHolleyCo
Successors to C E Brackin Co
DEALERS IN ALL KINDS OF
Notions Feed Stuffs Etc
Call and see them as they deliver freight to all points on the
bay in and up to Five Dollars or more except feed
ST ANDREW FLORIDA