| Summary |
The purpose of this study is to examine John Humphrey Small's efforts in behalf of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway while he served the first district of North Carolina in the Congress of the United States for twenty-two years. Extensive research has been conducted by the author in Small's personal papers, the Congressional Record, congressional hearings and other government documents, newspapers, and periodical literature of the period. It is evident that the "father of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway" used every legitimate means at his disposal to receive congressional approval and appropriations for this waterway. The completion of a continuous, protected waterway along the Atlantic coast from Boston, Massachusetts to Key West, Florida fulfilled the dream of John Humphrey Small. At the beginning of the twentieth century there was a revival of enthusiasm in waterway development. Dozens of waterway associations were formed to lobby for particular projects. Small's membership and leadership in the National Rivers and Harbors Congress and the Atlantic Deeper Waterway Association were very important to him, and he used these organizations to highlight the need for an Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. North Carolina's first district lay along the Atlantic seaboard and the state's waterway transportation was very limited. This condition was the result of the treacherous character of Capes Hatteras and Lookout. If North Carolina's sounds separating the mainland from the Outer Banks were deepened and canalized, commercial expansion in the first district was likely. The proposed Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway could help the citizens of North Carolina and the nation by carrying bulky products and reducing the railroad congestion, which by 1906 was extensive. The European nations had set an example for inland waterway development to aid commercial development. Europeans also made use of their inland waterway for purposes of national defense. Adequate inland systems could provide passage for small draft warships and shipment of defense materials in time of war. John Small, J. Hampton Moore of Pennsylvania, and other proponents of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway emphasized this aspect of the project after 1917. During Small's twenty-two years in Congress not one link of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway was completed. However, the congressman was very diligent and not easily discouraged. He was able to accomplish several major steps, and the first of these was the recognition of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway by Congress. As early as 1902, Small introduced a bill to survey an inland waterway from Norfolk, Virginia to Beaufort, North Carolina. However, it was not until 1907 that Congress appropriated $550,000 for this inland waterway. In 1908 Small and Representative J. Hampton Moore secured authorization for a complete Atlantic Intracoastal survey from Boston to Key West in the rivers and harbors bill. |
| Summary |
In 1911 Small was seated on the House Committee on Rivers and Harbors. Shortly thereafter in 1912 and 1913, surveys for the waterway from Boston to Key West were submitted to Congress. After many efforts to bring a successful report, an appropriation to the Norfolk-Beaufort Waterway was proposed. Accordingly, $600,000 was included in the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1912 in order to purchase the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal in northeastern North Carolina. After thirteen years of work - including committee duty, lobbying, membership in associations, public addresses, and rivers and harbors hearing appearances - only $1,150,000 had been appropriated to the Norfolk- Beaufort link. Fortunately, the 1913 rivers and harbors bill included an $800,000 Norfolk-Beaufort designation; however, even after hours of defense of the project, Small was unable to obtain an appropriation in the 1914 lump-sum rivers and harbors bill. The 1915 hearings and debates before the Committee on Rivers and Harbors were more favorable to the waterway due to John Small's sincere advocacy in spite of "pork barrel" cries. For continuing improvement of the Norfolk-Beaufort Waterway $400,000,was designated. In 1916 his support of the links in the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway assured a $1,000,000 appropriation to the Norfolk-Beaufort link. The war year, 1917, brought success and failure to Small's waterway efforts. The early rivers and harbors bill did not pass; endless debate forestalled a vote. In April, 1917, Small moved to the chairmanship of the Committee on Rivers and Harbors. The chairmanship of this committee would have been a favorable augury for the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, if Small had not been limited by the outbreak of war in April, 1917. Consequently during his chairmanship Small stressed national defense instead of commercial development. In late 1917, $100,000 was appropriated to the Norfolk-Beaufort Waterway, and $5,000 was appropriated to purchase a second link in the waterway, the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. Small introduced two other bills during his chairmanship; these were Conservative measures that took into consideration the war conditions and did not include any project not recommended by the Army Corps of Engineers. Consequently not one of the three bills introduced during Small's chairmanship was defeated or even cut from the original recommendations set forth by the Committee on Rivers and Harbors. |
| Summary |
In 1918 an additional $500,000 was designated to the Norfolk-Beaufort waterway; likewise in 1919 the rivers and harbors bill gave $750,000 to the Norfolk-Beaufort project, $3,000,000 for the purchase of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal and authorized more detailed surveys of the Beaufort-Cape Fear link of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. Even with these accomplishments during his years in Congress, Small did not see the first link of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway completed before he was defeated in the Democratic primary of 1920. The Norfolk-Beaufort link, in which Small had always shown a special interest, was nearing completion by 1921, and progress was beginning on the Chesapeake and Delaware section. Finally Small's advocacy of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway was beginning to bear fruit. Since Small served North Carolina's first district before automobiles were commonly used and before airplanes were available, he considered money appropriated to develop waterway transportation a legitimate investment. After careful consideration of John Small's persistent efforts from 1899 to 1921 in behalf of this "enduring monument," the conclusion must be drawn that he was a devout believer in the commercial advantages of a continuous inland waterway along the Atlantic Ocean. His influence was of paramount significance in the campaign to develop and carry through to completion this important national project. |
| Local note | Joyner-"Presented to the faculty of the Department of History ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in History." |
| General note | "Presented to the faculty of the Department of History ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in History." |
| General note | Advisor: Joseph F. Steelman |
| Dissertation note | M.A. East Carolina University |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-137). |
| Genre/form | Academic theses. |
| Genre/form | Academic theses. |
| Genre/form | Thèses et écrits académiques. |
