Council Bluffs bugle. [volume] (Council Bluffs, Iowa) 1860-1868, 1868-12-10
NUMBER %



For d long time the subject on .
Idirect water communication with
/ the Atlantic, has been discussed In
| which, Il was proposed TO connect
the Ohio river with the Atlantic by
way Of the Kanawha and James nv
srs, by tha construction of slack
water and canal navigation. So feas.
ible does t.a.a project seam that iaierly
Ii has excited considerable Attention
and last winter the legislature ofthis
State, seeing the great ad dvali fages 60
be gained by direct water mn...ni-
cation with the Atlantic, passed
Joint resolutions recommending the
construction Of ship canal 30 as to
connect the Wisconsin and Fox riy-
ers, and by this means, extend this
communication to tie Mississippi
river, and asking Congress to paii-
struct the work Us a national Inn
provesnent. The following article
in relation to the proposed improve
ment we And In late number of the
State Register;
"The produce OF the Weat must
always sell for its market value at
the seabdApd, and 1t matters little to
the consumer when he pays priee,
what proportion the cost of produc-
ton bears to that of transportation.
The case is different, however, with
the producer, for In the absence Of
the very best facilities for transpor-
tation, the agrieuiturist must be
loser, whether produce prices arc
buoyant pr the opposite. The intel
iigent farmer having isom fong years
OF practical experience acquired u
thorough knowledge of his business,
and having provided himself with
all the machinery and appliances
which human ingenuity can devise,
is poorly satisfied when looking
from his stand point as a skiilful
agriculturist, he lees the fruits of his
labor wasted upon route either cir
cuitous Or lily adapted 10 the trafc
thrown upon it. The thoughtful
farmer cannot, therefore, fail to real
ize the fact, that la the selling sea-
sons, at either high or low prices,
imperfect transportation must be a
moth which silently eats away q
portion of his profits. The transpor-
tation question Is, therefore, most
efaphatically q farmers question,
and viewed in all its points as legiti-
mate study OF the agrieulturist as
those involving the cheapest and
best means OF raising wheat, corn,
cattle, or wool. The farmer produces
all these articles of consumption for
money, and the highest price can on.
ly reach his purse through the attain
ment of the minimum cost of trans
portation. Well aware that years
delay of an important work tending
greatly to cheaper transportation
involved the loss of millions in the
moving of a single harvest OF the
great northwest, Governor Merrill
and q number Of members of the
Iowa Legislature, together with other
distinguished citizens of our State,
sttended The Convention of the
friends of the Fox and Wisconsin
rivers improvement, Of which we
gave report in our weekly iss se of
October 18th. The wheat crap alone
Is already one Of gigantic proper
tions, with but small proportion of
our nnrth western country under cul
tivation, and the rapid growth Of the
country must swell it to almost In
calculable importance. To provide
for the cheap and speedy Transports
ton of this crop, Is well worth the
study of thousands of our farmers
and the expenditure of millions of
dollars. Reason and experience join
In declaring that this can only be
accomplished by using first class
water communication as trunk lines,
with the numerous iron roads and
inferior water lines as branches, and
the high-roads and by-roads of the
countryyas the larger and smaller
twigs Of the great bread fruit trees,
as they might he termed, aud which
are capabla df nodfishing nations
Thanks to the liberality of the Gen.
eral Government and the enterpris-
Ing spirit of the people of Iowa, the
main iron lines of the State have not
only attained a healthy and useful
growth, but they have already sent
out numerous rapidly growing late
raj branches. It is time now that
the main body of the tree should be
looked to, and that Iowa never yet
back ward in works or deeds of State
or National Importance, should take
an active and cooperative part in
Its development. Assuming that
the immediate advantage to be de-
rived by the establishment Of first
class water lines from the MissiSip-
pi River 10 the Lakes, lies In The
cheap and quick movement OF the
wheat harvest directly Eastward to
the seabord, another benefit TO be
der. we'd from these improyments
Will be the competition such lines
VIII affOrd with the valuable but
circuitous water route down the Mis-
sissfppi and up the Atlantic coast.
Actual experience shows that In
direct competition between the best
railroad and water lines OF this
country, both working under expe-
rieneed and skiliful management,
the latter is able 80 carry produce at
about one-third OF the lowest rates
that railroad company can posi-
bly, maintain. To use an illustration
near home, we will send thousand
bushels of wheat from Des Moines
to Chicago or any other Convenient
point on Lake Michigan BY railroad.
under the present railroad tariffs at
Q cost OF % cents per bushel or 20
mills per ton per mile. reekghing 90
bushels to the ton. Good water lines
carry produce with nrofit, nc cost
to the shipper OF fr6nl 5 10 Q mills
per ton per mile. lit is estimated
that the Fox and Wisconsin river
improvement viii be able, when
completed, to CARRY produce at the