National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-01-16
THE QUESTION OFTHE DAY
SECOND SESSION. OF fHB xRAMsroD,
TATI0N CONTENTION.


TATION CONTENTION.
AN ELABORATE Address BY COL. D. n
| FROBEL, OF oEORGIA-DIvERsyrY o.
OPINION AMONG THE DELKGATKs-AA
JoRITY, MINORITY AND INDEPENDKN.
REPORTS FROM THE CoNhITrHE Of
WATER ROUTES.
The second session Of the National Couvsntio
Of the American Chsap Transportation Associa
ton was called TO order q 10 o'clock yestsrds
morning BY Hon. Josiah Quincy. the prssidsal
It was expected that 0ovsEnoe james A>S0it1
Of Georgia, would deliver an address % wats
routes but In his absence ne task dsvolved Hpe
Colonel Frobel, Of the same state, who was intrs
ducsd, and delivered an address Of over ons Aoa
| IN duration, which was an exhaustive treatise q
the subject, full Of general, geographical a.
statistical information on the subject. On begin
OF cheap trsnsportstion, and ssssmsd that Wsts
| Afforded the cheapest and best modes; that canal
| had not fallen into disuse, bat were to-day th
great need Of the country. and hsr nrsst Aeps II
| II . trs for : time the slow.plodding beas z
the Eric canal was obscarod BY Its moro pretsa
onstrsted that she carries more freight than q
largest railroad train, and ID In reality dom
more for the industries Of the country than all III
ssa. - he r.sssrsd 70 tSs isos dat tSs S.stisi
islands or France could discard canals, % - pr
Of their territory 10 distant from the seAbc1.d
Of canals and Improved nsyi9stion, s.d thsy q
e i AID no ser: q land d moFs thaa 1sses
.-Ths recent eonneetion OF the Daaube aaa ma.
has proved 20 greet . suceess that Il has eAresdJ
sra..feIred he gr.inery q Westen EarsPe me-
provinces, and the engineers Of the Gar Arc non
laying out system Of canals which VIII emngsel
all the n.vigahls vatsrs in those cred i1leat
empire, % that the farmer living upon tie Volos
or Don, or any other river IN Eastern Russia, may
ship his grain without transfer to any ofthe grss'
manufacturing centres Of Western Europe.
This fact furnishes the reason Of the sndes1
falling of Of the grain trade. and tell q gu
soon II We would meet the issue practically, and
avert tho danger successfully. A persietsst ef
fort has been made to impress tho public with tho
idea that railroad. have superseded All 6nes
Apsted tho fsllacy. Some few canals which
were badly planned and worse managed failed
but look At the failures Of railroads nnsoeially,
and you will hnd that such failures far exceed
He explained the abandoament Of the Southern
~, ssd shs Ss for sPSs By
certain seasons Of the year, which made them
very expensive. II tho great national water
line, were built shey sSS always Y. M employ
but the streams arc ffisd with snavs and sand.
bars, end none Of them have an unobstractesi
outlet to the ses. This 10 why sells Tor from
one to two dollars per bushel In one part Of the
country and 10 burned for fuel in another. This
!, the reason why we import iron while our hills
the mines and iron AWAY from them.
There are railroads between the West and the
scaperts: but although some Of them, as in the
case OF Savannah, are nearer to tho centre Of the
Western trade, st. Louis, than New York, yet
not one dollars worth Of foreign goods find their
way from Savannah to st. Louis, nor dos one
single buslcl Of grain pass ont Of the Country in
that direction. The solution Of the mystery was
in two words,
CHEAP TRANSPORTATION.
The three modes of transportation were wagon,
rail and water; the frst being the most expensive,
the latter the cheapest. According to scientific
between them. -
Tho difference between transporting ton Of
freight on the Eric canal and the Now York Gen.
trail railroad Is four mills per mile or nearly ono
hundred per cont. In favsr Of the canal, and when
steam Is introduced there will be further roduc-
tion Of sixtyfi per cent; making the actual DIFF
ference something over four hundred per cent.
The people Of tho West understand this question
of water transportation, and tho people Of the
other sections are beginning to wake up to The
fact that the development OF their Industries de-
pend upon cheap food, and consequently q cheaper
intercourse with the West. The two sections arc
connected by rail, and yet they arc confronted
bnrning fifty thousand bushels of corn day, it
was selling in other parts Of the country for slIo
o bushel.
Millions of bushels Of wheat remain upon the
hands Of the consumer, while In the South -four
was worth twelve dollars per barrel. Is any one
with these facts before them, prepared to say our
fny years or more o feasible route for an unob-
structed canal has been sought to run from our
northern frontier 10 tho southern boundary Of
he Eric canal sns to shs he Sy
fsrred, saying that, worked rs It Is by the slow
process Of horsepower. and froEen tive months Of
the best railroads in the country, and as freight
carrier is superior to them oil. 3
He then gave some Interesting statieical In
iormstSn IN rHgsra 70 rns sons, d sS o. me
benefits which had accrued from II by tAs roduc-
tion in tho cost Of transpsststtou, b nnNt Of
Mhiss he suotsdh hs q @
ment Of exports and imports In New York and
Philadelphia, beginning I'm ls1o and following up
each decade, which showed an immeno proper
tomato increase for New York, from the fnct that
the Eric canal brought to her the breaastufis Of
the West, which was the principal article Of ex-
port. The report OF the canal commissioners was
quoted to sustain the statement.
It has been said by some that II the Eric canal
had not been built In ISIS It never wuald have
been built. He thought that likely, for Il the Erie
sought .ome other outlet, and Now York city and
State would have been rs poor to-day - any Of
them. She mover could have built her A,SOo miles
earnod in one '; year ,am exeeedlns. y nearly
ten million dollars, the original cost Il its con-
struclion.
He could readily understand how articles Of value
and small bulk and travel should seek Qnick tran
cit, but those Of great bulk and little value he
The average time consumed by heavily laden
canal-boats, drawn by horses, between Buffalo
and Troy Is ten days. The average time for
freight between ~ the same PS,s Z two 70
canal tl.sl; by road, Sleo; 30 that to ave eight
days in the transit the shipper would have to pay
gH cents additional upon each bashcl Of corn:
Estimating the corn ut 81 per bushel, this would
be at the rate Of ssS per cent. per moRh for this
small saving of time. As specific measure he
favored the building Of the
NIAGARA sHIP CANAL, !
which will give an outlet from the ulpsr lakes
10 the sca without transfer Of freigR He had
Chesapeake and Ohio, because, - yet, they had
failed to form continuous water connection with
the navigeble waters Of the West; but they had
sections through which they pass.
ths. the waters Il he @sssapp "a gulf are
sss they az and nos ,apps
and you will see vast country bounded on one
:pp This III .sesion ni i divided 81 n:
range, which runs nearly parallel with the sea
lhofe and divides the waters which MI into tho
Gulf Of Mexico from those which 1oW into the
Atlantic ocean, separating, in fae, theErsat food
producing sections nom the rsgion q mineral,
cotton. nee and other products.
This section requires millioas q bsshsls Of
grain to supply Il now, and would 900 require
many millions in edition u Il epalA D supplied
ehespef than II can b. produced, - ysS thoss
who argue that the Lake rolts q the Mis-
All thls produce, needed iof hone Ssunpsiea,
mast b ihipped through thsee efrsal1e foiase y
New York or New OTleans, thencs tnfnsfsered 70
zone point along H. oastand elsevhsfe thea seat
into the interior BY rail for diso1D1taoa. a
shspter was thea devoted 70 rsiirsab b foreign
sad hOv ne o.. q Rl..i. oatSaaSd Eaglaed
md ovssfeachsd IL United States = ths grain
tfada. s-tr
In Ten ysszs - szpsets II sss lhstn pro
ducts hal fhllsn % Ahy-ax nillton4 e dellars
and oar commerce bssa % dsp,oselas, End the
Sss ben ssSsd 70 insssposs s. sssi1S . Sssssst
our eomnsrsisl marine hon bsinE susps don shs
oesan. TIE West ooald s1Qply fse1asts enoagh
y soptcy q 1illiqo tooaaSS 661ed - vhAe Ne
now have, bit ~ Lack the nseas - oofting thoes
pIodaets tc the scseosrd sAeeelE - shse e
more routes; the bsrf1R 9 Nla6le must Be-
NON The Northwest 70 tks - Ass3ai 3 Sss1ed
NON the Chesapeake 70 tho Ohio I'D oas iron
The Tsnnseses, through oeeegie 20 y esssn: Oh
Mls1isslppi, and that Eivsf opsnsd f3n ths mo1n-
taips 70 The Cali Of 0ex1oo.
Dc this, and the hfe-g giving paleo ~ tfS1o Vill
0nee Nefs thfoo through all tha l0nd, bringing
with Il prosperity, eoufsatA0t cd peaee. He
citsd the proposed routes q AZ The nsas Showed
estfmStin3 n roduofion Of IAN aonka - kUeksi ~