, 1874-03-13
takon fully explained tho wlolo matter In Ques-
tIuu, anl tlsproyol tho oharaos Of collualon with

tnkon fully explained tho wllolo 'mnttor In qnes-
tlun, and llsprovodsh tho ohnraes Of collua'on with
JAMES AND nArAwllA nlvnns CANAL.
OCT. az, ut Richmond, Va, and Gath, at
Ohnrloatoh. Y. vi q lnrgo number Of por-
aona wsro heard regarding tho advanta-
Sid towards tho compilation OF tho canal fioaiguod
to connect tho wators Of tho James and
KAnawlh Hvors. "A number OF gontlomon who
appeared specified tho iHn,enso advantages to
na qes ao9aSs 81 So soah WhoS oS @ @
canal would pass, IN coal iron, copper, salt, aud
timber. Prominent among those wero Com: NJ.
r. Msnry (siuco doad), Con- J. D. 1mhodon.
aity, Gan. Thomas .. Docoeh, ooi. 9. 8. Curing
ton, and aon. W. g. Wiokhaul.
Oct. 80 and 81, ut st. Louis, oloBod the acoond
campaign. and hero tho arguments woro noarly
all lii favor OF tho immediato improvement Of
the Missisaippi Nivor from st. Paul to New Or.
leans, and, to q mnn, in favor Of building what
is known as !" tho Fort Ht. Philip Dhnal," from
tho MissiBsippt, below New Orleans,. to- point
OIL tho Gulf Of Mexico, instead Of attempting
longer to koop aufllcient depth Of .wator In tho
mouths Of tho river to admit ships drawing eYen
1a fent OF water.
Doc. az was occupied In hearing whnt
NEW ORLEANS w.
interests wantod, aud this. with Blttings on the
30th and 31Bt md ride to the mouth OF tie
rivor, ended the travelling investigation
Now Orleans poop1e examined wore OF three
distinct caBBcs. Those WHO wanted clio Fort st.
Philip Canal hnilt (tho steamship mon), tnoae
open for vessels drawing 18 foot tbe anal! slip-
owners), aud tho people who arc satisfied aa
things nro now 0he toHbost companies)
As said at tic beginning OF thlH letter, IL 1s
impossible to state what rocommonuan@ons ION WI wlll
10 made. The Comluttoe ant twentyl-aye, days
IN all, aud examined 12l persons In oil, thirteen
Of whom appeared tho second time. ~
TUE COMPLAINT MOTT coMMoALY MADE
BY tho advocates Of cheap transportation iR,
tint the mlddlemon charge 10 much for
handling grain and other freights that 1arge
percentage OF the cost Of transportation from
Clio producer to tho consumer, or TO tie port OF
shipment for Europe, iB tho cost Of trnnsporta-
ton through tho cities aud haudlinE II.
Through froghtB Rro now greatly reduced
from the charges Of former years. willie the
amounts Of f1oight In tonB haa largely Increased.
The General Manager Of Fast-trelght Limo
stated In hiB testimony that there
ALREADY EXISTED ABUNDANT FACILITIES
for moving all tho grain Of tho country; that
tho Now York canals wore capable OF III annual
tonnage Of II 1,000 900 eastward bound during the
200 days Of navigation, while the entire aotnal
tonnage on nil the cana1a il Now YORK both ways
+ Tho capacity Of tho wator-routos-by canal,
tho st. Lnwronco, and tho Mississippi-to tho
Hoa-bonra s oquai to 5000 tons por day, and Of
different points is about 10000. o.-making . total
equally distributed over tho time. 49,,
This capacity for movement, allowing for 300
days rail and 20O days water transportation an
nually, equals 24,0oo,oo tons or soc, 900 GOO
bushels ppr ann,l,n, The total cereal prodGc-
tiou Of tic United States in 1871, an shown by
tIo returns at tho Agricultural Bureau, waa
l,62s, ri, 100 bushcls, Of which 35,ooo.o00 was
raised on tho Pacific coast. OF this amount,
Ga, ,705 801 bushels. or 1,7o4, 110 tons, waa OK
ported, leaving for consumption 1,470, $50, $40
bushels, or 97.44 bushols per capita OF popaa-
ton.
The following tahloa show the
1EoE1pTs AND Bu1raiENTs OF GRAIN
in bushels* during tho years 1871 mud 1879 nt
tho principal ocean ports, showing tho relative