New-York tribune., 1878-03-01


A question of very great Importance, not
only TO the people of this city and state, but
to the producers of all the Western and the
consumers of all the Eastern States, was fairly
placed before the Assembly in the strong
speech of Dr. /. !. Hayes, whose concurrent
resolutions to make the canals free came up
for consideration. His speech set forth clearly
the necessity of the canals to the prosperity
of New-Iork, and urged with much force that
this State, which has been made so prosperous
by the Erie Canal, and studded with line of
cities such rs no other state can boast, could
well afford to pay tcnfold the cost of main
tanning tho canal in order TO increase its elli
cheney.
Ii is true the speech might be criticised in
is estimate of the Importance of railways in
modern commerce. Somebody once sagcly re-
marked that "hc had noticed that Mature had
"placed nayigablc river leading TO every
"grcat city," DR.. Hayes can also afford to be
laughed at little for his claim that import
ant commercial cities have not been created
by railways. With respect to the long traffic,
the railway system of this country is only
twenty-five years old, and the country had
been largely developed, and its chief centres
of commerce fixed, before through transpOrta-
ton by railway became important. Very few
cities of commercial consequence can be
named which were not relatively important
before the railway system existed, and
there is nothing very profound in the
observation that, when men began to
build railways, they usually built them from
cities already eystng to other cities already
existing. So tie cities which formerly had
the greatest advantages i'll transportation by
water have usually enjoyed also superior adj
vantages for rail transportation, and it Is not
strange that they have generally kept IN ad
vance of other cities which, without water,
had inferior rail facilities. The fact remains
that the railways perform very large and in
crcasing share of transportation, and if COM
binat0n between them were not possible and
probable, the argument for free water routes
would be much less strong than it is.
The great argument for free canals is, that
railway combination has thus far been checked
and restrained IN no other way. Block the Erie
Canal and the st. Lawrence, and it is plain that
the great trunk roads would soon make COM
mon cause against the public, and fix rates to
suit themselves. Thus far, no combination
has, endured, because all the railways were
subjected 10 water competition III some de-
gree, and some much more than others. When
they agree, it has been impossible for them to
extort as much as they want, aud the ine-
quality of the competition to which they
are subjected has made it impossible Tor
them to agree for long. Now it happens that
combination between railways, being necessa-
rily formed on the basis of mutual conccs-
sion, is necessarily dsadvantageOus to this
city and TO other cities of this State. The
only protection which they have is that which
the canals afford, and it is their clear interest
to make that protection as efficient as pos
sible Mr.. Hayes is right III declaring that
the people of this State can better afford to
pay ten times the cost of maintaining the
ErO Canal, if thereby they can strengthen
themselves, first, against the evil influence of