The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1882-02-23
The Erie Canal Problem.

It is evident that the canals of this
State are rapidly coming to a crisis.
Last year the revenues fell to $685.
264 81, the lowest since 1925, while the
expenses of maintenance and opera
ion was 81 ,02S, ,907 sc, showing a def
cheney of $205, GAG. 40. A surplus of
revenue in 1880 amounting to $311,-
1870 afforded the means of meeting
necessary expenditures for last year,
but for the current year these must be
kept within the limits of the revenue of
1881. 1t is thought that 1t will be pos
sible to make the ends meet, but the
case is growing worse. The revenue
for the season of 1881 was only $685.
$50, and it is estimated that, for the
fiscal year ending with September 30, it
will not exceed that amount, which will
certainly be inadequate for the main
tenance of the canals for the year fol-
lowing under the existing constitutional
restriction. In the opinion of Canal
Auditor Place, - unless some changes
can be made, the canals will have to be
closed by July 1, 1888, at the latest. ="
The falling off in business for the year
1881 does not by any means correspond
with the reduction in revenue from
tolls. The tonnage carried was 5, 1885,
sos, against 6,457, $3.50 in 1880, de-
crease of twenty per cent, while the
receipts from tolls were $632, $3.50,
against 81, 155, 419 in 1880, a decrease
of over forty-fve per cent. The ton
mage exceeded that of 1878, but the
revenue was less by $3.50, ,968. This is
far from verifying the prediction that
reduction of tolls and the total aboli-
ton of those on west-bound traffic
would result in such an increase Of
business that there would be no loss to
the State. The freight charges on mer-
chandise coming East, including the
State tolls, were materially lower than
ever before, but the result is not visible
in an increase of business. The charges
on west-bound freight were consideraS
bly, higher without tolls than they were
for the preceding year with the tolls i'm
cluded.
The causes Of the falling off in trans
portation by canal are easily traced. In
the first place, the shipments of grain
and breadstuhs from Buffalo fell from
II, 909, 964 bushels in 1880 to 81, 151, 761
bushels in 1881. The tolls on this time
alone were reduced from 800, 190 to
1920, 444. The competition of the rail-
roads, with the low rates occasioned by
the war between the trunk lines, ac-
CDuAtS III bAAo III tfbtb Bhb bAACAt Wbo -
large decrease in grain shipments from
the West, owing to a deficiency in the
yield and an apparently lesseDed de-
mand for export. The receipts at this
port were 135, ,601.59 bushels in 1881,
against 161, ,127, 1892 in 1880, and the ac-
tual expectation fell from 122, ,597, ,913
bushels in the earlier to 90,571 ,083 in
the later year. A similar decrease Is
shown for the other Atlantic ports.
The cause of the late decrease Of bust
ness on the Erie Canal may possibly be
regarded as temporary, but its prospects
are threatened by others Of a permanent
character. How far railroad COMPETE
ton may be pushed hereafter during the
season of navigation can only be con-
jectured, but the improvement of facili-
ties for the transportation Of grain from
the West by way Of the Canada canals and
the St Lawrence River, and by way of the
Mississippi, are practically matters of
certainty. The situation gives fresh inn
portance to the proposition now pending
for a removal Or all tolls on the Erie Ca
nal and its maintenance at the expense
pf the people Of the State, ~ \. TINES