The record-union., 1892-02-08

cents per bushel by water, of which from
three-fourths to seven-eighths of a cent
was paid to trim the corn in the vessels
hold and tow the ship out of the Chicago
River: and yet the rails met this compe-
utlon. Mr.. Hill concluded by saying !:
Surely, if they GO three cents further
downward, your vessel might as well be
on the dry-dock as anywhere else, so far
as carrying the corn is concerned"
Mr.. Hill, as an expert in transporta-
ton, both by water and land, thus de-
ciares that the future of competition be-
tween these two methods is to be settled
permanently in favor of land carriage.
Proceeding, Mr.. Hill again remarks that
the Government appropriates large sums
OF money to improve the navigation Of
the rivers. For nine years of his life, he
says, he was engaged in boating on the
Mississippi River-and now, as an old
river man, he declares that the Govern
ment pays out annually more money to
improve the river between Minneapolis
and Keokuk than all the boats plying be-
tween these points are earning. A still
stronger statement is found in this re-
markable address: There are other
rivers" said Mr.. Hill, ''upon which there
IS an annual appropriation, even in our
State, where 1 would be glad to sell all
the boats on the river for half the appro-
prlation, and deliver them, too. Now if
this is true of the river it is but question
OF time when it will be true of the lakes"
In further elucidation of the subject the
speaker declared that 30 per cent of the
receipts of lake transportation was con-
sumed an the cost of handling. He de-
clared that the rates will not permit this,
and that lake transportation cannot stand
| it.
But the most remarkable statement
found in the expressed opinions of this
expert relates to the coming importance
OF Baltimore as an export point. He de-
clared that if it were not for New York's
financial strength Baltimore would now
take the export of grain from New York.
This is in part due to the high terminal
charges at the city of New York.
The economic possibilities of land car
riage by rail have depths which have not
yet been sounded. Rails can be laid
everywhere. Rivers and lakes are fixed
and immovable. When freight is once
/
lifted on the cars the cars themselves can
be moved to terminals cheaper than the
cost Of handling by either lake or river
steamers. Every year has witnessed
reduction in the rates of land carriage
! because every year has witnessed an in
crease in the tonnage. Given a railroad
| having sufficient tonnage to run one
freight train each way per day, and you
have the right of way, the roadbed, the
rails and the rolling stock constructed
for the use OF one train per day. Given
tonnage which will permit the departure
of a freight train once each hour and you
have twenty-three railroads against
which no fixed charges can be made: that
is to say. twenty-tour freight trains
day over the same track is equivalent to
twenty-four railroads with business for
one freight train per day. Thus the pos
sibilities of cheap carriage by rail appear
to be limitless.
Chicago owes its supremacy as the COM
merciaI metropolis of the West to water
| carriage. If Mr.. Hill is right, and there
can be but little doubt of the accuracy of
his prediction, the fact that Chicago is
connected by water with the ports of the
world will cease to be a factor in her
greatness. 1t would not, therefore, be at
all surprising to find the export trade of
the United States seeking an Atlantic port
outlet, thus eliminating the factor to
which all the greatness of Chicago is at
trbutable
Cheap railroad rates are referable al
ways to the volume of business. The
history of rail transportation on this coast
furnishes an illustrative example. From
the first year Of the construction of the
Central and Union Pacific Railroads, the
first overland line of rail, to the present
time, there has been gradual decrease
in the cost Of transportation. Our fruit
growers are sometimes restive over the
rates of transportation charged by car
load from Sacramento to Chicago. The
rate last year was, in train loads, $500 per
car. They have perhaps forgotten that
the first shipments of green fruit made
from this State to Eastern markets was at
the rate of $1,000 per car. Double the
tonnage Of fruit export and there will be
a larger profit at $3.50 per car than the $500
rate now affords