St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-18

now required between Lake Erie and
the sea the new canal system looks
forward to but five.
The inventor of this new lock,
which it is already clear will revolu-
tionize the canal systems of the
world, is Chauncey N, Dutton, a
well-known engineer of Pittsburg.
Mr.. Dutton was originally associat-
ed in this project with Engineer G..
w. T. Ferris, the builder of the great
Ferris wheel at the worlds fair.
Later MI. Ferris retired and Mr.. Dut-
ton has pushed his great enterprise
entirely alone. He has secured the
backing of eminent engineers and
heavy capitalists, and the project
is now well under way. The COM
pany has been chartered by the
Canadian parliament and incor-
porated in this country.
Associated with Mr.. Dutton are
John Bogart, formerly state engi-
neer; Gustav Lindenthal, chief en-
gineer of the North River Bridge
| the new warehouse trust; Henry B.
Slavin, of the American Dredging
company; Smith W. Weed, vice pres
| ident of the Nicaragua canal COM
| pany; Daniel H. Burnham, world S
| fair director of public works; Luther
Allen, president of the Globe Ship
Building company, Cleveland; James
! Andrews, Capt. Eads' old partner,
Pittsburg; Samuel w. Allerton, of
the Big Four, of Chicago; William
| B. Dean, st. Paul; T. Fisher, Chi
cago; G. G.. Hartley, president Of the
| Rapid Transit company, Duluth; T.
w. Hugo, president of the chamber
| president of the Daisy Milling COM
pany, Superior; T. C. Keefer, for
merly president of the American
Society of Civil Engineers; P H.
Kelly, st. Paul; Luther MendenhaH,
| president of the First National bank,
Duluth; George H. Slower, New
! York city; T. L. Vance, Milwaukee;
r. J. Wemyss, West Superior; o. D.
Witherell, president of the Globe
National bank, Chicago, and II. C.
Burleigh.
LEGISLATION NEEDED.
The necessary legislation looking
| to the construction of this canal has
been set on foot, Senator William B.
Allison, Of Iowa, Introducing the
measure in the United States SEN
OTTO apd Paprocaptat tive Tobr noI
zell, of Pittsburg, in the house. A
! bill authorizing the construction of
| that part of the canal which lies in
| New York state is now before the
legislature at Albany.
Concerning this great enterprise
and it's effect upon the commerce
of the country I talked at length
the other evening with its protector.
| Mr.. Dutton has given the last five
| years to a study of every detail of
| the problem, and is probably at the
present time the best posted man on
this and kindred subjects in the
| United States. He said:
''The great commerce of this coun-
| try must move between the great
lakes and the seaboard. Careful
analysis of official reports indicates
volume Of through traffic approx
mating 60,000,000 tons annually, of
which less than one-twentieth moves
via the Erie canal and the ST. Law
renee, at a cost approXimating 81 sc
| per ton, plus rehandling and COM
missions, and the remainder moves
by rail at double, or more than
double, the water rates. Accurate
statistics of either the volume OF
the cost of the through freight
movement are not obtainable, but
the above is close approximation
sustained by the best obtainable
data. No well-informed person
thinks that the present freight rates
yield excessive returns for the serv.
ices rendered by the carriers, but
none the less they bear heavily or
the producers, and impede the de.
velopment of the country and the
expansion of it's commerce
Better and cheaper means Of con
Quoting transportation are demand
ed by every interest.
1T must be borne in mind that thu
great productive region-agricult
ural, mining and manufacturing
west of the Allegheny mountains
far removed from the seaboard
that the articles to be exported
must be brought by rail (the canal.
cut no fgure) to our seaports fol
shipment, and that by the amour
of the freight charge we are handi
capped in competition with other ex
porting nations, in which, with few
exceptions, the centers of produc
ton are right on the seaboard o.
adjacent to it.
The Western producers, who pa,
the freight, are, to a. man, dissatis
fed with existing transportation
conditions. They know that the,
pay $75,O00,0OO yearly more 70
freight and an equal amount TO
commissions and rehauling NOR
than they need to pay; that sucl
conditions prevent them from uSin,
their acres to the best advantage
because the grosser crops canot b
|
their crops, which they must sell
are forced down, and the prices O
the necessaries which they mus
buy are raised by these freigh
charges; that these transportatiol
: conditions make their labor unprof
liable, and they are determined t
have relief.
: ''They have discussed an outlet vi
Hudson's Bay, but that route, Will
short, is too cold; via the Mississippi
and New Orleans, but that route j
2 long and hot, and by way of the S.
: Lawrence and Montreal, which rout
t is short, neither too hot nor too col
| during the season Of navigation, bu
' which, like the Southern and Arcti
[. outlets, does not reach the center
S of domestic consumption on the Al