St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-07-27
RIVER AT s A. M
THE DEEP WATERWAYS PROB
LEM

In the Forum for August, Mr.. E.
Y. Smalley presents a brief sum-
mary of the arguments that appeal
most strongly to the Northwest for
the construction of deep waterways
giving a continuous passage from
the lakes to tide water for the largest
lake craft. The typographical feat
ureS of the continent known as the
"great trough are described to
show the feasibility of the project.
The work so far accomplished is
briefly sketched, and the larger
question of the construction of new
and the enlargement of old passages
receives an interesting and inform
ing discussion. For over forty years
waterways that would furnish
transportation for the grain prod
uctS of the West have been a per-
ennial topic. Back in the fifties the
federal government constructed the
locks and canals that united Lake
Winnebago with Lake Michigan.
Wisconsin undertook the work that
would unite the Wolf, a tributary
of Lake Winnebago, with the waters
of the Wisconsin river at Portage.
The fond hope was entertained of a
day when steamers would load on
the Mississippi with the products of
the grain fields of the Northwest,
and deliver their cargoes for trans
Shipment at lake ports.
The improvements of the Fox
river have only served to turn the
wheels of industrial establishments,
while the Portage canal resulted
only in a great political scandal, so
far as material results were con-
cerned. The effort that was made
twenty years ago to defect the cur
rent, that was carrying the products
of our Western farms directly across
the continent, down the Mississippi
to meet the ocean steamers at New
Orleans, proved in practice to be
nothing but an iridescent dream
Now, with the price of farm products
hammered down under the inexora-
BILE blows of competition, the ques-
ton of cheap transportation is be-
coming again a vital one to the
Northwest; and Mr.. Smalley's prac-
teal presentation of the question,
with his discussion of routes and
cost, is one of deep interest not only
to us of the Northwest, but to the
bread winners and bread eaters of
the nation. It may be doubted if the
benefits resulting from reduced cost
of transportation inure entirely to
the producer. Reduced cost of pro-
duction certainly has not, and it is
practically certain that there is a
distribution of the benefits Of these
reductions shared by the consumers
as we'll as the producers of farm
products. 1t is this consideration
that makes the construction of deep
waterways from the lakes a matter
which should excite the interest of
the consumers of our products on
the Atlantic coast.
Any consideration of the subject
by congress should proceed entirely
on the project of the construction
of canals entirely within the lines
OF our own country. Mr.. Smalley
shows that the cost of constructing
canal around the falls of Niagara
by the Lockport route would be no
greater than the cost of deepening
the Welland canal. The engineers es-
innate the required expenditure at
So, 100000. This gives access from
Lake Ontario to the st. Lawrence
river, where, from Lake Francis.
there is a feasible canal route nv
way OF Lake Champlain to the Hud-
Son river, involving the construction
OF canal thirty-two miles in length
with only Twenty-Five feet of lock-
age, and the deepening of the pres
rnt canal from Whitehall to the Hud-
son, the estimated cost of which is
$51,0OO,0Q0. At a cost less than that
estimated for the construction of the
Nicaraguan canal, there would be
provided waterway from the lakes
TO the ocean for a tonnage ex-
ceeding largely that passing
through the Suez canal, which, I'M
der such conditions. would undoubt-
eddy be much increased.
The question Of revenue is not a