The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-12-12
A KLONDIKE OF COMMERCE
one-third of the Population of the
United States Dependent on the
Great Lakes.

The enormous traffic of the Great
Lakes is well brought out in an article
in Ainslee's Magazine by Arthur j.
Stringer, who writes
"The Great Lakes have become
great artery of our richest commercial
blood. One-third of the population of
the United States is dependent on
these lakes for their export and i'm
port trade. This waterway taps the
richest and most prosperous agr'Cul-
tural territory on this continent of
ours, together with our most product
i've mines and it is worth while noting
that within radius of 400 miles Of
Cleveland lies one-half the population
of the United States 1t is a well
established fact that deep-water trars-
pOrtatiOn is and necessarily must be.
far below the cost of transpOrtd tion
by rail; indeed it is compute that
the cost of water transportation oy
steam. when the voyage is of any con-
siderable length is about One-quar.-r
the average cost of transportation by
rail, while by sailboat it is only one
eighth of the latter. AS this question
of transportation determines - 4
great extent the existence or the nom
existence of a possible industry, AMI
enhances or diminishes the value of
every article of export in proportion
to its efficiency and economy, the bat
tie cry of the West for twenty feet
of water between Duluth and the sea-
is no great problem to account for.
In the year 1898 there p4SSr1 through
the Sault Ste. Marie ca1l 6 no less
than 81 234,664 tons of Canadian
freight, alone having a value of 5000,
100000, while American ships moe |
some l6S,000,000 tons through the same
waters for the same length of time.
"The total traffic through the locks
of this 500 canal, for less than eight
months, is five times as great in num-
| Der of vessels and slightly less than
| twice as much in actual tonnage as
| passes through the SueZ canal during
an entire year. Through this same
| Suez canal which boasts of carrying
! the commerce of the world, there
passed. during last year, S,5OO,O0O tom
mage, while there foated through the
locks of Susan Mary a tonnage of 49,
! 100000 The stupendous proportions OF
! the traffic on our Great Lakes may
! also be realized from the fact that
more ships sail the Detroit river than
! enter either the port Of London or
| Liverpool 4 greater number of pas
scngers, on the other hand pass
J through this same river than do in and
out of the port of New York the great
; gateway of the New World. In fact
, the total number of passengers carried
annually by the lake fleet falls very
slightly short of 2O0,000000. The city
of buffalo. which claims the largest
| grain elevator i'm the world, does a
business i'm the trans-shipment of grain
and -four which exceeds that done by
any other city in existence. Cleveland
with the exception of the clyde is tbs
| most extensive ship-buildinG center ol
| the present day. The neither shores
Of the lower lakes have been necklacet
| with a collection of the busiest and
| most prosperous manufacturing cen
ters in the United States, and so mucf
so that today our COuntry's CONNER
cial center of gravity will be found Il
fall somewhere among the northern
portion Of Ohio. Mill and foundry anC
factory in all these cities depend Oi
the great iron freighters that steam
North with coal and bring sGuthwar.
their cargOes of timber and grain anc
iron. and it is in the possibility uf sucl
economic exchange thai Turks the Sc
cret of Uncle Sans mercantile great
ness.
1T is an unappreciated but indisput
able fact that the Great Lakes lie a
the root of Americas present suprem
acy in the iron and steel market Of tn,
world. 1t has been actually the re
duction of lake freight rates on thes
two essentials of life and commerce
brought about by improved facilities
for loading and discharging cargoes
the increased tonnage Of lake vessels
and the improvement Of rivers and har
bors, that has allowed the American
steel worker triumphantly To invad
the English markets.
But as the increase in population o
the United States demands new field
for labor, as the West fills up and de