New-York tribune., 1901-09-22
MAKING A SEAPORT.
AMERICA AND THE MANCHESTER SHIP
CANAL
EFFORTS TO ESTABLISH STEAMSHIP LINES
FROM THIS COUNTRY TO THE IN
TERROR OF ENGLAND-How
CANAL CROSSES A CANAL.

CANAL CROSSES A CANAL
TO attempt to coerce commerce is like strug-
Cling against the DEGREES of destiny. It has
been tried many times. and il has usually failed.
1t is not always easy or even possible to tell
why commerce goes where it goes. or why ir
does not go where 1t does not 1t is easy to
prove by logical reason and argument that such
and such a place ought to be great commercial
centre and is bound to be: the centre Is there,
but the commerce is not It is easy to under
stand how another spot is totally unfit for a
place Of commercial importance, yet commerce
sweeps down upon 1t irresistibly, and will not
be kept away by any apparent unfitness
IL anything can be done to bring commerce
where it clearly ought to come. it will be done In
Manchester So much has been done already that
an Esquimau baby would have no trouble in
understanding its superiority to Liverpool for
many Of the purposes Of trade, yet the trade
itself coyly fingers about Liverpool, and slow
are the steps which it is induced to make
toward the inland seaport In short the Man
chester Ship Canal, a marvellous structure
and Of mighty promise, while it has in many
ways pleased its projectors. has not yet brought
TO Manchester all the business which it
hoped that il would bring, and has not yet
given a financial return for the enterprise the
energy. the skill, the labor and the public
spirited support and confidence which have been
devoted to ii.
The business which the canal has done has
steadily increased ever since it was opened and
the benefit which ii has conferred on Manches-
ter has been clearly apparent, but it has not
been SO great wished and hoped. Just
now a new effort is on foot to make the results
Of the great engineering work all that the peo-
pie Of Manchester feel that they ought to be-
The chief traffic superintendent Of the canal
Herbert N. Gibson, has to America to
confer with railway officials for the promotion
of the interests of the canal, and incidentally OF
American railways.
The managers of the canal foresee, Mr.. Glib
son says. that not far in the future a much
larger proportion of the worlds commerce will
depend American shipping than now. They
also believe that it is manifest destiny for much
Of this shipping TO be controlled by the Ameri-
can railways. Therefore. like farsighted men,
they desire at the very start to secure as much
as possible Of this sort Of commerce for their
own city of Manchester To do this is Mr.. Glib
sons present errand. Lines of steamers al
ready running between Manchester and New
York Savannah, New-Orleans,- Galveston Phil
adelphia Montreal Quebec, Halifax and St
John. but lines are still wanted from Boston, Bal
timore Newport News and whatever other
points can be found available. It is not pre-
sumed that lines will be made from moth
Ing with companies formed and ships built for
this express purpose; it is simply intended to
induce existing firms Of shipowners, with the
cooperation Of the railways. to run their YES
sells. or some Of them, directly from American
ports to Manchester
It absurdly easy for Manchester men
90 prove the advantages of their doing So For
instance, there is the enormous market which
Manchester affords for such products Amer
lea has to send. Cotton is commonplace sub
feet and everybody understands the advan-
tage Of introducing ii IN the simplest way into
a manufacturing region well that 1t need not
be discussed. But the wheat and the beef busi-
may bear little expanding.
Manchester is the centre Of a vast non-food
producing population. The which lies
nearer to Manchester than to any other seaport
contains 100000 habitants. and they do not
produce enough food in a year to keep them all
for a day. They all engaged in various
sorts OF manufactures. They must have the
food which they do not produce, and many OF
them are making good pay and must have good
food. It is easy to that, all other things
being equal, all this food be distributed
more economically from Manchester, which Is
the geographical centre Of the region. than