The Minneapolis journal., 1902-08-20

Croix river to st. Louis at 6 Of a mill; wheat
from st. Louis to New Orleans at Az cents
"a bushel or about IL mills per ton-mtle
The cheapest coal rate over a railway I have
been able to discover Is that on coal to the
Atlantic seaboard over the Chesapeake &
Ohio railroad--2 mills per ton mile;s while the
average rate on all the railroads ofthe United
States is rs mills.
MIR. CoOley's Address
AT the outset of his address Mr. Cooley
combatted the prevalent impression that
waterways are behind the times and
of small Importance. ...
Mr.. Cooley demonstrated that the
waterways Of the United States perform
more transportation service than the rail-
ways. The ton mileage carried nthe
great lakes few years ago was q per
cent of that of all the railways. Add the
coasting trade, which IS at least as large
as that OF the great lakes. Then the ton
mileage of the Mississippi and Of the
rivers running into the Atlantic and the
Pacific is nearly the same as that OF the
great lakes AS for ouroWn sea com
merce, 1T may be safely estimated at more
than twice that Of the rivers and the
lakes of the country.
Then" said Mr.. Cooley, the amount
of service performed by waterways of the
United States is from two and one-half to
three times that of the service per-
formed by the railways. The isthmian
canal will do three four times the
work of the railways of the United
States.
1T is to be remembered. also. that over
30 per cent Of the urban population is on
navigable water, and instead Of this con-
dition diminishing with the growth of
railways, the tendency has increased.
The 500 canal boasts tonnage three
times as great as that of the. Suez canal.
Montreal has been made the head of nav
igation on the St. Lawrence. improve
ments have accomplished wonders for the
Ohio river as we'll as f,r the Mississippi.
Southern rivers no larger tnan lne Cnlp-
pewa or the Des MOines carry, neVerthe-
less, a large ands growing commerce.
This is partly due to the relative scarcity
of railways in the south.
III some Of our waterways have de-
cayed it is, in measure, because our
federal improvements have not been rad
ical as they are abroad, but merely
ameliorative. In France, on the contrary,
over 1000 miles Of continuous waterway
has been secured. or one-third the total
mileage Of all the French railways. 1t
Is possible to go from any part of France
to any other part by water. Yet this
stimulation Of the waterways has only
encouraged the growth Of the French
railways.
Abroad it is true, the railway rates
are from 115 to 8 times what they are in
this country, which encourages the I'M
provement of water ways to a greater
extent than is the case in the United
States
OF Chicagos drainage canal Mr.. Cooley
said:
I'VE have built canal that we shall
make a present of to Uncle Sam whenever
he shall effect the necessary improve
ments for the perfecting other water
routes. We shall eventually see barges
carrying 5000 tons of freight traversing
the canal and travelling between Chicago
and Orleans. This would demand a depth
of fourteen feet in the canal, which would
months out Of the year.
\ minnesota Problem.
Relative to the Lake Traverse portage
from the Red !iver to the Minnesota riv-
ier, Mr.. Cooley said that a ship canal
through this portage would permit the
;extension of the Mississippis commerce
to the wheat fields of the Canadian north
west
Il believe that with the adoption of the
falling dam system. 9-foot channel
could be maintained from Minneapolis to
Dubuque
Mr.. Cooley added an enconium upon
reservoirs for the benefit of both naviga-
tion and agriculture. He also sketched
the Importance Of waterways at various
historic periods.
James j. Hill Speaks.
James J. Hill made a most important
address this afternoon. His theme was
Trade With the ORIENT Norman Kilt
rell of Galveston talked on deep-watel
ports along the coast of Texas. J. Maui
rine Finn of Cripple Creek, Col, reviewed
the history of the Trans Mississippi con.
gress.