The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-06-16
ALAS!THE POOR BARGEOWN
FINE PLECKTNG HE'LL MAKE FOR
THE ELEVATOR POOL.
When He Brings Down 900 Tons At a
Profit Of e2AO the Transfer Combine
VIII Skin or $3.50 for Its Share. and
the State Must Fork Over Almost
a. Much Is the Two Fronts Together.


Let the man who thinks OF putting his
capital into loOO-ton barges on the pro-
posed enlarged canal take look at the
amounts he will earn and what the elevator
combines at both ends Of the canal will
levy on his traffic.
In an official document issued by the
Canal improvement State Committee yes
terday and published in the Journal of
Commerce, the plain statement is made
that on the enlarged canal the freight rate
from Buffalo to New York will be mot ex-
ceeding so cents per ton"
The Roosevelt Canal Commission, which
favored a barge canal. put the carrying
cost at 20 cents a ton. This was an opti-
mistic estimate, based on barges moving
in daets Of four. run at the minimum OF ex-
pense. getting a full cargo whenever they
got to Buffalo. and making ten round trips
year. three more than any canalboat has
made since the ditch was opened.
For the purposes Of illustration let the
Roosevelt committee's figures stand II
the rate Is 80 cents and the cost 20 cents,
the profit would be "a centa q ton.
A lOOO-ton barge carrying full load
from Buffalo to New York would then
msks $40 for the trip. A feet Of three
barges and steamer, the steamer carrying
700 tons (the Roosevelt committee esti-
mate AGAIN. would make $500 tons Of grain.
which would mean profit Of 1896 on the
fleet.
On the $500 tons the elevator pool al
Buffalo and the elevator and transfer COM
bine at Buffalo would levy tax Of rs cents
a ton, or 33,o4o for the fleet, $3.50 on each
l,O00-ton barge
For handling the grain at transfer points
the pool would get more than three times as
much as the canal barge owner would
receive for his 50O-mile haul.
On a seasons business Of 10000 900 tons
OF down grain the barge owners would
make 100000. the elevator combine.
s7.sOO,OoO. The cost of building the barges
and steamers necessary to transport
the estimated freight tonnage would be
81 100000
To secure profit OF s., 400 900 to the barge
builders the State must contribute s., Ooo, 900
for the cost. interest and maintenance
Of the enlarged canal. And this q, 600 900
will 90 on with the certainty Of debt and
interest for fifty round years.
The Canal Committee in this latest state
ment says sagely that it is proper to con-
slider the coal tariff OF the coal roads as
. guide OF some kind for general traffic.
II the coal roads charge $3.50 ton for
24o-nile haul. then. the document argues.
they must charge s. a ton for such traffic
from Buffalo TO New York. But through
lake and rail grain last season paid only
Sl.l7 a ton for it's transportation by rail
from Buffalo to New York as full seasons
average, and the New York Central carried
lot at 66 20 cents ton. quite bit under
90 a ton. How important the coal traffic
is as factor on the canal may be judged
from the fact that the canal brought 81 900
tons to New York in 1901 the last season
covered by the annual report Of the State
Superintendent Of Public Works.
Senator Malby. chairman Of the Finance
Committee Of the State Senate. and other OPP
ponents Of the canal enlargement, have used
the illustration for its economic force, that
State railroad could be built for one-fifth
Of tn sum which 1t is proposed to put into
tho canal To this the only answer Of the
Canal Committee is: 1T is doubtful if more
fertile field for political debauchery could
he conceived Of than for the State Of New
York to inaugurate the building Of State
railroads.
50 the spending Of five times as many
millions. Sl01 10000 to begin with. must
be in the interest OF political purity. That
is the fine moral distinction which trench
works as against a roadbed.
Many Of the willing workers Of the Odell
machine will be a happy and as active
when on a canal payroll as any other.
What do you think OF voting debt Of
sIo1 900 900 on the State for the benefit Of
private interests at Buffalo and at New