Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1903-11-12
RAILROADS. THREAT
AIMED At CANAL
they Say it Waterway Is Re-
built They'll Put 1t Out
Of Business.
EXPECT TO DEFEAT PLAN
But if They Don't They Insist They
Can Yet Haul Freight Cheaper
Than a 1,0O0-Ton Barge
Canal Will Do II.

New York. Nov. IF the Erie canal
is ever rebuilt. the railroads will put
II out of business in less than Il year,
making ii as useless to the producers
us is the present waterway"
This statement was made today by
an executive traffic official of one of
the large railway systems, and was
backed by the general sentiment ex-
pressed in railroad circles.
Another statement Of sensational
character was to the effect that the
Erie canal improvement never would
be accomplished, as the railroads would
taking. Tho boast tina the railroads
would be able to compete more than
.Nccessfully with the rebuilt canal, ca
INble Of floating only 1000 ton barges,
Ia not considered by traffic and trans
y trtation experts an Idle one.
The problem, in any event, will not
have TO be met by the railroads for
ut least Il generation, AS 1t will axe
that length of i'm to complete the
improvements contemplated by the ex-
penditure of $4,000 600. By that time,
traffic conditions and the centers of
production may nave changed so ma
tciiaiiS' ~ Is lnouSHt, lHat tne pToDleinS
presented will be entirely different
from what they would be today If the
canal improvements were now cvln-
plete.
Rates Are Too High.
Back of the traffic experts bold as
sertiOn lies the fact that the rates now
charged for the transportation of grain
and grain products, at least, from Chi
cago to New York, and other seaboard
ports. are far in excess of those neces-
sary to a fair profit. The present rate
on grain by lake and canal from Chi.
cago to New York is 10 cents per 100
pounds, and by rail IA mi
That the railroads could carry the
grain at the 1O-cent rate and make a
good profit Is we'll known in traffic cir
cles. The Lake Shore and New York
Central route, for example. can easily
haul a trainload of grain containing
1000 tons. Such a trainload at a 1O-cent
rate would produce Il revenue of 81, 00O.
The cost of transporting the grain in
Guiding interest on the money Invested
is at the outside not more than 81, 900,
leaving Il net profit Of 5000. At the
present rate of increase in trainloadS
and a corresponding smaller percentage
Of increase In operating expenses, the
railroads woul be able to reduce
transportation charges still further.
long before the canal would be COM
pleted and could maintain rates which
would make 1t impossible, 1t is claimed,
for the slow moving 1,000-ton barges is
compete with them.
1t is generally recognized by railroad
men, however, that anything hat re-
duces the cost of transportation of food
products to the CHER markets will
greatly benefit the producer. The real
purpose of the canal is taken by rail-
road men to be primarily to assist New
York in obtaining and maintaining q
supremacy of market as against the
other Atlantic and Canadian ports.
The revised vote on the canal propo-
: siiion in Greater New York was: For,
436, 230: against. 1893; plurality in fa-
vOr of canal, 1852, 967.