The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-11-08
ERIE WATER WAY
WILL BE A COMMON ENEMY FOR
 ALL EASTERN LINES.
Will It Ever Be Rebuiltp-This and Other Questions Are Confront ing Rail Transporta-
 tion Companies.
New York Special to Chicago Record

New York Special to Chicago Record Herald
 The proposition to improve the Erie canal at an estimated cost of S101, ,000, ,00i was carried in the New York State elec- ton Tuesday. Early returns, however. indicated that the, amendment had been defeated.
 If the Erie canal is ever rebuilt, the railroads will put it out of business in less than year. making 1t as useless to the producer as is the present water way"
 This statement was made to-day by an executive traffic official of one of the large railway systems. and was backed by the general sentiment expressed 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 find some way of defeating the un- dertaking.
 The boast that the railroads would be able to more than successfully compete with the rebuilt canal, capable of float | ing only 1.000-ton barges is not consid- cred by traffic and transportation experts as an Idle one. The problem, in any event. will not have to be met by the railroads for at least generation, as 1t will take that length Of time to complete the i'm provements contemplated by an expendi- ture of $lD1, ,000.0O0 By that time traffic conditions and the centers of production will have changed so materially, 1t is thought, that the problems presented will
 be entirely different from what they
 would be to-day if the canal improve | ment5 were completed.
 Rates Are Excessive.
 Back of the traffic experts bold asser- | tion lies the fact that the rates now 1 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 Chicago | to New York is 10 cenls per 100 pounds. and by rail IA cents.
 That the railroads could carry the C-ain at the Decent 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 train load of grain containing B. 600 tons. Such a train load at a 10-cent rate would produce a revenue of $4,000 The cost of transporting the grain. in- cluding interest on the money invested, Is at the outside not more than $1.000, leaving a net profit of 5000.
 Could Reduce the Cost.
 At the present rate of increase in train load and a corresponding smaller per- centage of increase in operating ex- penses, the railroads would be able to reduce transportation charges still fur | ther long before the canal would be com pleted and could maintain rates which would make it impossible, it is claimed, for slow-moving, 1,0O0-ton barges to com- pete with them. It Is generally recognized | by railroad men, however, that any | thing which reduces the cost of the transportation of food products to the chief markets will greatly benefit the l producer.
 The real purpose of the canal is taken | by railroad men to be primarily to as- sist New York in obtaining and maintain l ing a supremacy of market as against the other Atlantic and Canadian ports. It will make an all-water route from Chi cago as good as from Chicago to Mon- l treal, and if New York sees fit to remove | the onerous charges which attend the ex- ! port of grain through that port the tide toward Montreal should be stemmed That canal improvement would have any effect In diverting traffic now going by | way of the Gulf ports is not generally ] believed. as the Gulf lines are in DO. sition to meet almost any competition | The revised vote on the canal proposi- tlon in Greater New York was: | For, 436 2S0. against 53,363; plurality in favor of canal. 3S2,9 967.