Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-10-10

cago and St. Louis to Baltimore caus-
es a reduction in rates on shipments
via Baltimore to Atlantic ports-Nor-
folk, Wilmington, Savannah, Bruins
wick, and Fernandina, and from there
into the interior of the gulf states,
Augusta, Atlanta. Macon. Montgomery.
Selma ETC. = = These roads
are obliged to follow the reductions
made via the Baltimore road, and
which were primarily made on account
of the existence of the Erie canal and
the opening of navigation. The same
in regard to the west bound business,
: so that it may be said that
the rail rates are kept in check by
water transportation
The correctness of this statement
of Mr. Fink has never been chal-
lenged
Mississippi Gives Example.
ION the Mississippi river there is Il
striking advantage in favor of grain
routed from st. Louis to New Orleans
! by river, and thence by ocean to Liver
pool. The yearly average freight
charge on grain so shipped for the five
years from 1899 to 1903. inclusive, was
1899 cents per bushel, and for the
same period the rate by rail to New
York and thence via ocean TO Liver
pool was 1858 cents-a saving by the
Mississippi route of 5.34 cents per bush
Ella saving to the farmers in the val
ley states of over 100000 year
on the cereals aldee, and everything
else in proportion.
Similar conditions would exist on
the great Columbia river of the west #
properly improved. The cereal crop Of
the valley of the Columbia river and
it's tributary the Snake. in Idaho, Ore
gon and Washington, amounted during
the year 1905 TO S7,45S, 1912 bushels, and
of this great crop. Spokane, in eastern
Washington. is the basic shipping point.
The freight from Spokane to seaboard
at Portland Tacoma or Seattle, dis
lance of about 400 miles, is II cents
per bushel Now. if the Columbia and
Snake rivers are improved by canal
ization at the Dailes under the plan of
the United States engineers. at cost
of about 81 125 900. and above that point
at an estimated cost of about $1,000
900 additional, say a total cost OF SIX
to seven million dollars, grain will move
10 seaboard at not over six cents per
5ushel, or a saving of fully five cents.
making a total of S4.372,941 on the
cereal crop every year. To this must
be added the great saving on the pota
toes, hops. hay, and fruit of these val
leys 1t would tire you to quote sta
tistics on all these products. but to give
you an idea of their great value, permit
me to say that l visited those states
last month. and was surprised and de-
lighted at the wonderful fertility and
productiveness of the soil. At North
Yakima, in the state of Washington, |
drove through a number of farms which
are valued at 81 900 to $4,000 per acre
for raising peaches, apples. prunes.
plIIms, strawberries. melons, hops and
alfalfa. and | could readily understand
they were worth those figures when re-
1iably informed that the product from
a single acre of peaches sometimes sells
for $1,000. and that the average yield
of hops is 1000 pounds, worth from 10
to 20 cents pound. or $500 to S4001
per acre per annum. 1t is certainly
safe to say that the saving on these
products would be at least one million
dollars a year additional, or a total
saving annually, in round numbers, of
at least So, 900. You must also bear
in mind the we'll established fact in the
economies of transportation, as above
Stated-that the freight on the out
going products from an agricultural
community costs only about one-third
as much as the freight on incoming
farm implements, machinery, merchan-
disc, etc, bought with the proceeds of
these agricultural products; hence, if
the saving on the agriculture of these
Columbia and Snake river basins is |
five millions a year, the saving on the
incoming agricultural implements, ma
and merchandise, of every kind |
and sort, will be twice as much, or ten |
millions every year, thus making n |
total saving of fifteen millions every
year to the farmers and good people |
of these valleys as the direct and i'm
mediate result of an expenditure of less
than seven millions on these streams
by Uncle Sam. Remember. too. that
when this expenditure of seven millions
or less is made on these rivers it viii
last for all time, for the contemplated
works are of the most permanent char
acter; whereas, the saving of fifteen
millions will result every year in the
future, and will grow in volume as the
crops of that great but largely undevel- !
oped region are increased and multi
piled.
Is No Comparison.
There is no comparison between the
cheapness of water and rail transpOr
tation.
For further illustration, let us con-
slider the proposed Lake Erie & Pitts
burg canal, which is to be constructed
by a private company under authority
If congress from Lake Erie to the Ohio
river at cost of about $40,000,000. 1t