The Kennewick courier. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1905-1914, 1906-03-16
LAUREN w. SO1H
EDITOR and PROPRIETOR
REGULATE RATES

SoA NoShi"AA JSoN pA L. Nd'o
dell of Louisiana, at a banquet
given by a commercial organiza-
ton in New York a few pights ago,
advocated developing the water.
ways of the country as the best
means Of regulating railroad rates.
He said that water transportation
cost only one-third to one-ffth as
much as rail, and that wherever we
have rivers, canals and lakes with
good navigation, freights are cheap
and there is no demand for ra
legislation. THIS is a truth iul
statement, the importance of which
can best be appreciated i'll commun-
tiles favored with water transport
tation. The economic advantages
OF water highway, open to all
who care to make use of it, are
only partially understood by many
writer's who have essayed to dis
cuss regulation of rail rates An
illustration of this was noticed re-
Gently when a writer in a promi-
nent magazine, i'll All endeavor 10
point out inequalities in railroad
rates, cited the fact that Portland
and the Puget Sound cities enjoyed
lower rate from Eastern poi is
than Spokane, which was 400
miles nearer to those points
This, of course. from a distance
tariff standpoint was an inequality,
bnt it was one that was beyond the
power of the railroads to equalize,
for the simple reason that Portland
and other coast cities enjoyed the
advantage of water Transportation
from the Atlantic seaboard, and the
water carrier aud not the railroad,
established the rate. This rate was
of course, lower than the rail rate,
and in order to handle any business
in certain commodities, the rail
roads were forced to meet it re-
CARELESS of the protest of Spokane
and other inland cities. THIS is
condition that maintains wherever
rail and water carriage comes into
competition, and it is always the
the water route that estab.i- hes the
rate. Development of the water
ways of country has reached its
highest state of perfection in
France and Germany. where there
are thousands of miles of canals,
and freights are remarkably low,
in comparison with those where
rail carriage alone must be depend
ed on.
The producers of the United
States annually pay to the railroad
companies hundreds of millions tor
transportation Of freight, and yet
extreme difficulty is always exper-
fenced in securing river and har-
Dor appropriations for worthy pro-
Ijects. the completion of which
would result in an enormous saw
ing in freight charges. The indif-
ference with which these demands
for funds for river and harbor work
have been met is reflected in the
statement by Mr.. Ransdell that of
the total appropriations for all pur
poses made by Congress i'll the past
ten years, rivers and harbo1s have
received but three per cent, while
for army, navy and pension pur-
poses forty per cent have been ap-
yropria,ed If the present agita-
ton over rate regulation will bring
out the facts regarding the value
as commercial highways of our
neglected waterways much will
have been accomplished. even
should we fail in securing full and
complete correction of the evils at
tendant on the rate question.
The people of the Pacific North
west and especially those in the
Columbia Basin, have a particular
interest just at this time in wishing
Congress; to have a perfect under
standing of the value of WATERWAYS
as rate regulators. We have lust
secured from the Senate a promise
for much-needed appropriation
for the Columbia River and the
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