The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-08-12
SAVING DOLLARS FOR
RODLJCERS POCKETS
What Uncle Sam Has Gained Through Improvement Of
Il Waterways---The Opinion 81 g Prominent Member of
the House Committee on Rivers and Harbors. l-a

from the Mississippi iRiyerSto the Atlantic
md from the Lakes to- the Gull. B
The mississippi River Itself plays q
part OF much lgnificance as ~ money,
saver. Grain Eouted 4 for Liverpool from
5st.S Louis via eSys8 orleans cost 4 at an
1905 rs Inclusive 1899 cents per bushe,
whereas 81 1t cost 1853 cents per Dushel
Via N ewl York. 7 his ls5Ia saving Of 5.34
|.cents per bushels for tho NJ slppi route
---an addit ion. It Is est lmat ted 58 to tho
Income OF the farmers OF he Val ley s tates
$500. 100000 u in the ~ g years. nd yet
this Is but a portion OF the freight re-
.duotion for which the Father OF Waters
is responsible. even while In "a ton
which dmlts u OF great lnprov ement TO-
raise to full capacit y his freig carry
Ing possibilit tiles. hi I'd ;i538
vs. Grain,5 1t happens, Is mos rea l::'' sin
gletl out * forg9 ilustrat lion by the 6 ham
spion OF waterways impro Vement as n Its
statistics are q more ava liable. In 1880
the average vessel nterlng Il 3 Boston har-
Dor drew twenty-tw o 4 and one half a eet,
carried 2, 500 tons, 4, and cha ged eight to
ten cents per bushel on grain to Liver
pool. To-day the taYera GO " essel /. drn VS.
thirty feet, carries 800 tons. and charges
two and three cent?. Cha rges on Y other
Glasses OF freight have been reduced In
'proportlon, a. reduction. Of nearlys4 400 per.
cent, in TWEEN ~ & years NJ, This Is the re-
suit Of deepening the cham el Mt an ex-
pense OF $4,000, 900. Nh AL III.
"Thlnk' OF what that means !! to the
American people. x Is Mr., Faansd ell's cons
ment, a saving OF six cents on every
bushel & OF wheat or corn, q saving OF
$50, 97s, $50 on the average wheat crop.
and 1854, 65o,560 on 4 the corn crop. And An
yot YOU ask IL the farmer Of Minnesota
Is interested In the five millions spent
on Boston harbor2 e q, M
IN tho very nature Of things trans
portation3 by wal ter aust effect q great
saving over transportation by rail- ne
GOAL required, for instance. to drive g
train carrying 1000 tons Of freight on
the Michigan southern Railway at the
rate Of 1s miles an hour would drive a
steamboat on the Lakes at the same
rate with a load OF 10, 900 tons rs u costs
the railroad. moreover, ~ 900 per N llc
per annun for maintenance OF way alone
whereas the free waterway OF the LAKES ''
does not cost the steamship one cent per
mile per annum for maintenance Of way
to SAY nothing OF the cost OF original
construction. And the waterways are
open; to all: alike. No transportation
company can over monopolize them, I,
SS Chance brought to light q curious IL
Illustration OF tho POSSIBLE ties OF water
traffic when q large consignment O pat
terry from Tunstall for London by g mis-
take In labelling was sent not by me or.
binary land route through England but
BY water to New York and thence pacK
across the Atlantic to Its destination.
It was thus discovered that whereas the
total cost by the ordinary route OF lag
miles was 25 shillings per ton. i was only
l6 shillings per ton for the 6,1hO mics
via New York, It was cheaper, there
fore, to ship 6750 miles py water than
14s miles by landl
Astounding as the savings effected BY
water transportation may seem to the
average citizen. they are but q trtfle.
say advocates OF larger tons,
to what could be effected by q fnller
utilization OF our waterways, Uncle sam.
however, Is a composite personality ana
( his blgness makes II diffoulta fori MIN
with absolute perfection. The nation
as whole, It Is commended, has as yet
failed to realize the immense savings to
be achieved by an adequate expenditure
for river and harbor Improvement, With
1900 o00,0 worth Of projects already ap-i
proved by the Government engineers az
Feasible and worthy OF completion. the
past ton years has been only s19.250, 900.
At that rate the projects already ap-
proved could not well be completed IN
less than twenty years and development
beyond these approved projects. he-
handed, In the opinion OF expert stu-
dents OF the problem, by all the urgencies
OF national economy and the needs Of
the sections olamoring for them, is nbso-
lutey out Of all hope OF receiving atten-'
ton, a S. N II rs a & ~ Ell
Our European brothers are not equally
neglected., The llttle country Of Hol--s
land, proverblal for Its thrift. has spent
two billion dollars IN the 1mpSo EN- en-