Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-10-25
NO MORE BUILDING
J. J. Hill Declares Railroad Con-
struction is Definitely at
Standstill.
NOT SUFFICIENT TERMINALS
Claims Necessary Development Cannot
Be Made Owing to Worldwide
Scarcity of Money.


the past?' said James j. Hill, presi- |
dent of the Great Northern railroad. to |
the New York Times correspondent ut !
Minneapolis the other day.
Il don't think anything about it.
know. l certainly am glad that the
inland waterways commission visited
here Minneapolisy, even if it didn't |
stay long. for the after effects ,will be
great The question of transportation
Is leading one in the country ON &C.
count of the great distances. Iavest-I
ment in such facilities is next to the
value of the soil on which we live.
TWENTY-FIVE years ago railroads
thought that, like the sacred cows of
India, no profane hand would be laiL,
On them, but profane hands were laid
on them.
This country today is in most in
minent danger from want of trans
portation. Business has grown so that
the railroads can't handle it, If FROM
the LIST to the 18th of November you
undertake to ship a carload of flour
from Minneapolis to Liverpool You
can't get bill of lading to New York
in thirty days. or, if you get it, the
physical impossibility.>
The trouble is there are not suf-
fcient terminals. Terminals are like
hands and feet to men. The head may
save him, but he will make a poor race
without feet Trunk lines are mort
gagged to the fifth time, and money
can't be raised.
Some time ago l asked a real estate
man what it would cost to get Il tier of
| blocks, one of the narrowest, from the
Harlem river to Thirty third street.
New York He came back in week
| and said that S55O,OOO,000 would not
buy It, That means that it would cost
for terminals alone SIG. 900 Il mile for
| every mile from Chicago to New York
before the line was built. The rail-
| roads can't pay rent on such high
| priced property. =" ,-a =.
This matter of transportation is I
most urgent one. People think there is.
| no limit to what the railroads cam do.
| There is a very present limit. to many
| railroads In the volume. of business>we
| have to do. 1t takes money to run rail
roads Last year the Great Northern
| earned 5.6s per cent -.
| The Great Northern is bonded to
| less than 100000 of its value. but
| people are not anxious to invest in n
1 railroad which pays only 5.6S per cent
/ and have to sit up nights planning how
TO defend the property when they can
4 rity.
II Want Felt World Over.
Il repeat that railroad building ha;,
stopped in this country. There is Il
want of money in every center. Where
business has grown the fastest there is
the greatest want, as in Germany and
the United States. Newspapers tell us
the trouble Is in Wall street | know
better The trouble is in our own
households.
| is Wall street in trouble when it is
now getting 6 and per cent and when
last year it got > and 81 per cent
Hardly. The scarcity of money is
worldwide. 1t is not time for political
| ghost dancing.
III There was a bad time last winter
when total of 107 bills We're passed
by the state legislatures against the
railroads. Not one of theIif was based
on information. They did have hear
II ing in Minnesota and invited testimo
ny. but the report was contrary TO tho
H testimony given.
II Traffic is growing five times as fasl
as the mileage. and we are up against
stone wall. Even the amount needed
to put us in condition where We
ought to be is so large as to be beyond
the possibility of the country to fur
nish We might as well put railroad
improvement out of the question. The
II public will use what they have go
| until they get more. and that will no
y be in a short time"
III But what is your remedy for pres
ent evils:" asked the correspondent
II The newspapers talk of a deer
II channel from Duluth to st. Paul. III
II said. Suppose we build canal
II Where are you going to get water t.
II float the boats? The water would
have to be pumped 100 miles.
Hi He-then suggested a canal placed or
II rockers. into which little water coult
II be flooded from one end and theI
II tilted with jackscrews so that boat
III would be floated to the other end.
II But let us do what can be done
ii There are others in the world beside
ourselves, and some of them are &C
II tive. There is talk of a canal from th,
II lakes by the Ottawa river to Montreal
This would put Montreal>fifteen mile
nearer Duluth than Buffalo is, and
would be almost impossible TO get traf
II fic to take the longer route. Chicag
II wants a ship canal and would be gla,
II to have one built. but there ar
III some difficult problems. Where vii
III you get the water: The shores of tn
III great lakes touch two countries, AM
III people at the upper end of the lake
II will object if enough is taken to opeI
III ate such a canal.
II But don't delay the whole move
|! ment on this account. There is waite
II enough from st. Louis down to max
HI q channel. All the movement wants
II a man with intellect and money to pa