The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1907-10-23


not Be Made Owing to Worldwide
Scarcity of Money-Thinks People
Will Ask Congress For lt-Believes
the Mississippi Should Be at Once
Utilized as Transportation Artery.
'.Why do ! think that railroad build.
ing In the United States Is a thing OF
the past?" said James ]. Hill, presi
dent of the Great Northern railroad. to
the New York Times correspondent at
Minneapolis the other day
II don't think anything about 1t.
know. | certainly am clad that the
inland waterways commission visited
here (Minneapolis), even If it didn't
stay long for the after effects will be
great. The question of transportation
is q leading one in the country on ac-
count of the great distances. Invest
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 laid
ON them, but profane hands were laid
on them
"Ihis country today is in most i'm
miIient danger from want of trans
portation Business has grown so that
the railroads can't handle it. II from
undertake to ship carload of -four
from Minneapolis to Liverpool you
can't get bill of lading to New York
in thirty days. or, ii you get it. the
goods will not be delivered. 1t is a
physical impossibility.
"The trouble is there are not suf-
ficient 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 | asked real estate
man what it would cost to get a 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 $550,00o,000 would not
buy it, That means that 1t would cost
for terminals alone $165,0O0 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.
"This matter of transportation Is a
most urgent one People think there is
no limit to what the railroads can 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 56S per cent
"The Great Northern Is bonded tc
less than S40,000,00O of its value, but
people are not anxious to invest in a
railroad which pays only 5.6S per cent
and have to sit up nights planning how
to defend the property when they car
get and per cent from other secu
rity.
II repeat that railroad building ha'
stopped In this country. There Is
want of money in every center. Where
business has grown the fastest there Il
the greatest want, as in Germany ant
the United States. Newspapers tell N
the trouble is in Wall street. l know
better The trouble is in our owl
households.
rs Wall street In trouble when 1t Il
now getting and Z per cent and wheI
last year 1t got 3 and 31a per cent
Hardly. The scarcity of money i
worldwide 1t is not time for politica
ghost dancing.
There was bad time last winte
when total Of 1O7 bills were passes
by the state legislatures against tn
railroads Not one of them was bases
on information. They did have hear
ing In Minnesota and invited testimo
ny. but tile report was contrary to th
testimony given.
Traffic is growing five times as fas
as the mileage, and we are up agains
stone wall. Even the amount needles
to put us In condition where w
ought to be is so large as to be beyon
the possibility of the country to ful
nish We might as well put railroa
Improvement out of the question. Th
public will use what they have 60
until they get more. and that will NO
be in short time"
buL Whit II NOuI icLucuy AuA pACs
ent evils?' asked the correspondent.
"'rhe newspapers talk Of dee
channel from Duluth to st Paul. b
said. suppose we build a cana
Where are yon going to get water
fioat the boats? The water woul
have to be pumped 100 miles,
He then suggested canal placed Q
rockers. into which a little water coul
be flooded from one end and the
tilted with jackscrews so that boat
would be fioated to the other end.
but let us do what can be don
There are others In the world beside
ourselves. and some OF them are q
tive. There is talk Of canal from q
lakes by the Ottawa river to Montrea
This would put Montreal fifteen mile
nearer Duluth than Buffalo Is. and
would be almost impossible to get tra