The Washington herald., 1908-02-15
OUR NATIONS PERIL
Mr. RanSdell Speaks on the
COuntry'S Waterways.
NEW YORK CITY IS IN DANGER
Speaker Asserts Metropolis Is Doom
ed TO Commercial Oblivion if Con-
Eress Fails to Appropriate Money
10 Overcome Strides Canadian
NeighbOrs Are Making.

Commerce by water Is faster than
commerce by rail Commerce by water is
cheaper than commerce by rail. There
fore. study the benefits TO be derived
from waterway improvements. Canals
and harbors are Of greater Importance
than railroads ever hope 10 be. You can
measure the magnitude Of country by
It's inland waterways"
These were the words Of Congressman
Joseph E. Ransdell, president Of the Ma
tional Rivers and Harbors Congress.
when he spoke before the National Geo
graphic Society at the National Rifles
Armory last night
Mr.. ,RansdeIl spoke on THE Inland
Waterways Of the United States" and
laid great stress on the necessity of using
every effort toward promoting the water
ways Of this country. Mature provided
US with fine rivers and harbors, but We
natural channels Of commerce are en-
tirely inadequate.
High Tide of Commerce.
I'VE owe the greater part Of our prog
ress and prosperity TO our water trans
portaton facilities, but the high tide of
commerce has turned, and time only VIII
tell the remarkable change in the com
merce of this country. Our commercial
supremacy is at stake.
New York City is doomed 10 COM
mercial desuetude If Congress does not
appropriate money to overcome the
strides our Canadian neighbors are ac-
compIshing right under our noses. The
Canadians are planning to dig a water
way twenty-one feet deep from Georgia
Bay through the Ottawa River to the St
Lawrence, and If they do this and we
have no better connection than the pro-
posed fOurteen-foOt canal from Chicago
to the Gulf, or the enlarged Erie Canal
Of twelve feet, which is now being worked
on by New York State, an immense vol
ume of our business will go through
Canada, and the commercial diadem Of
New York City will pass from her 10 a
Canadian city
The United States government has
spent about $50 00O, 900 on the Great Lakes
and we now have frst-class connecting
channels between them and a number Of
excellent harbOrs. The commerce through
the Sault Ste. Marie Canal in 1906 was
about 81, ,0OO,000 tons. This was carried
an average distance of s24 miles at a cost
per ton a mile of "a Of l mill This is
equal to about s36,O0O,0O0.
Great Volume of Freight.
Had this great volume of freight been
carried by rail the same distance, at the
average railroad rate Of about rs mills, it
would have cost 1923 900, 600. or $29S, 000,OoO
more than was actually paid for it. In
other words. this lake improvement saved
the United States more than four times
it's total cost in one year.
Mr.. RansdelI emphasized the Importance
OF water transportation by showing how
much cheaper 1t was than transportation
by rail- Water transportation IS on an
average only one-sixth as high as trans
portation by rail" said Mr. Ransdell
THE Great Lakes have been well i'm
proved, and an enormous commerce has /
developed. On the Lakes It costs "a of
mill ton mile, which is one-ninth Of the
average railroad rate a ton mile. The
commerce passing through the Sault Ste,
Marie last year was 5S009,00 tons, which
is three times the total commerce Of the |
Suez Canal year
Waterways cannot be mOnOpOlized. but
belong 10 all the citizens OF the Union.
Well-improved rivers, lakes, and canals
carry commerce so much cheaper than
railroads that they serve as the best rail- ]
road-rate regulators. They are also first
class freight carriers. especially for heavy
articles, which actually move quicker by
water than by rail- Counting halts, side
tracking, &c. movement by rail for