Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1908-05-16

StSuSNiNStN SHl1I tEtt1SlNGy VT
the American people are now giving
serious thought. There can be no
as to the Importance of
the transportation services per-
formed by our coastwise shipping,
and by the fleet operated on the
Great Laes. The coastwise and
Great Lakes traffic is rapidly grow
ing, but upon our canals and many
of our rivers traffic languishes or
declines.
In no other country of the world
have rail transportation costs been
reduced to such a low figure as in
the United States. In many other
countries it has been found more
economical to do the heavier trans
portation work by making large use
of waterways and to develop the
railway traffic more particularly
with reference to the speedy move
ment and schedule delivery of par
cells, packages and general COM
modify freight. Such an organiza-
ton of the business of transportation
as has been worked out in Eng
land, France and Germany does not
result in as low average freight rates
by rail as prevail in the United
States, but the costs of wholesale
and retail distribution and of many
manufacturing activities are un-
doubtedly less than they would be
were the people of Europe served
almost entirely by railroads and not
by both railroads and waterways.
Our dependence upon railroads, al
most exclusively, for the movement
even at low average rates, while we
at the same time neglect the develop
ment and use of our inland water
ways does not necessarily mean that
we have organized our work of pro-
duction and distribution in the most
economical manner. When conditions
in the United States approach more
closely those prevailing in Europe,
we shall find it increasingly desir-
able to provide ourselves both with
well-developed waterways and with
railroads more efficient than present
conditions permit them to be in the
handling of package freight. We, as
we'll as Europe, will find it profit
able to minimize capital and ware
housing costs.
The construction Of canals and the
improvement of rivers in the United
States have progressed slowly, IN
part at least, because the federal
government has in the past left to
the states the work of canal build
ing, and to some extent, the canaliza-
ton of rivers.
The states are manifest1y incompe-
tent to carry out the improvement OF
state Of New York has the financial
ability and economic incentive to
| reconstruct the Erie canal, but its
| route is so clearly national that the
waterway should long since have
been taken over and enlarged by the
federal government.
The experience Of our own coun-
| try and of other nations shows con-
clusively that waterways should be
public ways-that their execution
and maintenance should be by the
government. The entire network Of
| American waterways should be i'm
| proved and extended Systematically
by one authority, and with reference
to the economic and social needs Of
| the entire nation. There is only one
4 power whose authority is as wide a.
our country, and that is the fedora
government. In the future but small
place in the development and contro
of waterways will be given either tt
the states or to private corporations
1 There can beno doubt that the in
i land waterways of the United State!
will be more extensively used in the
future than they have been in thu
| past. The reasons for this ar,
numerous and conclusive
| Conservation of Power Resources.
st. Clair Putnam spoke as follows
where power is developed from
the combustion of coal, wood, oil o
gas, our natural resources as sue
are destroyed and they cannot be re
placed, excepting to a limited extent
Where power is derived from waite
powers, winds and tides, only energ
otherwise wasted is used. The ene1
gy thus extracted is added to our as
sets instead of being a permanen
loss as is the case in the combustion
of coal. 1t is probable that the waite
power in the United States exceed
30,00O,OO0 horse power and unde
certain assumptions as to storage re
ervoirs this amount can be increase
to possibly 150,00O,00O horse powel
Using the smaller figures of 10000
600 horse power as an illustration
: to develop an equal amount of eI
ergy in our most modern steam
: electric plants, would require tn
burning of nearly 225,0O0 900 tons I
coal per annum and in the averag
/, steam engine plant, as now existing
, more than 600,000,000 ton sof Goa
/. or 80 percent in excess of the tot,
! coal production of the country
: 1906.
'The supply of water power
limited, however, when the rapid ra
$ of increase in our power requir
$ ments is considered, and great car
:, therefore, must be exercised to il
e sure the preservation of our wat
q power resources and to secure tt
s maxium Dractica h1a deya1nnmer