The sun., 1908-11-27
The Future OF New York

There are stages in the development OF
every great city when further growth
is dependent upon the foresight OF its
inhabitants rather than upon gratui-
tous advantages Of location. New York
entered upon a stage of this character
early in the last century, and now again
its position with reference to the future
demands wise counsel.
The opening Of the Erie Canal in 1925
decided the prosperity Of New York
from that time to this Then the princi-
pal gateway of the continent was the Po-
tomac River instead of the Hudson, and
the interior commerce of New York was
being DETECTED to Canada by way Of Lake
Ontario and the St. Lawrence and to
Chesapeake Bay over the Susquehanna.
The Erie Canal and its branches tapping
Lake Erie. Lake Ontario and Lake
Champlain brought three distinct
streams of traffic to the port of New
York, and in 1925 fully 10, ,ooo1 boats and
RATS from the Erie and Champlain
canals were counted at West Troy on
their way down the Hudson. The Erie
Canal furthermore shifted . the great
trans-Alleghany route from the Poto-
mac to the Hudson. In a few years
the cost Of transportation from Buffalo
to Albany declined from $ss a ton to
$5.9s.
When railway building began it in
evitably followed the existing highway
Of commerce. In 1851 the Hudson
River Railroad completed the first rail
connection between the Atlantic sea-
board and Lake Erie. Two years later
rail connection between New York and
Chicago was established and the era of
railway transportation was introduced.
In 1852 the through freight east on the
Erie Canal was twenty-six times that
carried by the Central and Erie railways:
but year later it was only fifteen times
greater. In 1869 the Union Pacific sup
piled the gap in land transportation be-
tween the Atlantic and the Pacific.
For a generation now the bulk OF the
interior commerce has followed the east
and west trade route across the conti-
nent. Meanwhile the granary OF Amer
lea has moved from the Genesee Valley
to what was once the great desert be-
yond the Mississippi. In the wake OF
this migration has gone the manufac-
ture of farm machinery and the varied
industries directly associated with agri-
culture. Until recently the Mississippi
Valley has intercepted only a small
fraction of our commerce with the West,
but the heavy railway building OF to-
day ia southwardtoward the Gulf ports,
which will before long benefit also from
the traffic through the Panama Canal.
Some of the leading transportation
authorities OF this country believe that
the limit Of expansion for New York's
commerce and industry is already
fixed. But cost Of transportation is
not Of necessity the determining factor
in the competition between trade CEN
tres. Higher freight rates may be
Offset by greater economy and efficiency
In business. It is the total cost Of pro-
duction and distribution that decides
Important elements Of that cost may
be largely controlled by the. citizens
Of this town. We may exact a dol
lars worth of service for every dollar
contributed in taxes; we may lower the
cost of transshipping goods within the
city; we may by proper measures re-
duoe the heavy burden Of fire insurance,
and we may refuse TO advance business
rents by vicious building laws.