Arizona republican., 1909-08-16

when opposing the Panama canal, said | that this tendency would have the eff | feet of partially isolating the interior. | President Ripley of the Santa Fe, if 1 the Railway Record is correctly in formed, also, pointed out that the ten i dency which the canal will produce will be towards the conditions de- ! scribed Nbv Senator Teller Perhaps, under such circumstances there would be a rivalry between industrial cen ! ters and the distributing system: in dustrial centers such as Chicago. St. Louis and Kansas City, located in the center of the producing regions, points at which raw materials could be ] assembled. and living conditions ob- tained much more cheaply than on the coast. would be able to manufacture and ship by rail in competition with those industrial centers lying along the seabOard. In other words, the advan
 tages of location-proximity to raw materials-enjoyed by the interior cities, gives them an advantage over coast cities which have to assemble their raw materials and foodstuffs by rail This advantage presumably will be greater than the difference between water and rail rates in shipping goods to their final stination-destination in the interior of the country.
 Railroad Haul Shortened.
 Another aspect of the effect of the Panama canal is that the average rail haul would be considerably shortened. This would be due to the fact, as al- ready indicated in this article. that the longer hauls will seek the water route, especially for heavy, cheap and slow freight. The loss of much freight of this character would not be seriously felt in net profit balances by railroads. In fact, it is a problem as to how far a railroad can go in hauling addi- tional freight on the theory that, hay ing the plant and equipment il does not cost much more to haul it than to not haul it. MT. Hill says that railroads have got to extend their lines and amplify their facilities enormously in the near future in order to carry all the freight that is offered Thus, the proposition narrOws down to this the railroads will have to increase their fa- cilities for the purpose of carrying freight, much of which is now taken on the theory that having the plant it does not cost much more to haul it than to not haul it. Thus. the elimina- tion Of the cheaper freight would ob
 viate the necessity of extensive inn prOvemcnts which, in their last analysis, would be for the purpose of hauling those classes of freight which are of doubtful profitableness.
 Effect of Proposed Waterway.
 Interwoven with the problem of the Panama canal is the proposition to construct a deep waterway from the lakes to the Gulf of Mexico Would such a waterway affect railroads ad- versely or otherwise? Its effect on in dustrial and transportation conditions would be somewhat after this manner: instead of all the commerce of the country endeaVoring to get to the sea board for the purpose of securing low water transportation rates, the indus trial centers of the Mississippi valley and lake region would be greatly ac- celerated in their developments. The flow of transportation would he toward these interior centers, especially that commerce from those portions of the country between the Rocky mountains and the Alleghenies. And, from these centers, the distribution of the manu- factured products would radiate out ward to all sections of the countr,-. in cluding the coast and for export trade The waterway would be chiefly useful for bringing raw materials to the in dustrial centers and for the distribu- tiOn of the heavy freight. Only to a limited extent would it be useful for interior distribution for, considering it's lOwness, the charges however low. would not operate effectively. if for example, in shipping a consignment of freight, it were floated down water ways to Memphis, and there had to be reloaded for railroad transportation to interior points. Possibly, after many years there would be a development of industries, and concentration of popu- lation along the waterways. But no one now living need be greatly con eerned about such changes.
 Those who favor the lakes gulf