The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1910-10-07

, Waterways, as has been said befor,
produce benefits In three princips
ways-by direct saving In the cost {
transportation of goods carried b
water, indirect saving, by the lowe
Ing of railway rates through the con
petition Of water routes, and by VIVA
may be called creative effect.
Ii this last named effect which "
are now to consider.
Manchester. England. before the cor
strucuon of the ship canal. was
dying town. Hundreds of stores an,
thousands Of dwellings were empty
factories were closed-some move'
away-and population was decreasing
| With the opening Of the canal all thi
was changed Factoriess reopened
new ones were built. the empty house
were refilled and thousands Of new
ones built to accommodate the popula
tion that came pouring In. And tn,
benefits were not confined to Manches
ter alone. but were distributed ovel
the whole great industrial region, con
tanning over 100000 people, of which
Manchester Is the center 1t was mo-
only natural, but inevitable, that the
great increase in population and pros
perity In Manchester and the surround
ing region should be reflected in the
business and the profits of the rail-
ways therein.
Liverpool Also Aided.
Liverpool fought desperately to pre-
vent the building of the canal and the
establishment of thu new port of Man.
chester; but instead of being injured
by the canal. the business of Liverpool
has increased faster than before. Dur.
Ing the Is years before the canal was
opened the increase in the harbor re.
ceipts at Liverpool was only $4,000;
In the same length Of time after 1t
was opened the increase was 1896.
900. The 5000, 900 tons of trafiic at
Manchester have not been stolen from
Liverpool, they have been created by
the canal.
Frankfort, Germany, before the
River Main was improved, was not a
dying city but was decidedly stagnant.
Mannheim and Mayence ON the Rhine,
which had been improved, were grow.
Ing rapidly. while Frankfort was grow.
ing very little. As soon as the canal.
ization Of the river was finished, which
was in 1886, the city began to grow
and has kept on growing ever since.
The population, which was 154, 900 in
1885, has increased to $4,000 in 1896,
to $4,000 In 1905, and Is probably
more than 100000 now. Evidently the
people Of Frankfort expect their city
to keep on growing, too. They spent
over $1,500,000 on harbor when the
river was first improved and are
hard at work right now building q
new and much larger harbor at cost
Of $17,60a,000. Just as in the case OF
the benefit was not con-
aned to the city of Frankfort; the in.
1ustrial and commercial life of the
whole region was greatly stimulated.
Mines long closed were reopened. new
Industries were started, and today
here is an almost continuous success
lion of factories lining the banks OF
he river from Frankfort to the
Rhine. III at
Everybody Rsaps Benefit s
Hunt the world around and always
md everywhere we find that the Inn.
'rovement Of waterways sets cities to |
factory wheels to humming,
md commerce to moving In wider
nd swifter stream. Railroads get |
more business in big cities than in
mall towns. in densely populated
manufacturing region than In one that
J thinly settled. Waterways, there
ore, benefit railways-and states and
ations as well--by promoting an in Il
rease In population, in manufactures
nd In commerce. But for one who
kes to get clear down to the bot
ON OF things there still remains the
uestion: why do waterways in
rease population and create COM
lerce and Industry"
Consul General Mason, now In Paris.
ut for some years at Frankfort, says:
German craftsmanship was among
le first to foresee that the time
ould come when, railways having
cached their maximum extension and
hcfency. there would remain a vast
lrplus Of coarse, raw naaterials--coal.
'es. timber. stone, and crudsMmetais
which could be economically carried
ng distances only by water trans
'rtation. and that in fully de-
'loped national system the proper
lie Of railroads would be to carry
lssengers and the higher classes of
erchandise manufactured from the
" staples that the waterways had
ought to their DOORS"