The Evening standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1910-1913, 1910-09-08
CANALS FOR BENEFIT
LESSON FROM EUROPE SHOWS
HOW WATERWAY IMPROVE.
MENT HELPS RAILROADS.
HAS A CREATIVE EFFECT
Construction Of the Manchester Ship
Canal Shown TO Have Resuscitntod
Many Dying Towns-Many Give
Similar Experiences.

Similar Experiences.
IN previous articles It was shown
that the waterways carry goods more
chcaply than railways do or can and
compel the railways to carry for less
than they otherwise would, and then
the claim was made that the improve.
ment of waterways Is benefit 10 the
railways With which they compete.
Several instances were slven 10 sup
port this claim and many moro might
be given II space allowed, for the
writer. who has studied the subject for
20 years. has found many Instances
OF benefit. and not a single instance
OF harm. TO railways from the I'm
provemcnt OF waterways 1t is now In
order TO sec II we cen find q reason
for this rather surprising result
Waterways. as has been said before,
produce benefits in three principal
ways-by direct saving In the cost OF
transportation of goods carried by
water. indirect saving, by the lower
ing of railway rates through the CON-
petition OF water routes. and by what
may be called n creative effect II
is this last named effect which We
arc now to consider
Manchester, England. before the con
etruction OF the ship canal. was a
dying town. Hundreds OF stores and
thousands OF dwellings were empty,
factories were closed-Some moved
away-and population WAS decreasing.
With the opening OF the canal all thiJ
was changed. Factoriess reopened,
new onos were built, the empty houses
were refilled and thousands of new
ones built TO accommodate the popula-
tion that came pouring in. And the
benefits we're not confined TO Manches-
ter alone. but were distributed over
the whole great industrial region, con-
taining over 100000 people, of which
Manchester is the center II was not
only natural. but inevitable, that the
great Increase in population aud pros
perity in Manchester and the surround
ing region should be reelected in tho
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 the new port OF Man
chester; but instead Of being injured
by the canal, the business OF Liverpool
has increased faster than before. Dur
inc tho ~ raaro hafora tho nooaI uao
opened the increase In the harbor re
ceipts at Liverpool was only 1910 900.
in the same length of time after 1t
was opened the increase was $685.
900. The 10000 tons OF traffic at
Manchester have not been stolen from
Liverpool, they have been created BY
the canal
Frankfort, Germany. before tho
River Main was improved was not
dying city but was decidedly stegnaDt.
Mannheim and Mayence on the Rhine.
which had been improved. were grow
Ing rapidly. while Frankfort was grow
ing very little. AS soon US the canal
izatton OF the river was f1nished, which
was in 1856. the city began TO grow
and has kept on growing ever since
The population. which was l54 900 In
1885. has increased TO 229 600 in 1895,
TO $4,000 in 1905, and is probably
more than 100000 now. Evidently the
people OF Frankfort expect their city
10 keep on growing, TOO They spent
over S1.500,O00 on a harbor when the
river was first improved and are
hard at work right now building a
new and much larger harbor at a cost
OF S17600.0 QUO lust as in the case OF
Manchester, the benefit was not con
fined 10 the city OF Frankfort. the in
dustTial and commercial life of the
whole region was greatly stimulated
Mines long closed we're reopened. new
industries Eere started, and today
there L5 an almost continuous success
sion OF factories lining the banks OF
the river from Frankfort TO the
Rhine,
Everybody RcsPs Benefit.
Hunt the world around and always
and everywhere we find that the i'm
proyement OF waterways sets cities 10
growing factory wheels to humming.
and commerce 10 moving IN a wider
and swlfter stream. Railroads eci
more business in big cities than In
small towns, in a denscly populated
manufacturing region than in one that
Is thinly settled. Waterways, there
fore. benefit Tallways-and states and
nations rs well-by promoting an in
crease In population. in manufactures
and IN commerce But for one who
likes to get clear down TO the bot
tom OF things there stlll remains the
question. Why do waterways in.
crease population and create com.
merce and Industry"
Consul General Mason. now In Paris,
but for some years at Frankfort, sayS:
German statesmsusEip was among
the first 10 foresee that the time
would come when. railways having
reached their maximum extension and
efficiency, there would remain a vast
surplus OF coarfc. raw materials-coal
ores, timber stone. and crude metals
which could be economically carried
long distances only by water trans
portation, ana that in a fully dc.
Veloped national system the proper
role OF railroads would be to carry
passengers and the higher classes az
merchandise manufactured from the
raw staples that the waterways had
brough. to their doors"