The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-07-25
GRAVE NEED OF COMPETITION
 IN TRANSPORTATION

IN TRANSFORMATIONS
 As has heretofore been stated in these columns. the next meeting of the Atlantic Coast Inland Waterways As sociation will be held at Providence, R. l., on Aug. S1. Sept. 1. 2 and g. No city along the Atlantic coast IS more greatly interested in the project for an inland waterway from Maine to Florida than is this manufacturing city of Bridgeport. nor is there. we may add. any. city which evinces a greater apparent indifference toward it.
 The coast States south of New York are awake to the importance of the matter; north of New York, but one little Rhode Islands fully awake. though Massachusetts is evincing symptoms of thorough awakening Public bodies in the latter State are taking up the subject in a very prom ising manner. Hon. L., E.. Chamber lain. president Iof the Massachusetts State Board of Trade. said in a report of the Inland Waterw Association of 1909, Massachusetts seems to think of nothing but railroad development when, almost for the asking. we have a remedy for high rates and long de- lays at our very door," Another Massachusetts body, the Metropolitan Improvement Commission. said in its 1909 report to the Governor of the State and the Mayor of Boston:
 The raw material for our great man. ufacturing industries is in the main brought from distance. An over whelming percentage of the finished product of these industries is shipped out of New England to the ports and cities of the world. Vital to the well fare of such community is. and all ways must be. the effectiveness and excellence of its transportation SyS- tenn. There is a limit to the amount which any manufactured commodity ton charges
 Cities on Long Island Sound are favored in the matter of coal transpor- tation: consumers can secure it in cargo lots But an analysis of the cost of coal in New England, made by the Boston Chamber of Commerce, may be considered applicable to other commodities. raw materials particular ly. In 1908, New England paid over $100. .000 OO0 for steam-coa1. The freight cost is thus discussed by the Chamber of Commerce:
 An, analysis of the expenditure of $1oO GOO, 900 shows that in round num- bers only about s3O.000. 900 was paid for this coal at tbe mouth of the mine, while the remaining $70. GOO, 900 was paid to the transportation companies and coal dealers for the delivery of the coal to the consumer.
 It is rather more than probable that similar conditions will be found in the cases of other raw materials which New England must bring from dis tance
 New England is not holding its own in the industrial race. and the prin- cipal cause is found in its; distance from raw materials and markets. com bined with high transportation charges which are mainly due to lack of ob- tainable but unobtained water facili- ties. In a speech in the House on June 24th last, Hon. J. Hampton Moore asked: Can New England afford to remain idle or indifferent? Is her position as an industrial center suffi- ciently secure to enable her to permit the bridging up. the neglect of her only means of competitive transporta- tion?s
 From 1900 to 1905. the increase in the manufacturing output of New Eng land was P per cent. the increase of Connecticut being but IT per cent. In 1905. according to the U. s. Census Bureau. the number of industrial es- tablishments in the Boston industrial district decreased nearly 8 per cent; in Pittsburg. there was an increase of nearly 30 per cent; in Cleveland, an increase of nearly 21 per cent; in Chicago. nearly per cent; in Mime epolis and St. Paul. 12 per cent: in San Francisco, 30 per cent The con- clusion to be drawn from these sta tistics is that industrial districts near to the sources of their raw materials are gaining, and those which must transport their supplies long distances are losing. in the industrial race. Is it not, therefore. important-almost vital ito the welfare of the latter class that they should secure lower transporta- tion charges on both raw materials and finished products? This can only be accomplished by the establishment of transportation by water.
 The Chesapeake and Delaware canal is one of the links in the projected inland waterway from Maine to Flor ida Upon the question of opening it and freeing it from toll, F. S. Grove, a large shipper, writes to the army engineers as follows:
 In my opinion the opening of this waterway as a free highway will be the greatest stimulus it is possible to conceive for all the South Atlantic and Gulf States, and if the railroads can be restricted from owning and operating competitive water traffic it will develop a commerce the volume of which will surpass all comprehension. When one tugboat can tow her con sorts from Boston to the Gulf without sea risk it is easy to realize how far 1t will cheapen transportation. Refer to the tonnage now hauled in this way around the Atlantic coast by barges and tugs with the sea risk particu- ia-ly coal. and compare the cost with .he rail rates on interior and non- competitive business. you realize that by an inland smooth waterway the same tugs cal move at least double the