The Jackson herald., 1910-11-17

ers and Harbors congress were car.
ried out, the direct return to the farm.
ers Of the country. on the single item
OF grain, would certainly be 100000
900 a year-and probably would be
more than twice that sum.
But grain Is not the only item on
which the farmers would receive
benefit. The fact is that for the farm
ers-and everybody else. for that mat
ter-the cost OF transportation infiu.
ences practically everything he buys,
sells. eats. wears or uses In any way
whatever. except water. air and sun
laugh when told that he pays out more
for transportation than he does for
taxes or because OF the tariff-but his
laughter does not alter the fact In the
least.
There are three principal methods
NJ transportation. the wasonway. the
railway and the waterway, and there
is 80 great difference In the cost Of
transportation by those different meth.
ods that It is worth while to study the
matter a little. The experts OF the
good roads bureau estimate the cost
OF hauling a ton OF freight one mile
by horse and wagon on the average
road in the United States at 25 cents
The cost on thoroughly good. smooth
road might be reduced to 10 cents
Poor's Manual gives 7.s2 mills per ton.
mile as the average price received by
the railways In 1907. while the official
records kept at the 500 show that the
average rate on the freight carried
into and out OF Lake Superior in the
same year was only s. of one mill
Facts In a Nutshell.
You can better understand what
these figures mean II they are stated
In another way. They mean that II
you have dollar to spend In shipping
ton of freight you can send It
miles on an average road. 10 miles on
first-class road. 127k miles on a rail.
road. and 1850 miles on lake vessel.
II Is very easy TO see that good
roads are a lot better than poor roads
but that transportation by horse and
wagon Is too costly at the best to be
used except for small loads and short
OlSluu'tH. ~ lar dS
is concerned the wagon road must be
left entirely out OF consideration. II
Is Just as easy 10 see what a great
benefit would result from the building
Of railway into region where there
was none before. and that a still
greater benefit would result from SO
improving a river that IL is made
dependably navigable when II was not
50 before.
"ata.wavs increase Drosperity in
three principal ways. viz: direct saw.
Ing. indirect saving, and by what may
be called creative effect. The direct
saving Is that which occurs on goods
actually carried by water. and some
facts which indicate how great this di-
rect saving Is, will also make more
plain the vast difference between the
cost of transportation by rail and by
water.
Through the 500 canal at the out.
let OF Lake Superior there were car
ried In 1907, 5S,217,2l4 tons OF freight
This was carried an average distance
OF S2S3 miles at an average cost OF
s Of one mill per ton-mile. II this
had been shipped by rail at the aver
age railway rate for that year (7.S2
mills), It's transportation would have
cost s33S,633.364 more than was paid
for its carriage by water.
The total freight carried on all
lakes that year was, in round num-
bers, 10O.OOO,OO0 tons. This vast ton.
mage was carried for $3.50. 100000 less
than It would have cost to send It by
rail, and the improvements, which pro-
duce saving large enough to pay of
the national debt in less than two
years. cost only s85 100000
Proof Of Good Results.
Wouldn't you call that a pretty fair
dividend on the investment? And don't
you think It would pay to improve all
our waterways as fast and as far as
we can?
But" says some one. what reason
is there to suppose that improved riv-
ers would give anything like as good
results as have been obtained on the
lakes?" That Is proper question and
is entitled to an answer.
The only waterway In this country
WHICH mas Deen Improved as Wnoie
is composed OF the four lakes above
Niagara Falls. but there are many i'm
proved rivers In Europe. From a care
full study OF the results obtained on
these rivers the army engineers estis
mate that when the improvement Of
the Ohio river Is finished. freight can
be carried thereon for one-half mill
per ton-mile. That means that the
dollar which will carry ton 127h |
miles by rail and 1880 miles by lake,
will carry II 1000 miles by river.
Cost OF transportation will vary on
different riv RS With depth, width,
swiftness of current. etc, but the es.
timated "ost ~ comp ctely improved
Ohio r!v r "a' bc increased b. co per
cent before II will eqr Il the aver re
cost IN tha Is la. IN l017 snf tbsra