The Red Cloud chief., 1910-11-24
GOOD FOR COy".T2Y
IMPROVEMENT OF WATERWAY
WILL DEVELOP RESOURCES
OF EVERY SECTION.
FREIGHT CARRIED CHEAPLY
Make Direct Saving in Cost CT Trans
portation by the Water Routes, and
Indirectly Serve to Lower Railway
Carrying Rates.

The claim has been made In previ
Ous articlcs--and facts and figures
given to support the ciaim-that wa
tyrWars carry freight mCrC chcaply
than tAc railways d) or can and that
they compel the railways to carry
freight more chaaply than they other
wise would, making a saving Of hun
dreds Of millions Of dollars year. even
under present conditions, and indicat
ing a vast inCrrasC Tat saving If all
waterways should be improved. And
then the surprising assertion was
made that the surest way to enlarge
the business and increase the profits
Of the railroads Of the United Statcs
IS 10 improve the waterways of the
United States. The best guide to the
future is the experience of tho past,
80 let us see what has actually hap.
poncd to railways when waterways
have been improved.
That the improvements in the chan.
nes and harburs of the lakes have
been of great benefit. both to the rail.
ways which parallel their shores and
to those which run from lake cities to
the interior, Is a fact so plain that
It needs no argument to support 1t.
There are no more prosperous and
profitable roads in the country than
those that serve the region tributary
to the lakes. But no one questions
the wisdom OF continuing the improve.
ment OF the lakes. or of our ocean
harbors. The real question is as to
the Improvement of our rivers. and IL
we wish to study the effect Of river
Improvement, either on railway reve.
nues or national development. We
must go to Europe.
Results In Bohemia.
During the fifteen years that I'm.
provements were under way on the
Elbe river, in Bohemia. the river traf.
tic. as a natural result of the better
channel. increased fvofold. But trai.
&c on the competing railways in
creased still more largely and the div
idends on the main line, from Teplitz
to Aussig. rose to lG per cent. per
annum.
Similar results followed the canali-
LdllOli VI lllf INlN'l Mdlll, lIDIll May
ence, on the Rhine. to Frankfort.
which was finished in the latter part
of 1856. The river traffic, which
amounted to only $4,000 tons In that
year, began to grow and has kept on
growing, being l,213,00O tons in 1902
There are two railroads between
Frankfort and Mayence, one on each
a,il 90 l.., 81 Ff,,N 90
them? Did their business show Sc.
rious falling off? Or were they forced
into the hands of a receiver? On the
contrary their traffic. which was OIL.
900 tons in 1886, also began to grow,
and by 1902 had reached l,9O9,0 900
tons, or more than double what It was
when the railroads had practical
monopoly Of the business of Frank
fort
The mere statement OF the In
creased tonnage does not tell the
whole truth OF the matter, for the
tonnage was not only more than
doubled in quantity, but greatly
raised In grade. so that 1t could pay.
and did pay, much higher rate per
ton per mile.
Fine German Waterways.
Practically all the railways Of Ger
many are state owned and state oper.
ated. out of a total OF $4,000 miles
| in round numbers, only about $500
miles are operated by private com.
| panieS. Germany also has one of the
| finest systems 81 waterways in the
world and Il study of the balance
sheet of the German railway system
! shows that the results which followed
the Improvement of the River Main
are not an exception, a mere coinci-
! dence, but are the natural outworking
| of principle OF general application
In the calendar year 1907, after paying
for operation, maintenance, repairs
renewals, new equipment, interest on
bonds, contribution to the sinking
fund, and every other item which the
most careful bookkeeping required tc
be charged up, the German railways
turned s1G4, 100000 of absolutely net
revenues into the treasures OF the
various states. This was $5050 pei
mile OF line operated, while the CORE
spondlng figure on United States rail
ways for the fiscal year 190G-7 was
only s1,9G7-a little over one.third as
much.
Much the greater part OF the tota
revenue of the German states Is de
rived from their railways, II cents ont
of every dollar received by Prussia IN
1907 being so obtained, Yet German
statesmen keep on, year after year
spending money earned by their rail
ways in building and improving water
WAYS to compete with those same rail
ways, on which they depend as the
principal source of national income
In the light Of the facts given above
It will not do to say that these Ger
man statesmen do not know what they
are about On the contrary, they are
acting, as has been we'll said, I'm fur
therance OF policy the wisdom o.
which time and experience have full,
confirmed"
Always and everywhere the resul
"a the same-the Improvement of {