Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1910-09-01
CANALS FOR Benefit:
LESSON FROM EUROPE SHOVE
HOW WATERWAY IMPROVE
MENT HELPS RAILROADS.
HAS A CREATIVE EFFECT

HAS A CREATIVE EFFECT
Construction Of the Manchester Ship
Canal Shown to Have Resuscitateel
Many Dying 1owns-Many Give
Similar Experiences.
Ip previous articles 1t was shown
that the waterways carry goods more
cheaply 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 = benelit to the
railways with which they compete.
Several instances were given to sup
port this claim and many more might
be given IL space allowed. for the
writer, who has studied the subject for
rs years. has found many instances
Of benefit. and not . single instance
Of harm. to railways from the i'm.
provement Of waterways. It 10 now In
order to see II We can find a reason
for this rather surprising result.
Waterways. - 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 com
petition of water routes, and by what
may be called creative effect. II
is this last named effect which W
are now to consider.
Manchester, England. before tho con
struction 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 this
was changed. Factoriess reopened
new ones were built, the empty houses
were refilled and thousands of new
ones built to accommodate the popula
ton that came pouring in. And the
benefits were not confined to Manches
ter alone, but were distributed over
the whole great industrial region. con
tanning over 100000 people. of which
Manchester Is the center. It was not
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 the new port Of Man
chester: but instead Of being injured
BY the canal, tho buiiness Of Liverpool
has increased faster than before. Dur
Ing the IL years before the canal wa
opened the increase in the harbor 70
ceipts at Liverpool was only $4,000:
In the same length Of time after II
was opened tho increase was 1855,
900. The 5000. 900 tons Of tramc At
Manchester have not been stolen from
Liverpool, they have been created BY
tho canal.
Frankfort Germany, before the
River Main was improved. was not
dying city but was decidedly stagnant.
Mannheim and Nayence on tho Rhine,
which had been improved. were grow.
Ing rapidly. while Frankfort was grow.
Ing very little. Al soon a. the canal.
lsation Of the river was finished. which
WAS In 1856. tho city began to grow
and has kept On growing ever since.
The population, which was 1884, 900 in
1885. has increased to $4,000 in 1895,
= 335.ooo In 1905. and Is probably
more than 1000 now. Evidently the
people Of Frankfort expect their city
70 keep on growing. too. They spent
over @1.S0o.o00 On harbor when the
river was nrst improved and are
hard 1t werk right now building q
new and much larger harbor at . cost
Of }17.s00.o0 Just a. In the case Of
Manchester, the bene1it was not con-
fined to tho city Of Frankfort, the In:
dustrial and commercial life Of the
whole region was greatly stimulated.
Mines long closed were reopened, new
Industries were started. and today
there 10 an almost continuous success.
sionfof factories lining the banks Of
the river from Frankfort to the
Rhine. ga
Everybody. Rsaps 6snsht u
Hunt the world around and always
and everywhere We find that the i'm
provement Of waterways sets cities to
growing, factory wheels to hSmmins.
and commerce 70 moving in 4 wider
and swifter stream. Railroads get
more business IN big cities than In
small towns, in . densely populated
manufacturing region than in one that
d thinly settled. Waterway, there
fore, benefit railways-and states and
nations a 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 still remains the
question: why do waterways in
crease population and create com
merce and Industry" A.a; :.
\ Il