The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1910-10-06
SAVING OF MILLIONS
WHAT COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM
OF WATERWAYS IMPROVE
MENT MEANS TO FARMERS.
FIGURES TO SUPPORT FACTS
On Shipments Of Grain Alone the pi.
rect Return Would Mean 100000.
900, and ProportionateIy All Other
Products Would Be Affected.

: In a former article we gave facts and
} figures to prove that, II the compre-
hensive plan OF waterway improve
ment advocated by the National Riv-
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 500, O00,-
600 a year-and probably would, DO
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 lnhu-
ences practically everything he buys,
sells, eats, wears or uses in any way
} whatever, except water, air and sun
shine. The average man is inclined to
laugh when told that he pays out more
for transportation than he does for
taxes or because OF the tarif-but his
laughter does not alter the fact in the
least.
There are three principal methods
Of transportation. the w~agonway, the
railway and the waterway, and there
Is so great a difference In the cost OF
transportation by these different meth
DDS hat 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 % cents.
The cost on a thoroughly good, smooth
road might be reduced TO 10 cents.
Poor's Manual gives 1872 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 tho
same year was only 8 Of one mill.
Facts in a Nutshell.
You can better understand what
these figures mean if they are stated
in another way. They mean that II
you have a dollar to spend in shipping
a ton of freight YOU can send II 1
miles on an average road 10 miles on
a frst-class road, 127R miles on a rail
road. and 1850 mites on a lake vessel,
II Is very epsv TO see that good
roads are a lot better thar poor roads
but that transportation by horse and
wagon IL too costly at TIE best to be
used except for small loads and short
distances. So far rs interstate traffic
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 a railway into a region where there
was none before and that a still
greater benefit would result from so
improving a river hat It is made
deDendably navigable when ii was not
SO before.
Waterways increase prosperity in
three principal ways. viz; direct saw.
ing, Indirect saving. and by what may
be called a 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, wiz 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.217.214 tons Of freight.
This was carried an average distance
Of S28.3 miles at an average cost OF
8 Of one mill PER tcn.ri,o II this
had been shirrei hv rail ~ the aver
age railway rate fr that year f7S2
mills. IFS TRANSPORTATION would have
cost 1895. G23. aga more than was paid
for its carriage nv water.
The total freight carried on all
lakes that year was. in round num-
bers, 100, 600, 900 IONS. This vast tom
mage was carried fer $3.50. 900, 900 less
than II would have cost to send II by
rail. and the improvements. which pro.
duce a saving large enough to pay or
the national debt in less than two
years. cost only s85. 600. 900.
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 cam
Put" says some one, what reason
IS there TO suppose that improved riv-
ers would give anything Ike as good
results as have been obtained on the
lakes" That is a proper question and
is entitled to an answer.
The only waterway in this country
which has been improved az a whole
is composed of the four lakes aboye
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 esti-
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 a ton l27h
miles by rail and 1850 miles by lake.
will carry 1t ZOO miles by river.
Cost of transportation will vary on
different rivers with depth, width,
swiftness OF current, etc, but the es-
timated cost on a completely improved
Ohio river can be increased by GO per
cent. before II will equal the average
cost on the lakes In 1907, and there
is still a margin OF nearly 400 per
cent. before you reach a rate one-half