Elmore County Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1910-1915, 1910-10-08

You may not know it-you probabi.
don't-but It Ia matter Of importanc,
to you whether tho waterways OF thu
United States are improved or not
and this Is true no matter who yo,
are. what your business IL, or whs
part Of the country you live In. l
may be that you are . farmer and 70.
tell me that it IL nonsense to sa.
that 1t can make any difference I,
you whether the waterways Of thu
country are improved o. not. because
you live away out west, miles ava,
from any river which II navtgabls nov
o. ever will bs.
Well. admit that It II not - cas-,
t. see a. the grain elevator down D
POUR railway station. but the benenl
y there Just the Same real, sure
enough. dollars-and-osRts bensf1t. Wa
terways have already bseA Of tremen
dous advantage to the turner's Of the
country and their further improve
ment will put more money into your
pockets and those Of your nsishbors
Take grain for an illustration. , A
large part Of the grain raised In ths
country is shipped away from the
place whore 1t IL grown. some for use
In the eastern states and ssns for o.
port to Europe. Under tAsss oOndi
tons the price Of grain II not Axed
At the nearest railway station. Your
wheat, for instance. II worth just what
1t will bring In Liverpssl-lsss the
cost Of getting It there. leu car see
at encer that Il, makes = whole lot Of
difference to you how much 1t costs
to send your grain to Now York OF
Liverpool--and there's whore the
waterway comes In.
Where Economy csmss In.
In 1898 the average cost Of carrying
wheat from Chicago to Buffalo by lax
was one cent 4 bushel, while the cost
by rail 10 New York was III cents
almost twelve times ~ much. although
the distance is the same. But grain
which Is to 20 all the way by water
must be transferred to canal boats at
Buffalo. Little canal boats drawn by
Mules cannot carry stuff ~ cheaply
as big ships driven by steam, 20 the
through rate by water was six cents
u bushel. q little over half A. much
IS by rail. For the twenty years end
ing with 1908 the water rate. on the
acreage, was lower than the rail rate
b, So cents 4 .busheL. On the ship
ments from Lake Superior the differ
ence was greater still, since Duluth Is
less than 100 miles farther from New
York than Chicago Is by water and
nearly 500 miles farther by rail. but
no comparative rates are published.
The beneficial effects of the water
way, through lowered cost Of transpor
tation, are not confined to the grain
shipped from cities on the lakes. but
extend to practically all the grain
produced. The total production OF
the Ave principal cersals-wheat,
corn. oats. barley and rye-during the
past 40 years. was over 10000 900, 900
bushels. II the average addition to
the value OF this vast volume Of grain
was Ave cents 4 bushel, and that
seems q moderate figure In view OF
the facts stated above. the total II
more than $4,000, 900 ,000-nearly all Of
which has gone into the pockets Of the
farmers.
But while the ben efcial effect Of the
waterways extends to surprising dis.
lance. \ waterway close by sxerts .
very much more direct and powerful
influence than ono q long way or II
the Great Lakes and tho Erie canal
have increased the value Of grain all
over the west, what do you suppose
would happen II the Mississippi, Mis-
souri,, Arkansas and Red rivers were
so improved that boats could run sv-
cry day in the year unless hindsred
by ice?
Money Needed for Work.
The National Rivers and Harbors
congress 10 working for the improve
nent Of the rivers, harbors and water.
ways in all parts Of the United States.
Chairman Alexander OF the rivers and
harbors committee, says that ea3S. eo0..
BOO will complete every project which
has been begun or has 4besn recon-
mended by the army engineers i've
hundred million dollars would prob
IDLY finish UP all Of these and Ali the
,ew projects which will be surveyed
Ind adopted within the next few years.
The average annual production Of
he Ave principal cereals, which dur
ng the last ten years has been 4,lS1.-
700, 900 bushels, has been steadily Ia.
and will probably continue
o increase for some time to come.
The complete Improvement Of all
'ur waterways would increase the
'alue Of every bushel Of grain pro-
uced by ut least ave cents-my OWE
pinion Ia that II would be more than
hat.
But lot us be on the safe sfdA Gun.