Watertown leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1909-1911, 1910-09-09
ALL ARE CONCERNED
IMPROVEMENT OF NATIONS VIZ
TERWb.Ys OF INTEREST TO
EVERY CITIZEN.
VITAL. FACTS ARE PRESENTED
Cost Of Getting Grain TO Market Mate
rally Reduced Through Shipment
by Water-ben effts Distributed All
! Over the Country.

ny ef1t9 DtStfteute0 MI
Over the Country.
You may not know it-you probably
don't-but 1t is q matter Of importance
to you whether the waterways of the
United States are improved or not
and this Is true no matter who you
are, what your business Is, or what
part OF the country you live IN. It
may be that you arc q farmer and you
tell me that 1t Is nonsense to say
that 1t can make any difference to
you whether the waterways of the
country are improved or not, because
you live away out west, miles away
from any river which Is nav1gable now
or ever will be.
Well, I admit that 1t Is not AZ easy
to see as the grain elevator down At
your railway station, but the benefit
Is there just the same-a real, sure
enough, dollars-and- benefit Wa
terways have already been OF tremen-
dous advantage to the farmers of the
country and their further improve
ment will put more money into your
pockets and those Of your neighbers.
Take grain for an illustration. A
large part Of the grain raised in the
country Is shipped away from the
place where it is grown, some for use
In the eastern states and some for e1
port to Europe. Under these condi-
tons the price Of grain Is not fixed
at the nearest railway station. Your
wheat, for instance, Is worth Just what
1t will bring in Liverpool-less tho
cost Of getting 1t there. You can see
at once that it makes q whole lot Of
difference to you how much 1t costs
to send your grain to New York or
waterway comes In.
Where Economy Comes In.
In 1908 the average cost Of carrying
wheat from Chicago to Buffalo by lake
was one cent q bushel while the cost
by rail to New York was lit centS-
almost twelve times as much. although
the distance Is the same. But grain
which is to go all the way by water
must be transferred to canal boats at
Buffalo. Little canal boats drawn by
mules cannot carry stuff as cheaply
as big ships driven by steam. 80 the
through rate by water was SIX cents
a bushel, little over half as much
as by rail. For the twenty years end
ing with 1908 tho water rate, On the
average. was lower than the rail rate
by So cents bushel On the ship
ments from Lake Superior tho differ
ence was greater still, since Duluth Is
less than 100 miles farther from New
York than Chicago Is by water and
no comparative rates are published.
The beneficial effects OF tho water
way, through lowered cost Of trsknspor-
tation, are not confined to tho grain
shipped from cities on the lakes, but
extend to practically all the grain
produced. The total production Of
the Ave principal cereals-waheat,
corn, oats, barley and rye-during the
past 40 years, was over 12o, 900 ,00O, 900
bushels. If tho average addition to
the value of this vast volume of grain
was five cents 4 bushel, and that
seems a moderate figure In view of
the facts stated above, the total is
more than $4,000 ,o0o, 0oo-nearly all OF
which has gone into the pockets of the
farmers
But while the beneficial effect CT the
waterways extends to q surprising dis
lance, a waterway close by exerts q
very much more direct and powerful
influence than one . long way Off. II
the Great Lakes and tho Erie canal
have increased tho value Of grain all
over the west, what do you suppos 9
would happen If the Mississippi, Mh,-
souri,, Arkansas and Rcd rivers wer Q
SO improved that boats could run e.
cry day in the year unless hindera1
by ice?
Money Needed fer Work.
The National Rivers and Harbosa
congress Is working for the improve.
ment OF the rivers, hsrbors and water
ways in all parts of the United statea,
Chairman Alexander Of tho rivers andt
harbors committee, says that 1888, 00o,.
600 will complete every project which
has been begun or has been recon-
mended by the army engineers. Five!
hundred million dollars would prob
ably finish up all Of these and all thel
new projects which will BE- surveyed
and adopted within the nextfew years.
The average annual production Of
the five principal cereals, which dur
Ing the last ten years has been 4,151,-
100000 bushels, has been steadily tn
and will proba bly, continue
to increase for some time to come.
The complete improy ement of all
our waterways would Increase the
value of every bushei Of grain pro
duced by at least i've acents-my iown
opinion il that Il kwouId Ii noresfh m