The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1910-09-09
GOOD FOR COUNTRY
IMPROVEMENT OF WATERNAYo
WILL DEVELOP RESOURCES
OF EVERY SECTION.
FREIGHT. CARRIED CHEAPLY
Matee Dirset Saving n Cost Of Trans-
porta<ion by the Water Routes, and
indirectly Serve 10 Lower Railway
Carrying Rstee.


terways carry freight moro eheaply
than the railways do or can. and that
they compel the railways to carry
freight more cheaply than they other
wise would, making q saving OF hun
dreds of millions Of dollars year. even
under present conditions. and indioat-
ing vast increase In that saving II al
waterways should b improved. And
then the surprising assertion was
made that the surest way to enlarge
the business and increase tho PROFITS
of the railroads of the United States
is to improve the waterways Of tho
United States. The best guido to tho
future IL the experience Of the past.
so let VI see what has actually hap
pened to railways when waterways
have been improved.
That the improvements In tho chan
nels and harbors Of tho lakes have
been of great benefit. both DO tho rail-
ways which parallel their shores and
to those which run from lake cities to
the interior, is q fact 20 plain that
1t needs no argument to support It..
There are no more prosperous and
profitable roads In the country than
those that serve tho region tributary
to the lakes. But no ono questions
the wisdom Of continuing the improve
ment Of the lakes, or Of our ocean
harbors. The real question IL a. to
the improvement Of our rivers, and II
We wish to study the effect Of river
improvement, either On railway rove
nues or national Development We
must 60 to Europe.
Results In Bohemia.
During the fifteen years that i'm.
provements were under way on tho
Elbe river. in Bohemia, the river traf-
fic, as natural result Of the better
channel. increased dvefold. But traf-
fic on the competing railways in
creased still more largely and the div
to Aussig, rose to 16 per cent. per
annum.
Similar results followed the canali-
1at1on Of the River Main. from May
enoe, on the Rhine, to Frankfort.
which was finished in the latter part
Of 1886, The river trahlo, which
amounted to only 1885, tons In that
year, began TO grow and has kept on
growing, being 1.273,000 tons in 1902.
There are two railroads between
Frankfort and Mayence. one on each
side OF tho river. What happened to
them? Did their business show q 80
rious falling of? Or were they forced
into the hands Of a receiver! On the
contrary their traflc, which was 911.-
900 tons in 1885, also began to grow,
and by 1909 had reached 1905, 900
tons, or more than double what 1t was
when tho railroads had q practical
monopoly Of tho business Of Frank
fort
The mere statement Of the in
creased tonnage does not tell tho
whole truth Of the matter, for tho
tonnage was not only more than
doubled In quantity. but greatly
raised in grade, 30 that 1t could pay,
and did pay, Z much higher rate per
ton per mile.
Fine German Waterway.
Practically all the railways Of Ger
many are state owned and state oper-
ated. Out of 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 Of waterways in the
world, and a 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. q mere coinci.
dence, but are tho natural outworking
Of a principle Of general application.
In tho calendar year 1907, after paying
for operation. maintenance. repairs,
renewals. new equipment, interest on
bonds, contribution to tho sinking
fund. and every other item which the
most careful Bookkeeping required to
be charged up, tho German railways
turned 1854 1000, 900 Of absolutely net
revenues into the treasures Of the
various states. This was 5000 per
mile Of line operated. while tho CORE
spending figure on United States rail-
ways for the fiscal year 1907 vas
snly $780, little over ons-third a.
much.
Much the greater part Of tho total
revenue Of the German states IL d.
rived from their railways, II cents out
Of every dollar received by Prussia In
1907 being 20 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 tho 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. ~ has been we'll said, In fur
therance Of q policy tho wisdom of
which time and experience have fully
confirmed"
Always md everywhere tho result
10 tho same-the improvement of a
waterway II q benefit to competing
railways. For this result. az for any
othat, there - 4 oood and SUFFICIENT
reason. but Il must be left for another
time 10 tell what that reason ~