The Virginia enterprise., 1910-09-30
MEAN LOWER RATES.
EFFEcT OF WATERWAY coMPErL
TON ON THE RAILWAYS or
THE COUNTRY,
DIRECT AND INDIRECT SAVING
Conservative Estimate 10 That In q
Single Year II Would Be Moro Than
Enough 30 Discharoe tho Entire Na.
tlonai Debt,

It was stated in a previous article
that waterways produce both direct
and indirect savings in the cost OF
transportation and also exert what
may bo called 4 creative effect Az
an instance Of the direct saving it
was shown that the 100000. 900 tons of
freight handled on the great lakes
In 1907 were carried for $550, 900. 900
less than it would have cost BY rail.
II the opinion of the United States
army engineers is correct-and this
opinion IL based upon results actually
achieved on the rivers Of Europe
We have Z number Of rivers on which.
when properly improved, freight can
be carried for less than on the lakes
and many rivers on which 1t can be
carried for mach less than BY rail.
II, therefore, the plan advocated by
the National Rivers and Harbors
congress should be carried out-which
includes the improvement Of all our
rivers to such extent as shall be found
advisable after expert examination
the direct saving In cost of transporta-
ton would be vastly increased. 1t
would probably be increased tenfold,
but II It were only doubled the direct
saving in = single year would be more
than enough to pay OF tho national
debt.
But this is not the end Of tho bene-
flts which the general improvement of
our waterways would bring, 1t Is only
the beginning. Beside the direct saw
ing there 10 an indirect saving which
results from tho effect Of waterways
on railway freight rates. for rates
are always lower on railroads which
meet water competition than on those
which do not The amount of this saw
ing is not everywhere the same, owing
to difference In conditions, but We
can get Z good general idea Of 1t from
q study Of some sample instances.
Freight Rates Affected.
Freight rates from New York to
Salt Lake or Spokane are much high
or than to San Francisco or Seattle,
although the distance is much less, be-
ciflc coast by water, around Cape
Horn, while there is no waterway Of
any kind to the inland cities named
It u not the ocean alone that affects
railroad rates. Compare the rates on
Arst class merchandise to river towns
and inland towns situated about $50
miles from st. Louis. Towns on the
upper Mississippi get rate Of 93
cents q hundred. inland towns pay 63
cents; towns on the Ohio pay II cents,
inland towns in the same region
pay 81.
A still moro striking instance, and
one showing the direct result Of wa
terway improvement, u to be found
on tho Columbia river. Before the
locks At tho cascades were built
freight rates on nails, and that class
of goods, from Portland to The Dalles
we're $40 per ton. As soon a. the
locks we're finished and the steam
boats could get through. tho railroad
rate dropped to two dollars per ton
less than one-third what 1t was before
That the difference was due to the
river improvement Is shown by tho
fact that rates were not reduced be-
yond the point to which the steam
boats could run. For instance, the
rate on salt in car load lots was $3.50
per ton to The Dalles, and 5000 per
ton to Umatilla-31.60 per ton for the
SO miles with water competition and
$3.50 per ton for the next 100 miles
without. These rates have since been
reduced a. the Improvement has pro-
ceeded, and when tho work Ia finished
and boats can run far up the Colum-
bia river and to Lewiston and othe-
point in Idaho on its principal tribu~
tary, the Snake river, the people In
all that region will benefit not only
by the direct saving on goods carried
by water, but also by the indirect say
ing through the reduced rate on goods
carried by rail. Exactly similar re-
suits would follow the radical i'm
provement Of rivers all over the United
States.
Indirect Saving Large.
There is, however, no possible way
Of finding out just how much this in
direct saving would be. Rates on some
freight would be reduced greatly. on
some freight slightly, on some, per-
haps, not at all. But we can get some
idea of the amount of freight which
might be Influenced. In the fiscal
year ending June 30, 1907. the total
amount of freight handled by tho
railroads of the United States was
1,796, ,336,659 tons. Some of this was
hauled q short distance, some 4 long
distance. and some was handled BY
moro than ono road. but 1t was equal
to 236,601, ,3so.1o tons hauled one
mile. II tho comprehensive improve
ment of our waterways should make
m averaxe reduction Of one mill per