The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1910-10-06
MEAN LOWER RATES
EFFECT OF WATERWAY coMPETl.
TON ON THE RAILWAYS OF
THE COUNTRY.
DIRECT AND INDIRECT SAVING
Conservative Estimate 10 That In .
SINGLE Year II Would Be Moro Than
Enough to Discharge the Entire Ma
tIonal Debt.

StnQl6 year u WYNN ~ -
Enough to Discharge the Entire Ma
tIonal Debt.
Il was stated In a previous article
that waterways produce both direct
and indirect savings In the cost OF
transportation and also exert what
nay be called a creative effect. AZ
an instance OF the direct saving It
was shown that the 100, 000. 900 tons OF
freight handled on the great lakes
less than It would have cost by rail.
II the opinion of the United States
army engineers Is correct-and this
opinion is based upon results actually
achieved on the rivers OF Europe
we have a number Of rivers on which,
when properly improved, freight a
be carried for less than on the lakes
and many rivers on which II can be
carried for much less than by rail.
If, 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 t~ransporta-
ton would be vastly increased. II
would probably be increased tenfold,
but II 1t were only doubled the direct
saving in a single year would be more
than enough to pay Off the national
debt.
But this is not the end OF the bene-
fits which the general improvement OF
our waterways would bring, 1t Is only
the beginning. Beside the direct say
ing there Is an indirect saving which
results from the 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 a good general idea of II from
a study of some sample instances.
Freight Rates Affected.
Freight rates from New York to
Salt Lake or Spokane are much high
err than to San Francisco or Seattle,
although the distance is much less, be-
cause goods can be carried 10 the Pa
ciic coast by water, around Cape
Horn, while there Is no waterway OF
any kind to the inland cities named.
1t Is not the ocean alone that affects
railroad rates. Compare the rates on
first class merchandise to river towns
and inland towns situated about $50
miles from st. Louis. Towns on the
upper Mississippi get a rate OF 80
! cents a hundred, inland towns pay SO
cents; towns on the Ohio pay Al cents,
inland towns In the same region
pay 81.
A still more striking instance, and
one showing the direct result Of wa
terway improvement, is to be found
on the Columbia river. Before the
locks at the cascades were built
freight rates on nails, and that class
of goods, from Portland to The Dalles
were $40 per ton. As soon as the
locks were finished and the steam.
boats could get through, the railroad
rate dropped to two dollars per ton
less than one-third what II was before,
That the difference was due to the
river improvement Is shown by the
yond the point to which the steam
boats could run. For instance, the
rate on salt in car load lots was $1.60
per ton to The Dalles, and S10.2 20 per
ton to Umatilla-$1.6o per ton for the
So miles with water competition and
without. These rates have since been
reduced as the improvement has pro
ceeded, and when the work Is finished
and boats can u far up the Colum
bia river and to Lewiston and other
point in Idaho on its principal tribu'
all that region will benefit not only
by the direct saving on goods carried
by water, but also by the indirect
ing through the reduced rate on goods
carried by rail. Exactly similar re
suits would follow the radical i'm
I pIoScuuCut VI iAVCiS ~ oFoi IhS hiec
States.
Indirect Saving Large.
There is, however, no possible waJ
Of finding out Just how much this In
direct saving would be. Rates on some
freight would be reduced greatly, or
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 fisca
year ending June 80. 1907, the tota
amount Of freight handled by the
railroads of the United States wa.
1876, 336,659 tons. Some of this wa.
hauled a short distance. some a Ions
distance. and some was handled By
more than one road, but It was equa
to 236, sol 1901 03 tons hauled on,
mile. II the comprehensive improve
ment Of our waterways should max,
an average reduction of one mill PEI
ton-mile-the difference in the rate,
on salt given above is 10 times a
much, or sever cents per ton mile
would make a saving of over $236 600,
900 on the value Of business handle,
in the fiscal year.
At drst glance. ittlooks as II tina
would disaster to the railways
but that is the exact opposite of tn,