The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1910-10-22

0SAOS Ok WaCSfcoufeeS 90 mol give
the people opportunities Tor low rates
OF freight, that community will have
TO depend entirely upon railroads. II
there be watercourse which, In its
netura! state, Is not available to the
people. It should. II advisable and
practical, be opened to give the peo-
pie competition with the railroad
rates.
WOULD SERVE 100000.
Taking that for granted, it would
be desirable that there should be
canal between Pensacola and Mobile
for the purpose of making competi-
ton for the railroad which comes
into Pensacola and thereby reducing
| rates to the people, and my effort
shall be to show that at the present
time, and under existing conditions,
the construction of the projected canal
would be of immense benefit to the
people of Pensacola and vicinity as
we'll as to large population tribu-
tary to the Alabama rivers, making
population aggregating 100000 to l.
100000 people who would be bene-
fitted by the construction of the canal.
Existing conditions alone might
make very favorable showing, but
the building Of railroads and opening
LOT canals looks more to the future
than to the present. 1t Is impossible,
except by actual test. to say what
will be the exact result of building
railroad or the opening of canal, and
there must, to some extent, be specu-
latlon based upon the past and upon
the probable future, as to what will!
be the result. If the government had
waited until the west was developed
before ASSISTING fhn S-rOnfin 0nf al
railroads there would never have been
a railroad. 1t is the railroad that is
projected first, and the town comes
afterward; If there be town, the
growth Of that town comes from the
| railroad. And so with the water
courses. We cannot wait to see by
test what will be the benefit to West
Florida aQd other state, put we must
reason from the past to the future
and then determine whether upon
existing conditions and the probabili-
ties of the future there should be an
improvement of this kind.
We can give, of course, a. mathe-
NAUTICAL demonstration of the extent
Of the benefits to be derived based
upon present conditions, but we GER
tainly cannot do it upon future condi-
tons. While l have tried for 4S
hours to arrive at some method of de-
monstration, it seems to me that the
question for this board, or for a high
er authrity, is the question as to
whether there would be a fficiently
large number of people benefited,
and whether the benefits would JUS
| tify the expenditure that would have
| to be made. Let us see what the ex-
listing conditions are. The statistics
, are not as full or as comprehensive
as they could have been made; l am
| simply what seems to be an accepta-
BILE mouthpiece Of the people Of Pen
sacola. having a personal interest in
| the city and in the section.
| LAS I understand the subject the
board of engineers has recommended
waterway or canal between Pensa-
cola and Mobile bays, Is feet in
| width at the bottom and sev.L feet
deep. The question is now: What
would be the benefit to the people Of
Pensacola If that waite. way wero
built?
PENsAcoLA's EXPORT BUSINESS
pensacola is a city of probably 2s,-
900 to 10000 people. 1t had an ex-
port business last year OF over $22,-
100000, and that does not include g..
900 bales Of cotton valued at some
thing over 100000 more. 1t is the
depot Of West Florida and it's exports
include a large amount of phosphate,
cotton and other products coming
firm as far north as Kentucky and
| Tennessee. We annually export an
immense amount of lumber and a
large amount Of coal and steel rails.
1t seems to US that it is also the cen
ter Of activity of West Florida and
approximately 100000 people are di-
rectly tributary to it. 1t would be, if
this canal IS built, the center of &C.
tivity OF large portion of Southern
Alabama, and the question is whether,
with that population now and pros
poets for the future, the work of con-
structing a canal ought to be under
taken at the present time.
| Il shall confine myself to a discus
sion OF two or three classes of heavy
freights which ordinarily would not
require rapid transit, and which would
come by water If water freights were
lower than rail freights. understand
| the route via the Warrior is nearly
completed. When it is completed
there will be water transportation
from Birmingham to Mobile; If this
canal is constructed, necessarily Pen.
sacola would be accessible to the Mo-
bile river. 1t may be asked: Would
any OF this commerce come past Mo
bile to Pensacola?' Unfortunately for
Mobile, there are physical reasons
which would make transportation
through the canal to Pensacola and
shipment from Pensacola less expen.
sive than At Mobile We believe that
large portion Of the traffic of the
upper Warrior river and other rivers
would find an outlet at Pensacola be
cause of the fact that the harbor is
light at the gulf, and IN half an hour
Tom the time products are loaded
ITO vessels, they can be at sea.
COAL AND IRON
In the Alabama district there are
IMMENSE quantities of coal Suppose
or the present We are able to state
approximately the amount of coal
which has heretofore come to Pensa-
ola, and We are able to state ap-
'roximately the saving which would
e made by the shipment of that by
argos instead Of coming by rail
me Of the largest coal merchants