Potosi journal. (Potosi, Mo.) 1894-1929, 1910-05-04
Waterway Development in Europe
and the United States.

We note that contemporary
sounds word Of warning agains
precipitate action in the whole
sale developement of the water
ways of the United States, by
drawing attention to a documen,
issued by the British Royal Com
mission on canals and waterways,
which it considers to be worthy o1
serious study on this side Of the
Atlantic. The report deals with
the waterways of Belgium, France,
Germany and Holland; and oul
contemporary advises that it be
studied in connection with the re.
port of the army engineers on the
proposed 14-foot waterway from
the Lakes to the Gulf. 1t is claim
ed that the Royal Commission re-
port strongly sustains the conten.
tion Of the army engineers, that
the Mississippi and its tributaries,
with $4,000 miles of navigable
waters, as developed and maintain
ed by the government, furnish as
good an inland waterway system as
any in Europe.
In France the waterways that
are used considerably include a
total of about I, 800 miles of rivers
and canals, and OF this 1.3O6 miles
of rivers and l ,671 miles of canals
have been deepened to a minimum
depth of sc and to maximum
depth of S.5 feet, the bulk of the
traffic being carried on water vary
ing from 5 feet in depth down to
LIS feet.
In Germany there are $500
miles Of waterways, the depth of
which in the rivers varies from 8
to 6 feet, while on the lower Sec
tions of the larger rivers the depth
becomes from s to 10 feet. The
depths of the canalized rivers are
from 4 to 10 feet, from 4 to 6 feet
being the most common. Compar-
ing these figures with those of the
Mississippi, we find that, even in
the low-water season, boats of 25
to 80 feet draft may be sent from
the Gulf of Mexico 27O miles to
New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and
Bayou Sara. Boats of 9-foot draft
may travel $40 miles farther to
Cairo; those of S-foot draft may
pass from Cairo 1872 miles to St.
Louis; while those drawing 44 feet
may pass up the Mississippi, Illi'
nois River, and Illinois state canals,
a farther distance of 365 miles to
Chicago. The Ohio has a depth
of 9 feet from Cairo to Pittsburg,
a distance of 1000 miles.
Now, since the Mississippi and
its tributaries actually constitute a
better waterway system than any
in Europe, the question is asked,
Why is the river and canal traffic
in Europe growing faster than the
railroad traffic, while in the United
States railroad traffic is rapidly in-
creasing, and the river and canal
traffic falling OFF, One important
reason is that both the municipal
and private interests in Europe
have provided the waterways with
good terminals, and boats and
barges have been developed which
are specially adapted to river and
canal traffic. Here, practically
nothing of the kind has been done.
Our contemporary is of the
opinion that it would be the very
height of folly for the government
Of the United States, under pres.
ent transportation and commercial
conditions, to spend hundreds of
on the developent of in
land waterways. believing that the
only way by which considerable
commerce could be diverted to the
present or proposed waterways
would be to compel the competing
railroads to raise their existing
rates on low-grade commodities
and refrain from making reduc
tions. In France the government
compels the railways to keep their
rate at least 20 per cent higher
than the rates on the competing
waterways; this practice, according
to the report of the Royal Com
mission, being based on the opin-
ion that erways, because of the
long duration of transport, are not
able to compete at equal rates with
the railroads.-Scientiic Ameri-
can.
GOOD AS THE BEST IF NOT