Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1911-05-05

1uIuI0 10 LILO SAp0AACAS0 VI SA0 pooT
20 let us see what has actually hap
pened to railways when waterways
have been improved.
That the improvements in the chan
nels> and harbors Of the lakes have
been of great benefit, both to the rail-
ways which parallel their shores and
to those which run from lake cities to
the interior, is a fact SO plain that
it needs no argument to support It.
There are NO more prosperous. and
profitable roads in tho country than
those that serve the region tributary
to the lakes. But no one questions
the wisdom Of continuing tho improve.
ment Of the lakes, or of our ocean
harbors. The real question is a. to
the Improvement Of our rtvers, and II
We wish to study tho effect Of river
Improvement, either on railway revo-
nues or national development, va
must 60 to Europe.
Results In Bohemia.
During tho fifteen years that i'm
provements wer under way On tho
Nlbe river. In Bohemia, the river traf-
&c, a 4 natural result Of tho better
channel. Increased, dvefold.s But tra4.
&c on tho competing railways In
creased still. more largely end the div.
idends on the main Kne.. from Teplits
to Aussig. rose to 1e per cent. per
annum.
Similar results followed the canal.
sa&ion Of tho River Main. from May.
eace. On tho Rhine, TO Trankf66e&k
which was finished IN the latter part
Of 1856. The river traAac, which
amounted to only $4,000 tons In that
year, began to grow and has kept on
growing, being 1,173.0oo tons In 1901.
Thsre~:aro TIVE railfoads~ betwoen
Nankf~~t and Mayencs, one on each
side of tho river. What happened to
them3 Did their business show q 70.
r1ous falling Of? Or were they forced
int the hands Of 4 reeeiver3 On thu
contrary their traAc, which was OIL
900 tons in 1856, also began 70 grow,
and by 1902 had reached 10000
tons, Of o than double what 1t vas
when tho railroads had q practical
monopoly Of the business Of Frank
fort.
The mere statement Of tho In.
creased tonnage does net tell tho
whole truth Of the matter. for the
tonnage was not only more than
doubled in quantity. but greatly
raised In grade, 50 that It could pay,
and did pay, q much higher rate per
ton per mile.
Fine German Waterway.
Practically all the railways OF Ger
many are7s state owned and state eper-
ated. Out Of 4 total Of 5000 miles,
In round numbers. only about $500
miles r operated by private COM
panies. Germany also has enc Of the
finest systems Of watsfways IN The
world. and q study Of the balances
sheet Of the German railway system
shows that the results which fellowo1
the improvement: Of tho River Main
are not IN exception. q mere ooinor
donce, but r the natural outwofk1n4
Of Z Dsilcipls Of general Application.
In the calendar year 1871. after paying
for operation, maintenance, repairAL
renewals. new equipment, interest q
bonds, contribution to tho sinking
fund, and every other item which tho
most careful bookkeeping required 10
10 charged up, the German railways
turned $1s4. 900. 900 Of absolutely net
revenues into tho treasures Of tho
Various states. This was $6.o5o PEI
mile Of line operated, while the corre-
spending figure on United States rail-
ways for tho fiscal year 1867 NJ
only $1,se7-a little ovsr one-thirl -
much. -. :
Much the greater part Of the total
revenue of tho German states IN d.
rived from their railways, II cents out
Of every dollar received by Prussia In
1907 being so obtained. Yet German
statesmen keep on. year after year,
spending money earned by their rail-
ways In building and improving water
4ways to compete with those same rail-
ways, on which they depend q the
principal source Of national income.
In the light Of the facts given absve
It viii net do 10 ray that these 0eF.
man statesmen DO not know what they;
are about On the contrary. they are
acting. as has been we'll said, I'm fur.
therance Of . policy The wisdom Of
which time and expsrisaoe have fully1
confirmed ,
Always and everywhere the result
is the same-thee imDEovs9snt Of q
waterway isssa benefit % competing;
railways. 81 this result O. for aAy
other. there 4 ? go ~ . ldsaf.l
reason. but It must y slelta6oe aAseAlees
J ID Z g !, I'm ,what q ssaaan
g.
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