The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1911-07-27
TRANSPORTATION
De COMMODITIES

UUigllLlubl 9
Tts e CARRYING or THESE OVER
I3AlL.R DADS COSTS En- 0sT \ NJ
cALcUIABEE 20 LIARS iE
FREIGHT RATES ARE HIGH.
WARRINGTON, b. d; July ~:
Especial Under our complex civil;
zation every man, woman and child
depends for at least part Of the neees-
saries'of lie on the transporta tion Of
commodities. This burden It Is fair
to recognize as a tax 1T Is recalled
that Ii 1906 our annual payments e
railways III. which about 20 per cent
was for freight) first rose above two
billion dollars: that n 1907 It exceed
ed $2,5S9, 000, 900 and 1903 II declined
to a little below $2,4ODOOO,0 600 the cur.
rent average being reckoned at two
and = half billion of dollars.
This vast amount of money spent
for the transportation Of the things
that We eat and wear and use; the
coal that we burn, the brick, the iron
ore and the thousand and one things
which enter into the life of the peo-
pie, II reckoned as a head tax would
be equivalent to over $27 per capita
for our 100000 Inhabitants; as q
family tax 1t is $135 annually for each
average family. Reckoled as a land
tax It Is over $1.25 an acre for every
acre Of our vast national domain, or
an annual figure corresponding with
the price for which most OF the. pub
|.lic lands were sold; and II figured as
a tax on the improved land which
Yields our Astounding farm products
ii averages $500 yearly for each OF
our 4150OO,OO0 acres. The question
therefore asserts itself with brutal
force how long can production CON
.tinue under so weighty burden? No
wonder the quantity Of farm produc-
ton OF the necessaries Of life has fall
len of since the year Of congestion,
1906. though the value Of the products
continues to increase under the in
verse relation brought out by the Sec
rotary Of Agriculture in his last re-
port; and no wonder that retail prices
| of food have scared since the farm
ers learned in 1906 to limit their pro
ductlon to what the railways can car.
ry.
There are in the United States. 295
nayigable rivers of total length Of
90 400 files. If these rivers could be
made 10 do quarter Of the hauling
OF freight and thereby move that
freight at quarter Of the current
cost there would be an apparent say
ing OF half a billion dollars annually
in traffic charges, reducing the cur
rent transportation burden to $40 per
capita or 500 per family, or 81 an
acre oa,land, all Of which saving might
be measured in reduced cost OF liy.
ling. q se
Commissioner of Corporations Her
bert Knox Smith in speaking OF the
crying need for comprehensive pol.
icy by the general government toward
the waterways Of the United States,
which has been the slogan Of the Ma
ttional Rivers and Harbors Congress,
since RS organization fifteen years
ago, said that our waterways must be
made an integral part Of our entire
carrying system. "The tremendous
predomlnence OF through traffic In
the United States between widely
separated sections makes untftcation
with the whole transportation system
almost essential for the life of any
part Of that system. We find, how
ever, that general water traffic is al
most isolated from the main currents
OF the traffic of the country. By gen
eral water traffic I mean the traffic
that is not carried upon water lines
controlled by or closely affiliated With
the railroads. There is a surprising
lack OF coordination between the rail
lines and general water lines. And un.
til we have close physical rail and
water lines with close commercial con-
nections at the through terminals OF
the railroad the enormous charge Tor
Transportation cannot be appreciably
reduced,
"My personal opinion is that the
construction OF waterway cuauLiels "
the government should be absolutely
conditioned upon the present or fu-
ture assured existence thereon OF ade-
quate terminals provided by the To-
cality and by it kept permanently open
for the general benefit Of these users
Of that channel. The local authori-
ties are only ones who can furnish
and keep open the proper terminal
frontage, and such requirement
would not only result in providing ter
minals, but would also 90 far to pre-
vent The presentation Of worthless
and visionary schemes Of waterway
Improvement. If the locality is re-
quired to stake its own money on such
terminal improvements 1t is not go,
ing to urge upon Congress channel
work Of such futile character as VIII
mean loss of the money invested. This
il the system in many places In Eu'
rope, and, Judging from the results
there, It has certainly worked ad-
,t,frnhIVn