The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-08-31

affects the prise of everything bought
or sold by an individual citizen.
The average rate per ton per mile
is convenient generalization which
has place and use in the discus
sion of transportation questions, but
it does not answer all the needs OF
such a discussion. All the factors
which enter into the making of this
average rate must be known before
its meaning can be clearly understood.
Size of locks, which limits the capaci-
ty of boats, width and depth Of chan
mel, and character of traffic, all exert
tremendous influence on the tom
mile cost of water transportation.
Nobody is proposing to build canals
like that in this country. The locks
OF the new Erie barge canal will pass
boats carrying $500 to 5000 tons.
In 1905 the average length OF haul
On the waterways was only 1873 miles
in Belgium. 80 miles in France and
139 miles in Germany. In 1909 the
average length of haul on the railways
of the United States. considered as a
system, was 251.1 miles. No compari-
son Of average rate per ton per mile
is fair, which fails to take length of
haul into consideration, as is plainly
shown by an analysis of the tariff of
a leading American railway, Taking
the average of the rates on the eight
classifications which cover the great
bulk OF general merchandise shipped
/ in less than carload lots, We find the
the different distances shown: So
miles &c, 15.S miles s.3c, 25.1 miles
5,5c, 1917 miles, 3.2c, 1904 miles 2.1c,
30S.5 miles Lee.
These figures do not represent the
average rate at which the traffic was
carried, but the average of the pub
lished rates. which is very different
matter; but they do show plainly
how rapidly rates per ton-mile de-
crease with length of haul.
Any thinking man who reads the
statement that government expendi-
lures in Germany amount to two mills
per ton-mile when the Rhine and the
Elbe are left out, but to only "a Of
mill when they are included, sees
at once that the cost per ton-mile on
those rivers must have been ex-
tremely low. And so In fact it was,
for Lindley 5 report to the British
royal commission shows that in 1905
the average cost per net ton per mile
OF traffic to the Prussian government
was about one-third of mill (.33) on
the Elbe, little more than one-sixth
OF a mill CID on the Rhine, and less
than one-fourth of mill (23) on
the traffic of the two rivers combined
The great underlying principles
which is revealed by study of these
figures, is this: The deeper and wider
the channel, the larger the locks
(where locks are needed,) the greater
the carrying capacity OF single boats
or fleets of barges, the longer the
haul and the larger the traffic develop
ed, the less is the cost of transporta-
ton.
II we have the best railway sys-
tenn and the lowest railway rates in
the world, the thing for us to do is
to build the best waterway system In
the world and get the lowest possible
cost OF transportation. Our natural
opportunities in this respect are un-
surpassed. The rivers now nayigable
In the United States have a greater
length than all the waterways, includ-
Ing canals as we'll as rivers, In France,
Holland, Belgium and Germany com
bined. The combined length of the
twelve chief canalized rivers of
France is only equal to that of the
Ohio. The only waterway In that
country which has a channel as large
as that now under development in
the Cape Fear river from Wilmington
to Fayetteville, North Carolina. is the
portion OF the Seine from Paris to the
sea. The only inland waterway in
Germany with a channel comparable
to that of the improved Ohio Is the
10 miles of the Rhine between Co
logne and the Dutch frontier.
Nor are we compelled to look to
the future for examples of low cost
and efficiency in transportation on
American rivers. The greatest cargoes
moved at one time are not handled on
the Great lakes, or even on the ocean.
but In the fleets of barges carrying
coal down the Ohio and Mississippi
riyers-the record cargo being $500
tons, handled by the towboat Sprague.
The board of engineers that recon-
mended the improvement OF the Ohio
report that great quantities of coal
have been transported on that river
at a charge of less than a Of mill
per ton mile-a rate as low as is Civ.