The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1911-01-06

| railway and the waterway, and there
is 10 great difference in the cost Of
transportation by these different meth
DDS that 1t il worth while to study the
matter little. The experts Of the
good roads bureau estimate the cost
of hauling ton Of freight one mile
| by horse and wagon on the average
road in the United States at rs cents.
The cost on thoroughly good, smooth
road might be reduced to 10 cents.
Poor's Manual gives 1882 mills per ton
mile as the average price received by
the railways in 1907, while the official
records kept at the 500 show that the
average rate on the freight carried
into and out of Lake Superior In the
same year was only 8 of one mill.
Facts in Nutshell. -,
You can better understand what
these figures mean If they are stated
in another way. They mean. that II
you have dollar to spend in shipping
ton of freight you can send it
miles on an average road. 10 miles on
a first-class road, 1271s miles on rail-
road, and 1880 miles on a lake vessel.
1t is very easy to see that good
roads are lot better than poor roads
but that transportation by horse and
wagon Is too costly at the best to be
used except for small loads and short
distances. So far as interstate traffic
is concerned the wagon road must be
left entirely out of consideration. 1t
Is just as easy to see what a great
benefit would result from the building
of railway into region where there
was none before, and that still
greater benefit would result from SO
improving a river that 1t is made
dependably navigable when 1t was not
so before.
Waterways increase prosperity In
three principal ways, viz: direct saw
Ing, indirect saving, and by what may
be called creative effect. The direct
saving is that which occurs on goods
actually carried by water, and some
facts which indicate how great this d.
rect saving Is, will also make more
plain the vast difference between the
cost of transportation by rail and by
water.
Through the 500 canal at the out
let of Lake Superior there were car
ried IN 1907, 58,217,214 tons Of freight.
This was carried an average distance
of 1888 miles at an average cost Of
8 OF one mill per ton-mile. If this
had been shipped by rail at the aver
age railway rate for that year 782
mills), its transportation would have
cost 1898, 633,364 more than was paid
for its carriage by water.
The total freight carried on all
lakes that year was, in round mum.
bers, 100,000,000 tons. This vast ton
mage was carried for $3.50, 900. 900 less
than 1t would have cost to send 1t by
rail, and the improvements. which pro.
duce a saving large enough to pay of
the national debt in less than two
years, cost only $s5,00O,00o.
Proof of Good Results.
Wouldn't you call that pretty fair
dividend on the Investment? And don't
you think it would pay to improve all
our waterways as fast and as far as
we can?
"put," says some one, what reason
is there to suppose that improved riv-
srs would give anything like as good
results as have been obtained on the
lakes?" That is proper question and
Is entitled to an answer.
The only waterway In this country
which has been improved as whole
is composed of the four lakes above
Niagara Falls, but there are many I'm
proved rivers In Europe. From care
full study of the results obtained on
these rivers the army engineers esti-
mate that when the improvement of
the Ohio river is finished, freight can
be carried thereon for one-half mill
per ton-mile. That means that the
dollar which will carry ton 1271a
miles by rail and 1850 miles by lake,
will carry It 1000 miles by river
Cost of transportation will vary on
different rivers with depth, width,
swiftness of current, ETC., but the es-
timated cost on completely improved
Ohio river can be increased by 60 per
cent. before 1t will equal the average
cost on the lakes In 1907. and there
Is still margin Of nearly 400 per
cent before you reach rate one-half
As high as thst by rail. II will pay 70
improve our Rivera