Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1911-03-16
SAVING Of MILLIONS
WHAT COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM
OF WATERWAYS IMPROVE
MENT MEANS TO FARMERS.
FIGURES TO SUPPORT FACTS
On Shipments Of Grain Alone the d.
rect Return Would Mean 100000
eco, and Proportionately All Other
Products Weu.d Ee Affected.

Products Weu!d tc Affected.
In a former article We .ayo facts and
figures to prove that, If the compre-
hcnsiye plan OF waterway improve
ment advocated by the National Riv-
ors and Iiarbors congress We're car
ried out. the direct return to the farm.
ers cf the country. On the single item
of grain. would certainly be s1oo, 900.
900 q year-and probably would be
more than twice that sum.
But grain is not the only item on
which the farmers would receive a
benefit. The fact is that for the farm
,rs-aHa everybody else. for that mat
tor the cost OF transportation inFu-
"nc@s practically everything he buys,
sells. cats. wears or uses i'm any way
whatever. except water, air and sun
shine. The average man is inclined to
laugh when told that be pays out more
for transportation than he does for
liNcs or because OF the tarif-but his
laughter does no: alter Che fact in the
least.
There arc three principal methods
.. transportation. the wagonway, the
railway and the waterway. and there
is so great a difference in the cost of
transportation by these different meth
obs that it is worth while to study the
matter a little. The experts OF the
good roads bureau estimate the cos
Of hauling a ton of freight one mile
l,, ,,r.> or1 az.
road in the United States at % cents.
The cost on a thoroughly good. smooth
road might he reduced to 10 cents.
Poor's Manual gives 7.S2 mills per tom
mile as the average price received by
the railways in 1907. while the official
records kept al tie 500 show that the
average rate on the. freight carried
into and out Of Lake Superior in the
same veal was only g of cne mill.
Facts in a Nutshell.
these figures mean if the, are stated
in another way. They mean that if
you have a dollar to spend in shipping
a ton of freight 0 can send it
miles on an average road. 10 ~niissson
a first-class road. 1211h miles on Il rail-
road, and 1850 miles on a Lake vcssoi.
1t is very easy 10 see that scO3
roads + a lot hetter than rcor road
but that transportation by horse and
wagon is too costly at the best to ha
used except for small loads aud short
distances. So far as interstate traffic
10 rrOnNOrnOI tt.r -aCcn 4, - , Il ,,,,rt ~.
left entirely out OF consideration. II
is inst as easy TO see what a great
benefit would result from the building
of a railway into a region where there
was one before. and ti,at a still
greater benefit won,'d result from so
improving a river that it is made
d%spendab.y naviGab,e wien it was not
so before.
Waterways increase prosperity in
three principal ways. viz: direct saw
Ing. indirect saving, and by what may
ha called a creative effect. The direct
saving Is that which occurs on goods
actually carried BY water, and some
facts which indicate how great this di-
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 $3.50 miles at an average cost Of
8 of one mill per ton-mile. II this
had been shipped by rail at the aver
age railway rate for that year (7.S2
mills). its transportation would have
cost $33S.63S. 1864 more than va paid
Tor It's carriage by water.
The total freight carried on oil
lakes that year was. In round num-
'bers. l00.000.O00 tons. This vast ton.
mage vas carried TOR 365o,O0o.00o less
than u would have cost to send II BY
rail. and the improvements, which pro.
duce Z saving large enough to nay on
the national debt In less than two
years. cost only $sb.000.o0o.
Proof 81 Good Results.
Wouldn't you call that 4 pretty fair
dividend on the investments! And don't
you think It would pay to improve Ill
our waterways 90 fast and q far Is
We can!
But" says some one, what reason
fsSthere TO suppose that improved riv. !
ers would 9ive anything like = rood
results - have been obtained On the
lakes! That isa proper question ma
q entitled to an answer.