The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1911-11-11
rotary Henderson had this to say of

rotary Henderson had this to say Of
the canal:
Inland waterway will become eff
fective freight carriers only when the
rivers emptying into the Gulf of Mex
leo and the rivers enptying into the
ter-coastal inland waterways along the
Atlantic and gulf coasts, and Joined
by canal across the peninsula Of
Florida. Why? Because, so connect
ing together, the inland waterways of
the eastern part of the country STAN
dardizes them, in that is allows vessels
Of certain types to travel over the
Great Lakes, all of the rivers, bays,
sounds and canals without transfer Of
cargo.
THE principle of rate making given
above applies to transportation by wa
ter as well as by rail.
In 1905 the average length of haul
on waterways was, in Belgium, 1888
miles; France, go miles; Germany. 1S9
miles; and the average freight rate
per ton mile was, in Belgium, IL
mills; France, =1ills; Germany, s
mills. The rate rapidly decreases as
the length of haul increases.
When the rivers which enter, and
the sounds and bays along, the Allan
tic are connected by inland canals. the
length Of haul on these waters will be
greatly increased; a like condition will
result when the inland waterways
along the gulf coast have been con-
structed. Great as these two great in
land waterway system will be, the
objective will not be reached, of one
continuous trunk line of inland wa
terway, nor will the full benefit Of the
cheapest rates be received, until they
are Joined together by a canal across
Florida.
Lack of Unity.
Herbert Knox Smith says: There
is a striking lack of unity in our
whole waterway system. 1t has a
great mileage and extent, but that
mileage is split up into totally sep
arate sections, divided by different
depths, different sorts of channel, and
different navigation to remember that
the business OF this country is largely
based upon long distance transporta-
ton. Our railroads have made a
speciality of this sort Of traffic. and our
commerce has become adjusted to it,
The railroads, which are standardized
and unified, are well adapted for such
| long distance traffic. Obviously, the
disorganized water system is not.
"'The total freight handled by rail
and water in 1907 was 100000, 00C
tons. 1t is conservative to say that the
4
of this. or 550,0o0,0o0 tons, would be
affected by the Florida intland water
way because of the privilege of longer
haul. If this longer haul resulted in q
saving of i mill per ton mile, the an
nual saving would be $550.000 for each
ton mile. or $55, o0o, 900 annually, il the
average haul of $50, 100000 tons OF
| freight were increased 100 miles.
Not a Local Project.
| To advance the argument that ex-
listing business or local resources viii
not warrant the expenditures neces-
sary for a federal improvement, is not
logical or consistent That argument
was advanced by Henry Clay. when h
voted against the first appropriation
for the Sault Ste Marie canal. I an
proud to know my greatgrandfather
as senator, cast an Affirmative vote fol
the improvement of one of the creates
water transportation mediums in TIT
| world.
That argument is no more consistent
than to say because there is not saw
mill in a virgin tract of timber. tina
the existing business will not warran
engaging in the saw mill business
Does rail commerce develope befor'
railroads are constructed. or after?
Local commerce and existing bust
ness as Incidental factors entering int
the feasibility of a project shoul'
rightfully be considered. The Florid;
canal taken as local project, will b.
of vast benefit, resulting in draining
large areas of valuable land. furnish
ing transportation to phosphate. lum
Der and local business, probably sui