The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-04-17

canal, was carefully studied by the
men of business of the Mississippi val
ley who contemplated using the Mis-
sissippi and its navigable tributaries
for transportation of what is called
slow freight. Very careful computa-
tions and estimates were made. and it
was recently decided that the salts
factory method would provide for the
construction of barges, each one of
the capacity of a thousand tons, Fur
thermore, it was decided that not
more than five barges should be at
tached to any towboat. That, how
ever, will give q capacity of five
thousand tons to each tow.
There could be as many towboats
and barges as business offered made
necessary. What these business men
have especially in mind is the prod
ucts of the northwest. such as flour,
grain and timber. They now figure
that by means of the thousand-ton
barge method, five barges in one tow,
the flour, grain and timber of the
northwest can be carried to New Or
leans and exported at rates very much
less than those now in effect, via the
Atlantic sea board. If experiment and
test show that this view is correct it
is easy to see that within five years
after the opening of the Panama
canal very great commercial changes,
at least so far as transportation is
concerned, will have been made.
Furthermore. it is the expectation
of these business men that the barges
which are toWed to New Orleans,
after having comprised the shallow
waters of the upper Mississippi and its
tributaries, can carry back at low
cost, and yet at rates that will be re-
munerative to the barge owners, SUI
gar, coffee, rice. mOlasses and other
commodities. If tests which are to
be made this summer justify the ex-
pectations of the energetic men of
49, Io1i
that the time has come to utilize their
naviga BILE waters to much greater
extent than heretofore, then it is easy
to see that this commerce must have
considerable effect upon railways,
either from the gulf or from the At
lantic seaboard to the northwest.
A Question of Distribution
The men of the Mississippi valley who
are agitating for this use of waterways
have profound conviction that the ques-
ton of distribution of wealth is a more
important one than the question of
securing it. They believe that by util-
izing waterways much of the COM
plant of the high cost of living will
be ended.
1t is also learned that it is now pro-
posed to make all the important points
of commons if his attention has been
drawn TO the publication of the tele-
grams and whether their origin could
be traced. The electrical control of the
on the Mississippi river distributing
centers for such commodities as are
brought down the river as well as those
which are moved up the river from the
gulf. If this can be done it is regard
ed as in line with the modern under
standing that the great essential Tor
real and permanent prosperity is the
satisfactory distribution of wealth, es-
pecially the wealth represented by
commodities. Consultation with man
ufacturers located west of the Indiana
Illinois state line and east of the Mis-
souri, rver has disclosed the fact that
these manufacturers are for the most
part confined to markets which are IN
a very limited area. But II science can
show the way, and shipbuilders can pro
fit thereby so that the utilization OF
these navigabIe waters for barges can
be assured, then the saving in the COST
of transportation represented by the
difference between the all-ra1l rates
and barge rates viii make 1t posslDie
for these industries to enter both DO
mestic and export markets Whlch rney
are now unable to reach.
When speaking of this development
the men who are undertaking 1t assert
that when the Panama canal is COM
pleted then the natural arteries OF
commerce for a very large part OF the
export trade of the country, partlcu-
larly steel products from the Pittsburg
district, grain and flour and timber
products from the Northwest, Will be
carried on via the Mississippi, the Ohio
and to some extent, the Missouri riv
ers Until it was demonstrated that
the Panama canal would be completed
in perfect accord with the calculations
of Colonel Goethals, this agitation for