The Washington herald., 1912-02-04
WILL PANAMA CANAL DECREASE THE COST
OF TRANSPORTATION IN UNITED STATES
Some Salient Facts Regarding Economic Side
of the Vast Project and Its Effect on
Ultimate Consumer.


rates eastward. accordingly, are low. Few
ships are owned in this country. hui
plenty are owned in Europe. The scarcity
of our own ships and the low price OF
transportation to- Europe have caused
American freights destined for South
America and foreign ports in the Pacific
to be sent TO Europe and there trans
shipped. Practically. such rehandling IS
a tax on exports, and places our manu-
facturers at disadvantage. The Pan
anna Canal viii give US a short and direct
waterway 10 countries In the Pacific and
viii reduce our expense for doing busi-
ness in that part Of the world.
Boston. should say. will be special.
ly benefited by the canal 1t has a large
trade with Europe. but small maritime
/ trade with Pacific countries. Tea Is re.
ceived by RAN over transcontinental rail-.
] roads, or from New York, or by water
I from London. The wool of Australia
| comes in sailing ships from Melbourne
| or, as have said. from London. which
| is the greatest wool market in the
world. Japanese and Chinese crockery
and curios reach Boston by rail-. either
from San Francisco or Vancouver So
| the Panama Canal will unl ubtedly in
crease the trade OF the Northeastern part
| Of the United States with countries in
the Pacific. Tramp steamers, I venture
TO say, Will appear at the ports OF New
York and Boston TO solicit cargoes for
the Orient. While the canal will only
reduce the distance from New York to
Manila sixteen miles, ships going by the
way Of San Francisco and Yokohama,
still American vessels can do a coasting
trade on the way-carrying goods from one
American port to another-ahd find It a
profitable business. The present water
route to Manila more used than any
other is across the Atlantic and through
the Suez Canal, where the tolls are about
S1.5O per vessel ton. A rate Of 81 a ton
by the Panama Canal would naturally
attract trade in that direction.
The south VIII Prosper.
THE country beyond the Ohio and
Potomac rivers" DR.. johnson went on
TO say. will also feel lihe- new impulse
that the canal will give to commerce.
For a century raw cotton has been the
one great product Of the South. but
cotton is now being extensively manu-
fsctured in that region, while iron is be-
ing made in Birmingham ana Chatta-
nooga. Ore. coal. and limestone, all the
elements OF iron, are mined within a
rife shot OF the Alabama furnaces. Iron
can be produced more cheaply there than
anywhere in the world. Including Nir-
States supply almost one-fifth OF the iron
ore used in the country, the mines of
Alabama and Tennessee yielding nearly |
one-seventh Of the total. Most OF the |
Alabama iron is shipped out of the State. |
but only l per cent Of it goes to the
Pacific Coast and Mexico. Machinery, |
engines, farm implements, and largel
variety Of iron and steel manufactured
are made in Chattanooga. Such products,
when sold TO Pacific countries, are usually
TO the Western seaboard by rail-.
But cotton remains the greatest in
dustry of the South. Most Of the cotton
sold abroad, as every one knows, Is
shipped to Europe. japan is our best /
for raw cotton in the Pacific, |
and China is our best customer for man
Ifactured cotton, though Japan also is
L large purchaser. Cotton goods, too,
ire sold in Australia, the British East
indies, and the Hawaiian Islands. Iron I
md steel and cottons from the South 1.
an be sent TO Pacific markets by way i
II Europe, or around the end of South I
America or by rail to our Western coast
THE Panama Canal will give US q
heap and short route, and cargoes will
lot be broken in transit. Likewise there
will be an economical and convenient
way OF sending Southern lumber and
ertilizer into the Pacific. Nitrate OF soda
5 used with phosphate rock in the man.
facture OF fertilizer. It comes TO US
rom Chile, around Cape Horn. or through
he Straits of Magellan, long, tedious.
nd expensive water haul down one coast
( South America and up the other.
When nitrate of soda can come from
lille through the Panama Canal to the
hemical works in Virginia and South {
,arolina, and when fertilizer. a bulky
reight of low value compared with hard $
ARE and cotton goods, can be sent d.
ectly to California, the Hawaiian ISL
nds, and Japan, where farming is in
ensive, a great trade VIII be developed;
ew relations will be established, and S
ne whole country in one way or another /
ill be benefited. c
Great wharVes Are Waiting. (
THE Southern States and the Pacific
oast and the Orient will be drawnlclose
,gether commercially. There are docks
nd piers at Port Tampa, Pensacola, :
ew Orleans. Galveston, and Mobile large +
lough for the handling Of great quanti- n
es of freight and up-to-date railroads L
} bring the freight TO the Atlantic C
cean and the Gulf Of Mexico. Iron. h
eel, cottons. lumber, and fertilizer win q
sent into the Pacific and tea, d
Igar, silk, mating, and curios win be r
-ought back. At the same time the c
tates of the South will come into near d
uch with California, Oregon, and Wash O
gton, sending them coal, manufactured b
,tton, cottonseed oil. machinery, imple- 7
ents, and fertilizer, and getting in ex- G
ange wool, barley. and fruits. I think e
IT Gulf cities will receive heavy i'm Il
,rts from tropical and Oriental coun- v
les after the canal is in operation. The
stance from New Orleans to Chicago ir
rail is 912 miles Imports for distrfbu- Il
IN between the Allegheny and Rocky n
ountains, originating in Pacific coun- 8
es, may be sent North from the Gulf n
the Lower Atlantic TO st. Louis and a
licago." N
What advantages will the canal bring n
large inland cities?" I asked. III
Their goods viii reach Pacific markets "
pre- cheaply and quickly than at pres r.
L A route that reduces the distances q
pm Boston TO Mazatlan, Mexico. and n
llparaiso also reduces the distances a,
pm Chicago, Cincinnati and Indianap- ~
s to those ports on the Pacific Ocean. ?,
le question you ask is being seriously n
nsidered in cities like ST. Louis, Chi n
go, and st. Paul During the hearing tr
the long and short haul case. begun byl ~
E city of Spokane, II was said that the or
rough rail traffic TO the Pacific Coast
ginated about as follows: Twenty per
1t east Of Buffalo and Pittsburg; g per
At in the Buffalo and Pittsburg district. lbr
d 81 per cent in the valleys of the Ohio, a.
and Missouri VIII the Pan :,
ia Canal, it is asked. increase the per a.
ltage east Of Buffalo and Pittsburg and an
crease it in the region to the west? eli
other words. viii the Central West. as ca
Is called. lose some of its Pacific Coast tn
siness to New England. New York, br
" Jersey, and Eastern Peunsylyaufa7 / fH