El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-02-15
Heavy Traffic for Canal
Commissioner Emory r. johnson OPP
poses ExemptinE Coast
wise Shipping.
Nv Frederic j. HaEEfn
= By Frederic J. Haskin

~
M When the United States was
considering the advisabiIity OF
undertaking to build the Panama canal,
president Mckinley looked the country
over for the best authority on trans
portatiOn and commerce to serve on the
canal commission and TO prepare an
adequate report on the Industrial and
commercial value Of an isthmian canal
He finally selected professor Emory r.
Johnson professor Of transportation,
and commerce at the University Of
was most comprehensive one. and one
that went far toward demonstrating
the prospective value Of such a water
way.
How Tolls Are Figured.
When the time came to fix the tolls
on the canal. professor Johnson again
was drafted into service to bring his
inquiry up to date and to revamp it in
line with the developments OF the de-
cade that elapsed since the previous re-
port was made Professor Johnson made
an extended inquiry. into all matters
pertaining to the amount Of traffic in
dicatcd. the character of this traffic,
the conditions that might influence it
by tending to drive it away or to lead
II to choose the Panama route over
other routes and into the traffic mis-
tory OF other great artificial water
ways.
His first line of inquiry related to
distances. in an attempt to show just
what will be the natural course Of
shipping after the canal is constructed.
W nile realizing that other elements,
including cOalins and provisioning IA
clllues- amount of way cargo, and the
ike, tend TO counterfeit distance con-
siderations when shipOwner plans the
route Of his ships, at the same time
distances are the first consideration
Longer Route Profitable.
he IlndS that the longer Of two routes
may De the more profitable one If there
be greater volume of intermediate
traffic. At the same time it may be
the more profitable If the price Of coal
and the number Of cOaling stations are
TO its advantage Lower insurance
rates may overcome distance, and toll
charges may be so high as to divert
traffic His problem was to assess all
these matters at their true value ana
with this assessment in mind to try
to forecast the amount of trade that
will be available at Panama and TO
fix rate Of toll that would yield the
maximum return and at the same time
make the canal of maximum benefit to
the worlds shipping
ShOrtcns Distance by Half.
He finds that the canal win shorten
the water distance from the east coast
of the United States to the west coast
by more than half It will place New
York more than 5000 miles nearer to
the great nitrate beds Of Chill. and
nearly 1000 miles near to Valparaiso
The distances to most transcontinenta
points are approximately 1090 miles
nearer by way Of the Tehauntepec
route than by the Panama route. But.
inasmuch as the handling Of cargo out
OF one ship into another at Tehauntepec
costs S1.15 a ton and. in addition there
to, land transportation OF 192 miles is
involved, little serious competition
from the Tehauntepec route is feared
on through cargo business The cost
OF getting a ton Of goods through the
- 2 arHrr <
to so cents per ton. so that. although
the Panama route viii be the longer by
1000 miles. it viii be cheaper in the
end
Asia and Europe Benefited.
The distances saved by the Panama
route 10 Asiatic ports from our own
gulf and south Atlantic sea5Oard ranges
from nearly 600O miles down to some
1000 when compared with the Suez
route. The distances to Australian
ports from the ports Of our Atlantic
SeahOard are brought from 1000 to 5000
miles nearer than by the natural route
by way Of the Cape Of Good Hope
With reference to European ports,
it is found that Liverpool viii be over
1900 miles nearer " wellington New Tea
land, through the Panama canal than
through Suez- As il costs approximate
y 10 cents per register ton per day TO
keep a freight ship on the high seas a
5OOO-ton freighter would cost $500 d
day. A thousand miles would thus cost
something over $1,000. From this il
viii be seen that a ship OF this descrip-
ton could sail about 5000 miles as
chcaply as ii can go through the canal
at the present rate OF toll All shipping
except where other conditions are IN
equal-wouId find ii profitable to 50
through the canal, where more than
5000 miles at sea can be overcome
Canal DOOms Sailing Vessels.
Professor Johnson presents an inter-
esting study on the traffic in sight
for the canal and on the indications
Of increased traffic, but as this will
form the basis Of another article, they
are merely referred to here one OF
the interesting things he brings out is
that the opening OF the canal will neces-
sarily hasten the passing Of the sailing
vessel. since there viii be no Iacllues
for handling them through the big wa
terway. In a third of century the
worlds tonnage of sailing vessels mas
declined from 100000 10 less than
1000, 600 tons, while steam tonnage mas
increased tenfOld-from a little more
than 1000, coo to more than Il 100000
tons.
VIII Lower Rail Rates.
With reference to the relation OF the
Panama canal to the traffic and rates
on the transcOntinentaI railroads. pro-
fessor Johnson concluded that the rail-
roads will be able to hold very
small share Of the transcontlnenlaL
traffic. and that they viii be under the (
Pacific cOastbound goods originating as
far west as the Mississippi river he
estimates that about 100000 tons OF
transcontinental freight are handled
wear. of which the railroads have Deeh
getting IS percent. The railroads nave
been in the habit Of charging low rates
to the Pacific from the middle west. SO
as to encourage industries there Wheh
the Nevada railway commission exam
ined the bills of lading on shipping
coming into Reno. it was found tnat %
percent Of the incoming frelgnt orlSl-
mated no farther east than Chlcaso-
Professor Johnson thinks tnat the
railroads will practically surrender
without a fight that transcon tlnenIat l
traffic which originates in and east OF I
the Buffalo-P ittsburg> district, a trel1Lc I
which embraces about One-Inlru o. the
total transcontinental tralIlc- ROADS I
within 500 miles Of the Atlantic sea .
hoard would rather get what Iney can J
nv hauling freight to its ports Tor va /
tsr shIDuent than to take a lower rate /!
to deliver that freight to the transcon- 1
tinental railroads
EAST TO Benefit.
nj -,-,.1,7sfon with reference to the :
effect mat the canal viii have on the I
-aiiroads is that il viii hammer down /
tTsi- rstes for freight on commodities /
S,,,f@-i,ari1c- within 1000 miles Of either 4
ga = t-i destined to points within !