The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1914-07-23
CANAL COMPETITION
AND THE RAILROADS
INDICATIONS ARE THAT IT WILL
NOT PROVE As DISASTROUS
As At FIRST BELIEVED.

at sea regarding it's effect on trans
continental freight rates. An opinion
seems to be growing, however, in well
informed quarters that water compe-
tition will not be nearly so democrat
izing as railroad managers had fear
ed.
"Those who have given the closest
attention to the subject" says the New
York Journal of Commerce, "are in
clined to the view that the railroads
have resigned themselves to the stu
alton and are now looking to getting
compensation for any loss they may
sustain in the volume Of freight moved
rights across the continent, which Is
only minor fraction Of the total vol
ume of their traffic, In an increase of
back haul freight from the coast to
interior points and vice versa.
Thinks Railroads Will Set Pace.
It is doubtful, therefore, if the
steamship companies using the Pam
anna canal will have much to fear
from rate cutting by the railroads en-
gagged in the transcontinental trade
by the routes across the United States
and Canada. On what basis the steam
ship carrier freights will settle will
take some time to determine after the
opening of the canal. Few of the lines
intending to use the waterway have
got so far as to draw up any definite
schedule Of charges. The probability
is that by a more or less general I'M
derstanding the rates charged for
commodities suitable for transporta-
ton by the water route and where the
factor of time is not essential will be
placed on slightly lower level than
that of the railroads for their trans
continental shipments. In other words
the steamship lines will, as far as pos
sble, charge all that the traffic will
bear"
This is looking at the matter from
a new angle-of the water carriers adj
justing their rates to the railroad
charges, instead of the steamships
setting the pace for the land carriers.
Cost Of Land Carriage Reduced.
The fact will bear consideration that
prior to the completion of the Union
and Central Pacific in the latter sos,
practically all freight traffic between
The two coasts moved by water. The
first railroads were able to take the
business away from the ocean car
riers. 1t is true that the canal will
greatly reduce the cost of ocean car
rage, but upon the other hand the
cost Of land carriage has been ire
mendously reduced since the building
of the first transcontinental railroad.
Reduction of grades and curvatures
and the development of powerful To-
comotives capable of moving, with
single train crew, several times the
tonnage that was carried in a pioneer
freight train. have cut down immense
ly the cost of moving a tor of freight
across the continent.
For several years after the compile
ton of the Northern Pacific a freight
train consisted of IL small cars. Now
a single locomotive will handle train
of so or GO large cars of double the
capacity of freight cars of a quarter
Of a century, ago.
Railroads Can Avoid Immediate Loss
l.. J. Spence director of traffic of
the Southern Pacific says that whe-
Their the supreme courts decision Of
the Spokane rate case causes the |
railroads any immediate loss depends
upon the railroads themselves.
Under that decision as pointed ont
by the Wall Street Journal rates to
the ntermountain territory are to be
made certain percentages of the rates
through to the coast A large part
of the rates to the intermountain ter
ritory. however, have already been
specifically fixed by the commission at
levels which the commission adiudged
reasonable The railroads may take
these approved intermountain rates as
a basis for increasing the coast rates
to the point where the difference be-
tween the intermountain rates will
not be greater than that allowed by
the commissions order.
Under the commissions order"
says the Journal. "if the railroads
lower coast rates they must also low
er the interior rates. To keep the in
terror rates at the present level. held
reasonable by the commission, they
may raise the coast rates and lose
business to the water carriers. What
they will probably do is to leave the
rates at the present
level on all but few important items
subject to water competition. On ,
these few items they will cut the rates
10 the coast, on the opening of the
canal, to save the traffic making the
necessary reduction on these items to ;
he interior atNthe same time ,
Roads Occupy Vantage Point.
President Ripley of the Atchison |
Dad thinks that "The effect of the in
ermountain rate case. in its applca- +.
ion to Panama canal competition, will
De felt more by the southwestern
ranscontinentals than by the roads
unning across the northern tier of
tates. Seattle, for example. is much
arther from the canal than San Diego