St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1915-08-21

AO1L8 SCHOOL 0QUAl IN ov0Iy way "
the present day demand for public
GERdANY BUILDS WATERWAYS
| IN THE MIDST OF WAR.
Enormous Expenditures for Trans
| portati0n Facilities.
Far Surpasses United States In For.
eign Commerce.
1.-THE Vistula river has been mem
toned many times of late in the re-
ports of the battles In Poland and the
capture Of Warsaw, the largest city
on its banks. Now the German por-
ton of the river furnishes an item
which is worthy of note, although
it Is peaceful instead Of warltke:
For, although considerable work re-
mains to be done before 1t 10 entire
| " completed, the waterway which
connects the Vistula with the Oder
has recently been opened to traffic.
This new waterway, which takes
the place Of an older and much small
er one. is 1872 miles long and con-
sists almost entirely Of canahzed r1v-
ers. Starting at Custrfn, q fortified
city on the Oder some sixty miles
almost due east Of Berlin, it follows
up the Warthe and Netze rivers
crosses the summit level by cana
seventeen miles long and then goes
down the Brahe, past the city OF
Bromberg, to the Vistula. It enters
this river just at the point where its
course changes sharply from north
west to northeast. Through this
waterway boats carrying $50 tons
can pass from Berlin to the seaport
Of Danzig and the city of Koendgs-
berg.
1.-The statesmen Of Germany, even
in the midst Of the greatest war In
all history, with the Empire fighting
Nor its very life, are not only main
tanning and operating the waterways
they already have but are actually
building more. This fact" says
statement issued by the National Rtv-
ers and Harbors Congress. Shows
more plainly than any words could
do that waterways are considered to
be of vital importance to German in
terests.
PRUSSIA had already spent nearly
$3.50, 100000 on waterways when on
April l, 1905, the Landtag authoriz-
ed the expenditure Of over $4,000
900 on a number Of important new
projects, Of which the Oder-Vistula
waterway was one. It must be re-
|membered, too, that Prussia had nc
less than $2.225.000,00O invested IN
. system Of State-owned railways.
What this really means can better
be understood by a comparison.
Prussia has an area of less than
135, 900 square miles, while that Of
the United States is more than g.,
100000. II the Congress of the
United States, after investing $59,
764, 100000 in railways and spend
ing 50, 465. 100000 on waterways
should pass . single rivers and har-
bors bill authorizing an expenditure
of $2,160,000 200 more, It would
have done exactly as much for trans
portation, In proportion to the size
Of the two countries, a. Prussia had
done ten years ago.
Germany, as is pointed out In 4.
report by Consul General Thackara,
Is fully alive to the fact that trans
portation facilities are at the very
foundation Of the Industrial pros
perity of any country, and appre-
ciates the advantage Of q complete
and unified system of internal trans
portation, both by land and water.
On the face Of it, it looks like abso-
lutte folly for nation to spend hun
dreds of millions Of dollars in build
ing waterways to compete with it's
state-owned railways, in which It has
billions of dollars invested and on
which it depends for the greater part
Of its revenue; but Germany has been
doing that very thing for forty years.
And the results? Nothing in all his.
tory has ever equaled, or approach
ed, the marvellous growth In com.
merce and idustry which has been
made by Germany within that time.
Volumes might be written but a
single comparison must suffice.
I'm every one of the twenty years
ending with 1913 the foreign ccm-
merce of Germany has exceeded that
of the United States. Fast as our
commerce has grown. that of Ger
many has grown faster still. The
average annual excess Of German
commerce for the five years ending
with 1898 was $2O7,000,0O0; in the
next five years the average rose to
1921 100000; in the next five years
to $400,00O,0O0; and in the next to
l$?12.OOO,00O. For 1912 the excess
was 1858. 100000.
There would be nothing in these
figures for the United States to boast
Of II the two countries were equal
In size and resources. But compar-
ed to Germany the United States lie
more than seventeen times Is large
has fifty per cent more population.
more than twice as much accur1ulat-
ed wealth and natural resources At
least ten times as great. Yet in the
race for commercial supremacy Ger
many passed US twenty years ago,
and, until the war broke out, was
steadily leaving US farther and far
Their behind.
Cheap transportation is Just "a
vital to industry and commerce as
ammunition to an army.
1T would pay the United States to
improve its waterways"