Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-03-21


with the country fall of talk about
foreign trade. and tho need for i'm
proving the merchant marine, and cul-
tivatinG the business Of South Amer
lea. the far southern ports Of the
United States rise up ana demand To
bc heard
New orleans, of course, has n large
and wcll-establshrd business. Charles
ton, savannah, Jacksonville Tampa.
Mobile and Pensacola ;tre- the ones ia
question. They all nave fin" harbors.
which are free from ice all the year
around. the government has spent
many millions 10 improve their chan
ne!S; and the citizens nave built and
arc building excellent terminal facili-
tics. They are all dressed up to go TO
the International trade party; hut they
have nothing 10 ride IN. Robinson
CInsoe lrad :, fnc hatbor hut he had no
bottoms. Thats all that prevented him
from forming a coconut trust and get
ting rich.
Tn. southern ports az. IN the same
nH They have not the bottoms, mean
ing thereby regular spiiiurs for for
cign ports. Therefore. they can't get
railroad rates from interior points
that would attract manufacturers To
export via tho South instead OF Ia"
North. If they had the bottoms they
could got the rates, and wee versa.
Bmt generally and broadly speaking,
they hav. neither
Sow this il no, to say that tho
southern ports ar" not doing a pros
porous hrsir"ss They are. They ar"
shipping out cotton and lumber aud
naval stores, and tho tramp steamers
that come for thcS" commodities bring
tn" materials from which tie Soutl,
manufactures Immense quantities ~
commercial fertilizer. An OF whiCh ~
we'll and good: hut this is tho point.
~" southern ports are shipping rrac-
tcally no manufactured goods. ana
while kpU York j. t.I
'i"i'i" they arc getting mere fraction
Of what they have the energy and tho
facilities TO ship.
National Waste Results.
In q very real sense, il is e national
vast" Manufacturers in tho Made
Wcst--a, Cincinnati for example can
reach South America much irorc di-
rcCtiy by way OF Charleston than by
way Of New York. Roth til" ran haul
aui tho water haul az" shorter. But
there are no rcGulnr bottoms from
Charleston to south America, ana III.
manufacturers must have regular sail
ings in order 10 MI HIS orders. So he
ships Via New York. and adds 10 gen
cral congestion and confusion ~ that
port. Shoes arc actually shipped fron
interior points 20 Charleston, mp the
coas, Ia New York ,for there ar, plenty
OF co9stwisc bottonsp. and thence 10
cuba.
Those regular sailires. which The
manufacturer requires are lilt"wis",th"
life blood OF n port. The shipping of
raw materials such as cotton and ma
val stores ana lumber by way OF
tramp steamers, leaves little money iu
the port city. Tile stun is sold at
Interior points. Atlanta gcta the
money for cotton tina, Is shipped out
al Charleston. That is why TN" great
est Southern cities are interior points.
while the greatest Northern cities are
la. mo 81 lJrIl.
immense quantities of manufactured
goods and make large prort upon
thcGn
why do all OF these commodities 20
North for shipment 10 cuba and Cen
trial ana South America. when IT js :,
shorter distance both hy rail amt b.
water via the Southern ports: 1t used
to he hccausc the Southern harhors
lacked terminal facilities. That r"H-
son Is fast disappearing. All %! them
have greatly improved their docks and
coal buukcrs and warehouses. and they
are ready 10 build more as fast as they
are needed.
FIXED by Long sac.
The Great dihculty lies in the fact
that HE lines OF transportation have
been fixed bv time and usage and they
all point North The trunk lines from
the Middle Western manufacturing
section all lead 10 New York and 1os
ton and Philadelphia, ana 10 some eN-
tent 10 Norfolil. TRY 10 20 To charles
t,, rr.,, ,ha uid,,ln wcst and YOU ride
Mathematician ,.iIw,ys ,h,, he.am life rs
a,,.,,,i,I Ii,,os mbich would go around
,,,,, nm, 700 .nnu.titior
10y way Of the Erie Canal forced down
Northern rates The result is that al
,,,,,L ,t,,,,n,, =. u.,r.r ,'ipriu
,,.,f ,,. =; IN, yn,l. i, costs less
" >r,L.,,, 81, vhiI.
:. ,nr .ir nr.,,nr .,Iyou,o..
20 Ii,,.r cats , ,nn,,nnd
EtIIi .i,i,h .,,,,,,ts -,
t,,,' hnndrrd and to- Nor