Evening journal., 1917-05-12

Continued from Page Eight.
a day. This means that ore -cargoes
Of six. eight OF ten thousand tons, or
more. are received at the wharves,
loaded in cars in a single day, and
delivered TO the furnace in one ire
mendous avalanche of cars almost on
the next. This is one Of the cOndi-
tons which make for car congestion
and large demurrage bills. The i'm
port steel business is bound to grow
enormously in the future, as is evil
denced by the large acquisitions, on
the part Of cur steel masters, of for
eign ore deposits in Cuba, Chile and
elsewhere, in the last few years. An
able-bodied ore storage plant on the
seaboard would be appreciated by the
steel trade, and doubtless would at
tract much furnace and mill business
to its vicinity.
Importation OF Beef.
Another untapped possibility Of the
future is the importation of South
American beef cattle on the hoof for
fattening and slaughter for the United
States market. We are fast becoming
q meat importing rather than an ex-
porting nation: Argentine beef has
already reached our market In COM
paratiyely small quantities. and this
business in future will reach large
proportions.
Another potential source Of fu-
ture freight is from the Atlantic intra-
coastal waterway, the completion OF
which is brought one long step nearer
by the provision in the present pend
ing river and harbor bill for the ac-
QUESTION and improvement Of the
Delaware and Chesapeake Canal. a
project dear to Delaware hearts. And
so on, and sc on the list of possibili-
ties might be drawn out ad libitum;
but these examples are enough for the
present
"The question has been asked me,
what good all this would be; what
the community would derive from the
expenditure OF public funds for these
purposes: and could the PIERS be made
profitable. or even supporting?
Public piers, in my opinion. would not
be. and should not be made a source
of profit as a principal object in their
construction. l believe they can be
made to carry themselves in Whining
ton with available cheap sites to
locate them on, but this no living man
can absolutely guarantee beforehand.
You cannot obtain full and profit
able list of pier renters before your
accommodations are ready. any more
than a prospective hotel keeper can
book-up a guaranteed paying patron
age before his hotel is ready for bus
mess. The trade handled in each case
Is transient 10 q large extent, and
goes where the best accommodations
are offered II az the moment.
Benefits OF Many Kinds.
But ] want to impress upon you
the broader view tina. il is not the di-
rect rentals and charges received from
piers and paid into the public treas
ury which make them of value to a
community, but, instead the larger
and infinitely mora important indirect
benefits Of many kinds derived from
them. If public piers never pay into
the community treasury a cent OF
revenue above the interest charges. OF
even If they actually cost the munich
Dality money each year for their main
tenance-as is sometimes the case
still say that they are good and wise
Investments of public funds.
'In a manufacturing community the
construction OF piers for public use
inevitably attracts new manufacturing
enterprises to whom proximity to the
waterfront is q benefit. The location
of these on hitherto comparatively
useless meadow or farm lands. large
" enhances property values and Gre