Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1918-06-08
TO RENEW RIVER TRANSPORTATION

It is condition not theory that confronts shippers
along the navigabe streams Of Oregon, and it is a
peculiar condition too. Complaint has been made for
years that the American shipping laws has driven Amer
ican ships from the oceans While this is only true in
small part it is quite certain that fool regulations made
by the interstate commerce commission and the state
commissions of some states have driven practically all
business from the streams The Mississippi alive
with paata steamers and great freight carriers is aban
doned almost entirely The Ohio is almost as bare Of
shipping but the coal barges help give sembance OF life
to that stream Here in Oregon the story has been
told the same results reached.
Before the building Of the O. R. N. in the earlier
days Of the state the Columbia the great freight high
way Private enterprise built railroad portages around
the distractions to navigation of the Columbia at Cello
and at the Cascades. splendid line OF boats brought
the grain and products of the Inland Empire to Portland
and to the ships of the world In time even after the
building of the railroad along the Columbia the federal
built locks at the Cascades opening the river
as far as The Daes Later spent millions Of dollars
in constructing canal around the rapids at Cello and
so made the great river navagabe to the mouth of the
Snake This gave an outlet to a great stretch of rich
agricultural country and general principles should
have greatly increased river traffic 1t might have done
so had the commissions neglected making many rules
and regulations that the boats could not comply with them
and get business. The boats allowed only per
cent diferentia If the freight the railroad paral
leng the river was for instance $00 the boats not
allowed to haul the same freight at less price than 96
cents This dierentia not sufficient to the
pense of hauling to and from the DOCKS and by arbi
rary interference and criminal ignorance in fixing rates
the entire business taken from the boats and turned
over to the railroads.
The same thing was repeated on the Willamette. Att
time river bearing many boas and that should now
be the route over which thousands of tons of farm pro-
duce should find its way to market but which is entirely
abandoned above Oregon City, The boat line from Port
land to Corvallis which has been maintained for years
the last of the upper Willamette boats withdrawn al
couple of months ago. This too following the expendi
ture of $4,000 last fall at the Oregon City locks This
was another foolish the part Of the government
engineers for the river closed right in the busiest
season. and the boats prevented gathering the cream OF
the years trade.
In France the dferenta allowed in favor of the water
Transportation is 20 per cent The same dferenal al
prove of vast benefit to shippers 1t appears the face
of the situation though the whole attempt and purpose
was deliberately to ruin all river transportation and turn
it over to the railroads. Now that the government has
taken the railroads and has business for them
than they well handle it is turning its attention to the
rivers as of relief from congesed freight cond
tions 1t will follow the increasing of rates the roads
by the government provided change is made in river
tariffs that there will be derenta of % per cent and
this it is claimed will permit the boats to be operated at
profit 1t is rather contradictory work to enforce the
Sherman law against combinations in restraint of trade
and then for government and state officials to make such
combination to drive class of transportation out of
business Nature provided the rivers and because over
these freight be hauled cheapy than the
railroads the authorities that be- refuse to allow this
competition that would benefit all shippers contiguous to
the rivers and by asinne rulings close the natural high