Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1922-04-13

| but they will also take away from
the railroads much of the short hau
traffic which has never been very
profitable to the roads but which has
had much to do with congestion il
terminals.
Our waterways
In the use of waterways we have
gone backward rather than forward
This is partly because our railroads
have been so efficient. No other
country in the world has railroads
which can be compared with ours.
Nor is there any civilized, commercial
nation making so little use of water
ways as We do. True, Europe's con-
tour has given her better access to
the ocean than we have, but she has
also gone much farther than we in
developing streams and canals.
We have wasted hundreds of mil
lions of dollars on our inland water
f'etS D wv OiIC III pal Is u
blame. The main reason is that we
have gone on without any definite
plan, Or where there was plan, it
was carried out, if at all, only piece
meal.
In the case of the Panama canal.
however, our government had a def
mite, complete plan, and went in and
finished the job in a business-like
way. The whole country has benefit
ted and no one questions the wisdom
of the expenditure. The states on the
coast, east, south and west, however,
are receiving the greater benefits.
and states IN the north central group,
like Minnesota, get comparatively lit
tie benefit from the canal
True, we have the Great Lakes, but
they are not open to the sea. When
we start a cargo from Duluth to Eu-
rope, we must pay for a portage
across New York state which costs
as much Or more than the combined
cost of water transportation down the
lakes and across the Atlantic.
Here is the Remedy
70 remedy this, it is now proposed
that the United States join with Can
ada in opening up the St. Lawrence
river. The U. S. Army engineers
have reported that for $270,0O0, 900, "a
bout, locks and dams can be built
which will permit all ocean going
vessels except the largest leviathins
to come up to our lake ports. Canada
offers to pay half the cost, making
the cost to us a little more than one
fourth of what we spent on the Pan
anna canal. The army engineers be-
lieve that the horse power developed
at the dams to be built will not only
take care of the cost of operation but
will in time pay for the entire cost of
construction. These power benefits
Canada offers to share with US.
The states which will benefit most
are those which receive the lesser
benefits from the Panama canal. That
would make things, fair all around.
We believe, however, that the entire
country will benefit, except the pri-
vate interests which now profit from
the transfer of freight across New
York. The 500 Canal has tonnage
Of seventy to ninety millions wear
while the Panama canal exceeded 10,-
100000 for the first time in 1920.
With the way open to the sea, traffic
on the Great Lakes will be doubled
or trebled. We canot doubt that this
great agricultural and industrial Sec
ton, which includes Americas sec
ond, fourth and fifth largest cities,
will send down through the St. Law
renee a tonnage much greater than
Panama's. These states are entitled
to a direct route to the sea.
There are several other waterway
projects which are worthy of consid-
Grafton. Each should eb investigated
and costs weighed against benefits.
Wherever it can be shown that ben
efits exceed the cost, the work should
be expedited. Expenditures for piece
meal and haphazard waterways i'm
provenlents should be stopped.
ETETT kTEE EEEIKE