Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1927-12-21
Profitable Business for the
Government

That there is one branch Of business in which the
federal government can show a profit has been dem
onstrated by the government-owned barge lines on the
Mississippi and Warrior rivers, which in addition to
materially reducing freight rates throughout the Mis-
sissippi valley, are now showing a substantial profit
over operation costs and depreciation. Profits Melted
by the government last year from its barge lines to-
tailed S161, 016.
The federal barge lines in nine years have become
an institution with some $500 miles Of dependable
fright of way" on the Mississippi and Warrior rivers.
and possess physical assets in excess Of $l6,O00,000-
The annual saving to shippers as a result Of the low
freight rates is over ~sl,5OO,0OO, and il the traffic next
year shows a proportionate increase the saving will
reach nearly S~3,000,000.
Every ton of freight shipped by river instead Of
rail costs sl.G5 less. The saving is not confined TO
the cities along the stream. The joint rail-and-water
rate, distributes the benefits Of the large lines over "a
states, and petitions now before the Interstate Com
nerce Commission will make every state in the Union
e direct beneficiary of the system.
The barge lines have put four cents per bushel
into the pocket Of every wheat grower in the Missis-
sippi river basin. Ten cents per hundred pounds has
been cut from the price Of all sugar distributed
throughout the Northwest. The industries of the
Mississippi basin can, by taking advantage of the
barge lines and the low rates through the Panama
canal, compete with the isdustres Of the Atlantic sea-
board on the Pacific coast.
When the federal owned barge lines were estab-
Ished in 1913 in response to the insistent demand Of
the agricultural and industrial interests Of the Missis-
sippi basin, they met national rdicule. The tonnage
handled the first year amounted to 23,359. By 1922
the freight moved by the barge lines had increased to
b09,69 tons, and 1926 showed q total movement OF
1,043, 400 tons. Each year a steady increase in tonnage
has been shown.
Heavy losses were sustained during the first
seven years Of operation, and the public placed the
barge lines in the same category Is other government
operated utilities-money losers. Improved facilities,
demanded by the directors, provided greater efficiency
and reduced operation costs to the point where the
lines are now showing a substantial profit.
Today the line has floating equipment worth
81, 100000. 1t power consists Of three 12OO-ton self
propelled barges, ten 200O-h. p. tow boats and one
900-h. p. towboat. 1t has 63 steel barges Of 1000 10
$500 tons capacity, and seven of 500 to 1000 tons ca
pacity. One Of the modern barges carries the equiya-
lent Of two trainloads Of freight.
This year the Inland Waterways Corporation, fl
nanced by the government. extended its barge connec-
tions from st. Louis to st. Paul. 1t began operations
on the upper Mississippi with three tow boats and
fifteen 5OO-ton barges. Next year it will have an ad-
carry a greater tonnage on the upper reaches Of the
stream than was carried three years ago on the lower
reaches.
The development Of the Mississippi and its $4,000
miles of inland waterways. the intracoastal canal on
the Gulf coast and the various Gulf coast harbors will
eventully form a system that will revolutionize agri-
cultural and industrial conditions throughout practi-
caIly all the United States, providing rates which will
assure the widest distribution Of commodities and the
maximum profits to producers.