The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1932-04-08
Water and Rail
Omaha World-Herald)

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Burlington railroad director. said
while in Omaha to which hearty as
sent can be given.
The railroads are indeed essential to
the nation. They render an inGis-
penSable service. They made possible
the development of the west and the
growth of such cities as Omaha They
are entitled to fair return on honest
investment. They are heavy taXpay-
ers. Some of them are now involved
in serious difficulties, due to the fall
ing off in business and the inroads of
truck and automobile competition.
facilitated by the rapid extension of
the good roads movement. Neverthe-
less, states like Nebraska are chiefly
dependent upon the railroads for the
movement of their products to market
and for the preservation and extension
Of their commerce.
Because we could not possibly get
along, even as we'll as we are getting
along, without the railroads, We are
deeply concerned in their financial
salvation. They are entitled to what
ever protection can properly be af-
forded against unnecessary and un-
just" competition that threatens their
solvency.
It cannot be granted, however, that
the development of inland waterways,
any more than hard-surfaced high
ways, creates unnecessary COMPETE
ton. or that it is unjust competition
Neither can it be granted that such
development is necessarily. or prob
ably, harmful to the railroad car
riers. particularly in this landlocked
midwest that languishes because it is
shut off from the worlds highways.
The whole world has become one
vast competitive market, notWith-
standing the artificial barriers that
tariffs and retaliatory tariffs create
The Nebraska farmer sells his product
in that market. So does the Omaha
manufacturer and professor.
But the Nebraska farmer finds him
self farther removed from the worlds
waterways than any other agricultural
producer anywhere else on earth. The
Omaha manufacturer finds himself In
| the same condition. Both. because
they are obliged to ship from l 900 to
500 miles by rail. are required to pay
freight costs much greater than their
competitors pay who are nearer to
tidewater.
New York can ship to San Fran
cisco, San Francisco to New York.
cheaper, via the Panama canal, than
Omaha, midway between, can ship to
either point. The north Atlantic
coast of North America is nearer,
measured in transportation costs, to
| the Pacific coast of South America,
than Omaha is, though Omaha is
much nearer in miles. San Francisco
is nearer to Europe than, Omaha, and
New York nearer the Orient. The
Nebraska producer of foodstuffs is
heavily handicapped in precisely the
same way. His freight costs devour
his profits.
The greater part of this handicap
would be removed if waterways con-
nected Omaha with New Orleans, and
with Chicago and the Great Lakes.
We of Nebraska would hereupon be
! enabled to meet competition Of the
rest of the world upon somewhat even
| terms.
Because we cannot now meet that
competition fairly our growth and
development languishes, and has
| languished for third of a century,
| though we are still a new state. Be-
cause that growth is stunted COM
merce and production within the state
itself are vitality affected. If the long
haul were flourishing, if business were
encouraged, population would grow,
there would be new business and more
business, and more short hauls for
the railroads. There would be more
commodities for the railroads to carry
on the long haul, too, commodities for
the exchange of which slow water
transportation Is not adapted.
What this region wants to do is to
realize its manifest destiny. 1t aspires
to be what it ought to be. What 1t
ought to be is a region as populous.
as productive, as busy, as wealthy, as
any other region in the nation, be-
cause it Is to that its exhaustlesS re-
sources, its climate, its enlightened
citizenship, entitle it.
Against the achievement of that
ambition two great barriers exist.
One is a tariff system that compels
us to sell in a cheap market and buy
! in a dear market. The other is water
Transportation for east and west and
south and north-but none for Kan
sas and Nebraska and Iowa and the
DakotaS.
Give these potentially great states
advantages equal to those that more
favored states enjoy, and there will
be plenty of business for the rail
roads that serve them. Railroad
profits will grow as Iowa and Kan
sas and Nebraska profits grow And
they cannot very well, in the long run,
grow otherwise.