i9°5] HAUPT— EMANCIPATION OF THE WATERWAYS. 45 



per mile while the returns from the 1,138 miles, managed by the 

 railroads, only averaged $200 per mile. To secure the rights and 

 privileges of an open port the Manchester district contested for 

 enabling legislation for five years at a cost of $750,000 against the 

 allied interests of the railroads and the port of Liverpool but now 

 that the great work is completed, at a cost of about $75,000,000 

 the 13,000 vacant dwellings and factories are filled and as many 

 more have been added to the district, while the interests formerly 

 opposed, on principle, are all doing a much larger business than 

 before. 



Belgium, but little larger than Vermont, has 1,300 miles of 

 waterways of which the center is Antwerp. Notwithstanding the 

 fact that the State owns most of the railways it has encouraged the 

 construction of the canals so as to render the transportation "as 

 cheap as possible, that by this means the Belgian manufacturer may 

 be enabled to compete on most advantageous terms with his foreign 

 rivals." During the last 25 years about $90,000,000 have been 

 spent on ports and canals, so that goods can be carried in 300-ton 

 barges directly from the factory to the ship and by the economies 

 thus effected the manufacturer can underbid his foreign competitor. 



Germany is building an extensive system of canals to connect the 

 Rhine with the Vistula, passing through her national capital. 

 Russia is urging a thousand-mile canal to unite the Baltic and Black 

 seas. France is proposing further extensions to her ample facilities 

 and intends making a sea-port of Paris. Austria and Italy are also 

 expending large sums for the benefit of their trade with foreign 

 countries and yet the astute American who is on the alert for the 

 best and most economic administration apparently fails to appreciate 

 the great utilities and possibilities lying almost in a state of nature, 

 at his very doors. 



POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



As evidence it is necessary to refer to the condition of the canals 

 of this country to-day as compared with those of the past century. 

 Massachusetts claims the honor of building the first canal around 

 the falls of the Connecticut in 1792-3 and the first railroad at 

 Quincy in 1827, 34 years later. During this period a large num- 

 ber of canals were incorporated to connect navigable waters, and 

 the discovery of hard coal in Eastern Pennsylvania in 1792 also 



