42 HAUPT— EMANCIPATION OF THE WATERWAYS. [April 



EMANCIPATION OF THE WATERWAYS. 



EY LEWIS M. HAUPT. 



{Read April 12, iQOj. ) 



Probably no expenditure made by the Government produces a 

 larger return than that for the development of our waterways. 

 They are the lines of least resistance but in a state of nature they are 

 not always available. Their economic possibilities are inestimable, 

 when not obstructed by bars or tolls. By the improvement of the 

 channels connecting the Great Lakes to a depth of 20 feet, not 

 only has the cost of the transportation been greatly reduced but the 

 enormous stimulus given to manufacturers has added largely to the 

 population and wealth of the cities encircling these waters. Thus 

 the rate on a bushel of wheat from Chicago to New York by the 

 Lakes and Erie Canal, in 1866, when the Sault Canal depth was 

 limited to 12 feet, was 29.62 cents, whereas the rate on a 20-foot 

 draught in 1904, was only 4.71 cents, or only about one sixth, 

 thus effecting a saving of 84 per cent. The rail charges between 

 the same terminals were, for the year 1866, 32.79 cents, and in 

 1904, 1 1. 1 1 cents showing a reduction of about two thirds in the 

 charges by rail. From these significant figures it appears that 

 while the charges by rail and water had both been greatly reduced, 

 in 1866 the water charge was 90 per cent, of that by rail while in 

 1904 it was only 42 per cent. 



But a still more impressive illustration as to the beneficial effects 

 of this improvement is set forth by the statement made in 1892 by 

 Senator Wm. P. Frye, in presenting his committee report, wherein 

 he said that for the year 1890 "The total expenditure for water 

 improvements of the lakec has amounted to about $30,000,000, or 

 approximately one fifth of the annual saving effected in transporta- 

 tion. . . . Our waterways have acted as the most powerful regu- 

 lators of rates. . . . When it is considered that a diminution of one 

 mill per ton on the railroads of the country effects a saving of 

 nearly $100,000,000 to the shippers in transportation, the value 

 of this restrictive power cannot be overestimated." Had the dis- 

 tinguished Senator added as a recognized fact that such regulation 

 by water does not reduce, but greatly increases the revenues of the 



