PRESENT PROBLEMS OF TECHNOLOGY 583 



charge for the overland movement, at 7.6 mills per ton-mile, would 

 make the cost of transportation about $21, which is more than the 

 market value of the great bulk of the tonnage. 



It is therefore a physical impossibility, at present rates, to carry 

 this traffic by rail at a reasonable profit, whereas it could readily 

 be moved by the water-route at a charge of less than $5 per ton, 

 thus stimulating manufactures and building up a higher class of 

 freight for local distribution with a shorter haul, for the general 

 benefit not only of the railways but of all parties at interest. Under 

 existing conditions the total overland tonnage of all the transcon- 

 tinental lines probably does not exceed 2,000,000 tons per annum. 



It is estimated that an Isthmian route would save to the com- 

 merce of the world not less than $200,000,000 annually, or an 

 amount equal to our foreign freight bill, so that there can be no 

 question as to its justification and imperative necessity at any 

 cost. 



Another pressing desideratum in the development of interna- 

 tional commerce is the enlargement of the internal waterways of 

 our own country, which have not kept pace with the traffic require- 

 ments. 



The state of New York has at length awakened to the necessity 

 of meeting the competition of her energetic neighbors and is about 

 to respond generously to the demand for a larger waterway from 

 the Great Lakes to tidewater, hoping by a limited twelve-foot draft 

 to compete successfully with one of much greater capacity tra- 

 versing a shorter route. The fallacy of this proposition would seem 

 to be self-evident, but the general government makes no appropria- 

 tion for this great enterprise. 



The Chicago Sanitary District has by its own contributions 

 accomplished, the triple benefits of improving its water-supply, 

 disposing of its sewage in a harmless manner, and creating an 

 ample navigable channel across the "Sag" between Lake Michigan 

 and the Illinois River (a model of which may be seen in the Liberal 

 Arts Building). 



It now remains to enlarge and improve the remainder of that 

 route all the way to the Gulf of Mexico and to open the mouth of 

 the great Mississippi River, to permit the rapid escape of the flood 

 waters, and to improve its navigation; but the means to this end 

 cannot be treated in the limits of this paper. Suffice it to say that 

 it is still a present problem, as is admitted by the last report of 

 the Mississippi River Commission in these words: "Experiments 

 are continually being made looking to the best use of the available 

 material and the development of appliances and methods which 

 may be economically and effectively employed when Congress shall 

 provide for such systematic improvement." 



