584 CIVIL ENGINEERING 



This quotation serves to emphasize one of the most serious ob- 

 stacles to the development of the commercial interests of the coun- 

 try, namely, the meagre appropriations made only biennially by 

 Congress for works of this class. Attention is also directed to the 

 absence of all competition in the preparation of the designs and 

 plans and to the rigid requirements of the specifications, which 

 have the effect of deterring many responsible companies from un- 

 derwriting government contracts, thus increasing the cost of these 

 important improvements with no guaranty as to the results to be 

 secured. 



The effect of the absence of cheap water transportation from 

 the interior to the seaboard is impressively exhibited by the fall 

 in the average farm-price of the staple cereals as the distance from 

 the seaboard increases. The export price being the standard, 

 the cost of the overland haul must be deducted to determine the 

 farm-value. It is found from the statistics of the Department of 

 Agriculture, during the past decade, that if the average price of 

 wheat on the Atlantic seaboard is 79 cents per bushel, it will be 

 78 cents for New York State; 72 for Pennsylvania; 69 for Ohio; 

 65J for Indiana; 64 for Illinois; 60.8 for Missouri; 58 for Iowa; 

 53 for Kansas; 50.9 for Nebraska, which is the lowest area reached. 



The ability to ship via Kansas City and St. Louis down the Mis- 

 sissippi River contributes to raise the value of farm-products in 

 Kansas as compared with Nebraska to such an extent that Ne- 

 braska would have saved nearly $15,000,000 in one year could her 

 crops have been sold at Kansas prices (in 190 1). 1 



The same general principles prevail in other states, to raise the 

 value of agricultural products and consequently of real estate, as 

 the waterways are more accessible and capacious; yet the demands 

 for their enlargement, improvement, and emancipation from tolls 

 are far in excess of the ability of the Government to provide for 

 them either financially or administratively. The total estimate 

 for works required at the present time exceeds the entire cost for 

 construction and maintenance of rivers and harbors, since the 

 foundation of the Republic. 



Yet private parties and localities are prohibited by law from 

 relieving their own exigencies, by their own methods, at their own 

 expense and risk, without charge upon commerce, thus compelling 

 them to submit to the non-competitive tariffs, which restrain trade 

 and drive it to other more favored locations, or to go into liquida- 

 tion. 



There would seem to be great necessity for further remedial 

 legislation in line with the recent resolutions of the National Board 

 of Trade, authorizing the letting of contracts for this class of work 

 1 See The Forum, January, 1903: Waterways, An Economic Necessity. 



