192 THE BOOK OP WHEAT 



its dependence on the lake region, had the important effect of 

 creating direct routes from the west to seaboard cities other 

 than New York and New Orleans. This resulted in a compe- 

 tition between the Atlantic seaboard cities for the grain trade, 

 and a considerable loss of traffic from New York to such cities 

 as Montreal, Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Of the com- 

 peting roads to the Atlantic, the New York Central had the 

 greatest natural advantages. By means of reckless competition, 

 however, other roads wrested differential concessions from the 

 Central. The trunk lines endeavored to equalize opportunities 

 for securing eastward traffic by agreeing that the less favored 

 roads should maintain rates that were lower in proportion to 

 their disadvantages. This differential arrangement began in 

 1869, and in different forms it has been maintained since that 

 date. It has been claimed that New York was not as progress- 

 ive as other Atlantic ports in methods of handling grain. The 

 net resultant of the differential and of other causes was a 

 decline in the proportion of the grain trade done by New York, 

 for grain could move more economically from the primary 

 markets to Europe by way of ports north and south of New 

 York; Chicago grain reached Europe more largely through 

 Canadian facilities. 



The southern movement of the grain traffic is the next phase 

 to be considered. This is characterized by a competition first 

 between the southern railroads and the Mississippi, and subse- 

 quently between the southern and eastern railroads. It resulted 

 in southern railroads securing the bulk of the grain traffic from 

 the Mississippi, and they are diverting a continually increasing 

 quantity of grain from the Atlantic coast. In 1873 New Or- 

 leans participated to the extent of less than 0.5 per cent in the 

 wheat export. But little of the south-bound grain was then 

 intended for export, while about 20 per cent of the east-bound 

 grain was exported. In the early seventies about 75 per cent 

 of the south-bound grain was shipped by water and 25 per cent 

 by rail. Before the close of the nineteenth century this ratio 

 was reversed, less than 25 per cent of the grain being shipped 

 by water. Thus the railroads, both on the eastern and southern 

 routes, demonstrated their capacity to compete successfully with 

 water transportation. For 50 years or more, competition among 

 the railroads, and between the railroads and the eastern water 



