THE SELLING OF THE SURPLUS 



Panama, 11,143, saving 2,877 ; to Sidney, via 

 Cape of Good Hope, 14,624 miles, via Pan- 

 ama, 9,251, a saving of 5,373 miles. 



The railroads crossing the Mississippi Valley 

 and paralleling the great river through nearly 

 all its long course, grow rich in the carriage of 

 the products of this imperial valley, while the 

 river itself, free to ah 1 comers, amply able to 

 maintain a traffic far larger than it has ever 

 been called upon to handle, has been neglected 

 through the years. 



I have wondered, as I have strolled along 

 the wharves of the city of New Orleans when 

 the cotton was moving, if the time would ever 

 come when the shipping, so meager in com- 

 parison with what it should be, would be 

 commensurate with the opportunities. This 

 noble stream, as it flows in resistless power 

 past this southern city, some eighteen feet, 

 strangely enough, above the level of the 

 streets, should be crowded with craft for all 

 ports, foreign and domestic. To be sure, many 

 cargoes are coming and going, and the traffic 

 of the port of New Orleans has become larger 

 than that of any other city in America, save 

 New York, something quite difficult to appre- 



307 



