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The National Geographic Magazine 



tion for many hundreds of miles ? Why 

 would it not relieve the congestion in the 

 new state of Oklahoma, in Arkansas, in 

 northern Texas, and Louisiana if we 

 properly improved the Arkansas, the 

 Red, and the Ouachita rivers ? Why not 

 help the people of Mississippi by improv- 

 ing the Yazoo and the Big Sunflower ; 

 those of Alabama and Georgia by deep- 

 ening the Black Warrior and the Chatta- 

 hoochee ; those of Texas by canalizing 

 the Brazos and the Trinity ; those in east- 

 ern Georgia and South Carolina by im- 

 provement on the Savannah and the San- 

 tee ; those in North Carolina and Virginia 

 by proper expenditures on the Cape Fear, 

 the James, and the canal from Norfolk to 

 Beaufort; those in Pennsylvania and 

 New Jersey by improving the Allegheny, 

 the Youghiogheny, the Delaware, and the 

 Passaic; those in New York and the 

 Eastern States by cooperating with the 

 Empire State to make its great Erie 

 Canal of the greatest utility, and by 

 canalizing the Connecticut River? 



Why not improve the mighty Colum- 

 bia River of the West and give to the 

 people of that vast region relief from 

 their freight congestion? Why not 

 canalize the beautiful and historic Wil- 

 lamette? Why not apply to Sacramento 

 and San Joaquin the same policy of im- 

 provement which Mr Hill urges for the 

 Mississippi? If it be the duty of Uncle 

 Sam to improve the Mississippi — and I 

 quite agree with Mr Hill that it is not 

 only his duty, but the part of wisdom to 

 do so — surely it is his dut)' to improve 

 all of these other streams as well, to- 

 gether with the many others I have not 

 mentioned. The people on their banks 

 are his children and entitled to his aid 

 and assistance just as much as those who 

 live on the banks of the Mississippi, and 

 they need relief from freight congestion 

 just as much relatively as the people of 

 the Mississippi Valley. 



Wlhh IT PAY? 



These improvements would pay better 

 than any investment this government has 

 ever made. 



It is a fact established beyond dispute 

 that water transportation costs on an 

 average in this country only one-sixth as 

 much as transportation by rail, and when- 

 ever waterways are thoroughly improved 

 not only does a large quantity of freight 

 move thereon at rates only one-sixth as 

 high as those by rail, but the rates of 

 competing railroads are very materially 

 reduced, and for every dollar of the 

 people's money invested by Congress an- 

 nually in the improvement of our water- 

 ways at least $2 a year are saved for the 

 people in reduced rates. 



The most striking instance of water 

 transportation in this country on which 

 we have accurate statistics is that 

 through the Sault Ste. Marie Canal be- 

 tween Lake Superior and Lake Huron. 

 According to Col. Charles E. L. B. Davis, 

 United States engineer in charge of the 

 work at that place, the total commerce 

 passing through the locks in 1905 was 

 44,270,680 tons, which was carried an 

 average distance of 833.3 miles at a cost 

 per ton per mile of 0.85 of a mill, making 

 a total of $31,420,584. It is estimated 

 that the freight passing through the 

 "Soo" during the year of 1906 was over 

 52,000,000 tons, but I have no accurate 

 statistics thereon. The average freight 

 charge per ton per mile on the railroads 

 of the Union during 1905 was 7.6, which 

 is about nine times as great as the rate on 

 the Lakes. Now, if we assume that this 

 great freight of 44,270,000 tons had been 

 carried, not at the average rail rate of 

 7.6 mills per mile, but at 5.1 mills, which 

 is six times the water rate, the freight 

 charge thereon would have been more 

 than $187,000,000, instead of the price 

 actually paid, which was $31,000,000. 

 Hence the saving on that amount of 

 freight was about $156,000,000. It 

 should be borne in mind also that there 

 is a vast commerce on the Lakes which 

 does not pass through the "Soo," and it 

 is all moved at rates relatively the same, 

 or 0.85 of one mill per ton per mile. The 

 total cost of improvements on the Lakes 

 is about $70,000,000, and the saving on 

 the commerce through the "Soo" alone 



