THE PROPOSED AMERICAN INTEROCEANIC CANAL 301 



duction which has been made in the cost of transportation by 

 rail. The average rail rate in the United States is now only 

 about one-third the average of the rates which prevailed thirty 

 years ago. A report, prepared in 1898, under the direction of the 

 Statistician of the Department of Agriculture, on Changes in the 

 Rates of Charge for Railway and other Transportation Services, 

 shows (p. 49) that rail rates per 100 pounds on carload lots from 

 Pacific Coast terminals to the port of New York were in the years 

 1870 and 1897 as follows : 



Rate on canned goods, $3.66 in 1870 and 75 cents in 1897 ;. on 

 dried fruit, $3.66 in 1870 and $1.00 in 1897 ; on raisins, $3.66 in 

 1870 and $1.00 in 1897 ; on wine in wood, $4.79 in 1870 and 75 

 cents in 1897, and on hops, $3.66 in 1870 and $1.50 in 1897. 



A corresponding table on page 50 of the report just mentioned 

 shows that rates per 100 pounds from New York to Pacific Coast 

 terminals in carloads were reduced as follows : On stoves, from 

 $3.66 in 1870 to $1.10 in 1897; on glassware, from $5.66 in 1870 

 to 85 cents in 1897, and on agricultural implements/from $3.48 

 in 1870 to $1.15 in 1897. 



The foregoing characteristic data indicate that the present rail 

 rates between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States 

 are only about one-fourth the rates which prevailed during the 

 year 1870. There is a pressing need that these important com- 

 mercial facts shall be brought to the attention of Congress and 

 of the country by a competent and impartial commission charged 

 with that duty. 



The assumption that large quantities of cotton would be 

 shipped from New Orleans and other Gulf ports to Asia via the 

 Nicaragua or Panama Canal is negatived hy the fact that at cur- 

 rent rates cotton can be shipped more quickly and at less ex- 

 pense from points of production in our southern states to San 

 Francisco by rail and thence by ship to Asia. There is a differ- 

 ence of more than 2,000 miles in favor of the overland route. 



The assumption that coal can be profitably transported from 

 the mines of Virginia and West Virginia to San Francisco is 

 also absolutely negatived by current prices of coal at Atlantic 

 and at Pacific'ports, the cost of transportation and the canal toll, 

 assuming it to be $1.80, the present Suez Canal rate. Neverthe- 

 less, through false representations, the assumptions as to cotton 

 and coal have to some extent taken possession of the public mind, 

 and therefore should become the subject of careful investigation 

 by a properly organized governmental commission. 



