)4SZ BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF Hetirg W. Sage 1891 A.!l^ I H l>3 1 1 tjQvl I ^ DATE Dlh, Cornell University Library HE381 .H52 1914 Artificial waterways of the worid olin 3 1924 030 108 074 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030108074 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK ■ BOSTON ■ CHICAGO • DALLAS ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO MACMILLAN & CO., Limited LONDON • BOMBAY - CALCUTTA UELBOn&NE THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. TORONTO ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD BY A. BARTON HEPBURN AUTHOR OF " HISTORY OB COINAGE AND CURRENCY " THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1914 All rigUs reserved Copyright 1909 and 1914 By the MACMILLAN COMPANY Set up and electrotyped. Published January, 1909. New Revised and Enlarged Edition, November, 1914. FOREWORD The first improvement upon the slow, tedious and costly means of transportation by beasts of burden and vehicles was accomplished by utiliz- ing rivers, supplemented by canals, as a thor- oughfare for boats and barges. These waterways determined the routes of commerce until the locomotive engine made land routes the more popular, as they were the more expeditious. Reaching in all directions, spanning waterways, tunneling mountains, and defying obstacles generally, they naturally took command of trade. In almost all other countries, the commercial advantage of maintaining both land and water routes was fully appreciated; in the United States, the impatience of all delay, which characterizes our people in the rush to anticipate the future and bring the latent re- sources of our phenomenally rich country into soonest possible use, however wasteful such haste may be, found expression in the develop- ment and expansion of railway, and the com- vi FOREWORD parative neglect of canal and river transporta- tion, especially during the last three decades. Denser population with increased local needs, the greater consumption which accompanies the growing wealth of the people, the congestion of traffic generally, and many other causes, are teaching people the unwisdom of neglecting the cheaper, albeit slower, means of transportation. People have come to realize that the function of artificial water navigation is to supplement and complement, and not to rival the railways. The great development and successful rivalry of the Canadian canals have attracted wide attention and done much to bring to our people a proper appreciation of the great service which canals and canalized rivers may render. The failure of New York to develop and main- tain her canal system found yearly expression in the loss of commerce to the city of New York; this manifest fact led to the present great work of enlarging the capacity of her canals. Her canal system is typical, and influences which call for improvement and enlargement in New York will, with equal force, call for the develop- ment of artificial waterways throughout the FOREWORD Vll country. Such development seems to be an imperative need of internal trade. In order to place before the public in concise form the salient facts as to artificial waterways and their relation to commercial development, this volume was prepared and is now submitted in revised form. It presents, in some degree, the history of canal systems of all countries and the present status of such systems, as set forth in the latest obtainable official reports. It aims to present to the reader, in lucid and concise form, frequently the form of statistics, the present condition of the canals and canaUzed rivers of the world. I am greatly indebted to Sereno S. Pratt, the able and accomplished Secretary of the New York Chamber of Commerce, by whom the tables made use of were largely prepared. All of the statistics have been verified by him. A. BARTON HEPBURN %i. CONTENTS PAGE Foreword v The World's Canals i The Canal System of New York: The Period of Inception 34 The Period of Development 54 1867-1909 70 The Competition against New York City 88 Barge Canal Improvements 97 Relation of Canals and Railways 102 The Panama Canal 109 Other Great American Canals 121 The Waterways Question and Conservation of Our Re- sources 130 Department of Internal Navigation 136 Appendix 145 Bibliography 164 Index 167 IX ILLUSTRATIONS Gov. Clinton and Party on "Seneca Chief" Entering Canal at Buepalo .... Frontispiece Kaiser Wilhelm or Kiel Canal Page 14 "Marriage of the Waters" Facing page 52 View of the Nearly Completed Lift Lock, Barge Canal, Little Falls Facing page 98 Panama Canal Zone Facing page 120 XI ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD THE WORLD'S CANALS The importance of a well-devised and Judi- ciously located canal system, as a factor in the material development and substantial progress of a country, is apt to be under-estimated by most men, in these days of multiplied railway communication. Prior to the first quarter of the nineteenth century, mankind was dependent upon the tedious and costly transportation by animal power, except where waterways could be made available. Adam Smith, writing of course before the era of railways, and having observed the enormous difficulties of traffic over poor highways, in imperfect vehicles, characterized the introduction of artificial waterways very conservatively when he said, in his "Wealth of Nations," that "navigable canals are among the greatest of all improvements." We find the canal device for supplementing 2 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD Nature's gifts to man in the way of inland seas and rivers, utilized very early in the history of the race; for even if we regard as perhaps leg- endary the assertion of Egyptologists that the predecessors of the Pharaohs had created a canal system as far back as 7000 B. C, it is quite certain that the Egj/ptians, the Chaldeans, and probably also the Chinese, dug artificial water- ways many centuries before the beginning of the Christian era. At first these man-made waterways were, doubtless, merely for irrigation purposes; but it was not long before they were utihzed to transport surplus products from place to place, connecting natural bodies of water; eventually circumventing the obstacles presented by cataracts; ultimately shortening ocean routes for the largest vessels, like the Suez and Panama canals, and converting inland cities into artificial seaports, as in the case of Manchester, England. Constructive ingenuity must have been de- veloped quite extensively to have made it pos- sible for Nebuchadnezzar to restore the great canal of Babylon, mentioned by Herodotus as one of that ancient city's wonders; originally cut, as the antiquaries state, about 1700 B. C, that THE world's canals 3 great ruler made it available for merchant vessels in his day (say 600 B. C). It would appear that at about this time also there was begun the construction of the predecessor of the present Suez Canal, connecting the Nile with the Red Sea, finished later by one of the rulers of Egypt. This waterway is said to have been in use until the ascendency of the Mohammedans in Egypt; the caliph Al-Mansour ordered its destruction A. D. 767 and his name is likely to live in his- tory on account of this discreditable act, rather than any good which he accomplished. It is a noteworthy fact that those great road and aqueduct builders, the Romans, have left us no important commercial waterways. Marius indeed connected the Rhone with the Mediter^ ranean in Gaul, and Claudius joined the Tiber and the sea; in Britain two dikes are credited to the Roman period; but of these relatively in- significant examples nothing remains at this day; the records show a number of ambitious plans for canals during the reign of the Caesars, but their wars rendered the practical execution of these enterprises impossible. Charlemagne joined the upper Rhine and the Danube, and 4 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD conceived the plan of connecting the Danube and the Main, probably less for trade purposes than as a means to solidify his empire. The last- named scheme was finally carried into execution in the nineteenth century by Louis I of Bavaria. Europe, with its magnificent rivers, navigable, and easily rendered so by a canalization, rivers so easily joined by canals, was, nevertheless, very dilatory in developing artificial waterways. The reason may be found, perhaps, in the fact that Europe was divided into so many different states, and controlled by so many different governments. Canals of Europe The beginnings of Europe's great canal sys- tems may be placed somewhere in the twelfth century, and the credit for practical inaugura- tion belongs to the Dutch, although there are evidences that the British, as early as 1134, and the Italians somewhat later, did some work upon their waterways. The "low countries" were by nature peculiarly adapted for canaliza- tion, and to this day they have the greatest THE world's canals 5 mileage of canals compared with area. The ag- gregate mileage, including the part now known as Belgium, is given as over 3,400, the area as 24,000 square miles. This region, together with northeastern France, had by the year 1250 quite a respectable system of waterways. But the great impulse to canal construction came after the invention of the use of locks, which enabled engineers to overcome the ob- stacles presented by elevations. This improve- ment is claimed for both Dutch and Italians; for the latter, at about 1481, for the former, nearly a hundred years earlier. A lock is a prism, protected by sheer walls on either side and water-tight gates at either end. By opening the gates at the lower end, a vessel may be floated into this prism; then by closing the gates at the lower end of the lock and open- ing those at the upper end, the incoming water would raise the vessel to the higher level and permit it to continue its journey until the lock- ing process, up or down, again became necessary. The invention of the lock was a truly wonderful contribution to water navigation. Probably it was not the work of any one mind, but was 6 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD borne in upon the minds of many, by the neces- sity of overcoming grade and the practical study of canal transportation. Prior to the lock, they overcame grades by means of an incUne, up and down which vessels were hauled by means of capstans, the process being facihtated or ren- dered easier by a flush of water. They also removed the cargo from the boats and ran the boats upon trucks and, thus mounted upon wheels they were propelled up and down the incline by means of a windlass. The great im- provement resulting from the invention of the lock was of Httle immediate use, as the prev- alence of wars in Europe prevented the exten- sive development of waterways for more than a century. Holland Holland's canal development has probably been the most remarkable; while most of the works were for inland transport, the magnificent ship canal, by which the port facilities of Amster- dam were, in 1826 and again in 1876, very ma- terially enlarged, stands as one of the most note- worthy engineering feats. THE WORLD'S CANALS 7 It was built to develop the facilities of Amster- dam, as a natural seaport, to the expanding dimensions of ocean-going vessels; begun in 1865, and opened in 1876; length 16.7 miles. There are three locks, and a new one is planned larger even than those of Panama. The total cost, 1865-1907, was $23,390,937; depth, 32.1 feet, which is greater than the average depth of the North Sea. The canal is large enough for all but ocean vessels of the very largest dimen- sions. The tonnage of vessels using the canal amounted to 1,401,128 in 1877, and to 8,583,066 in 191 1 ; the number of vessels being 3,376 in 1877 and 28,799 ill 191 1. The canal is main- tained by the state and no tolls are charged. More recently the connection of that port and Rotterdam with the lower Rhine merits special notice. Always guarding her commercial in- terests, once far in advance of the rest of the world, and still, relatively to area and popula- tion occupying front rank, the little kingdom has not hesitated to make great sacrifices, tem- porarily, to attain the objects in view. Her canals are kept in efl&cient condition, and produce a steady increase in her commerce. 8 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD Besides its fine rivers, 360 miles in length, Holland has 2,408 miles of canals, and its water- way system is therefore large for a country having an area of only 12,741 square miles. Its Amsterdam Canal described above is one of the great ship canals of the world, and the whole country is a network of waterways — ^natural and artificial. No toUs or dues are charged on rivers or canals under governmental control. About 90 per cent of the freight trafl&c of the country is water-borne. Belgium Both railroads and waterways in Belgium are mostly owned and administered by the State, and it was reported to the British Royal Com- mission on Waterways that inland navigation in Belgium had been brought to the highest state of perfection, so as to be of value to every sec- tion of the country. There are about 100 water- ways, of a total length of 1,345 miles. Upon these waterways Belgium has expended in improve- ments and maintenance over $100,000,000 since 1831. Their trafiSc increased from 24,836,000 THE world's canals 9 tons in 1888 to 53,345,000 tons in 1905, a gain of 120 per cent, while the gain in railroad traffic in the same time was 60 per cent. The Scheldt and Meuse Junction Canal extends from Antwerp to the Holland boundary, where it joins the Maestricht Canal, a distance of 95 miles. Recent enlargement to a depth of 8 feet 3 inches will make it navigable for 1,000 ton barges. There are 17 locks. PRINCIPAL BELGIAN CANALS— 1905 Length, miles Traffic, tons Canal de Jonction S3 . 5 2,694,000 Bois le Due Maestricht 27.6 2,011,000 Brussels to the Rupel i7-3 2,058,000 Charleroi to Brussels 4SS 1,042,000 Ostende-Bruges-Ghent 43 -S 3i433i°°° Terrenzen to Ghent 11. o 1,166,000 PRINCIPAL BELGIAN RIVERS— 1905 Length, miles Traffic, tons Bas Escant 670 9,974,000 Rupel •• 7S 3,172,000 Haut Escant S9-° 2,628,000 Lys 700 3,337,000 Dendre 40. S i,349,ooo Sambre SSo 2,121,000 Meuse 7o.o 2,887,000 10 artificial waterways of the world France France began in 1605 the comprehensive sys- tem which has added over 3,000 miles of canals to her natural waterways. The greatest of her many works was the Languedoc, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Bay of Biscay, 148 miles, first opened in 1668. This connection was greatly improved in later centuries, the present Canal du Midi, 255 miles, being charged with a total cost exceeding $100,000,000. But the important fact is that this canal system, owned by the government, has been well main- tained. France has 10,530 miles of waterways, of which 4,006 miles are in navigable rivers and 3,030 miles in canals with boats whose average capacity is 300 tons. Of the canals, the State owns and operates 2,860 miles. The government of France, from 181 4 to 1900, expended in con- struction, improvement and maintenance of canals $240,670,000, and on rivers $216,170,000, a total of $456,840,000. There have been no tolls on government waterways since 1888, diiring which year they were aboUshed. THE world's canals II Recently the Harbor and Navigation Commis- sion of France recommended a total expenditure of $212,300,000 for harbor improvements and internal navigation. The new canal construc- tion works in course of completion (1913) are the following: Share contributed by State, to January i, igi2 From Montbeliars to Haute Saone $ 2,474,684 Canal du Nord 11,266,182 From Marseilles to the Rhone 6,330,400 Total $20,071,266 The Canal d'Orleans is also being lengthened. In 191 2 there were on the inland waterways of France 15,141 boats capable of carrying 4,035,199 metric tons. As regards capacity, 78 per cent can carry over 300 tons. The canal- boats in common use are economical to build and operate, and about two-fifths of them are owned by the individuals who operate them. In 1912 there were 12,988 boats having cabins, with a population of 44,724 men, women and children living in them. The following is a comparison between water- way and railroad trafi&c in France from 1886 to 1911: 12 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD' TRAFFIC ON THE RAILROADS AND ON THE RIVERS OF FRANCE „ ., , ^ By navigable rivers By railroads, tons , , . ana canals, tons 1886 75,273,000 21,050,000 1896 105,900,000 29,534,000 1906 147,277,000 34,144,000 1907 159,115,000 34,702,000 1908 160,855,000 34,225,000 1909 167,734,000 35,627,000 1910 176,153,000 34,621,000 1911 187,362,000 38,117,000 Note: (a). In 1912 the waterway traffic was about 40,000,000 tons, (b). Raibroad tonnage increased 153.3 per cent from 1886 to 1911. CLASSIFICATION OF MERCHANDISE TRANSPORTED ON WATERWAYS IN FRANCE— TONS igii Mineral fuels 12,434,000 Construction materials 15,968,000 Fertilizers 1,474,000 Fire wood 1,716,000 Metals and machinery 722,000 Raw materials (metal) 1,607,000 Industrial products 1,317,000 Agricultural and food products 4,393,000 Miscellaneous 362,000 Woods of all kinds 124,000 Total 38,117,000 IQIO 11,369,000 11,948,000 1,368,000 I.S35.000 7SS>ooo 1,710,000 1,222,000 4,258,000 349,000 107,000 i8go 6,945.000 7,688,000 1,345,000 1,601,000 25,000 1,713,000 678,000 3,515,000 346,000 312,000 34,621,000 24,167,000 The latest statistics of waterway trafl&c are furnished by the French Ministry of PubUc Works for 1913 and 191 2, as follows: THE world's canals 1 3 ' Kilomelric tons 1913 191^ Total Canal Tonnage 3,235,918,464 3,164,916,147 Total River Tonnage 2,949,071,602 2,685,582,884 Total Waterway Tonnage 6,184,990,066 5,850,499,031 1 Ton transported i kilometre (.621 of a mile). Germany Germany had canals connecting some of her great rivers prior to 1700, but the development of the present system was postponed to modern times. Once undertaken, however, it progressed rapidly, energetically, and with great practical results. Nearly all of her noble streams are connected at commercially strategic points, and, no expense has been spared to accomplish the purpose in view. Kiel Canal The Kaiser Wilhelm, or Kiel Canal, provides a waterway in Germany between Baltic and North Sea ports, thus avoiding the dangerous natural route around Denmark. It was begun in 1887 and completed in 1895, at a cost of $37,128,000. Since then it has been recon- structed; this work beginning in 1907, was com- 14 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD Kaiser Wilhelm or Kiel Canal, connecting the North Sea with the Baltic Sea, and which in 1914 performed the double function of a highway for commerce and a haven of safety for the German fleet. THE world's canals 1 5 pleted in 1914, and opened by the Emperor on June 24th, 1914. As reconstructed, the Canal which is without locks, except at the two termini, will permit of the passage of modern warships and merchant vessels. It now has a minimum depth of 36.08 feet, a bottom width of 144.35 f^^t and a surface width of 334.64 feet. The length is 61 miles. During 1910, the number of vessels using the canal was 43,328, of 7,231,458 net tons. Less than half of the vessels were of steam, there being a large number of small sail- ing ships in the North arid Baltic Seas. In 1896, 20,068 vessels of 1,751,065 tons passed through the Canal. At the present writing, war existing between Germany and Austria on the one side, and Eng- land, France and Russia on the other, this canal is being used as a haven of safety by the German fleet; within its limits the fleet is absolutely safe, and from this point of vantage forays may be made whenever desirable occasion presents. The great military use of the canal is thus prac- tically exemplified. Not content with the great Kiel Ship Canal, a second and shorter route between these bodies 1 6 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD of water, via the rivers Elbe and Trave, for smaller craft, was opened in 1900. In 1875 the length of navigable waterways (rivers and canals) in Germany was 7,656 miles. In that year began the new German policy of systematic reorganization and development of waterways, which has been maintained ever since. This has resulted in no great increase in mileage, which in 1900 was 7,843, a growth of 187 miles in 15 years, but there was, as stated by the German ambassador to the United States, a great advance in efficiency. All the improve- riients aimed to create a net of waterways which, east of Berlin assure the passage of vessels of 400 tons capacity, and west of Berlin of 600 tons capacity. Rivers were corrected, in a num- ber of instances canalized, and the old canals reconstructed and new ones built. The canaliza- tion of the Main began in 1883, was opened in 1886 and the Spree-Oder Canal was completed in 1891. The capacity of the waterways varies from 2,000 ton vessels on the Rhine to 50 tons on the Oberland Canal. In 1907, 26,235 vessels of a tonnage of 5,914,020, operated on the inland waterways of Germany. Of these only 3,312 THE world's canals 1 7 vessels of 188,762 tons were propelled by their own power; 1,213 had a capacity of 800 tons and upwards, and in 1905 the trafl&c carried amounted to 56,400,000 tons received and 47,000,000 des- patched, a total of 103,400,000. The following is a comparative table of rail- way and waterway trafl&c in Germany: Waterways Railways 187s 20,800,000 167,000,000 i88s 27,600,000 200,000,000 189s 46,700,000 331,000,000 1900 73,000,000 487,000,000 190S 103,400,000 588,700,000 Traflfic arriving at all points on the Rhine in 1912 amounted to 61,189,316 tons, comparing with 54,222,152 tons in 1911. The German government has recently granted permission for a canal from Muhlheim to the Rhine, having a depth of 13 feet, a width of 147 feet, and a capacity for 1,700 ton barges. The estimated cost is $2,114,000. The British Royal Commission on Canals and Waterways reported concerning the German waterways: "That the use of natural and artificial water- ways in cheapening the transport of coal and 1 8 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD other low value trafl&c increased the trade, in- dustry and wealth of Germany, and so indirectly the revenue derived by the railways from pas- senger trafl&c and high class goods." Count von Bemstorff, the German Ambassa- dor, says: "The transport by water being cheaper than that by railways, the further improvement of the German waterways promises to be useful to the German industrial life." Great Britain British canals are nearly all privately owned, one third of them by railroads. Tolls are levied. There are 4,673 miles of inland "canals and navigation" in the United Kingdom, the capital raised for their construction and improvement being $237,753,840. Their revenue in 1905 amounted to $13,403,500, of which $6,596,020 was received from tolls. The expenditures were $9,456,065, leaving a profit of $3,947,485. Their trafi&c aggregated in that year 43,161,926 tons. These results have been attained in spite of the fact of the large number of locks, the payment THE WORLD S CANALS I9 of tolls and the limited carrying capacity of the boats, usually only 30 to 60 tons. In England and Wales alone there are 4,033 miles of waterway, which in 1905 carried 37,500,000 tons, and it is understood that the traffic has not increased much since that time. This waterway trafi&c compares with 109,000,000 tons carried on the English railroad systems ia 191 1. The following are the nine principal waterways in England, with their traffic and net revenue in 1905: Waterway Mileage Tonnage conveyed Net revenue Birmingham Canal 159 7,546,000 £ 91,607 Aire and Calder Navigation .. . 85 2,810,000 111,511 Leeds and Liverpool Canal . . . 145 2,467,000 37)629 Grand Junction Canal 189 1,794,000 S^iS^S Thames River — above London Bridge to Inglesham 144 1,395,000 6,588 loss Trent and Mersey Canal 119 1,137,000 15,883 Regent's Canal 11 1,045,000 52,991 Weaver Navigation 20 1,076,000 2,247 ShefiBeld and South Yorkshire Navigation 60 835,000 24,005 932 20,105,000 £381,143 A Royal Commission on Canals and Waterways, after four years of investigation, has rendered an elaborate report with the object of modernizing and nationahzing the British Canal systems. 20 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD In Scotland canals of the old type have de- teriorated, but there is now reviving interest in waterway improvements, and among the proj- ects is a deep water canal to connect the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde, so as to elimi- nate a 400 mile route around the rough north coast line of Scotland. The largest canal of Scotland is the Caledonian, from Inverness to Ft. William, and is navigable by vessels 150 feet in length, with 17 feet draught. Ireland's Grand Canal, 165 miles long, con- necting Dublin with the River Shannon and other points, is its chief waterway. England's most important canal contribution was promoted by the Duke of Bridgewater, in I7S7) connecting Manchester and Liverpool and which, by process of evolution, has become the large and improved Manchester Ship Canal. Manchester Ship Canal It extends 35^ miles from Manchester to Eastham on the River Mersey, six miles from Liverpool. The canal makes a seaport of Man- chester, and is one of the most remarkable arti- ficial waterway achievements in existence. Its THE world's canals 21 depth, originally 26 feet, has been increased to 28 feet, with a bottom width of 120 feet. Five sets of locks overcome a difference in elevation of 58 feet 6 inches. The canal was begun in 1887 and opened for traflSc in 1894. The cost was £14,860,000, but other canal, railway and dock construction increased the amount; and the total authorized capital on December 31, 19 13, was £19,573,230, of which £17,123,230 was created. The total net income was £356,077, and the balance after payment of fixed charges was £46,166. Of this £22,288 was appropriated to reserve and £23,877 (2^^ per cent) was avail- able for the corporation's 3^- per cent preference stock. In 1894, when the canal was opened, the sea-borne traffic was 686,158 tons, the barge traffic 239,501 tons, total 925,659 tons; the total receipts being £97,901. Traffic and receipts during the past six years: Sea-borne Barge traffic Total Tolls and other traffic tons tons tons receipts 1913- •• ■ • -5,457,218 322,943 5,780,161 £654,937 I9I2. . . . . .5,021,691 318,193 5,339,884 605,179 I9II . . . ...4,894,670 323,142 5,217,812 580,841 I9I0. . . . . .4,618,070 319,561 4,937,631 555,735 1909 . . . . . .4,290,765 272,636 4,563,401 534,059 1908... • ■ .4,317,965 264,531 4,582,496 506,975 22 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD Denmark Denmark, when it owned Holstein, had a Baltic-North Sea canal, part of which is now used for the new Kiel Ship Canal; otherwise its system is purely local and not extensive. Russia In Russia, Peter the Great was the first builder of important canals; he began by connecting his capital on the Neva, by way of the Volga, with the Caspian Sea, to reach more expeditiously the caravan trade of southwestern Asia, upon which the Muscovite has for centuries had his eyes. Subsequently connection was made with the ports on the Arctic Ocean; the Black and the Caspian seas and the rivers Dniester and Vistula, were joined, the latter involving 461 miles of canal and river way, said to have cost over $100,000,000. The recently finished Cron- stadt-St. Petersburg Canal cost $10,000,000, for its six miles of 203^ feet depth. The more ambitious project of making a 27-foot waterway, THE world's canals 23 from the Black Sea to the Baltic, i,ooo miles, to cost nearly $100,000,000, is the latest pro- posed addition to Russia's means for commer- cial expansion. In Russia there are rivers, lakes and canals having a total mileage of 239,161, of which 178,580 miles are now navigable, although only one-third of this length is navigable by steamers. The artificial waterways have a length of 1,225 miles, of which 505 are canals and 556 natural water courses canalized. About one-third of Russia's freight is transported by water, and the proportion has varied little in the past thirty years. Waterway traffic has increased in about the, same percentage as railroad traffic. The appropriations for waterway development in 1912 amounted to $12,104,000 and in 1911 to $10,308,000. From 1906 to 1910 they averaged $8,480,500 a year. It was decided in 1912 to reconstruct the Mariinsky Canal by building five new locks on the River Sheksna at a cost of $4,000,000. The River Dnieper is being im- proved for 247 miles, at a cost of $15,231,125, to be spread over several years. 24 artificial waterways of the world Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary is crossed by the great Danube River, a great water thoroughfare. Her canal system is by no means famous, but never- theless important, as it connects aU parts of the dual kingdom with this great river, and is there- fore necessarily local in character. Her canals add 1,700 miles to her 5,500 miles of natural waterways. A project to connect the Danube with the Oder and the Elbe is under consideration. Sweden Sweden began canalization early in the seven- teenth century and has maintained a system serving the interests of several interior commer- cial cities; but the system is chiefly local, her topography not calling for trunk canals. Italy The topography of Italy does not lend itself to canalization; the country is very long and narrow, THE world's canals 25 and traversed longitudinally by mountain ranges, contained between the Mediterranean and the Adriatic; there are no long distances to the sea shore and no long rivers, the Po being the most important. It has 967 miles of navigable rivers and about 655 miles of canals. The canals are almost wholly in the extreme north, in the valley of the Po, in Piedmont, Lombardy and Venetia; they possess local importance, are largely used and of great value to local trade. Corinth The Corinth Ship Canal cuts the Isthmus of Corinth and connects the Gulf of Corinth and the Saronic Gulf, is about 4 miles long, 70 feet wide and 26 feet deep; it shortens the journey from the Adriatic to the ^gean Sea 202 miles. Large steamships seldom make use of it, how- ever, as the narrowness of the canal and the very strong current passing through the same at times, render passage dangerous. This canal was begun by Nero, A. D. 67; a French company took up the work in 1881 and it was completed by a Greek company and 26 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD opened for public use, in 1893. Widened and protected against currents at its termini, and a proper system of towage provided, this canal would possess great commercial and military importance. Spain Spain has, in the matter of canals, as in many other respects, failed to keep abreast of her neighbors. Her long cherished plan of joining the Mediterranean Sea and the Bay of Biscay remains in abeyance, being less than half built at the present time. In the reign of Charles II, the Council of Castile opposed canal plans, as an interference with the wisdom of Divine Provi- dence, which had fixed the waterways. India India has one of the world's longest canals, that of Bengal, 900 miles; there are two others of about 600 and 450 miles respectively, but these are primarily for irrigation purposes; there are many lesser ones employed for transpor- tation. THE WORLD S CANALS 27 China China's comprehensive canal building probably began in the seventh century; we are told that her Grand Canal, connecting her capital with tidewater at Canton, and branching to other points, finished about the end of the thirteenth cen- tury, was 600 years in construction; including canalized rivers, its length exceeds 1,000 miles, the longest navigable waterway in the world. Lesser ones, none modem, ramify the entire country, which until very recently had not a mile of railway. The system comprises 5,300 miles and has proved indispensable to the existence of that teeming empire; with its aid the great problem of sub- sisting 400,000,000 human beings was solved; not only are transportation facilities and irriga- tion provided, the canals also supply an abim- dance of fish, and from their beds is drawn a mass of muck to fertilize the soil. Suez The Suez Canal was conceived by the dis- tinguished Frenchman, Ferdinand De Lesseps, 28 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD and carried to successful completion under his engineering ability and direction. It connects the Mediterranean Sea and the waters of the Indian Ocean, Port Said being its northern ter- minal, and Suez its southern terminal. It elim- inates the long, tedious voyage around the Cape of Good Hope and reduces the route of valuable European Oriental trade by at least one-third. It was an epoch-making event in ocean navi- gation and until the completion of the Panama Canal, it was beyond comparison the most im- portant and most useful of all artificial waterways. The Suez Canal is a sea-level ship canal; opened for traffic November 17, 1869; 87 nau- tical miles in length; depth (1908) 10 meters, or 32 feet 9 inches, and maximum vessel draught of 8.53 meters, or 28 feet. A depth of 11 meters, or 36 feet i inch, is planned, and by January i, 1 91 5, it is expected that the authorized vessel draught Avill be 9 meters 14 centimeters, or 30 feet. The canal is carried on the company's books at a value of 679,522,001 francs (about $136,000,000) and the company has other assets of 84,184,053 francs. The average time in passing through the canal in 19 13 was 16 hours and 19 THE WORLD S CANALS 29 minutes. A high record total of 25,775,000 tons of goods was transported. The size of vessels using the canal averaged 3,940 tons in 1913 as compared with 3,774 in 191 2. Canal dues now stand at 6.25 francs per net ton. The total canal receipts from all sources in 1913 were 129,925,949 francs, or 9,996,690 francs less than in 191 2, of which 9,748,899 francs was due to reduction in transit receipts. The canal has proved highly profitable to its owners; and in 191 1 could pay a dividend of 33 per cent from tolls of $1.30 per net ton. In 191 3 the toUs were reduced to 6.25 francs, or $1,206. TRAFFIC AND RECEIPTS FROM TOLLS No. vessels Tonnage net Receipts from tolls 1908 3,795 13,633,283 105,396,205 £r. 1909 4,239 15,407,527 117,754,888 igio 4,533 16,581,898 127,203,295 1911 4,969 18,324,794 131,035,232 1912 5,373 20,275,120 132,929,341 1913 5,08s 20,033,884 122,989,367 No. passengers Receipts 1908 218,967 2,189,675 fr. 1909 213,122 2,131,220 1910 234,320 2,343,202 1911 275,259 2,752,595 1912 266,403 2,499,020 1913 282,23s 2,653,340 30 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD During the first five months (Jan. i to May 31) of 1914, there were 2,222 vessels passing through the canal, with receipts of 55,580,000 francs, against 2,178 vessels and receipts of 53,230,000 francs in 1913, and 2,392 vessels and receipts of 59,320,000 francs in 1912. The canal is owned and operated by a French company, in which the British government holds a pre- ponderating interest. Although the records indicate that the Peru- vians had canals, these were probably irrigation works; certain it is that commercial canals in the western hemisphere are confined to North America, and practically to the United States and Canada, where numerous noteworthy ex- amples exist. The five great inland seas natu- rally first attracted attention; their connection with tidewater has given the engineering pro- fession abundant opportunity to display their skill, and the more distinctly local undertakings of joining the great rivers with each other and with the great lakes, have employed the energies of all progressive citizens. THE world's canals 3 1 In the United States alone, the total mileage of canal works is placed at 4,479 (see Appendix Table No. i), of which, however, nearly 2,000 miles have been abandoned. The cost, up to 1900, is estimated to have been $220,000,000. The works of special note are the Erie, in New York State; the Cincinnati and Erie, in Ohio; the Chesapeake and Ohio, and the Saulte Ste. Marie, in Michigan. The last named was opened in 1855; the parallel Canadian canal, around the same Falls, was opened in 1895; together their tonnage in 1913 was 79,721,525. Canada has also an important canal around St. Mary's Falls (opened 1895). For the purpose of getting around the Niagara Falls, Canada built the Welland Canal, a very expensive work, but conunercially of the first importance. She has many lesser canals, and by means of her system has builded an enormous volume of commerce. It is estimated that Canada has spent fully $110,000,000 upon artificial waterways, the largest, relative to population and period of con- struction, on record. We shall presently con- sider the effect of this poUcy upon her com- merce. 32 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD Mulhall, the eminent British statistician, gives the mileage of existing canals and rivers in use, in Europe, at over 77,000, of which 13,293 miles are canals. In the United States the canal mile- age is reported as 4,479, the mileage of other waterways as 47,355; while Canada has 535 miles of canals and 3,800 of rivers. The total of the world's canals reaches about 26,000 miles; the cost has been in excess of $2,000,000,000. It was natural that the advent of railways should interfere, in most countries, with the development and profitableness of canals. In only a few have the two systems been used jointly and improved equally. The more speedy transit furnished by rail is the chief factor in attracting freight at the expense of the slower canal transportation. This has been specially noticeable in the United States. But the ques- tion of cheapening transportation has again come to the fore; expert testimony shows that by means of properly adapted waterways the charge is at least one-third less, and this is ac- complished by the expenditure of one-thirtieth the hauling power. This fact, and the enormous increase in trafiSc, have revived interest in the THE WORLD'S CANALS 33 subject of waterways throughout the civilized world. The prices of necessaries of life have been enhanced by a multitude of causes, and the world is endeavoring to reduce the part of the cost due to transportation. THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK The Period of Inception The value, nay the imperative need, of artifi- cial connections between the inland lakes and rivers of the United States and the streams emptying into the Atlantic Ocean, impressed itself upon the far-seeing men of the days before the Revolution, when the migration of the most venturesome of the population toward the west began. Particularly in New York was this the case; for thriving settlements had sprung into existence along the banks of her beautiful rivers. Albany was already a place of considerable importance, and the valley of the Mohawk boasted a number of hamlets. As early as 1724, Cadwalader Golden, Surveyor General, subse- quently Lieutenant Governor of the colony, after an exploration of a part of the region, pic- tured a future "scene of inland navigation such as cannot be paralleled in any other part of the world." In 1768, Governor Moore, in a message to the New York General Assembly, called at- 34 THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 35 tention to the obstruction to navigation of the Mohawk River occasioned by the Falls of Cana- joharie, and recommended that this be removed by sluices upon the plan of the Languedoc Canal in France. Gouverneur Morris, as early as 1777, predicted the eventual union of the waters of the Lakes with those of the Hudson and the Atlantic. George Washington, with the practical ap- preciation of an engineer and surveyor, immedi- ately after the close of the Revolutionary War, urged the utilization of all natural facihties for connecting the middle west with the seaboard. Nowhere did the natural barriers presented by the Appalachian range of mountains between the seaboard and the vast territory to the west, offer so feasible a route as that to be found in New York State; the Hudson River, carrying tidewater through a mountain cleft for a distance of 150 miles; its tributary, the Mohawk, extend- ing westward almost to the smaller lakes, which practically formed a chain to the great inland sea, Ontario, and brought one within a com- paratively short distance of Erie; these were ideal conditions for canalization. 2,6 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD Washington had familiarized himself with the general topography of the region by an explora- tion undertaken in company with Governor George Clinton and Alexander Hamilton, in 1783. He thus became an intelligent and per- sistent advocate of the plans which then began to take shape among the New Yorkers. Wash- ington's view was not wholly the commercial one; to him it was also a question of binding the people of the nation together for the purpose of perpetuating the Union. If the sturdy pioneers who, out of the narrow Indian trails were hew- ing roads through the wilderness, planting settle- ments here and there, but ever farther westward, were to be deprived of adequate means of com- munication with the east, they would find an outlet by way of the great Mississippi and its tributaries, then in large part in alien hands, with thriving trade centres at St. Louis and other points, and an important port in New Orleans. Louisiana belonged to France, and comprehended the Mississippi Valley as far north as Minnesota, where the French had an important trading post, Hennepin, now Min- neapolis. France claimed the coimtry drained THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 37 by the Mississippi and its tributaries; on the west there was no one to dispute their claim, and on the east the struggling settlers from the At- lantic states were not numerous enough or strong enough to present much opposition. The eastern boundary of Louisiana was wholly undetermined and later formed the basis of much fighting. The French had Fort Duquesne, the present site of Pittsburg, from which General Braddock, of unfortunate memory, aided by Washington, sought in vain to dislodge them. With Washington, as with Charlemagne, arti- ficial waterways represented hnks in the chain which should hold together the empire. The great and fertile country west of the AUeghanies was likely to become a distinct political entity, or the province of a foreign power, and thus be wholly estranged from the seaboard states, unless the seaboard bestirred itself to maintain close relations. The Erie Canal played a most important part in retaining and binding to the Atlantic states this great middle west, and when Napoleon sold us Louisiana, the Great Lakes region, through the service of the Erie Canal, became intimately 38 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD bound to the east by the reciprocal bonds of commerce. But the country was poor; the devastating War of Independence had left the people strug- gling to maintain existence; a totally inadequate poHtical system had first to be done away with and a sound constitutional government of united states established. The repudiation of State debts had made it most difficult to borrow money for novel enterprises, and increasing already burdensome taxes was impracticable. As an il- lustration we have the experience of Christopher Coles, an engineer of note, who had made a survey of the Mohawk VaUey in 1784; he sub- mitted plans to the New York legislature for the connection of the Hudson River and Lake On- tario. He and his associates were tendered the profits of the scheme in perpetuity if they would only carry it out; but he failed to enlist the requisite financial assistance. It is almost pathetic to read that the legislature appropriated the munificent sum of $125 to enable Coles to complete his surveys. Another survey, more comprehensive in char- acter, was made in 1791, by direction of the THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 39 legislature through the efforts of Governor George Clinton. In 1792 two companies were chartered, one to construct a canal to connect the Hudson River with Lake Champlain, which, however, "fell by the wayside;" the other, the "Western Inland Navigation Company," to connect the Hudson and Lake Ontario. The State took 200 shares of the $25 stock of the company and loaned it £15,000 on mortgage, for which it also later took stock. With this support something was actually accomplished; by the end of 1796 the company had six miles of canal at and about Little Falls, navigable by 16- ton vessels, to facilitate, the use of the upper Mohawk; the work cost $400,000. Soon thereafter connection was made between the Oswego River (flowing into Lake Ontario) and Cayuga and Seneca Lakes. This initial canal work was done by WilUam Weston, afterwards Superintendent of Canals. Among the most earnest supporters were Thomas Eddy, the philanthropist, and Stephen Van Rensselaer, the patroon. These men saw in the project for the Erie waterway a means by which New York City would obtain the commerce of the great West "forever" with- 40 AE.TIPICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD out need of fearing rivalry; the City would thereby become "the greatest commercial em- porium of the world, excepting, eventually per- haps, New Orleans or some other depot at the mouth of the majestic Mississippi." The thought that anything could supersede water transporta- tion was evidently far from their minds. Notwithstanding all the arguments and discus- sions and the obvious interest of the State, notwithstanding the enormous cost of transporta- tion, estimated to have been $ioo per ton from / Buffalo to New York, many years were to pass before anything further was done toward a canal system. The people who were building up the central and western parts of the State felt the need of better transit facilities. Ohio was com- ing into prominence as a producing territory and a commercial field, soon (in 1803) to become one of the sisterhood of States. Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin were now the outer terri- tories, but, rapidly growing. Here was an empire to be exploited commercially. But the people of New York City and the southern end of the State, to whom the benefits to accrue, naturally perhaps, appeared more remote, were for a long THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 4 1 time only mildly affected by the agitation. The enthusiasm of Gouverneur Morris, who told them among other things that he foresaw the time when ships would "sail from London through the Hudson River to Lake Erie" by a splendid canal, failed to impress them. This patriotic citizen, then a Senator in Congress, was joined by De Witt Clinton, whose name is associated with New York's canal system for all time. It was uphill work; the support of the people of the lower end of the State was neces- sary, and the influence of the opposition, the "bourbons" of the period, among whom were the leading "sachems" of the Tammany Hall of that day, was difficult to overcome. The ex- pense of the enterprise, a present bugaboo, over- shadowed the prospect of much greater future benefits. A traveler of the period has left us an interest- ing record of the difficulties of transit then pre- vailing; it took from two to five days to reach Albany from New York City, by river; thence overland to Schenectady, 17 mUes, to the navi- gable part of the Mohawk River; to Utica, 104 miles, by sailboats, with auxihary swing-oars 42 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD and poles to be used in case of a calm; these made i8 to 20 miles per day, consuming the better part of a week; to Oswego, 114 miles further, took another nine days. On the Hudson River freight rates averaged 40 cents per hundred- weight; the small canals already referred to, charged $2.25 to $3 per ton. On the Mohawk the rate was 75 cents per hundredweight to Utica and $1.25 on the western section from Utica to Oswego, making a total of about $50 per ton from New York to Oswego. There was much dissatisfaction at the charges imposed by the canal company, and comparatively large quantities of freight were taken overland in that section, owing to the exorbitant rates. Robert Fulton's successful demonstration of his steamboat in 1807, by means of which the transit time to Albany was soon reduced to 30 hours, tended to increase the dissatisfaction of the people "up-State" with existing condi- tions. Clinton was quick to seize upon this as a lever to influence public opinion. At this time, also. President Jefferson's plan to spend the accumulated Federal surplus (then approximating $10,000,000) in the construction of roads and THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 43 canals, a project which had the full approval of Albert Gallatin and the other broad-gauge members of the Jefferson party, gave New Yorkers hope that they would receive support from the National government. In 1808, the New York legislature, at the behest of Joshua Forman of Onondaga, and Thomas R. Gold, of Oneida, appointed a committee to consider plans for a canal to Lake Erie, with a view to obtaining aid from Congress by an appropriation to accomplish "that great national object." It was declared that "while this State would for- bear to derogate from the claims of others, she felt warranted in presenting to the government of the Union her own territory as preeminently distinguished for commercial advantage." Simeon De Witt, the Surveyor General, was directed to cause the route suggested to be ac- curately surveyed, and the sum of six hundred dollars ($600!) was appropriated by the legisla- ture for the purpose. The survey demonstrated the complete availability of the route which was later adopted. De Witt, who was appointed Surveyor General in 1784, held that office con- tinuously for fifty years, covering thus the entire 44 AUTIPICIAL WATERWAYS Or THE WORLD period of the conception, birth, and first growth of the canal system, to the promotion of which he gave his Hfe service. It was not until 1810, however, that a Canal Commission was actually provided for by the legislature; it included besides Morris, Clinton and De Witt, William North, Thomas Eddy and Peter B. Porter. In 181 1 Robert Fulton and Robert E. Livingston were added. A thorough exploration at this time produced an estimate of cost of a canal to Lake Erie at $5,000,000. Morris and Clinton were sent to Washington to endeavor to obtain support from the Federal goverimient, but President Madison was not favorable to the use of pubHc money for this purpose, and the committee returned to New York disappointed. The scope of the canal enterprise was rightly considered national in character. While Madison and Monroe were solicitous that the canal be built, as strict constructionists, they beheved that no aid could be extended without first amending the Federal Constitution. Gouver- neur Morris urged that the Federal government should build the canal, and its operation and THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 45 control should be regulated by "treaty" between the State and nation. In this proposition we see the then conception of "State sovereignty," and how lightly the bonds of union were re- garded; and also observe that the question of the regulation of interstate commerce was early brought into prominence. The "general welfare" clause of the organic law had not yet been elab- orated. The War of 1812, with its burdens and respon- ; sibihties, eliminated the Federal government as a possible builder of the canal. The agitation was continued throughout the State, especially by Clinton, after his defeat for the Presidency; and in June, 181 2, the legislature passed an act authorizing the Canal Commission to borrow money and accept grants of land pre- paratory to the beginning of work. But borrow- ing money during the war was out of the ques- tion, and the progress of the enterprise halted. In 1816, Governor Tompkins strongly urged that the State proceed to build the canal without further delay. A new Commission was created with Clinton at its head, further surveys were made, and more elaborate estimates of costs pre- 46 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD pared, which included connection with Lake Champlain as well as with Lake Erie. The width of the canal was to be 40 feet at surface, 28 feet at bottom, and the depth 4 feet. The estimate of cost was $5,442,813. On April 15, 1817, the legislature terminated the long specu- lation by actually authorizing the construction of the canal, creating a Canal Board, consisting of all the executive State officers except the Governor, which was given power to borrow money on the credit of the State. The canal fund created was to be under their charge. The Clinton Commission was continued, charged with the duty of construction, operation and mainte- nance. This division of authority soon caused difficulties which resulted in vesting the power of both in a differently constituted board, created in 1826. The patronage of the canal appealed to the selfishness of men and involved in its construc- tion the vicissitudes of party politics, engendering the fiercest political and personal animosities. Clinton was not above using the patronage to regain and promote his political prestige, but above all things he devoted his energies to the THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 47 success of the canal. He boldly made it the issue in the gubernatorial campaign of 1817; he com- pelled his nomination for the Governorship and defeated his opponent, Peter B. Porter, one of his colleagues on the Canal Commission of 18 10, by the decisive total of 43,310 votes against 1,479, ^ most extraordinary expression of public opinion and confidence. His inauguration took place on July i, 1817, and three days later, on the nation's chief holi- day, he had the supreme satisfaction of breaking ground for the canal at Rome, then a promising village on the Mohawk River (formerly Fort Stanwix), amid great ceremony and jubilation. Samuel Young, one of the Canal Commissioners, in his address, said: "By this great highway, unborn millions will easily transport their surplus productions to the shores of the Atlantic, procure their supplies, and hold a useful and profitable intercourse with all the maritime nations of the earth." Thus, after thirty years from the date when his uncle, George Clinton, had urged the matter upon the people, they finally, under the leader- ship of the nephew of the first Governor, se- 48 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD riously began work. The little canals of the Western Inland Navigation Company, already referred to, were bought for $152,718; extension 'was pushed vigorously, and by October, 1819, the section between Rome and Utica, 15 miles, was open to navigation. In November of the same year boats from the Hudson River passed into Lake Champlain; in 1820 the Erie reached the Seneca River, and it was confidently reported that it would be completed by 1823. In this hope Clinton was disappointed, and his oppo- nents made the most of the delay. The control of the, for that day, vast patron- age of the canal, intensified political rancor and gave to politics a vehemence and virulence un- precedented. Clinton was charged with every- thing from bankruptin'g the State to plotting secession of New York from the Union. Al- though reelected Governor in 1820, over Tomp- kins, who now opposed the canal, his majority was so slender and his hold upon the people so precarious during the second term, that he was compelled to retire from the contest for a third nomination in 1822. In April, 1824, he was re- moved from the position of Canal Commissioner, THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 49 which he had held continuously from the crea- tion of the original Commission in 1810, even while Governor. This humiliation, believed at the time to be his poHtical deathblow, was ac- complished by the overwhelming vote of the legislature, dominated by Van Buren, William L. Marcy, Silas Wright and their associates, who had now become all-powerful as the "Albany Regency." But, after all, the people wanted the canal; the new regime was not apparently making satis- factory progress. Clinton took advantage of the situation, accepted a nomination for the Governorship in 1824, and in the Fall of that year, scarcely six months after his humiliation, he was elected by a vote of 103,452 against 87,093. With Clinton again in the harness, the canal work progressed at a lively pace; and again he experienced the satisfaction of presiding over the destinies of the State officially when, on October 26, 1825, the first boat to make the trip through the finished Erie Canal left Buf- falo, with the Governor, Stephen Van Rensselaer, Joshua Forman, Chancellor Livingston, William L. Stone and Thurlow Weed among those on 50 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD board; conspicuous by their absence were the* members of the "Albany Regency." The trip of the " .Seneca C hief." as the canal- boat was named, was probably the most thor- oughly celebrated event New York State has ever experienced. All along the route was a jubilant people, making it a continuous hoHday parade; ringing of bells and booming of cannon greeted it everywhere; and Clinton was the hero of the fortnight. On November 4, the boat, escorted from Albany by a fleet of steamers arrived in New York City, where civic, military and naval parades followed, accompanied by the most extravagant demonstrations of popular enthusiasm. A memorial medal was struck by the municipal authorities, the face of which was subsequently adopted as the seal of the Canal Department. Two kegs of water from Lake Erie had been brought along, and one of these was taken to Sandy Hook and the water cere- moniously poured into the Atlantic Ocean, the contents of the other keg were bottled as me- mentos, and one of these bottles was presented to Lafayette, who had a short time before been the guest of the City. Governor Clinton poured THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 5 1 the contents of the kegs into the Atlantic Ocean, saying as he did so: "This solemnity, at this place, on the first ar- rival of vessels from Lake Erie, is intended to in- dicate and commemorate the navigable communi- cation which has been accomphshed between our Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in about eight years, to the extent of more than 425 miles, by the wisdom, pubhc spirit and energy of the people of the State of New York; and may the God of the Heavens and of the Earth smile most propitiously on this work and render it subservient to the best interests of the human race." An enthusiastic citizen had procured bottles of water from the Nile, the Ganges, the Indus, the Thames, the Seine, the Rhine, the Mississippi, the Columbia, the Orinoco and La Plata, all of which were also, with proper ceremony, emptied into the Atlantic, after those of the Erie had been mingled with its. brine.. This mingling of waters charac- terized as the "marriage of the waters," typified the ambitious faith of the builders that the com- merce of the canal system was bound to com- mingle with and be enlarged by the commerce of aU portions of the world. 52 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS Or THE WORLD The festivities lasted until the night of Novem- ber 7, concluding with a grand ball. It is re- corded that the news of the opening of the Grand Canal, as it was called for many years, was sent from Buffalo to Sandy Hook, over 500 miles, in 81 minutes, by means of booming cannon placed at proper distances along the Mne. Our forbears, rejoicing over this great achievement in trans- portation, sought to hasten the news of the canal's opening, as fast as sound travels, by boom- ing cannon. They httle dreamed that in less than a century BujBfalo and New York would converse with the same ease and certainty as persons seated face to face. The construction of the Erie Canal was op- posed by the "penny- wise" economists, as a senseless squandering of the people's money. It was opprobriously called "Chnton's Ditch," and sections of the State not adjacent to the Hne of the canal were vehement in opposition to being taxed for an enterprise of most ques- tionable value, and which, should it prove a success, would build up canal counties at the expense of the northern and southern tier coim- ties of the State. This spirit of rivalry later. < -s H ^ s fe y F^ ,° C5 if Fi 3 o 5 iH iiT a Q ^ H 3 2 THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 53 when the success of the canal was recognized by all, resulted in the construction of a series of canals reaching practically all parts of the State, for which there was no commercial justification, and whose recognized uselessness induced their subsequent abandonment. There was, perhaps, a pardonable hope that these lateral canals would do for their localities what the Erie was doing for the country between Buffalo and Albany and New York but the leverage which insured their building was the "pork barrel" principle which obtains in River and Harbor appropriations at Washington. These outlying canals were sup- ported as the price of maintenance of the main canals. THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK The Period of Development Thus "Clinton's Ditch," as his opponents in politics contemptuously called it, was a fixed fact, notwithstanding ex-Governor (then Vice President) Tompkins' declaration a short time before, that it was a "chimerical project." There were not a few men of prominence who still regarded it as a public work undertaken many years too soon. Its cost had exceeded the estimates; for when, after some years, the "finishing touches" had been actually completed, the total amounted to $7,143,789, or more than $2,000,000 more than the highest anterior es- timate. But it began to yield revenue before its completion, and in fact had turned into the Treasury more in tolls than the actual cost, be- fore that account was closed in 1836, thus justify- ing the faith of its advocates in a much greater measure than even they had anticipated. In 1826 Clinton was elected Governor for the 54 THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 5$ fourth time, and died in office in 1828. Few if any men have, within the borders of a single State of our Union, achieved as great good as fell to the lot of De Witt CUnton; few have perhaps had opportunities equal to those which came his way; but, after all, it was his genius and constant devotion to the purpose in view, that led him to seize these opportunities and make the most of them, despite rather tactless poUtical methods which occasionally created obstacles. Few men in public life suffered such violent and factious opposition, and overcame them by forcing upon the minds of the people the measures which would best serve them. It cannot be said that his labors were ignored, for he was given high station; but it nevertheless remained for the future to fully appreciate the great merits of his efforts for the general welfare. Not the least of the testimonials to his achieve- ments is the statue which adorns the most prominent place in the front of the magnificent home of the Chamber of Commerce in the City of New York. The canal system thus completed, near the end of 1825, included only the Erie and the 56 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD Champlain; the former, 352 miles in length with 9 miles of adjuncts, the latter 81 miles, including feeders. Together they had cost the State the sum of $9,048,963; and to the end of 1837 addi- tional construction work found necessary cost $928,981 more, giving a total during this first period of nearly $10,000,000. Beginning with the modest revenue of $5,436 in 1821, the tolls produced annually increasing sums, the total for 1825 being $566,112; by 1830 the $1,000,000 mark was passed, and the total revenues to/ the end of 1837 aggregated over $15,000,000,' thus more than repaying the original outlay, after providing for operating expenses. No reports of tonnage carried were made in the earlier years, but judging by the tolls the quantity must have reached over 1,000,000 tons annually for several years before 1836, when a tonnage of 1,310,000 is recorded. Freight payments for the period ending with 1837 also exceeded a total of $15,000,000. Rates were reduced very largely; the charge from Buffalo to Albany was still $22 in 1824; in 1835 it was down to about $4. The promised diversion of traffic to New York was being realized; the signal success of THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 57 the undertaking led to other similar projects, which the people for a time gladly favored. In 1825 work was begun on a canal 38 miles long, connecting the Erie with Lake Ontario at Os- wego, and also on the Cayuga and Seneca, 23 miles in length; in 1830 the Chemung, in 1831 the Crooked Lake, in 1833 the Chenango, and in 1837 the Black River and Genesee Valley canals were begun; in the following decade lesser works were provided for, making in aU a system of artificial waterways over 960 miles in length. State aid to the amount of $800,000 was also extended to the Delaware & Hudson Company, which had a canal 108 miles long, partly in Pennsylvania, which was abandoned in 1898. It soon became obvious that the carrying capacity of the Erie Canal was not equal to the commercial demands. It could only float boats not exceeding 80 feet long by 15 feet wide and 2,% feet draught, the maximum burthen being 75 tons. The employment of larger vessels would enable the State to reap greater advantage from the enormous trade which was now rapidly developing in the west and northwest; the agita- tion for enlargement became sufficiently strong 58 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD to induce the legislature, by an act of May 11, 1835, to authorize this work, so as to accommo- date vessels of 200 tons, and by 1837 it was being vigorously pushed. The estimate of cost of enlargement varied as the work progressed, ranging from $12,500,000 to $30,000,000. This was an unprecedented sum to be placed under the control of any party administration. The Albany Regency, then all-powerful, had adopted the political tenet of Marcy, "To the victors belong the spoils." Extravagance and waste were clearly shown to have governed in the execution of the work, and coming as it did im- mediately after the paralyzing financial and commercial crisis of 1837, it seemed for a time as if the credit of the State would be seriously compromised. It was impossible to promptly pay the cost of the work, and it was therefore suspended by order of the legislature, but not until the expenditure had exceeded $12,000,000 without having produced practical results. Sus- pension of work added to the waste which bad management and extravagance had caused. What may, perhaps, be regarded as a much greater evil than this money loss, was the serious THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 59 lowering of political morals engendered by the lavish disbursement of public money, shown by a legislative investigation in 1846. The "canal ring" was born, and what has since been con- cisely termed "graft" fastened itself upon the body politic so firmly, that for two generations every endeavor to do anything for the canal system has encountered distrust and hesitation. The people are compelled to be on guard against the insidious influences of the plunder that the business offers to unscrupulous jobbers and politicians. During this period another factor affecting the future of the canals first became manifest; steam railroad transportation had been invented. In 1 83 1, the first line, the Mohawk & Hudson Rail- road, was opened from Albany to Schenectady, a distance of 17 miles. The Erie Railway was projected, and in 1836 received State aid (for the benefit of the "southern tier counties") to the amount of $3,000,000. The company failed in the troublesome years after 1837, and only part of the line from Piermont westward was ready for use in 1841, by which time Albany and Buffalo had been connected by rail. In the 6o ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD ^ame year the Hudson River Railroad from New Ybrk to Albany was completed, thus giving a primitive sort of through rail line from the lakes to the seaboard. The Erie finally reached Buf- falo in 1851. The record of operations of the canals from 1838 to 1847 showed no effect from railway com- petition. They had transported in the decade 17,300,000 tons of freight, valued at $893,000,000, of which more than half, 9,500,000 tons, of the value of $348,000,000, was freight carried through to New York City. The State received in tolls $22,200,000 (a general average of $1.28 per ton carried), and freighters collected $22,600,000 (an average, without regard to distance, of $1,303^ per ton.) The actual rate for down freight from Buffalo to Albany fell as low as $2.65; tolls were $3.28; up freight, always higher, ranged from $9.53 to $4, and tolls were $6.57 per ton. The time required for the transit of through freight was 10 days; passengers going by Hght, swift "packet boats" made the trip in 2,% days. In 1846 there was a revision of the constitu- tion of the State, in v/hich the canals received THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 6 1 considerable attention. A better system of control was provided for, a definite sinking fund to pay off the canal debt was established, and a portion of the revenues from tolls was to be applied for current State purposes. A general provision prohibited incurring debts in excess of $1,000,000, without the people's consent, and bonds issued were to be repayable in eighteen years. The constitution also forbade the sale of any of the canals for all time. There was an adjustment of accounts between the State and the canals up to that date, which shows that the general revenues of the State had contributed $7,924,520 to the canals, including $320,518 de- rived from sales of lands, partly those donated to the canals; there had been repaid to the State on this account $2,537,603, leaving a balance of $5,386,917. This represented the net invest- ment in the canals by the State, in 1846. The specific canal debts was at this time sUghtly under $17,000,000. The agitation for enlargement of the canal was resumed, and with the feeling that the con- stitutional provisions rendered it reasonably safe to make the great expenditures required, without 62 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD waste, the assent of the legislature was given. By 1849 it was possible to put into use vessels of 100 tons burthen, and by 1853, after an ex- penditure of about $5,000,000, vessels of 200 tons were actually in use on the Erie. But re- sults were coming too slowly; accordingly in 1854 there was submitted to the people a plan under which larger debts could be incurred for canal purposes, and the people voted by 185,771 to 60,526 to expedite the work. In the six years following, over $12,500,000 was spent in con- struction, and by 1862 the work of enlargement was considered complete. Thus, after 27 years of agitation and a total expense of over $33,000,000, the Erie Canal was 70 feet wide at surface, 52 ; feet at bottom, and 7 feet deep, enabling vessels with 6 feet draught, of a tonnage of 240 tons, to navigate it conveniently. This increase of ca- pacity meant a maximum boat load of 8,000 bushels of wheat, compared with 1,000 bushels in the primitive stage and 2,500 bushels from 1830 to 1850. The money spent was not all borrowed; the canal revenues helped very largely to meet the expenditures. Thus, to the end of 1862, the total cost of construction and enlarge- THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 63 ment for the whole system aggregated $61,000,- 000; the enlargement of the Erie had cost $33,000,000; the Erie and Champlain had cost prior thereto about $10,000,000, and the lesser works $18,000,000. The canal debt reached its maximum in i860, when the amount outstand- ing was $27,107,000, or about $20,000,000 more than it was at the beginning of 1835, when en- largement work began. The net revenues of the system had been in excess of $73,000,000, and the direct payments by the State for canals had been exceeded by the amounts contributed from tolls to the general State funds under the constitutional provision of 1846 — some $8,500,- 000. During the period from 1846 to 1862 the redemptions of debt (paying off the old bonds as they matured) amounted to about $25,000,000, and the new issues were $28,000,000. It would appear, therefore, that the canals paid fully $13,000,000 of the sum spent for enlargement. It should be stated that a rapid reduction of the debt took place after construction expenses ceased; thus by 1867 the debt was only $15,700,000; by 1869 it was down to $12,000,000; thereafter liqui- dation was slower, as the bonds had not matured. 64 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD The effect of the enlargement of the canal was immediately shown in the increase of business; for in the decade from 1848 to 1857 the total freight carried was 36,100,000 tons, considerably more than double the quantity transferred in the preceding ten-year period; the value of the freight rose in even greater ratio, making a total of $1,765,000,000. Of this total $624,000,000 of values, represented by 20,600,000 tons, was tide- water freight, carried down to New York City. The State received $29,800,000 in tolls, although the rates had been lowered; the average per ton was 82 ^(^. Freight charges yielded the boat owners $30,300,000, thus giving an average per ton slightly higher than the tolls (nearly 844), but nevertheless 46/^^ per ton less than in the previous decade. Actual charges for down freight had fallen to $2.67 in 1857; for transfer the other way (from Albany to Buffalo) the rate was as low as $2.13 per ton. The cost of maintenance and operation of the canals in- creased with enlargement, in some respects out of proportion; in 1847 the ratio was 18.52 per cent of the revenue; during the decade under review it averaged 30.52 per cent, having been as high as THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 65 41.51 per cent in 1854. It was in the last-named year that the legislature provided for a "contract board," which had charge of the entire subject of new work and repairs. The result was at first fairly satisfactory, but there were, as we shall see later, serious criticisms, fully warranted, against this system, when laxity of supervision intervened. A number of factors affected the business of the canals in the decade following 1857; the con- sequence of the financial crisis of that year was one of the untoward elements; the active compe- tition of railways, now first seriously felt, was another. The effects of these conditions were reflected in the diminished traffic, and the freighters clamored for a further reduction of tolls, which was accorded. Upon the other hand, after i860, the Civil War closed opera- tions via the Mississippi River, and such an abundance of freight was offered that the canals did not fail to benefit very largely by the cir- cumstance, as well as the railways. Thus the total carriage of freight by canals in this decade reached 48,800,000 tons, valued at $2,095,000,000, of which 27,400,000 tons was through freight, somewhat less in proportion than formerly. The 66 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD value of the latter was $1,011,000,000. The State received an, average of nearly 76^ per ton in tolls, in all $37,000,000, and freighters were paid $45,900,000, being about 94^ per ton — quite an increase over the average rate in the preced- ing decade, partly due to the reduction of tolls. The charge from Buffalo to Albany, at first down to $2.03, ranged during the latter part of the period about $2.50 per ton; from Albany to Buffalo the rail competition was seriously felt; return cargoes were taken in the earlier years at a rate as low as $1.21, and rose only to about $1.50 per ton. The maintenance and operation cost was again about 30 per cent. Statistics relating to railway traffic are avail- able for this and subsequent periods. The total freight carried by the New York Central and Erie railways, and the ton mileage of the rail- ways and canals, are shown in the following comparative table: TON MILEAGE Railways Per cent . Canals and Per cent tons of total Rivers by rail 1853-1857 7,700,000 27.9 1,344,000,000 4,617,000,000 22.5 1858-1862 12,500,000 36.0 2,353,000,000 5,899,000,000 28.5 1863-1867 23,200,000 46.6 4,156,000,000 6,839,000,000 37.8 THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 67 Other railway companies were also entering the field and becoming important competitors. It would appear, therefore, that the railways profited very largely from the closure, by the Civil War, of southern outlets for the commerce of the western States. The canals also benefited, but there were clear indications that the land lines were gaining in greater proportion. There was still an advantage on the side of the canals in the lower classes of freight for the long-haul, as shown by the tonnage returns, but this ad- vantage was destined also to be lost to them later, particularly after the New York Central and Hudson River railroads were consoKdated in 1869. This was obviously the time for the friends of the canal system to demand further improvements. Another constitutional convention was held in the year 1867, and much attention was given to the canals. But the convention recommenda- tions in general were upon partisan lines, and were emphatically rejected by the popular vote. The discussion gives us some interesting informa- tion. Thus, while it was well known that the canals had been yielding handsome revenues, 68 ARTIPICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD nevertheless the debt and the interest thereon were considered a burden. Were interest pay- ments also reckoned, claimed the short-sighted ones, the canal system would be shown to have been very costly. In response data were fur- nished showing the total cost to 1867, with in- terest thereon at 7 per cent, the legal rate at the time; the expense for operation, maintenance and repairs, likewise with interest, and, upon the other hand, the total revenues and the interest which these might have earned at the same rate; with the result showing that the State had given less than $7,500,000 more than it received. The figures follow: Cost of construction and improvement $64,710,837 interest thereon $ 93,736,655 Cost of operation, main- tenance and repairs . . . 24,377,114 interest thereon 27,268,895 Total outgo $89,087,951 interest thereon $121,005,550 Aggregate cost, with interest thereon . . $210,093,502 Revenues rec'd, with interest thereon. . 202,619,510 Apparent excess of cost $ 7,473,992 It was further shown that the Erie and Cham- plain canals had a credit balance of $38,455,560 upon this basis, and that the others produced a debit balance of $45,965,940. THE CANAL SYSTEM OE NEW YORK 69 The "plant" of the system had thus cost actually less than $65,000,000; but the railways of the State had, up to 1850, invested in con- struction and equipment fully $60,000,000; by i860 this sum had been doubled; by 1870 prac- tically quadrupled. The canals had for some years been receiving annually less than $1,000,000 for construction and repairs, whereas the rail- ways were adopting every means offered to in- crease their efiSciency, to enlarge their hauhng capacity, to reduce the cost of the service. Thus real competition soon became out of the question. THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 1867-igog The blindness to their own interests on the part of the people, by neglecting the canals, was due chiefly to the lack of adequate leadership among the pubUc men; the railway interests were doubtless influential in preventing the State from keeping the canals in a proper state of efficiency. This apathetic condition continued, and nothing of real consequence was done until after the beginning of the twentieth century; only ineffectual attempts to provide remedies were made in the interval. Yet there are some matters worthy of record occurring during the decade from 1868 to 1877. The contract system of doing the canal work was thoroughly overhauled; a legislative committee in 1867 confirmed the general beUef that the operations of the "canal ring" had caused great waste; a canal convention in 1870 denounced the practices under the system in no uncer- 70 THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 7 1 tain language, demanding the prosecution of all persons who had fraudulently obtained public money thereunder. But there prevailed an era of general extravagance and plundering of the State treasury; and the ringleaders were so firmly intrenched in power that they defied all ordinary attacks. The notorious Tweed was one of the chief characters in the lower ranks of the new Albany Regency; Governor Hoffman did not escape censure for his inability or unwillingness to break the ring. Under his successor, Governor Dix, some efforts were made in that direction; a State commission was appointed to suggest remedies, and some prosecutions were begun; but it was left to Samuel J. Tilden, who became Governor in 1875, to put the wheels in motion energetically. He had investigated and thor- oughly mastered existing conditions, and devoted his great ability and all the influence of his ofl&ce to uprooting the evils and safeguarding the future. Many officials lost their positions, many were piUoried before the public judgment and suffered lasting disgrace; but few criminals were convicted, and none of the pubhc money di- verted was recovered, so wide were the ramifica- 72 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD tions of the "ring," and so great its power. To illustrate the extravagance, the record showed, for the five years ending 1874, an expenditure for operation and maintenance of the canals, exclusive of "extra repairs," of $9,202,000 out of $15,058,000 receipts — or more than 61 per cent. In 1874, coincidently with Tilden's election, the people adopted a constitutional amendment prohibiting the use of sinking funds for any other purposes than those of extinguishing the debts (they had been trenched upon by the extravagance); claims against the State were to be barred by Umitation, just as ordinary claims are. The purpose was to more closely scrutinize the entire canal business. In the government of New York City, as well as in various departments of the State Govern- ment, boards and commissions had been tried with unsatisfactory results. The people came to beheve that in order to concentrate responsi- bility, it is necessary to concentrate power. Divided responsibility permitted derelict public officials to escape punishment, and the policy of placing departments under the control of a single responsible head was inaugurated. Ac- THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 73 cordingly, in 1876, another constitutional amend- ment provided for a Superintendent of Public Works in the place of the "contract board" and canal commissioners. This officer was charged with the supervision of navigation and repairs, and was a member of the Canal Board. In order to make it more impressive, apparently, the prohibition against sales of the canal prop- erty was repeated in the amendment. It was, however, deemed judicious to abandon some of the canals which had proved too expensive; after 1878 the only ones operated were the Erie, Champlain, Oswego, Cayuga and Seneca, and Black River. Notwithstanding untoward condi- tions, the business of the canals for the decade 1868-1877 proved the largest in their history, freight carried having aggregated 57,700,000 tons, valued at $2,032,000,000, showing a decline in average values. Of this fully 31,200,000 tons, of the value of $1,047,000,000, was downward tide- water freight. But the railways carried over 104,000,000 tons during the period, showing that relatively the canals were losing ground. ToUs had again been lowered after the financial crisis of 1873, and hence aggregated only $26,200,000, 74 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD an average of 44.5^ per ton; freight rates were well maintained, the average per ton being 86^ and the total paid $50,200,000; the down-freight rate (Buffalo to Albany) fell as low as $1.52 at the end of the period, and up-freight was only 3^ per ton higher. The result of the railway competition in the latter half of the decade placed their ton mileage far ahead of that of the canals, so that for the period the figures were 19,576,000,000 ton miles for the New York Central and Erie hnes, against 13,680,000,000 for water lines, a ratio of 58.8 per cent for the rail- ways, compared with 33.8 per cent in the previous decade. A number of devices to increase facilities on the canals were experimented with at this time, particularly steam towage, but without practical results. The decline of the canal business actually began in 1874 and despite the lowering of tolls. The record year for tonnage was 1872, when 6,673,570 tons were moved; the record year for values was 1868, when a total of $305,301,920 was reached. A movement was now inaugurated to abolish aU tolls, and so popular did it prove that the THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 75 legislature submitted a constitutional amend- ment for this purpose to the people in Novem- ber, 1882. It was adopted by a vote of 486,106 against 163,151. This measure provided that the expenses of operation and maintenance be borne by the general revenues of the State, and au- thorized borrowing to cover deficiencies. When tolls were abolished and the mainte- nance of the New York canal system was made a charge upon the taxpayers, the natural impulse toward economy on the part of all, plus the selfish but shortsighted policy of opposition on the part of localities not adjacent to the canals, reenforced by the opposition from competing railways ably and shrewdly manifested by rail- way managers, rendered the future of the canals \ most precarious. Their proper maintenance was I jeopardized by meagre appropriations and aU ■ enlargement of capacity rendered impossible 1 save by constitutional amendment. An object lesson was required to teach the public that the canals, in their then condition, hedged in and crippled by restrictive constitutional provisions, must inevitably sink into decay; that they could not compete with the railways and serve the 76 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD commercial interests of the State unless they kept abreast of the times, enlarged their capacity, and adopted modern improvements, the same as their competitors were doing. Experiences fol- lowing 1882 led many good friends of the canals to question the wisdom of abolishing tolls. There was at this time substantially no State debt excepting the canal bonds amounting to about $9,000,000. The financial results of the entire system to the end of 1882 were as follows: Total revenues of canals $135,418,325 Expense of operation and maintenance 48,399,287 Net revenues $ 87,019,038 Cost of construction and improvement 78,685,580 Profit without considering interest $ 8,333,458 But the loss on the canals that had been abandoned was over $18,600,000, so that the existing system had to its credit a gain of nearly $27,000,000. The interest payments, of course, largely overbalanced this profit; about $48,000,- 000 of the cost of the "plant" had been bor- rowed; the rest came from the canal and general revenues. The canals had paid back to the general fimds $18,850,000; but the Erie had paid the State $42,599,718 more than the face of its THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 77 cost, and, in. fact, a large surplus above the cost with interest on the debt incurred. The canals had carried nearly 2oo,ooo,cx)o tons of freight in the 60 years of their operation; the value thereof was $8,326,000,000. Contrast this with the modest prediction of the canal commissioners in 181 2, that the system might develop a trade of 250,000 tons a year! Freights brought to the boat owners $182,500,000, thus making a total of toUs and freight of nearly $318,000,000. These figures represent only a fraction of the benefits derived. The State grew enormously in wealth as well as in population; in 1817 the assessed valuation was $299,000,000; it had more than doubled by 1837; again doubled by 1853, when the returns showed $1,266,000,000. This was again doubled by 1876, and in 1882 the amoimt stood at $2,800,000,000, of which the "canal counties" returned over 75 per cent. The greater part of the early growth and much of the later was unquestionably due to the existence of the canals. Abolition of tolls did not check the falling off of business; during the five years ending 1882, the average annual tonnage was 5,500,000, valued 78 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD at $205,000,000, of which 3,400,000 tons was downward tidewater freight, valued at $92,000,- 000. In the decade following 1882, the average fell to slightly over 5,000,000 tons, valued at $146,000,000. The quantity of freight carried down to New York City averaged 2,800,000 tons, the value thereof $64,000,000; the two principal competing railways were carrying an average of over 34,000,000 tons annually, and other Hnes were taking more than the canals. That the question of State tolls was not an im- portant factor was conclusively shown. There was an evident desire for a speedier service, notwithstanding the higher cost. The friends of the canals were not inactive; upon several occasions efforts were made to improve the conditions, notably in the legislative session of 1891, when a plan was formulated. This met with defeat, which brought about a convention of delegates from chambers of com- merce and boards of trade in October, 1892, at which the whole question was fully discussed and the legislature addressed in eloquent terms, setting forth the enormous advantage of the waterways to the State, the menace to the com- THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 79 merce of the State involved in the continuance of the prevailing policy and the urgency of im- mediate action. A commission was appointed to consider the subject seriously, and it reported favorably for the improvement, but confining itself to rather narrow lines. After long discus- sions and much opposition, in no smaU degree instigated by railway interests, the legislature passed a measure providing for the deepening of the Erie Canal and the Oswego Canal to 9 feet and the Champlain to 7 feet, at an expense esti- mated at $9,000,000, to provide which so much as might be necessary was to be borrowed by means of 3 per cent bonds. This work was ex- pected to increase the capacity of canal boats one third. In order, presumably, to protect the boat interests and prevent the canals from falling imder the control of the railways, an act was passed in 1896 prohibiting corporations formed to navi- gate the canals from being capitaUzed in excess of $50,000. The most far-sighted advocates of canal im- provement felt that the plan of 1895 was merely trifling with the subject: that it was a "penny- wise and pound-foohsh" poHcy; and so it proved. 8o ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD Not only was all the money, of which $8,500,000 was borrowed, spent without bringing the ex- pected results, but the State had again to ex- perience scandalous practices in the mode of expenditures. It may be said, however, for the sake of the canals, "It's an iU wind that blows no one good;" the denouement of this failure served to fix pubhc attention more generally upon the value of the waterways, and more of the citizens of the State gave it intelligent con- sideration. Successive commissions of experts were appointed, elaborate surveys made, and most elaborate and complete data obtained. Various plans were earnestly advocated, and finally a plan of enlargement, estimated to cost $101,000,000, which would enable 1,000-ton ves- sels to navigate the Erie, and materially enlarge the Champlain, was brought forward. Not so long ago such a sum would have staggered the legislature and the people, but when the question \ was submitted to the latter in November, 1903, it was approved by a vote of 673,010 against 427,698. This contemplates the enlargement of the prism of the Erie from 70 feet to 122 feet a,t surface and of the depth to 12 feet instead of THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 8l 9; accommodating boats 150 feet long instead of 98 feet, with draught of 10 feet in place of 7 /^ feet, thus more than trebling the present carrying capacity. Since 1892 the average annual tonnage of the canals has been 3,600,000, an annual average loss of 1,400,000 tons compared with the pre- ceding decade. A slight improvement was shown in 1906 over previous years, due to the enormous increase in traflSc generally. It is estimated that the average freight rate per ton does not exceed 60^, making total freight earnings per year $2,100,000 as against $7,679,000 in 1871. The railways reaching New York and competing with the canals now carry 70,000,000 tons an- nually; the canals carry less than 5 per cent of that tonnage, the canal tonnage being in 1913 only 2,602,035 tons. Several years must pass before the improve- ments now under way are complete and the wis- dom of the same tested by actual experience. There can be no rational doubt of the necessity of modernizing the canals and bringing their capacity up to present commercial needs. It is incontestable that the Erie Canal has proved 82 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD most beneficial in the past. In length it is sec- ond only to the Great Canal of China, among the artificial commercial waterways of the world. For a quarter of a century it was the greatest transportation line in the country, and this was during the coimtry's first industrial and com- mercial growth, the most important in this re- spect, since the country had not yet attained financial strength. Its benefits were not confined to the people of the State; they extended on the one hand to the people of the west country, giving them an outlet for their products and stimulating their development and prosperity; it gave the people of the east, and notably to New England, and also to Europe, cheaper trans- portation, which meant lower prices to the con- sumer, particularly of food products. It not only furnished cheap transportation, but com- pelled the railroads to transport goods at rea- sonable rates. The all-ran rate from Chicago to New York is the base line upon which all railroad rates east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio are fixed, and to which they are proportioned.* The * Testimony of Albert Finck before the Hepburn Committee. THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 83 all-rail rate from Chicago to New York has been steadily lowered to meet the water rate (by lakes, canal and river) from Chicago to New York. In this way the Erie Canal has been the regulator of railway rates, and has cheapened freights to aU people of the State and directly benefited them, whether they reside in the canal counties, or in the southern tier, or in the St. Lawrence valley. For instance, the aU-raU rate in 1868 upon wheat, Chicago to New York, was 42.6^ per bushel; in 1879 it was 2o4, and in late years it has averaged under ii4. Carried by lake steamer to Buffalo and by canal and river to New York, the rate was 23^ in 1868, 12^ in 1879, ^.nd has been 5^ in recent years. We have noted the enormous revenues which the Erie Canal paid into the State treasury. More important still, it was the chief, if not indispensable, factor in building up a chain of towns and cities along the routes, which make the State first in population, and also in foster- ing the rapid development of wealth, placing the State in the lead in that respect among the com- monwealths of the Union. It was the channel 84 ARTIPICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD through which were poured the raw products of the west into the archives of New York; and in turn finished products were carried to western consumers, until New York City, during the period 1868-1872, enjoyed 56 per cent of the total export trade of the whole country; it now en- joys less than 35 per cent. In 1820 the population of the State was i,373,CHDo; its assessed valuation was $256,000,000, The present population is nearly 10,000,000, and the assessed valuation is about $12,000,000,- 000. The State can much better afford to spend $101,000,000 upon the canal now than it could $10,000,000 in 1820. While conditions are not in the least similar, the State's necessity is quite as great. The history of the canals bears upon the ques- tion, recently much discussed, of pubUc owner- ship and control of transportation facilities. Here was a great and beneficent public work, undertaken for the advantage of all the people, to provide cheaper transfers; side by side another form of transportation was developed under pri- vate auspices. While the latter was year by year improved to meet the evergrowing needs, the THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 85 former was permitted to degenerate. Doubtless the railway interests assisted in making the canal record a deplorable one, but this fact merely adds emphasis to the opposition to public own ership. It is safe to say that had the canal system been privately owned by strong interests, it would not have degenerated as it did. Pubhc service, unless under continuous stimulation, does not yet seem equal to the task imposed by such undertakings. Much remains to be done in the way of public service reform before the change to public owner- ship and operation can be regarded wise. The canals of New York were necessarily built by the State. The undertaking called for too vast an expenditure to be within the means of individual or corporate enterprise, owing to the comparative poverty of our newly formed commonwealth and its undeveloped resources. Nevertheless, it is the most important instance of government ownership of a public utility that we have. It is owned and managed by the State upon the general principle upon which municipal and government ownership advocates claim that all public utilities should be owned and controlled,— in order to furnish the public 86 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD good service, freed from the control and manipu- lation of the avaricious. Recall its infinite delays, extravagance and graft; recall its most unbusinessUke management; no improvement in capacity for the past 47 years, notwithstanding it has been a period of phenomenal development and prosperity; and contrast its management with that of its rivals, the railroads, as to roadbed (prism), rolling stock (boats), general equipment, general manage- ment; and surely it must all militate against the wisdom and efficiency of government ownership and control in all cases where individual enter- prise may supply the need. The same reflection compels the conclusion that the present plans for improvement and development, expensive though they be, are amply justified, and that the canals should in future be managed with the solicitude and business acumen which char- acterize individual enterprise. With proper supervision of the enormous ex- penditure proposed, with an effective control of the management to the end that the enlarged canal shall furnish the service contemplated and, with wise economy in the place of careless THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 87 extravagance, it appears entirely safe to predict that the State will receive, in increased trade, profits of the transport lines and general growth of the municipalities along the line of operation, a return which will be proportionately as great as that which the records of the Erie show to have been realized in the past and that in the not distant future the benefits will have more than offset the entire expenditure. In addition, great pecuniary advantage will accrue to the producers and the consumers, not only along the line of the canal, but throughout the entire State, from the great reduction in the transport charges that must inevitably follow the enlargement. THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK The Competition against New York City The importance of the Erie Canal during the period of its greatest efficiency, to the commer- cial and industrial development of the State of New York, cannot be overestimated; it was all- powerful in making the City of New York the chief port of the United States and one of the greatest ports of the world. (See Appendix. Tables 14 and 15.) In 1880, the total exports of the United States were $835,638,758; New York City's proportion of this was 46.9 per cent. In 1890 the total ex- ports of the United States were $857,828,684; the amount exported through the Port of New York was 40.6 per cent. In 1900, New York's percentage had fallen to 37.2. In 1913, the total exports of the United States amounted to $2,465,- 884,149, $917,935,988 of which found its way abroad through the Port of New York, it being 37.2 per cent of the total amount. With the growth and development of the THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 89 country, it is inevitable that New York's relative percentage of exports and imports should de- crease, and that although the gross amount may increase from year to year, this apparent loss in New York's share should accrue to the advan- tage of other ports. The point that should be impressed upon the minds of those who are re- sponsible for New York's commercial welfare is that New York's percentage of loss has been much greater than it would have been had an enlightened and progressive policy with reference to her internal navigation kept her canals and rivers abreast of the times and in condition to meet the growing volume of trade. A number of factors have combined to reduce the percentage of New York's export trade; unlike many of her rivals, she has no railroad interests specially devoted to her cause in the struggle for traffic. The New York Central Railroad, through its control of lines to Boston, derives just as much, if not more, advantage in carrying freight to the New England port; the other trunk lines entering from the south stop at, or pass through, rival seaboard terminals before reaching New York. go ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD A complex system of "differentials" in through rates by rail from interior points to the seaboard discriminates against New York. The purpose of this system is to place all Atlantic seaboard points upon an equaUty, by off-setting in trans- portation charges the assumed advantages pos- sessed by New York, both in the matter of easier transportation, due to better gradients of her railways through the Mohawk Valley, and the somewhat lower ocean freights due to the greater competition among foreign carriers who, lured by the volume of trade, came to New York in greater numbers. Thus by agreement between the trunk lines, Boston, although 50 miles farther from Chicago, by the shortest route, obtains the same rate as New York. Philadelphia, Balti- more, and Newport News, all nearer the west than New York, were accorded lower rates by reason of the shorter haul. Recent alterations in the schedule have reduced the differentials somewhat, but the ports to the south have still a substantial advantage in respect to rates. On the other hand. New York's insular posi- tion compels the imposition of lighterage charges for the transshipment of freight from railway THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK QI cars to ocean steamers; competing ports avoid this charge, because freight is transferred from terminal tracks direct to the ocean carriers. A fm-ther impost is laid upon New York's foreign trade by her very high port charges, explained, perhaps, but by no means justified, by her very inadequate dock facilities. The crowded condi- tion of the wharves and the channels of ingress and egress therefrom, and the narrow thorough- fares occupied so fully by other interests, neces- sarily impede trafl&c and render the same more expensive. But the deterioration of the canal service, or, more properly speaking, the failure to maintain and develop it, to keep pace with the advanc- ing needs of trade, are mainly responsible for the very large relative falling off of New York's foreign trade, especially as to exports. The enormous export grain trafi&c coming through the Great Lakes demands cheaper handling than the present means available to New York afford. Transshipment from lake steamers at Buffalo, and forwarding by rail to the metropolis, in- volves a charge of 5^ per bushel. By canal the charge is substantially the same. The Canadian 92 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD route, via the Welland Canal, Lake Ontario, and the now efficiently canalized St. Lawrence River, affords a transfer at so much lower rates, that the estimated cost of conveying a bushel of grain from Duluth, or other primary lake points, to Montreal, where transatlantic steamers take the cargo, is only 5^. Freight has no consideration of patriotism; obedient to imperious economic law, it will move along the line of least expense. The St. Law- rence route, completed, as to the latest improve- ments, in 1900, is now by far the shortest and cheapest, and Montreal and the Dominion are profiting from the large but judicious outlays of pubHc money upon this waterway. Unless the rivalry is adequately met, it is only a question of time when the bulk of the enormous trade of the rapidly developing northwest, will reach the markets of the world through the Dominion route, whether originating in the Dominion or in the United States. The freight which passes through the two canals (American and Canadian) at Sault Ste. Marie, reached an aggregate of over 79,000,000 tons in 1913, an increase of over 26,000,000 tons THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 93 in two years. The capacity of the vessels en- gaged in lake traffic and utilizing these canals has been enlarged almost annually. To meet these developments the Canadian government improved its great waterway to the seaboard, so as to admit the passage of vessels of 2,200 tons burthen. The capacity of the locks of the Canadian canals is more than twice that of the locks of the Erie. Canada is thus able to take ad- vantage of the fact that the route from Chicago or Duluth to Liverpool, via Montreal, is 450 miles shorter than via New York. Following this expenditure of many millions, further improve- ments are now contemplated in order to enlarge the facilities and diminish the obstacles and expense still more. For a decade past, another and still shorter route has been under considera- tion from Georgian Bay to Montreal via the Ottawa River. The Montreal, Ottawa and Georgian Bay Canal is still a project, but it has behind it, apparently, the settled policy of the Canadian government and will rank with the Panama and Barge Canal works in magnitude. The canal as recommended by the engineers, would be 440 94 ARTiriCIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD miles long, extending from Montreal to Georgian Bay, overcoming by 27 locks a summit level of 659 feet and requiring also the building of 18 main dams. It will have a bottom width of 200 feet and a standard depth of 24 feet. It would make a waterway for vessels 600 feet long, 60 feet beam and 20 feet draught. The route in- cludes fuUy 400 miles of sheltered lake and river, susceptible of economical improvement. Of the 40 miles of actual canal required, nearly one- half, in the vicinity of Montreal, already exists but would, of course, require deepening and enlargement. This route will save approximately 340 miles of navigation as compared with the route via the Lakes and St. Lawrence River, and will make the distance from Chicago or Duluth to Liverpool, via the proposed canal, approxi- mately 800 rmles shorter than via New York. The Chicago Harbor Commission, in its report of 1909, said of the Georgian Bay project: "This scheme is of the greatest significance to Chi- cago, for it would give Chicago practically a great circle route to Liverpool and other ports of northeast Europe, saving 774 miles over the present journey by way of New York." THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 95 These are the competitive factors which New York proposes to meet by the enlargement of the Erie canal; it is the sole remaining resource. Only recently a number of large freighters of transatlantic Hnes operating from New York were for a time taken off from service; the repre- sentatives of the ocean-carrying companies pro- tested to the railway companies against their scale of charges upon grain, which they assert make the transportation cost to Europe via New York prohibitive, as compared with the Mon- treal route. But the railways have troubles of their own, and are strugghng with serious prob- lems which apparently preclude their reducing these charges. The canal is the only means in sight to stay the further dechne of the com- merce of the Port of New York. The trunk lines terminating at the seaboard have by agreed differentials bargained away all of New York's natural advantages of gradient. As to such differentials, there is force in the claim that the Pennsylvania Railroad should be allowed to charge less for freight, from the in- terior to Philadelphia, than they charge for haul- ing sunilar freight through Philadelphia oh to 96 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD New York, an added distance of 90 miles. The differential to Baltimore is based upon similar reasoning, but Boston, 50 miles farther from the interior than New York, is given the same rate as New York. The crucial facts of present ex- perience prove that the railroads cannot main- tain the commerce of the United States, in com- petition with Canadian waterways. It is no longer a question of competition between rail and water — the question is. Can the canalization of our water routes so supplement the railroads that, working together, they can retain for the United States the foreign commerce to which it is normally entitled? THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK Barge Canal Improvements The Erie, Oswego, Champlain and Cayuga and Seneca Canals are now being enlarged to a depth of 12 feet, with 57 locks (one of which — a siphon lock — will be the largest of its kind in the world) of a size sufficient for boats having 2,000 to 2,500 tons capacity, as compared with 240 ton boats under present conditions. The State of New York has voted to expend $128,000,000 on this enlargement, of which $19,000,000 is desig- nated for providing terminals in and about 50 cites and villages. Construction was begun in 1905. The State Engineer, John A. Bensel, writing under date of July 28, 1914, says: "The amount of work placed under contract (June i, 1914) is, in round numbers, $85,000,000, and the amount of work performed to June ist is, in roimd numbers, $69,000,000, these figures embracing the work on all the canals of the State exclusive of the construction of the Barge Canal terminals. Payments have been made on 97 qS artificial waterways of the world account of all expenses incurred in connection with the Barge Canal Improvements to July ist, in an amount of $87,805,000, this figure not including about $3,000,000 earned by the contractors, but held by the State as retained percentages. It is difficult to make a deduction from the above figures relative to the percentage of work remaining unfinished, but a general statement of the status of the work is as follows: In all probability the entire Champlain Canal and that portion of the Erie Canal from Waterford to Three River Point, the junction of the Erie and Oswego canals, and the entire Oswego Canal between this point and Lake Ontario will be completed during the season of 1915, as will also the Cayuga-Seneca Canal improved, and the canal from the point of junction of the Cayuga-Seneca Canal and the Erie Canal to Three River Point, making pos- sible the utilization of the Barge Canal between Lake Ontario and the Cayuga and Seneca lakes. The opening of the Champlain Canal and the Erie Canal for through traffic via Hudson River, will be de- pendent upon the progress made by the Federal govern- ment in constructing their dam and lock in the Hudson River at Troy. Between Rochester and Tonawanda practically the entire section of the canal has been improved to Barge Canal dimensions, there remaining to be performed between Rochester and the Niagara River but a small amount of work at the Tonawanda entrance, and certain incidental details along this section which would not interfere with its being open for navigation as soon as the connection is made at Tonawanda. Due to complications encountered between Clyde and THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 99 Rochester at points where the line of the canal is crossed . by the lines of the difierent railroads, the Barge Canal work has been materially delayed and it is not possible at this time to state how soon all of these railroad cross- ings will be disposed of, the courts having only recently made a decision which will act as a guide in their con- struction. The Barge Canal between Northumberland northerly to Whitehall is being operated this year in connection with the canal system of the State, this section having been completed in its entirety. There are also several other sections of the canal in addition to the stretch between Rochester and Tonawanda, which are com- pleted to Barge Canal dimensions, but which cannot be utilized at this time by reason of the interference with navigation on the present canal, or by reason of adjoin- ing work not being completed, the total length of com- pleted Barge Canal prism being about 350 miles. In general it may be said that the status of the Barge Canal work is considered very satisfactory and the be- ginning of the navigation season of 1916 should see the greater portion of the Barge Canal system com- pleted and in readiness for operation." The State Engineer has kindly given his best estimate of when the canal will be completed. It appears that about 15 per cent of the work is not yet under contract. It is nine years since the work was undertaken, and two or three years more must elapse before the canal will be com- pleted. lOO ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD One of the strong hopes that inspired the Barge Canal was the expectation of regaining for New York the export grain trade, with the reciprocal business that such trade would natur- ally bring. The growth of our population has shattered that hope, for it is hkely in future that we will consume, at home, practically all the grain we raise. Our enlarged waterway must and will find other means of justifying its existence. Canals have proven their utility as carriers of freight, and in equal degree have they served the public as competitive regulators of transporta- tion rates by rail. We have already seen that all railroad rates east of the Mississippi River and north of the Ohio are predicated upon the all- water rate from Chicago to New York; thus every shipper east of the Mississippi is served by and indebted to the Erie Canal. The Barge Canal will fail to move grain to any great extent from Buffalo to the seaboard, but its capacity will be utilized nevertheless. It will have great advantage in moving freight, seeking transportation in large units, especially such as is bulky in character and admits of slower delivery. For illustration, lumber, forest THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK lOI products, require several months after manufac- ture in which to season and be ready for use; manifestly, lumber or timber suffers Httle from slower transportation; also the heavier forms of retail hardware, machines and machinery of standard character, which retailers keep in stock; raw material, cotton, wool, hemp, jute, grain for milling, building materials, cement, brick; no better site for a great steel plant, than the Port of New York, can be conceived, with the ore, coke and coal of the west brought within easy access at very low cost; as a distributing point New York is unsurpassed. This enlarged canal must give an impetus to manufacturing of all kinds along its entire route from New York to BuflEalo. THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK Relation or Canal and Railways I HAVE generally made use of grain rates, in comparing different periods and in comparing water and rail transportation, because they have been differentiated in official reports, and be- cause economic writers have made greater use of the same; of course the same general relation exists with reference to all kinds of freight charges. The Erie Canal, finished in 1825, gave the greatest impetus to inland transportation, which it had received up to that time, and a boom in the building of canals and the canalization of lakes and rivers ensued. All this ante-dated the existence of railways. As soon as railways came into general use, the decadence in canal and river transportation was very pronounced. In 1850 the canals of New York carried 81. i per cent of the traffic handled — 23 years later it had fallen to a little less than 35 per cent, and THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 103 in 1908 the canals carried less than 4 per cent of the total traffic handled in the State. As to river transportation, St. Louis is as well situated to avail of this means of transit as any city in the country. The quantity of freight shipped by the Mississippi River, from St. Louis, in 1880, was 1,038,000 tons; 20 years later it was 245,800 tons; in 191 1 it was 191,965 tons. In 1871, 44 per cent of St. Louis freight was shipped by the Mississippi River; in 191 1 the proportion had fallen to one-half of one per cent. The rail- ways centering in St. Louis make it one of the great reservoirs of trade, and the rails have taken possession of the business. The reasons why traffic went to the railroads are not far to seek. Among them may be men- tioned the fact of greater celerity in transporta- tion, which means quicker delivery and quicker payments; it means a saving of interest, a more rapid turnover of principal, and per contra, similar advantage results in the receipt of goods; railroads give service all the year round, whereas the principal canals, lakes and rivers are closed during the winter months; railways are equally available to inland towns, as well as those lo- I04 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD cated upon water, both for receiving and deliver- ing freight; the custom of travel and retail trade takes people naturally to railway stations in much greater degree than to water stations; the availabihty of an everyday supply by rail en- ables retail dealers to supply their customers with a much smaller but constantly recruited stock of goods; they thus minimize their capital investment; freight by rail is handled with greater ease; switches bring cars to the door of the factory or warehouse; permanent machinery may be provided for loading and unloading. Waterways cannot provide switches, and the ever-varying water level precludes the use of permanent machinery for loading and unloading. The variation of the surface level of the Ohio River at Cincinnati is 60 feet; of the Mississippi, at St. Louis, it is 43.92 feet, and at New Orleans it is 21.02 feet. In regular course of competition the railroads made discriminatory, all-the-year contracts, thus penalizing those who used canals in summer and rails in winter; such a practice was made unlaw- ftd at a comparatively recent period; railroads were privately owned and their growth was THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 105 stimulated by all the energy of private enterprise; inventive genius perfected machinery and de- vices; experience pointed the better methods and gave a constantly improving service to the pub- lic; capital in unstinted volume fostered exten- sion of Unes and expansion of affiliated and re- ciprocal interests, which brought and bound trafl&c to the roads. On the other hand, inland water transporta- tion, with few exceptions, was government owned or controlled, and suffered the blight that seems to be inseparable from political domina- ;tion. No self interest prompted brain-racking study to improve method and machinery, to facilitate service and adapt the same to the wants of shippers. Economy, very often false economy, and railway rivalry conspired, fre- quently, to embarrass, if not cripple, these public channels of trade. The decadence of inland water transportation, in respect to capacity of prism, means of locomotion, size and quality of boat, contrast painfully with the phenomenal development of the railways in all respects. We have had the usual experience of all new coxmtries lavishly endowed by nature with rich Io6 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD stores of latent wealth. We have had a sat- urnaHa of waste, in a mad effort to bring all latent resources into market at once. The crime of the age consists in the effort to convert real estate, field and factory, forest and mine, into personal property by the fiction of corporation stocks and bonds, anticipate the future in the amoimt of capitalization and then sell the same to a hopeful and optimistic pubUc with patriotic confidence in the future of our glorious country. But fortunately the turn has been called, con- servation has succeeded wanton waste; with the legislative, the executive and private owner as well, conservation has become the guiding prin- ciple. With this change from hectic haste to a sobered and sagacious business policy, from mad exploitation to wise utility, will come a growing use for canals and rivers; dehberate economy in preserving nature's resources will make use of nature's improved and corrected means of transportation. The Barge Canal will move freight in summer, and warehouse it in winter in the harbor of New York, in fleets of barges, the same as the old canal has done in the past, but on a grander scale. THE CANAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK 107 The New Barge Canal will have a greatly en- larged capacity over the present canals, which reached their highest efl&ciency in 1872, when 6,673,370 tons were moved, and which in 1913 carried only 2,602,035 tons. The Barge Canal Terminal Commission in its report of 191 1, estimated that the Barge Canal would carry 10,000,000 tons soon after completion and that this amount could be increased to 20,000,000 tons. The Commission reported that the average cost of carrjdng freight upon the railroads of New York is .445 of a cent per ton per mile, and as the distance by rail from Buffalo to New York (New York Central) is 440 miles, the cost of a ton of freight is $1.96, the rate charged being $3.11. The Commission estimates that the cost to carry the same freight from Buffalo to New York by Barge Canal and river wiU be only 26 cents. If this assumption is right, the canal will soon pay for itself as an economic proposition, provided the other costs of transportation, such as terminal charges, expenses of transshipment, etc., do not equahze the difference. The new Barge Canal, imhke the old canals. Io8 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD which it will displace, is largely a river canali- zation scheme, following mostly natural water courses. There are 440 miles of construction in the new canal project, which, with 350 miles of intervening lakes and rivers make a system for the four canals under enlargement, of 790 miles. It is computed that 73^ per cent of the State's population is within two miles of this waterway system. THE PANAMA CANAL No discussion of the influence of artificial waterways upon the economic future of the world would be complete without description of the gigantic undertaking of the government of the United States to complete the abandoned French enterprise of connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans at the Isthmus of Panama. The advantage of such a canal was clearly perceived as early as 1520, when Charles V of Spain is reported to have given it consideration. In 1534 a survey was ordered, but unfavorable reports of the Spanish governor of Panama, and probably also his suggestion that such a work would be in "opposition to the wiU of the Al- mighty, who had placed this barrier in the way of navigation between the two oceans," caused the project to be abandoned;^ although the project was revived at later periods, it never took prac- tical form until about 1878, when French in- ^ The medieval religious fervor that dominated the action of Spain in all things, seems ludicrous in the hght of present day advancement. 109 no ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD terests obtained a concession from the republic of Columbia. De Lesseps, who had btiilt the Suez Canal, was the chief spirit in the enterprise undertaken by a French corporation formed in 1879. Improvident expenditure of money, manipula- tion of the company's stock in the interest of stock-jobbing ventures, graft, which was alleged to imphcate those high in authority, technical errors and faulty management generally, brought the company to bankruptcy in six years. De Lesseps struggled manfully to advance the work; he unwisely submitted to blackmail and coun- tenanced actions that he should have resisted to the utmost, thereby clouding a glorious reputa- tion, in order to consummate the enterprise, all of which, however, simply hastened its failure. Actual operations were delayed until 1883; then the concession expired, and it was only after much delay that a renewal was obtained, imder which a new company was organized in 1894. The plans of this corporation also proved unsuccessful, and work was practically aban- doned. The concession was for ten years, thus expiring in 1904; another grant from Colombia THE PANAMA CANAL III was obtained, with a condition that the canal should be completed by 1910. Private interests in the United States had ob- tained a concession for an inter-oceanic canal traversing Nicaragua. If a lock canal was to be built the Nicaragua route was generally believed to be the best — a sea-level canal over that route was impossible. Much money was raised and expended upon this route, but it was easily apparent that the enterprise was too great for private capital. In June, 1902, Congress passed an act, under which the government was to undertake the construction of an isthmian waterway. In order to prevent the possibility of having two canals, it was decided to adopt the Panama route, provided the French interests 1 could be acquired and the work they had done • thus be utilized and at the same time a satisfac- ', tory treaty could be made with the government of Colombia. President Roosevelt negotiated a treaty with the Colombian government. I quote Mr. Roosevelt's words: "The then Colombian government was embodied in the person of a single man, a dictator, with absolute executive and legislative powers. He had been elected 112 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD vice president, and after a short time seized the presi- dent and put him in jail. He then published an edict, saying that under the constitution, for he was an ardent adherent to the letter of the constitution, it was his right to assume all executive powers in the absence of the president. He refused to permit Congress to as- semble. He then published another edict, reciting that under the constitution it was his right to assume all the legislative powers in the absence of Congress. The absence of the president soon became permanent, as he died in jail. Year after year went by, and still no Con- gress was allowed to meet," etc., etc. With this Colombian government a treaty was made, acquiring the right to build and own the canal, with a canal zone extending 5 miles on either side of the canal. Colombia was to re- ceive $10,000,000, and after nine years an annual stipend of $250,000. For the rights and property of the French company the United States paid $40,000,000; this included the Panama Railway, which the French company had acquired and owned. The United States had abandoned their negotiations with Nicaragua, had entered into this Colombian treaty and had agreed upon terms for the purchase of the French interests. At this juncture, the president of Colombia con- vened his Congress, had them reject the treaty THE PANAMA CANAL II3 and adjourn, thereby thinking to place himself in position to negotiate a better trade with the United States. It seemed that the fate of the canal was again subject to the interminable delays that characterize the action of Central American governments. The State of Panama, which naturally was most interested in the canal, concluded to secede from the federal Republic of Colombia, and take matters in its own hands. This happened in November, 1903. The new government was immediately recognized by the United States, and a similar treaty negotiated with Panama, to the one made with Colombia. For the exclusive ownership and control of a strip of territory of five miles on each side of the pro- posed canal, the new repubUc of Panama re- ceived $10,000,000. (After nine years there is also to be paid an annual stipend of $250,000.) The United States entered into immediate possession of the canal zone, and any attempt to suppress the secession of Panama by Colombia would have brought Colombian troops in direct conflict with United States blue jackets. Of course no attempt was made. The very prompt, 114 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS Of THE WORLD not to say summary, action of our government, has been much criticised. Had the government of Colombia been a representative one, and the treaty been rejected in due course of prescribed action, for reasons of disagreement, such criti- cism would possess great force, but the man who possessed absolute power in Colombia made the treaty and procured its rejection, in order as Mr. Roosevelt charges and as seems most probable, to enable him to drive a better bargain, or as some surmise, to enable him to confiscate the French claims and realize whatever value they might possess. The world wanted the canal; the United States was ready to build it, and to have this great enterprise frustrated by the petty bickerings of this self-constituted dic- tator, was intolerable. The conscience of the world and the verdict of history will not only justify but applaud the action of our government in the course it pursued. After much discussion and consultation with leading engineers, not only from our own coun- try, but from Europe as well, it was decided to abandon the sea-level canal, for which the De Lesseps company was working, and adopt a lock THE PANAMA CANAL II5 canal. The engineers were divided as to the relative feasibility and desirability of a sea-level or lock canal, but all agreed that the lock canal would be much cheaper. The engineer's esti- mates of total cost varied from $140,000,000 to $200,000,000; the fact that the larger estimate was nearly doubled shows how unreliable esti- mates of cost of such a gigantic and unprece- dented work must necessarily be. The following succinct data will be of interest: Built and owned by the United States. Ship canal. Lock type. Connects Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. Summit elevation (about) 85 feet Length from deep water to deep water 50 miles Length from shore line to shore line 40 miles Bottom width 300 to 1,000 feet Minimum depth 41 feet Loclss in pairs 12 feet Gatun Lake area 164 sq. miles Gatun Dam i J^ miles long, nearly yi mile wide at its base, with crest elevation of 105 feet above the sea. Culebra Cut, channel depth 45 feet Excavation, canal proper 209,668,000 cubic yards Excavation, permanent structures, including ter- minals 22,685,000 cubic yards Excavation by French company, useful to present canal 29,908,000 cubic yards Concrete for canal 5,208,000 cubic yards Time for transit through canal 10 to 12 hours Canal Zone area 436 sq. miles Il6 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD Total force at work on canal and railroad in Septem- ber, 1913 37,000 There are 22 angles with total curvature of 600° 1' Ships in passing through the canal are towed by electric locomotives operating on tracks on the lock walls. Work was begun by the United States on May 4, 1904, and ships of not over 30 feet draught passed through the canal in 1914; offi- cial opening in March, 1915. The canal cost to the United States is $375,- 000,000, including $40,000,000 paid to the French company for its rights and properties and $10,000,000 to Panama; $20,053,000 the expense of sanitation and $7,382,000 paid for civil ad- ministration. Interest on this sum will be $11,250,000 annually, the operating and mainte- nance expenses are estimated at $3,500,000; $500,000 will be required for sanitation and government, and $250,000 is to be paid yearly to the Republic of Panama. These sums, with amortization fund, will make the annual expense $19,250,000. The total expenditures of the Suez Canal in 1913 amounted to 45,981,079 francs, or about $9,200,000. The estimated Panama Canal traffic in 1915 is 10,500,000 tons net THE PANAMA CANAL I17 register of shipping, and it is estimated that this will increase to 17,000,000 tons by 1925. Under the Panama Canal Act, approved August 24, 1912, the tolls on the canal will be $1.20 per net vessel ton; vessels in ballast without passengers or cargo paying 40 per cent less. Naval vessels pay 50 cents per displacement ton; and naval transports, colliers, hospital and supply ships, $1.20 per net ton. The provision of the Act exempting American coastwise ships from pay- ing toUs was repealed in 191 4. The Canal was opened to commerce August 15, 1914. (See Appendix, Table 16, distances saved by the Panama Canal.) The depth of the Pan- ama Canal is 41 feet; Suez, 32.9 feet (with depth of 36.1 feet planned); Kiel, 36 feet; Manchester, 28 feet; Amsterdam, 32.1 feet; Cape Cod, 25 feet; Ambrose Channel (N. Y.) 40 feet. The facilities of the Canal will bring the ter- ritory of the United States east of the Mississippi River in touch with the teeming peoples of Asia, numbering fully 750 million souls, not to speak of the rapidly growing Australasian common- wealths and the islands of the sea. The Pacific ports of the United States, will be Il8 ARTinciAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD nearer to the Atlantic ports, comparing the all- water route via Cape Horn, by nearly 8,000 miles; and those of ChiH, Peru, etc., will be brought nearer New York by from 4,000 to 6,000 miles. Yokohama and Shanghai, Manila and Sidney, will be also from 4,000 to 8,000 miles nearer. The proximity of the Gulf ports promises to afford the Southern States of the Union a great opportunity for industrial and commercial development. The cotton and cereals going to Japan and China wUl be dehvered at less cost, and the de- mand for these commodities will naturally ex- pand. The use of the Mississippi and its tribu- taries will be almost certainly revived, and the Father of Waters may recover its former com- mercial importance. Nor will the advantage accrue entirely to the United States; for although the difference in distance between the ports of western Europe and the Orient, via Suez and via Panama, is not substantially important, that between those ports and the Pacific ports of both North and South America and points in Oceanica will be materially shortened by the Panama waterway. THE PANAMA CANAL II9 Moreover, by a competitive toll rate via Panama, a considerable part of the Asiatic traffic wiU. doubtless be diverted from Suez. WMle the Panama waterway is to be neutral, that is, open to all nations, it is patent that its control by the United States is of almost incal- culable importance in the event of war. The experience during the Spanish War, and the more recent experimental test of sending a full fleet around the Horn, are circumstances which clearly show the strategic importance of the • short waterway. Without the Panama Canal the United States, in the proper defense of its coast line, as well as the enforcement of its rights and protection of its commerce, would be compelled to maintain two first-class navies — one in the Atlantic and one in the Pacific — since, in the event of war, months must elapse ere war vessels on either coast could be made available on the other. The lessened cost of naval expenditure, apart from the ad- vantage to commerce, will therefore fully justify the expenditure in building the canal by the United States. The canal is now in operation; it is idle to I20 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD speculate upon its future; regular reports will give us facts which are far better than estimates. It opens with all Europe involved in war and the trade of the world prostrate, which must for a time prevent a normal tonnage, and retard its commercial use, but peace will regain its sway, and the abundant use of this most impor- tant canal fully justify its construction. W^ljrt^^lgJ^Jg^WJgWJjjgJ^g^ PANAMA CANAL ZONE. OTHER GREAT AMERICAN CANALS Ambrose Channel — ^New York Harbor This is practically a great ship canal through the Harbor of New York, permitting entry to the largest ocean vessels from the sea to the North River docks. But it is a canal without banks, the waters of the channel mingling with the waters of the Bay without surface demarca- tion. The Channel has a depth of 40 feet at mean low water for 1,000 feet width over the inner haH and 1,750 to 1,900 feet over the outer half. It is easily navigable at mean low water for ships of 37 feet draught going at moderate speed and has a maximum high water capacity of 44 feet. These dimensions, and its constant use, make it one of the most important water- ways in the world. Cape Cod Canal It was opened July 29, 1914, built by private capital, financed by August Belmont, and con- 122 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD nects Buzzard's Bay with Barnstable Bay, thus obviating the passage aroimd Cape Cod. It is 13 miles long, of which 8 miles is the cut through the land, five miles constituting the ap- proaches or channels dug in the waters of the United States. The depth of the land cut is 25 feet at low water; it is 100 feet wide at bot- tom and 300 to 400 feet wide at the surface. The channel approaches are 200 to 300 feet wide. The cost was $12,000,000. The canal shortens by 70 miles the present route around Cape Cod and avoids its dangerous fogs. The ca^al is large enough to accommodate all craft up to 23 feet draught, and is capable of enlarge- ment so as to receive the largest men-of-war. It is estimated that the registered tonnage that has rounded the Cape is 25,000,000 tons a year. There are 7,000,000 tons of coal and lumber carried by tows and sailing craft, and 4,500,000 tons of coal and lumber carried by steamers. It is expected that the canal will obtain this trafl&c, which wiU make it one of the most im- portant waterways in the world. Nineteen fourteen is the banner year in canal construction. The Cape Cod Canal and the OTHER GREAT AMERICAN CANALS 1 23 Panama Canal, opened in July and August re- spectively, are an unprecedented contribution to the transportation facilities of the world. Satjlt Ste. Marie Canals There are two canals for the passage of vessels around the rapids of St. Mary's River, one owned by the Canadian government (described under the head of Canadian Canals) and the other by the United States. The American canal is 2.7 mUes in length, 25 feet deep, has three locks and cost $13,000,000. It was first opened to navigation in 1855. In 1 913 the freight carried through the Cana- dian Canal amounted to 42,699,324 tons, and through the American Canal to 37,022,201 tons. The two canals, however, should be treated as one as regards traffic; and their combined freight carried, in 19 13 amounted to three times that passing through the Suez Canal, although the latter is open the whole year while navigation in these American canals is only for eight months. The total Sault Ste. Marie freight tonnage in 1913 was 79,718,344 tons, an increase since 1904 of 48,172,238 tons. The traffic has there- 124 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD fore more than doubled in ten years. In 1913, 95 per cent of this trafi&c was carried by steam- ers. The value of the freight transported in that year amounted to the enormous sum of $865,957,838. The following is a statement of the total freight carried (short tons) in the past ten years: 1913 79,721.525 1912 72,472,676 1911 53,477>2i6 1910 62,363,218 1909 57,895,149 1908 41,390,557 1907 58,217,214 1906 , 51,751,080 1905 44,270,680 1904 31,546,106 The character of the traffic is shown by the following main items: 1913 1Q12 Coal, tons 18,625,558 14,937,836 Flour, bbls 10,203,462 8,652,431 Wheat, bu 204,446,661 173,934,451 Manfd. and pig iron, tons 43i,777 698,247 Salt, bbls 735,376 648,616 Copper, tons 106,994 126,854 Iron ore, tons 48,091,821 46,310,284 The constantly growing tonnage of American vessels engaged in commerce on the Great Lakes, amounted in 1913 to 2,939,786 gross tons. other great american canals 1 25 Canadian Canals There are ten Canadian canals having a total tonnage in 1913 of 52,053,913. Of this amount nearly 82 per cent represented the traffic of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, 6 per cent that of the Welland Canal, and 8 per cent that of the St. Lawrence Canal. Nearly 97 per cent of the total traffic was therefore in these three canals. The capital cost of the Canadian Canals up to March 30,1913, was $105,656,037. The St. Lawrence River, with the system of canals above Montreal, and the lakes Ontario, Erie, St. Clair, Huron and Superior, with their connecting canals make a water communication from the straits of Belle Isle, at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, to Port Arthur, a distance of 2,217 statute miles, the difference in level, about 600 feet, being overcome by 48 locks. The Dominion government is now construct- ing a new Welland Canal, connecting lakes Erie and Ontario, to cost $50,000,000, and this will have a depth of 25 feet in the stretches and of 30 feet in the lock sills. It is being con- 126 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD structed to enable the large lake vessels from Lake Erie to reach Lake Ontario points; and the project is mooted of so canaHzing the St. Law- rence that these vessels could proceed directly to Montreal and Quebec. The Canadian Sault Ste. Marie Canal was begun in 1888 and completed in 1895. Its length is 7,472 feet, and there is one lock of 900 feet by 60 feet, with a rise of 18 feet. The canal has been constructed through St. Mary's Island, on the north side of the Rapids of St. Mary's River, and in connection with that river gives communication on Canadian territory be- tween lakes Huron and Superior. The gross trafi&c of the Canadian canals dur- ing the ten years ending December 31, 1913, increased 530 per cent; as is shown by the fol- lowing table of combined tonnage: I9I3 52,053,913 191 2 47,587,245 I9II 38,030,353 I910 42,990,608 1909 33,720,748 1908 17,502,820 1907 20,543,639 1906 10,523,18s I90S 9,371,744 1904 8,256,236 OTHER GREAT AMERICAN CANALS 127 The following table shows the commodities car- ried through these canals in 1913: Tons Per cent of the whole Agricultural products 8,522,327 16 .40 Animal products iPiSoi -04 Manufactured products 1,881,699 3- 61 Forest products 1,678,925 3.22 Mining products 39,951,661 76.73 Total 52,053,913 100.00 Of this total 40,923,038 tons were of United States freight, and only 11,130,875 of Canadian freight; 78.7 per cent of the tonnage therefore originated in the United States, most of this passing through the Sault Ste. Marie Canal. The annual report of the Canadian Minister of Railways and Canals for 191 3 says that the combined water and rail rate from Port Arthur — Fort WiUiam to Buffalo — New York was 8.796^ per bushel of wheat against 6.34i(| per bushel over the Port Arthur — Ft. WilUam to Montreal route. Notwithstanding this difference of 2.455(^ in favor of Montreal, ten times as much Cana- dian wheat went out by way of Buffalo — ^New York in November, as by Montreal, which is attributed to the greater availability of ocean tonnage and lower ocean freight and insurance 128 ARTIPICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD rates at New York. Of the 141,726,899 bushels of Canadian wheat from the northwest in 1913, 70,938,099 bushels came to Buffalo. Nearly all of this reached New York by rail or went to other ports, as the total receipts of wheat and flour (of all kinds) at New York by canal in 1913 were only 4,371,700. Canadian competition is rendered more effect- ive, because the Canadian Pacific gathers the grain, dehvers it to lake and canal, and Canadian Pacific steamers take it at Montreal and Quebec and dehver the same abroad. All concede the advantage of through rail lines in moving freight. The present New York Central line from Albany and Troy to Buffalo consisted, at one time, of twelve separate cor- porations. Our laws recognize the right of con- tinuous lines of railroad to consolidate, while forbidding parallel or competing lines to consoli- date. It is just as much for the interest of com- merce that roads, terminating at the seaboard, be continued by steamship connections. The Canadian Pacific Railway, with its line of steam- ships in both the Atlantic and Pacific, connecting with its respective terminij and reaching Europe OTHER GREAT AMERICAN CANALS 1 29 and the Orient, enjoys superior advantages in the general competition for traffic, an advantage that enures of course to the benefit of the Cana- dian people. Contrast this policy with the ab- surd law passed by our government, forbidding any railway-owned vessel to pass through the Panama Canal. THE WATERWAYS QUESTION AND CON- SERVATION OF OUR RESOURCES The rehabilitation of both the artificial and the natural waterways in the United States has been brought prominently forward for national consideration by reason of the inability of the land routes to give adequate service at periods of special pressure. In the FaU of 1906 both our cotton and our grain crops were several weeks late in reaching market for lack of transportation facilities. The delay was caused not so much by want of roUing stock, as by insufficient road- beds and terminals. As population increased, factories, warehouses, docks, and all the struc- tures designed to house and expedite commerce, were builded about the railways and their depots, imtil now they are wedged in as by a vise. They periodically lack trackage and terminals sufficient to enable them to do the business which offers. The space they need to enable them to double, treble, or quadruple track their roads and en- 130 THE WATERWAYS QUESTION I3I large their terminals, can only be obtained at almost prohibitive prices, and in many cases is unattainable. In 19 14, with all commerce with Europe temporarily stopped by the war that comprehended all the principal European nations, the terminals of the railways and terminal ware- houses were speedily congested. As population becomes still more dense and our civilization more complex, our production and commerce expanding, these essential conditions of land transport will become more difl&cult; the water routes will unavoidably be resorted to for the solution of the problems thus presented. History shows that enterprise, in its various forms, moves in waves, with maximum and minimum growth and periods of stagnation or comparative inactivity. In the development of a new coimtry, under the impulse to antici- pate the future, to reahze presently the greatest possible profit, it was but natural that the rapid transportation of the railway would monopolize the public interest, and canal transportation be voted too slow. Small wonder that canal con- struction should be neglected, under the cir- cumstances, and even existing canals be per- 132 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD mitted to fall into disuse and be abandoned. With denser population and overtaxed trans- portation facilities, the tide has turned; the pub- lic, confronted by conditions, not theories, realize that rail transportation must be supplemented and complemented by inland water routes. Other nations have far surpassed us in these respects, and we are bound to foUow in the wake of this world-wide influence. There are powerfid factors at work in favor of the canalization of our rivers and lakes. A national movement for the conservation of our natural resources has been inaugurated by Congress. The President convened the Governors of aU the States to meet other distinguished men, to consider the same question. The scope of this poUcy can best be stated in the words of Senator Newlands: * "A comprehensive plan for the development of our waterways of necessity takes into consideration all of the related questions of forest preservation and restora- tion, of the irrigation of arid lands, of the reclamation of swamp lands, of bank protection, of clarification of streams and other kindred subjects, as well as canal construction. It does not mean simply getting a dredg- ing machine for the purpose of removing sandbars and * North American Review. THE WATERWAYS QUESTION 133 1 digging a channel. It involves the prevention of floods, when the rivers rush down in torrential streams, de- stroying property, and then, having wasted the water in the ocean, are attenuated until boats cannot float upon them. It involves the preservation of forests, because forests are the great conservators of moisture and aid in the gradual distribution to the rivers. It involves the question of irrigation of arid lands at the head waters of our inland rivers — the creation of great reservoirs, where the flood waters can be impounded and led over the plains for purposes of irrigation, to be gradu- ally returned to the rivers when most required by them. Where it cannot be advantageous to irrigation, the water can be kept impounded — as is now done in the upper Mississippi and in some foreign countries — to be let out at a time of low water in such a manner as to maintain navigation throughout the summer. Forestry and irrigation are both essential to the pre- vention of floods and soil waste and to the maintenance of a stable channel for navigation, besides creating vast money values and great happiness and comfort in the development of immense forests and broad plains irri- gated to almost unlimited productiveness. The arti- ficiahzing of a river means that it shall be kept at a standard depth, to accommodate vessels of standard draught, just as there is a standard gauge for rail- roads. . . . It also involves the reclamation of swamp lands, which means the addition of large and immensely fertile areas to the productive resources of the country. The rec- lamation of swamp lands as such is not one of the powers of government granted by the constitution, but the control of the river for purposes of navigation is, and for this purpose 134 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD the redemption of vast swamps, along the lower reaches oj the rivers, is as much a junction of the government as the irrigation of arid and semi-arid wastes at the source of the rivers. The channels fill up because where there are broad stretches of lowland, over which the river spreads, in high water, the river channel is lost in a network of bayous and swamps. When confined in comparatively narrow channels, by means of levees, the current is re- strained and quickened and becomes an effective power in scouring instead of clogging the bottom, and in pre- serving the channel; so that we have inseparably con- nected with the question of navigation, the redemption of swamp lands and bank protection." The government, through its power to regulate interstate commerce, will make canalization in- cidentally cover irrigation, forest-preservation, drainage, clarification, bank-preservation. With an open Treasury Kttle difficulty will be en- countered from strict constructionists of the Constitution; the reserved rights of the States win hardly assert themselves to prevent expendi- ture of money which must enure largely to their local benefit. An abstract proposition, infringing State sovereignty, would be resisted, but a con- crete project, flavored with Treasury notes, will pass unchallenged. Mark the evolution of constitutional construe- THE WATERWAYS QUESTION I3S tion; mark also the return of the canal to popular favor. Deep-water navigation from St. Louis to the Gulf commands the approval of railway managers, as weU as publicists, and is knocking at the Treasury door with inviting countenance from within. The Panama Canal has just been completed at a cost surpassing any other public work, and largely for altruistic motives, since the whole world is given its use upon precisely the same terms as are enjoyed by the United States. Such powerful examples must exercise a contagious local influence throughout the country. DEPARTMENT OF INTERNAL NAVIGATION Under the Secretary of Commerce there should be a Department, charged with the duty of studying our harbors and rivers, determining what ones are worthy of government aid, ascer- taining the nature and extent of desired improve- ment, and specifically recommending what work should be done ia order that same may be done systematically, economically and efficiently. The importance of this work is well expressed by the annual cost to the taxpayers of the country. Appropriations for Rivers and Harbors are as follows: 1907 $17,254,050 1908 43,310,813 1909 18,092,945 1910 29,190,264 1911 49,380,541 1912 30,883,419 1913 40,559,620 1914 51,118,889 Total eight years $279,790,541 From 1802 to i8go .... 214,039,886 From 1891 to 1906 .... 301,447,546 Total since 1802 $79S>277,973 136 DEPARTMENT OF INTERNAL NAVIGATION 137 No better use can be made of public fimds, than their wise expenditure in the interest of transportation; it is, however, common knowl- edge that ambitious Congressmen secure appro- priations, to be expended in their districts, for the ostensible purpose of improving inland navi- gation, upon most inconsequential streams, where purely local and selfish interests are served and the alleged public interest is used merely as a leverage to secure the funds. Even in the case of important streams, government funds are often unwisely expended. To illustrate this, I quote from a minority report upon the River and Harbor Appropriation Bill, made by Senator Burton, of Ohio, June 25, 1914: 138 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD River Tonnage last year Value of tonnage 71,516' $1,170,990 231,725 12,719,747 44,967' 354,715 186,960 3,759,924 i8s,iio' 3,149,87° 613,367 6,269,404 Appropria- tions to date A ppropria- tion in 1Q14 bill Cost of commerce Per ton "Arkansas. Petaluma Creek, Cal Red River jbelow Fulton, Ark. Cohansey River, N. J. Missouri River, Kansas City to mouth .... Bayou Teche, La $3,108,008.44 144,898.00 2,768,377-00 101,300.00 11,627,935.47 44i,Soo«.oo $164,700 7,500 100,000 Nothing 2,000,000 130,000 H-04' .06 4.68 .02 13-31 ■24 ^ The average haul was 34 miles. Of this tonnage 56,208 consisted of sawlogs. 2 Of this tonnage 42,640 tons consisted of sawlogs carried an average distance of 131 miles. ' Of this tonnage 155,420 tons consisted of sand and gravel barged a distance of i mile. * Derived by taking 4 per cent of total appropriations to date, plus appropriations in 1914, and dividing by the tonnage. It is perfectly manifest that the further improvement, at least on any large scale, of certain large streams in which there is open-channel navigation, is futile, al- though in previous years, and especially before the more recent development of railways, these waterways were utilized to a very considerable extent. There should be a careful re-examination of each of these waterways and a policy adopted which squares with present conditions. The following are illustrations: On the Red River below Fulton, covering a distance of DEPARTMENT OE INTERNAL NAVIGATION 139 475.4 mileS; there was in the year 1912 a total tonnage of 44,967 tons. Of this amount 42,640 tons were saw- logs, of which the average haul was 131 miles, and lum- ber 1,100 tons. Of the balance of the freight, including lumber, amounting to 2,327 tons, part was carried 45 and part 80 miles. The total amount appropriated to date for this stream is $2,768,377. There was no ap- propriation in the pending bill as it came from the House, but by a proposed Senate amendment $100,000 has been inserted. The expense per ton to the United States government for carrying this freight, including the lumber, can be approximately obtained if an allow- ance of 4 per cent is made on the amount appropriated to date and the prospective appropriation in the pending bill is added. This interest on the investment would amount to $110,735.08, and adding the $100,000 appro- priated, would make a total of $210,735.08. The cost per ton would be $4.68, or if the sawlogs are excluded, the cost per ton would be $90.56, and the cost per ton- mile $1.53. As against this figure per ton-mile, the average charge per ton-mile on freight carried on the railroads of the United States in the year 191 1 was $0.00757. An improvement imder such circumstances does not fall short of absurdity. On the Arkansas River the total tonnage was 71,516 tons, of which 56,208 tons were sawlogs. The balance, 15,308 tons, notwithstanding the length of the so-called navigable portion of the river, (463 miles) was carried an average of only 34 miles. The appropriations to date on this stream have been $3,108,008.44, and the appro- priation in the pending bill is $164,700. Using the same computations as before, of 4 per cent on the amoimt appropriated for this river, and the $164,700 appropriated I40 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD in this year, which includes work at Pine Bluff and the completion and operation of a dredging plant, the cost for carrying each ton would be $4.04. If the sawlogs are excluded, the cost per ton would be $18.81. And yet it is proposed to expend on this stream $349,000 for permanent plant and $118,000 per year for its mainte- nance. On the Missouri River from the mouth to Kansas City the total tonnage in 191 2 was 185,110 tons, of which sand and gravel hauled i mile made up 155,420 tons, leaving a balance of 29,690 tons of other freight. The only long-distance traffic, which was carried 339 miles, according to the reports and designated as "mis- cellaneous freight" was 4,173 tons, to which must be added manufactured iron and steel products, carried 158 miles, 1,404 tons. It should be said that the reports not yet officially made are to the effect that this traffic has increased in the year 1913, and also shows a some- what greater increase, amounting to about 3,000 tons per month, between the mouth of the river and Kansas City for the year 1914; but taking the latest official statistics as a basis, it appears that there has been appro- priated for this stream between the mouth and Kansas City under old projects, $7,227,935, and under the existing project, which calls eventually for $20,000,000, $4,400,000, making the total appropriation $11,627,935. It is estimated that the maintenance of navigation on this river, after the expenditure of $20,000,000, in addi- tion to amounts appropriated prior to 1910, will cost $500,000 per year. Capitalizing the expenditure already made on this river at 4 per cent plus the appropriation proposed, the cost per ton after excluding sand and gravel carried i mile, would be $88.08." DEPARTMENT OF INTERNAL NAVIGATION I4I With reference to the canalized Kentucky River, the report of the Chief of Engineers for 1909, volume I, page 642, says: "The principal commerce of the river is timber, much of it loose logs, and the improvement is rather detri- mental to this than otherwise. The logs are damaged in passing the dams, and in their turn cause much dam- age to the works and are a prolific source of snags and other discouragement to any steamboat trafl&c that might develop." The above quotations will serve to illustrate the unsystematic, unscientific and wasteful method which now obtains iu attempting to improve inland navigation by the United States government. The harbors that dot the very long Hne of our seacoast, are the open doors that welcome commerce from abroad, and through which our own products seek other countries; they should be improved and kept in good state of efficiency. The improvement of the estuaries and rivers extending from these harbors inland, in fact all interstate rivers and lakes, is a proper charge upon the United States Treasury. Senator Burton, speaking with special reference to the River and Harbor Bill, summarizes the reforms that should be made, as follows: 142 ARTIFICIAL WATERWAYS OF THE WORLD " I. Provision for the completion of an improvement in the bill in which it is adopted. 2. A careful review of pending projects in the light of present conditions and the omission of all improve- ments which are no longer profitable. 3. A more careful consideration before the adoption of projects. There should be especial care to avoid lock and dam construction save in streams which are capable of being made important arteries of commerce. 4. A division of expense when exceptional advantages accrue to private propertj^ or specific localities, or when the protection of private property is the main object and navigation subordinate. 5. The exclusion from the bill of proposed improve- ments which do not have to do with navigation. 6. A general policy of improving the main stream before attention is given to branch streams, and the adjustment of depths and dimensions with a view to a uniform and comprehensive plan for the development of such waterways as can profitably be utilized. 7. Such adjustment of the relations between railways and waterways as will secure the utilization of routes partly by land and partly by water when cooperation and utilization of both routes can be made profitable as a means of transportation. 8. Before expenditures are incurred, make certain that sufficient terminal facilities for traffic will be afforded; also that no monopoly or undue advantage by any in- dividual or corporation as a result of any improvement made." If this whole subject were placed under a Department of Internal Navigation or a Com- DEPARTMENT OF INTERNAL NAVIGATION 143 mission, perhaps, would not the public interest be conserved and the public purse be better protected? Would not order succeed confusion, efficiency succeed waste, and expenditure find ex- pression in good practical results? The successful development and solution of the transportation problem in our country, as in other countries, depends upon the coordination and cooperation of our railways and our water routes, be they canals, canalized lakes and rivers, or natural bodies of water, such as the Great Lakes and the high seas. These two systems of transportation must supplement and complement each other. APPENDIX Table i gives year opened, length, prism, locks, cost and termini of all principal canals of the United States. Table 2 presents data as to the canals of New York now in use, canalized rivers and lakes, and other im- portant facts. Table 3 presents the number, mileage, traffic and ownership of canals and canalized rivers in the United States, in 1906. Table 4 shows the number and length of navigable rivers in the United States, an analysis of their traffic and the appropriations made in support of same, by Congress. Table 5 gives the revenues and cost of New York canals from inception until tolls were abolished in 1882. Table 6 is a statistical exhibit of the competition be- tween railways and canals, from 1853 to 1912. Table 7 compares the Buffalo receipts and shipments of grain and flour, by canal and rail. Table 8 compares the receipts of grain and flour at New York, 1909-1913, by canal, coastwise and rail. Table 9 is a statement of traffic on all canals, 1904- 1913- Table 10 is a statement of the value of the traffic on all the canals, 1904-1913. Table 11 gives the kinds and classification of all freight on New York canals, 1903-1912. Table 12 shows the annual average freight rates, Chicago to Liverpool, all rail and all water, 1893-1913. 145 146 APPENDIX Table 13. New York, Olaio, Indiana, Illinois ajid Michigan are the States that have benefited, in greatest degree, from the Erie Canal, and in order to show its favorable influence these States are compared with aU other States in the Union in this Table, in respect to wealth and population. Table 14 gives various statistics as to the City of New York, which is unquestionably the principal bene- ficiary under the New York State canal system. Table 15 compares New York with other great ports of the world. Table 16 gives the miles saved by using the Panama route, as compared with other routes. APPENDIX 147 5hJ S > <-3 ■ c d 9 rt " 1-5 ^ I pi^ tn fl :3 . o c o ^ S3 d-g "0 2 a u oti SS 3 O) s .kfii "-^ rt OX! QJ o CO N O O O , m" o 10 ^f oT wo Ov "^^ I OO^-^O O\Oi+ on 1-^ i-^ 1-1 r-- o (N o fS fN HI O OS vn CO r^ ^o OS ■^ <) r^ cs (.N iri () -t 00 r^ vn Ol On 00 M Ov «> H lo r^ o M cs ■* fO IH lO (N O 00 S o fk 1-1 CO « POH On'O O lJ^':t■"^^0 M CO lO -^ TJ- Oi w Os <-o 0^ lO O tN OO 00 i-t lo CO Oi t^ 00 M ON "O 00 CO lO lo CO -"d- r-" r^ oi O oo « ^- + + + + O O CO ■^ CO O O O M M H VO 2 5 ■t^ 0\ CO lO ro Nh CO Ov + Tf vn On o O no OS On On CN -t lO LO lO M Ol r^ oo o w i-^ Cv| ^ ■^ (N H 'i;!- J>- i^ d a> s W00UP50U00 w ?> O S 2J ^ S3 « !rt rt flj OJ SO'" Ot3 + APPENDIX 155 VT. Statistical Exhibit of Competition Between New York Central and Erie Railways and Canals, from 1853 to 1912 Five year Periods Two Railways Canals Per cent by Canals 1853-57 7-7 19.9 72.1 1858-62 12-5 22.2 64.0 1863-67 23.2 22.6 53-4 1868-72 42.3 31.6 42.7 1873-77 61.8 26.1 26.0 1878-82 95-5 27.6 18.8 1883-87 142.3 26.^ 12.8 1888-92 201.6 24.4 8.7 1893-97 210.0 19.0 6-5 1898-02 289.1 17.1 S-6 Years 1903 68.6 3-6 S-o 1904 653 3-1 4-5 1905 70.5 3.2 4.3 1906 78.6 3.5 4.2 1907 84.1 3-4 3-9 1908 74-8 3-0 3-9 1909 72.8 3-1 4.0 1910 84.2 3.0 35 1911 83.0 3.0 3-5 1912 84.1 2.6 3.0 156 APPENDIX VII. BuTFALO Receipts and Shipments op Grain and Flour, by Canal and Rail, Compared Per cent by canal 1868-72 . 1873-77 . 1878-82 . 1883-87. 1888-92 . 1893-97. 1898-02 . 1903-07 . 1908-1 2 . Million Million Grain rec'd bushels shipped by canal Per cent by canal Flour rec'd bushels shipped by canal 238 i8s 77-7 6.6 2.3 30 201 66.7 6 2 0.8 366 246 67.2 S 3 0.4 319 206 64.5 16 A 0.3 515 i8s 3S-9 33 8 0. 2 707 179 2S-3 52 7 0.2 747 94 12. s S3 0.1 636 82 12.9 47 7 611 66 10.9 37 S 34.8 12.9 7-5 1.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 Grain Receipts bushels 1913 192,445,440 1912 159,793,348 1911 121,892,466 1910 102,071,17s 1909 113,415,385 1908 114,245,438 Shipments bushels by canal 9,429,064 6,405,158 11,966,158 17,584,651 16,407,268 14,314,159 Note: During these six years 47,066,644 barrels of flour were re- ceived at Bufialo, but none was shipped by canal. VIII. Receipts op Grain and Flour at New York, 1909-1913, BY Canal, Coastwise and Rail, Compared Canal Per cent Coast- wise 4,371,700 31 3,904,292 3,530,600 2.7 4,268,675 7,895,000 6.6 3,913,254 11,000,700 "■3 441,588 9,676,000 10.2 1,863,504 Rail Total 1913 1912 1911 1910 1909 131,768,203 122,371,905 107,411,728 86,635,278 82,895,110 140,044,19s 130,171,180 119,219,982 98,077,566 94,434,614 APPENDIX 157 :gi -*OlO Ht-.COHO H (O »ooo 0\ CTOO lo ■>!• o H o co"o o t^ *^'jS CO tC'd' es En 1 rOC) rl-0lOMt^O»0 O MOIOTJ-O H COvO S fOrOfOfOfOfOCOfOW « O 00 O l>.^ \0 l^ Oi H (N IN so CJi t>. M o 0\ t^\o o m w o I/) -^ lo lo fO^ H lO iDCO o>o t^\o o>^ i>- MHMMMMHHHH bfl H cow H Ot^OvOyDO ^1 ^1 ^fOO'^dOc^cNOrO ro r^ t^vO to ON'O lO M O, Oi O O 00 00 1> t^^D to Tf o-- e~i « -3 1^ -Throw -^OiOt^rOW C^l r^ OiCO O t-. HI 00 ^O ■* lO O S^ « 0> ■-t^M COOOO t^cs a fc-N «, , VCO t^rO'*t^'tiO: CMrOWCSCOOlHHH [^ , 1 2 sa O OQO roOO Tl- Tf CO CO H e *^ rJ-xj-M O « 0>OCT '^-O O CO 0^ « CO CO lO loco 00 1*: ^ ■^■^■^■^cocoeOW t-i H S V O lO Oi^O H fO lO CO CT t|- ■O QO 0> lOOO ■* H O 00 'O do S ■>? OO o" tC n" lo tC t^ d" «" •s:i vO O vO lO lO lO'O »0 ^ <0 o-^ rj- lo^O t^CO C^ O !-< o fO OOOOOOHMMW 040\OiCT0i0i0iO0i0» <3 MoO H i^o c^r^N Mio CO "^ "*; O; to lo HH_^_0 rf m" flO" hT ro h" m" pT rC ■^ lO oOmOOwoOtH^ -^O toOitoCMOO O to ^OO vd" t^vd' CO ■^ dl d! d\oo 'o" O too VO to to to ^ *0 CO fO l1 W woo O ■'tOMOOirOW CO O O O 0>QO ■* i^ to r^ tOOO Oi H (N_ "3^_ '^_ "^ ^ di h" w~ (O w" (oo^d'co t(^ too to loO -^O t^ fO CO *^ WW HI 1 r 1 11 O 00 lOOO W O N OO N W oooo r-.oooo -"to N 3- O 0\ ""^fOO w 11 lo OiO M t^O t^o o ■+ O 00 o coco too coo OvO H< H HO O\tot^ro -rfo S'S m" -^ rC d" to lOtOWCO C^O ■Tt-M Tl-JO ■* o_oo^ *^ "^ '^_ ^^^ °.. (O CO to «" l-<" o p Tl- (O ^»0 (O « w O HI O OOO W rO-^rJ-too) COO OO OO t^ W_^00 00_O^CO_^ CO w^ CO H 1^ " to CO to to H Oi N CO to too O 0\ CO o> i>, o> q 'O^ oi "N^ "^"^^.^^ H CO i^ r^ tovd" -C7>-^tO o CO to 1000*0 O; o; O; -^ w" to H di CO to ■^o" *^ rC tO'*tO'^'*'^'*fOW (N H C/3 '^ 1^ Tt too r^OO O. HI CI CO OOOOOOHCHHM CTOiO'0\00\OvOiO>Oi 158 APPENDIX XI. Kinds and Classification of all Freight on New York Canals, 1903-1912 Forest Products of agri- culture Manu- facture Mer- chandise Other Total I9I2 . . . 584,964 196,014 119,512 152,982 1,552,644 2,606,116 I9II . . . 656,500 355,301 137,463 166,419 1,781,385 3,097,068 I9I0 . . . 654,094 492,536 145419 215,446 1,565,917 3,073,412 1909 . . . 647.739 447,217 163,871 194,273 1,663,436 3,116,536 1908 . . . 565,443 449,846 106,371 166,061 1,764,156 3,051,877 1907 . . . 1Al,n(> 606,159 96,916 169,258 1,787,845 3,407,914 1906 . . . 854,610 648,715 170,584 202,285 1,664,713 3,540,907 I90S ■ • • 851,098 436,979 132,438 172,665 1,633,716 3,226,896 1904 . . . 738,793 427,969 129,665 200,472 1,641,648 3,138,547 1903- ■• 690,161 595,047 130,406 241,564 1,956,207 3,615,385 APPENDIX IS9 XII. Annual Average Freight Rates, Chicago to Liverpool, ALL Rail and all Water, 1893-1913 Per Bushel of Wheat Calendar Year Chicago to New York By lake and canal By lake and rail By all rail N. Y. to Liver- pool 1893. 1894. 1895. 1896. 1897. 1898. 1899. 1900. 1901. 1902. 1903. 1904. 1905- 1906. 1907. 1908. 1909. 19J0. 191 1 . 1912. 1913- Cents 6-33 44 II 38 iS 42 6S 42 14 25 44 71 SI 94 68 00 55 13 35 57 74 Cents 8.44 7.00 6.9s 7-32 7-37 4.96 6.63 505 5-57 S-78 6.17 5-02 6.44 6.48 6-93 6-33 6.88 6-57 S-23 6.17 7.01 Cents 14.7 12.88 12.17 12.0 12.32 "■55 II. 13 * 998 * 992 * 10.60 * 11-33 * II. II "10.20 "10.50 * 11.30 * 11.70 '11.70 * 9.60 * 969 * 9.60 * 9.60 Pence ,15 ,15 2T7 3tV StV h\ 3f li ItV lA li if itV if ii'ir i| li 3i^ 2tF * For domestic consumption; local rate for export only 9.08 cents in 1900; 9.02 cents in 1901, and 8.75 cents in 1902; and, when con- signed and delivered to steamer, 8.89 cents in 1903, 8.47 cents in 1904, 7.99 cents in 1905, 8.10 cents in 1906, 9.70 cents in 1907, 10.50 cents in 1908 and 1909, and 7.80 cents in 1910, 1911, 1912, and 1913. i6o APPENDIX o H O 2; w ph 6) f^ w ■'' ^ 2 w w n W n S H < w a o " H > a; < < M ?l w w H < < B § g M W M 2 O 1^ H u a M O „-fiu I— t l-H 1-1 o 1 o Ov H -^ On "T) CO Tt H VO W CO M Ol J>. ON J>- NO^ H^ oq^ to M^ CO rC o" o. PI NO 00 10 NO M M JT^ ON tC 00^ M^ J>. 10 CO H (N h-l O CO 00 M 1 1 10 NO --d- • 0_^ to NO^ • On 10 to ' CO '^ 10 I>- NO CO 10 « 00 q. t: ^ 00 00 Tt NO NO NO CO ■^ 10 1 H 'd- W CO On r^ *o 0^ H t--. NO CO ON H C4 tJ- t^ M M ci" On t-T NO ON ■>d- NO CO ID IH q^ On !>; to ■<*; On NO 10 NO . ON W 00 tN ■^ 10 CO CO CO i>. !>. C^ ON M r>. iH^ ON od" CO h" NO --t •-" t^ ■^ w C5" CO T? w CO On H w 10 M cC ^^2 1 .0 c 0: 1 w 'c 1 J c/; c a- 0. cr t- (L 1 < tr 1 C APPENBIX l6l XIV. Various Statistics as to the City of New York, which IS unquestionably the Principal Beneficiary under the New York State Canal System Over 47 per cent of the total foreign commerce of the United States in 19 13 passed through the Port of New York, her share of the merchandise imports being 57.8 per cent, and of the exports 37.2 per cent. Of the 335,000,000 bushels of grain (including flour) received at New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans and San Francisco in 1913, New York's share was 39.8 per cent, being 133,531,482 bushels. New York's exports of flour in 1913 were 4,549,838 barrels, its largest competitor being Montreal with 1,760,653 barrels. In 1907 New York exported 3,002,455 barrels and Montreal 861,936 barrels. New York's exports of wheat in 1913 were 49,019,674 bushels as compared with 27,111,717 in 1907. Mon- treal's exports were 33,706,089 bushels in 1913 against 20,949,496 in 1907. Of the 41,015 vessels with a total tonnage of 50,639,173 engaged in the foreign trade that entered the ports of the United States in 1913, there were 4223 which entered the Port of New York, their tonnage being 14,464,161 or 28.4 per cent of the total for the whole country. These figures do not include the tonnage engaged in the domestic trade. The bank clearings of New York in 1913 amounted to $94,634,281,984 over 55 per cent of the total clearings of the United States. The five largest cities in the country next to New York have combined clearings con- siderably less than one-half those of this city whose l62 APPENDIX business as measured by bank transactions is greater than that of all the rest of the United States. Over 14 per cent of all the loans and discounts of the National banks of the United States in 1913 were made by the National banks of New York. The banking resources of the seven principal cities of the country in 1913 were $9,033,023,786 of which $4,460,360,980 were represented by the banks in New York. The banking resources of this city are 17 per cent of those of the United States. It ranks as one of the four great international money markets. The census of 1910 showed that nearly 10 per cent of the manufacturing establishments of the United States and nearly 10 per cent of the value of their yearly products are located and produced in New York which contains more industries than Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Cleveland combined. New York City contains about 5 per cent of the total population of the United States, and the last ten year percentage of increase was greater than that of the four next largest cities of the country. The Metropolitan district of New York (the city proper with near suburbs) is increasing at the rate of over 40 per cent in ten years while the Metropolitan district of London is increasing only 10 per cent, so that in a few years at most New York will be the largest city in the world. New York's total ocean passenger traffic in 1913 amounted to 1,843,770. The real and personal estate of the State of New York in 1913 had an assessed value of $11,128,498,055; and that of the City of New York $8,390,155,472. APPENDIX 163 XV. Compares New York with other Great Ports of the World International Commerce Year Vessel Tonnage Year Entered 14,464,161 1913 10,800,716 1912 13,567,913 1912 7,253,016 1912 11,483,214 igi2 11,552,119 1912 8,051,321 1911 1,688,891 1912 3,582,065 1911 3,964,583 1912 3,135.006 1910 3,921,812 1911 2,059,964 1912 Popula- tion Year' New York . . . London . .. Hamburg. . . . Liverpool. . . . Antwerp Rotterdam . . . Marseilles.. . . Bremen Havre Buenos Aires. Hull Copenhagen. . Cherbourg Trieste $1,966,256,617 1,866,930,782 1,960,779,85s 1,816,983,279 1,214,725,495 1913 1912 1912 1912 1912 731,430,800 632,493,751 619,245,100 479,536,241 391,005,790 1912 igi2 1912 1912 1912 307,512,228 6,474.568 * 7,252,963 953,079 746,421 291,949 370,390 517,498 214,861 130,196 1,326,994 277,991 476,806 42,938 221,993 1910 1911 1912 1911 190S 1905 1906 1905 1901 1911 1911 1901 * Metropolitan Districts. 164 APPENDIX XVI. Gives the Miles Saved by Using the Panama Route, as Compared with Other Routes New York to Via Panama, etc. miles Via Suez, etc. miles Via Magel- lan, etc. miles Via Good Hope miles Saved through Panama miles San Francisco Callao 5,262 3,363 9,798 ii,6gi 11,548 10,904 10,392 8,851 13,566 11,673 11,589 13,135 9,613 11,344 7,873 6,250 3,768 Yokohama Hong Rong . Manila 41 Adelaide Melbourne Wellington 12,650 13,162 1,746 2,770 " 5,590 Note {a) Vessels from New York to Australia now round the Cape of Good Hope the distance being the same as by the Suez Canal. (6) To Yokohama the route by Panama is to San Francisco and the Great Circle; and by Suez to Columbo, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai. To Hong Kong the route by Panama is to San Francisco, Yokohama and Shanghai; and by Suez to Columbo and Singapore. To Manila the route by Panama is to San Francisco and Yokohama; and by Suez to Columbo and Singapore. " 2,493 miles saved compared with Magellan route. BIBLIOGRAPHY Some of the authorities consulted in preparing the statistics and other data in regard to waterways: Official reports of the various governments whose canal systems are discussed. Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1913. Annuaire Statistique of France, 1912. Consular and Trade Reports of Department of Com- merce, 1912, 1913. APPENDIX 165 Annual Report of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, 1913. Panama Canal Traffic and Tolls, — Report of Special Commissioner, 191 2. Official Handbook of The Panama Canal, 19 13. Transportation by water, — special report of the Bu- reau of the Census, 1908. Report of the Barge Canal Terminal Commission, 1911. History of New York Canals, — Report of State En- gineer, 1905. New York State Barge Canal, Report of the State Engineer, 19 13. Report of the Chicago Harbor Commission, 1909. Report of the New Jersey Harbor Commission, 1914. Report of the New York Superintendent of Public Works on Canals, 191 2. Report of the British Royal Commission on Canals and Waterways, 1909. Annual Reports of the Suez Canal company, 1905- 1913- Report of Canadian Canal Statistics by the Minister of Railways and Canals, 19 13. Report of the Manchester Ship Canal Company, 1913. Report No. 599, 63rd Congress, and Session, by Sena- tor Theodore E. Burton from Senate Committee on Commerce on River and Harbor Appropriations, June 25, 1914. Address by Count J. H. von Bernstorff, German Ambassador before National Rivers and Harbors Con- gress, 1909. Cape Cod Canal, address by August Belmont before New York Chamber of Commerce, Jime, 1914. 1 66 APPENDIX Waterway Policy and its Results in Europe, by Emory R. Johnson, read to National Rivers and Harbors Con- gress, 1909. Ocean and Inland Water Transportation, by Emory R. Johnson, D. Appleton & Co., 1911. American Inland Waterways, by Herbert Quick, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1909. INDEX Albany Regency, 49, 50, 58, 71 Ambrose Channel (N. Y. Har- bor), 121 Annual appropriations, 136- 139 Appendix, 145 Austria-Hungary, canals, 24 B Babylon, Great Canal of, 2 Barge Canal, 97 reduced cost of transporta- tion, 107 Belgium, canals, 8, 9 British Royal Commission, 8, 17, 19 Burton, Senator, report of, 137, 138, 139 Canada, canals, 31, 92 capacity, 92, 125-129 competition of, 92, 93, 128, 129 description, traffic, charac- ter of freight transporta- tion, enlargements in process and planned, 125- 129 freight rates, 91 Canal Commission, First, 44 Canal mileage in Europe and United States, 32 Canals and conservation of our resources, 130-135 Canals and railways, their proper relation, 102-108 Cape Cod Canal, 121-123 Chaldea, canals, 2 Champlain Canal, New York, 39 Charlemagne, 3 Cheapening transportation, 32, 33, 56, 57, 64, 82, 83 China, canals, 2, 27 Civil War, United States, ef- fect of, 67 Clinton, DeWitt, 41, 44-49, SS Clinton, George, 36, 39 Colden, Cadwallader, 34 Coles, Christopher, 38 Colombia, Republic of, iio- 114 67 i68 INDEX Competition against New York City, 88 Competition of railways, 32, See also New York State Canals Conservation, 130-135 Corinth Canal, 25, 26 D DeLesseps, F., 27, no Denmark, canals, 22 Department of Internal Navi- gation, 136 DeWitt, Simeon, 43 Diiierentials against New York City, 90 Dutch as canal builders, 5, 6 Egypt, canals, 2, 3 England, canals, 18-21 Erie Canal, New York, bene- ficial influence of, 57, 61, 64, 81-84, 87 breaking ground for, 47 capacity of, 46, 56, S7, S8 cost of, 54, 56, 62, 63 early projects, 34, 39, 42 earnings of, 68, 76 enlargement completed, 62, 63 estimates of cost, 44, 46 freight rates, 56, 60, 64 freight transported, volume and value, cost per ton, 6S, 66 opening of, 49-51 period of inception, 33 pohtical patronage, effect of, 48, 53, 59, 64, 65, 66, 71 profitable to State, 61, 68 regulator of freight rates, 82, 83 sale prohibited, 61 sale prohibited, repealed, 73 toUs on, 56-60 vessel tonnage, 56, 60 Europe, canals of, and canal- ized rivers, 4, 5, 32 Federal aid for canals, United States, 42, 43, 134 France, canals, 10-13 Freight rates, early, New York, 42 general, 57,60-64, 65, 82, 83, 91,96 French Panama Canal Co., no, 112 Fulton, Robert, 42, 44 Georgian Bay Canal project, 93, 94 Germany, canals, 13-18 INDEX 169 Government ownership, New York, 84-86 Great Britain, canals, 18-21 Great Lakes, commerce of, 91 utilization for canals, 30 H Hamilton, Alexander, 36 Holland, canals, 4, 6, 7, 8 India, canals, 26 Ireland, canals, 20 Italy, canals, 24, 25 Jeflferson, Thomas, 42 K Kiel Ship Canal, 13 L Languedoc canal, 10 Locks, defined, 5 invention of, 5 M Madison, James, 44 Manchester Ship Canal, 2, 20, 21 Mingling of waters, Erie Canal, 50, 51 Morris, Gouverneur, 35, 44 N Newlands, Senator F. G. on waterways, 132 New York City, commerce of, 89 __ competition against, 88, 89 port charges, 90 railway discrimination, go New York State, debt of, 63, 76 growth of, 84 inefficient canal policy, 70, 7S> 79, 84, 85 railway subsidies, 59 valuation of property, 84 New York State Canals, 34- 109 abandoned works, 73 abolition of toUs, 75 Barge Canal, 97-101 boards and commissions, 44, 46, 47, 79 canal debt, 68, 69, 76 "canal ring," 48, 53, 59, 64- 66 competition against New York City, 89-96 competition of railways, 67, 69, 74, 82, 83, 102, 103, 104 170 DSTOEX constitutional provisions, 61, 67, 72, 73, 75 cost of, 56, 68, 69, 76, 77 decline of, 74, 102, 103 early plans and surveys, 34- 43 earnings, 54, 56, 60, 73, 74, 76 efforts to improve, 78, 80 enlargements, 57, 58, 62, 64, 6s, 66, 97 slow progress of, 58 equipment of, compared with railways, 69 extravagance and waste, 58, 71, 79, 80 financial statements of, 61, 63, 68, 76 freight rates, 40, 42, 56, 64, 65, 73, 74, 81, 83 estimated reduction of, 64 imperative need of improve- ment, 78, 95 influence on growth of State, 77,88 neglect of, 70, 75, 84, 86, 91 operating cost, 60, 64, 72 opposition to, 41, 52, 59, 70, 75,79 patronage, 46, 48, 58 political influences, 48, 58, 70, 71 revenue, 61. (See Earnings) sale of, prohibited, 61, 73 superintendent of public works, 73 tolls, 60, 64, 65, 66, 73, 74 abolished, 75 traffic, 60, 63, 64, 72, 73, 77, 78,81 vessel tonnage, 57, 62, 81, 97 volume and value of traffic, 157-159 Panama Canal, 2, 109-120 amount paid Republic of Colombia, 116 amount paid Republic of Panama, 116 cost, construction and com- .pletion, iog-117 estimated tonnage, 117 inception and history, 109 mihtary advantage, 119 prospective commercial ad- vantage, 117, 118 statistical description of, 115-117 Peru, canals, 9, 13, 30 Public and private ownership, 85, 86, 104, 105 R Railway competition, 59, 60, 67, 73, 74, 102, 103, 104 See also New York State Canals Railways and canals, their proper relation, 102-108 INDEX 171 Railways, inadequate service of, 9S. 130 Religious scraples against canals, 26, 109 River and harbor appropria- tions, proposed reform, 136-143 Roman canals, 3 Russia, canals, 22, 23 St. Lawrence route, 91, 92 Sault Ste. Marie (St. Mary's Falls), canals, 31, 92 cost, capacity, completion, tonnage, 123, 124 volume and value of freight transported, 124 Scotland, canals, 20 Smith, Adam, i South America, 30 Spain, canals, 26 State sovereignty question, United States, 45 Statistical tables, 145 Suez Canal, 2, 27, 28, 29, 30 Sweden, canals, 24 Tammany, New York, op- posed to canals, 41 Tilden, Samuel J., 71, 72 U United States, canals of, 30-33 length and cost, 31 imperative need of, 34, 35, 147, 149, iSi> 152, IS3 W Washington, George, 35, 37 Waterways of the world, 32 Waterways question, 130 Welland Canal, 31 World's canals, 1-33 mileage and cost, 32 ^HE following pages contain advertisements of a few of the Macmillan books on kindred subjects "The Most Interesting Narrative of Adventure ever written about the West." — Owen Wister. Through the Grand Canyon from Wyoming to Mexico By ELLSWORTH L. 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Mr. Palmer's colored pictures are a splendid supplement to the text. A Wanderer in Venice By E. V. LUCAS Author of " A Wanderer in Holland," " A Wanderer in Paris," etc. With illustrations in color and in black and white. Decorated cloth, $1.75 net. Leather, $2.50 net Mr. Lucas's " Wanderer " books have made many friends. Much of the charm of Florence, London, Paris, and Holland has been caught by him and transferred to the printed page along with bits of their histories, interesting anecdotes and legends. To these four volumes Mr. Lucas now adds one on Venice. What a place of hidden treasure that wonderful city is to one of Mr. Lucas's very original genius all who have read the preceding works in this series can easily understand. And Mr. Lucas has fuUy realized his oppor- tunities. The book is, perhaps, the most fascinating of all. With its colored illustrations and its black and white plates, with its no less vivid and appre- ciative text, it is a publication which no one who has ever been to Venice should overlook, while to those who have not been it will open up new vistas of un- ,dreamed-of beauties. THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Fublisliers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New Tork NEW ILLUSTRATED BOOKS OF TRAVEL AND DESCRIPTION Japan To-day and To-morrow By HAMILTON W. MABIE Author of " American Ideals, Character and Life " Illustrated. Decorated cloth, izmo, boxed, $2.00 net The purpose of this volume is to convey a clear and definite im- pression of the spirit of the Japanese people — what they are inter- ested in and what we may expect of them in the future. Pursuant to its aim, it offers chapters on the manners and habits of the Japan- ese, their family life, their love of art and of nature and their attitude toward religion. Their historical development is very lightly sketched and their education and political development somewhat more fully. No American is perhaps better fitted to write such a book as this than Dr. Mabie. As lecturer to Japan on the Carnegie Peace Endowment a year or so ago he had splendid opportunity for a close study of the country and its people. Added to this is his power of clearly analyzing that which he sees and of expressing his thought in English that it is a pleasure to read. Southern Italy and Sicily By F. MARION CRAWFORD New edition in two volumes. With many half tone illustrations in the text and 31 photogravures Decorated cloth, 8vo, %S.oo net This book is a rare combination of text and pictures. Mr. Crawford and Mr. Brokman, the illustrator, worked together in an almost ideal fashion. The vivid description of the one and the sympathetic draw- ings of the other make a narrative of travel set off now and then by a bit of history that is of most fascinating interest. Every Crawford admirer as well as every lover of the beautiful in books will wish to add this edition, which may truly be called the edition de luxe, to his library. THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Publishers 64-66 Fifth Aveuue New York