VOL.. XLVI. NO. 14,449.
PORTLAND, . OREGON, SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 1907.
PRICE FIVE CENTS.
E WOULD BE
EFFECT OF STRIKE
Railroads Hold Out
Gloomy Prospect.
MANY CITIES WOULD HUNGER
Managers Make No Effort to
Operate Trains.
SOLE HOPE IS MEDIATION
Trainmen and Conductors Hold Off,
Awaiting Arrival of Knapp and
Nelll Neither Party Is In
clined to Yield Anything.
FAi
CHICAGO, March 29. (Special.)
Famine in supplies of food, coal and
manufacturing materials for Chicago
and many other cities throughout the
entire West was predicted today, if
the Impending railway strike became a
reality. Railroads of the entire West
will bo allowed to remain completely
paralyzed in case the strike of train
men and conductors on 43 traffic sys
tems Is ordered. This course has been
practirally decided on by the general
managers of the systems.
A meeting of the managers was
held today and the impracticability of
filling the places of 45.000 men who
are talking of a walkout was dis
cussed. No move has been made to
hire men to run trains. In fact, no
preparation is being made by the rail
way managers.
"If these men strike it would be al
most, if not entirely, impossible to op
crate the railroads," said an official
high in railroad circles. "'It is as good
as certain that freight traffic will be
entirely shut off. Consider what it
would mean, if Chicago were to be iso
lated for 24 hours. What would hap
pen if the milk supply were Inter
rupted or the Immense importations
nf perishable lruight halted by a licup
f the roads?
"These roads carry 87,000,000.000
tons of freight annually, or 254,600,
000 a day. and the number of indi
vidual passengers hauled every day av
erages .fiOOO. Besides the danger
r ad,,inV"o"iyfiitilence to the public which
4 wflruld. ' r'iii u 1 1. hundreds of millions of
-, .Klausn-ested in this country must
'I ' rfb-MdjVfand tnako a financial panic a
yccrtality."
AWAIT THE PEACEMAKERS.
.Railroad Managers and Trainmen
' Delay Strike, Pending Mediation.
CHICAGO, March 23. Whether or not
there Is to be a strike of the employes
In the train service of the Western rail
, roads depends on a meeting to be held
here tomorrow morning between two of
the Government officials and the repre
i.KtCVes Of the unions and the railroads.
The1mee1instwas brought about by the
general managers of the railroads, who
appealed to 'Washington for a settlement
of thejdlff lenity under the terms provided
in the Krdniann act. The Government will
be represented by Martin A. Knapp,
chairmaiv, of trie Interstate Commerce
Commission, and Charles 1. Nslll, Com
t, mlssloner of Jabor, while C. It. Brown.
-. chairman of .the Board of Managers, will
.be the spokesman for the railroads, and
, Grand Chief P. .11. Morrissey, of the
Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen; Chief
Conductor A. B. Garretson. of the Order
of Railway Conductors, will look after
the interests of the men. ' .
Before leaving 'Washington today for
Chicago on their mission to bring about
the adjustment of the trouble by concili
ation, Messrs. Knapp and Nelll had the
assurance of both opposing interests that
everything possible would be done to pre
i vent a strike.
The same stumbling-block that pre
, ; - 1 vented the railroads and the men from
l-sv reaching a, peaceable settlement still re
T mains, however. The railroads declare
" tonlRht they have -conceded everything
"JV "t. they posibly can and" the union repre
, sentattves are Just .as emphatic In their
"1" declarations that further concessions will
-'-have o be made by then-pr tomorrow's
meetirtg will be a failufso far as pre
venting a strike Is toneetned. Mr. Mor
rissy Wtd: T
"We wll do nothing hastily and we
are fully considering the" rights of the
public, but the attitude of the railroads
Is not satisfactory, and we cannot accept
the situation as it is. ' The members of
our organizations have voted for a strike
v unless their demands are satisfied, and
' there the thing rests at present."
Both sides held separate meetings today,
but nothing new developed, as it was the
general sentiment among the representa
tives of the men that nothing could be
done until the Government representatives
had an opportunity to try to settle the
trouble by mediation. '
The Brotherhood of Locomotive, jrire
men and the railroads are still trying to
settle their differences.
CIVIC FEDERATION HOLDS OFF
Will Not Offer to Mediate,TiIl Erd
ntann Law Is Tried.
NEW YORK, March 29. Ralph M. Eas
ley, chairman of the National executive
committee of the National Civic Federa
tion, aaid tonight that, as the Brdmann
if bad been evoked to prevent, if Pa-
sible, the strike on the Western rail
roads, the Civic Federation would do
nothing in the matter unless its services
were actually needed. The conciliation
committee would be ready to co-operate,
tf necessary and if called on, or in any
effort to avert threatened trouble.
"When Mr. Low, -as chairman of the
conciliation committee," he continued,
"put himself In communication with both
sides; it was before Presdent Roosevelt
intervened through, the chairman of the
Interstate Commerce Commission and the
Department of Commerce and Labor. It
was necessary, when he took the action
he did, to act quickly. Both sides to the
controversy are represented in the Civic
Federation, Among the members of the
Ci vio Federation are E. P. Ripley, pres
ident of file Santa Fe system: J. Knitt
echnltt, director of maintenance and oper
ation of the Union Pacific system; Grand
Chief Conductor Garretson, of the Order
of Railroad Conductors; Grand Chief
Morrissey, of the Trainmen, and Grand
Chief Ha.nrab.an, of the Locomotive Firemen."
Knapp and Nelll on Way West.
WASHINGTON, March faXchairman
Knapp, of the Interstate Commerce Com
mission, and Charles . Nelll, Commis
sioner of Labor, left today for Chicago to
endeavor to settle the dispute as to wages
which has arisen between the managers
of the Western railroads and the train
men on their line. .
Neither Chairman Knapp nor Commissioner-
NeiU cared to discuss the situation
until they had informed themselves of the
facts through conferences with the rail
road officials and representatives of the
trainmen. They expect to. arrive in Chi
cago about 9 o'clock tomorrow morning,
and arrangements have been made for an
early conference with the trainmen.
Denver Gets Hopeful Message.
DENVER, March 29. Officials of the
Colorado Manufacturers' Association and
the Denver Chamber of Commerce re
ceived telegrams from Chicago tonight
expressing the belief that an amicable
settlement of the differences between the
employes of the Western railroads and
the General Managers' Association would
be had.
IGNORANT OF THE SITUATION
Local Railroad Official in Dark Con
cerning Strike.
The only knowledge local railroad offi
cials have of the Impending trainmen's
strike is that conveyed by the press dis
patches. They have received no advices
from the head offices and are eagerly
awaiting some definite Information. Rail
road men here still think the differences
between the trainmen and the railway
officials will be satisfactorily settled by
arbitration.
"Trainmen employed in Oregon and
Washington are not believed to be en
thusiastic for a strike," said a Northern
Pacific railroad official yesterday. "For
some time they have been receiving satis
factory wages while the average run of
our conductors does not exceed eight
houitj. Only one division, that from
Spokane. Wash., to Missoula. Mont., In
volves about lli hours' service. In fact,
some of our employes with the shorter
runs, by working overtime, are able to get
in from nine to 12 days' work in a week.'
If a strike is ordered, however, a ma
jority of the trainmen in the Pacific
Northwest, having so voted, will be re
quired to abandon their . positions along
with the dissatisfied employes at whose
instance the trouble has been brought
about."
L. R. Fields, superintendent of - the
Southern Pacific Company, is in San
Francisco with other officials of the rail
road company, in attendance at a con
ference between, the railroad officials and
representatives of the Order of Teleg
raphers. The conference is being held
for the arbitration of the existing differ
ences between the railroad company and
the telegraph operators.
ST. LOI'IS MAY HAVE NO BEER
All Brewery-Workers Strike for In
creased Scale of Wages.
ST. LOUIS. March 29. In 'an effort to
enforce demands for increased wages
made by members of the United Brewery
Workers Union, about ST0 brewery work
ers walked out of 23 breweries in St.
Louis today. The strike followed a con
ference between representatives of the
brewery workers. National Secretary
Kemper, of the United Brewery Workers,
and representatives of the boss brewers,
during which the boss brewers refused
to grant the sliding scale increase de
manded of from 5 to 60 per cent and en
deavored to effect a settlement by a gen
eral increase of 5 per cent. They finally
offered a general increase of $1 a week
to each employe.
The offer was made too late today to
stop the strike, and - the waikout took
place halting work in every St. Louis
brewery.
Lithographers Move to End Strike
NEW YORK, March 29. The first se
rious attempt which has been made to
end the general strike of the litho
graphers throughout the country,
which bwatf last August, has been
started andit' is believed that it will
lead to conferences resulting in a set
tlement. The New York local has
voted to submit proposed five years'
agreement to aff- the members of the
National Association of Employing
Lithographers, containing a modifica
tion of the eight-hour work day de
mand, the refussl-.of which caused the
strike. This 'Agreement provides,
among other things,-" that the 51-hour
working week go into effect on Jan
uaray. 1908, and" the 48-hour working
week July 1. 1908. j
The branches of ttjo union throughout
the country are talinsja, referendum vote
to be recorded on Monday.
Two Orders Agree to Federate.
4
BUFFALO, March 29. A secret confer
ence between delegates of the Brother
hood of Trainmen and the Ordef.5t Rail
way Conductors which has been in prog
ress here for two days, closed early to
day, after ratifying the agreement formu
lated at Indianapolis recently to federate
on all matters in dispute with, the railroad
companies. It calls for co-operation of
officers of both bodies in order to present
a bold front to their employers.
t
Molders' Wages Advanced.
CHICAGO, March 29. At a Joint con
ference here today between the Stove&
Heating Apparatus Foundrymen's Na
tional Defense Association, representing
a majority rf the manufacturers through
out the United States, and the Iron
Molders Association of North America
an advance or 6 per cent in the wag
of the molders was agreed upon, ft'i
new scale Is to run for 21 months art'
affects ,W0 molders.
JAIL FOR HEARST
IS BUSSE'S PLAN
Wholesale Charges of
Libel in Chicago.
CLAIM FOR $400,000 DAMAGES
Fiercest Campaign in .City's
History Near End.
IMMENSE BAIL REQUIRED
Real Issues of Campaign Sink Amid
Flood of Defamatory Cartoons
"and 'Articles Settlement of
Traction Problem Involved.
CHICAGO. March 29. (Special.) The
most villainous municipal campaign In the
history of Chicago, which has had some
fierce campaigns heretofore, reached a
sensational stage, today,, when five suits
containing six distinct counts were pre
pared on "behalf of Frederick A. Busse,
Republican candidate for Mayor, againBt
William Randolph Hearst, charging him
with libel through defamatory articles
and cartoons . published .in. Hearst's Chi
cago papers. In each suit the amount of
damages is fixed at $25,000. It is intimated
tonight that additional suits may bring
the total damages asked up to J4O0.O00.
Hearst Is said to have started from New
York for Chicago today with a lot of law
yers. The plan is to intercept him at the
train tomorrow and get service upon him.
If he is unable to furnish ball immediate
ly he will be .hustled to. jail. Under the
laws of Illinois, a person sued for libel
must furnish bond for the amount sued
for, and Hearst, with all his Immense
wealth, may not have this sum ready or
be able to secure bondsme"n immediately.
This is the second libel suit growing out
of the campaign, which has been notori
ous for mudslinglng. Hearst has sued the
Tribune for S2.60ti.000 fof libel for its re
production of Secretary Root's speeches
against Hearst during the New York
Gubernatorial campaign.
Real Issues Lost Sight Of.
The real issues of the campaign, to wit,
the settlement of the traction problem
and who shall dispense the patronage,
have been lost sight of in the bitter per
sonal light, principally between Hearst
and the Tribune.' The Hearst papers are
the only ones supporting Mayor Dunne
for re-election. All other papers ' in the
city, regardless of political affiliations,
are for Busse and settlement of the trac
tion question!
If Busse shall be elected and the trac
tion ordinances accepted, it will eliminate
from the political Held the most fruitful
asset the Democrats have enjoyed for the
last ten or more years.
The workers of both parties have made
a thorough house-to-house canvass of the
H f: w it
Balance of $25,000 Needed for
vnrn A v xxr n t3;ia
ing Fund, and Unless It Is Sub-
scribed by Midnight, Project
Will Be Dropped. . t
' It. is imperative that subscrip
tions for the Y. M. -C. A.-Y. W.
C. A. building fund should all be
in today. There remains a bal
ance of $2o,000 that must be
raised by midnight, or the whole
project will fail. - Persons in
tending' to subscribe are request
ed to till in the blank published
on page 10 of this issue of The
Oregonian, and send it to Y. M.
C. A. headquarters, Fourth and
Yamhill streets. About $100,000
of the pledges made are condi
tional on the raising of the to
tal by tonight, and if the $350,
000 has not been rounded out be
fore Sunday, the 'whole enter
prise must be dropped. The so
licitors have exhausted all known
sources of revenue, and must de
pend on the general public to
subscribe the sum yet to be
raised. The committee ' will be
gin work early today, and will
not stop until midnight, unless
the fund meanwhile lias been
completed before that hour.
entire city, and tonight figures were of
fered which showed the election of both
the candidates by large majorities. To
day being Good Friday, there was a lull
in the campaign, but the fight will be
renewed tomorrow with force.
The Legislature at Springfield has ad
journed until the day after' the election,
so that the Chicago members can return
to their homes and get into the fight for
their respective candidates.
KEISKY COMPLETES DEFENSE
Answers Hughes' Demand for Re
moval as Superintendent,
ALBANY,. N. T., March 29.-Superin-tendent
Kelsey. of the State Insurance
Department, today finished his personal
statement to the judiciary committee of
the Senate, which has under considera
tion the special message of Governor
Hughes,' recommending Mr. Kelsey's re
moval from office on the grounds of un
fitness and incompetency.
The committee will meet in executive
session on Tuesday to consider the formal
request of Judge Hatch, Mr. Kelsey's
chief counsel, that subpenas be issued by
the committee for a number of witnesses,
presumably insurance officials.
Bryan Sptfalcs to Texans.
AUSTIN. Tex., March 2. W. J. Bryan
spoke tonight in the ball of the House of
Representatives on the Invitation of the
Texas Legislature, discussing National
DECLARE FOR THIRD TERM
Tennessee Representative Legislators
Appeal for Roosevelt's Nomination.
NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 29. The
Republican members of the Tennessee
Legislature in joint caucus tonight unani
mously adopted resolutions appealing to
Republicansthroughout the Nation to re
nominate Theodore Roosevelt for another
terra as President. The resolutions de
clare a re-nomination of Mr. Roosevelt
will not be for a third term, but his
second term,- which Is but a just recogni
tion of duty well performed.
CAN HE FILL IT ON TIME?
SGIITZ'S PLAN
TO DEFEAT HENEY
Aims to Prevent Killing
of Franchises.
TRIES TO BUY SUPERVISORS
Desperate Scheme to Prevent
Revocation.
CUNNING LETTER SENT OUT
Protests Against Forfeiture of the
Rights Obtained by Bribery.
Spreekels Ready to Complete
Purging of the City.
SAN FRANCISCO, March 29. (Special.)
Mayor Schmltz has opened negotiations
with certain members of the boodling
Board of Supervisors in the hope of con
summating a bold coup. The plan of the
Mayor Is to purchase the resignation of
enough members of the board to make his
veto power sufficient to prevent the re
vocation of the franchises of the big
corporations which obtained their permits
through the illegal use of money. '
It requires 14 members of the board to
override the Mayor's veto. If, he can
secure the resignation of five out of the
18 he will be able to check by his veto
any of their reform measures adopted
under the swish of F. J. Heney'a big
stick. It is a desperate game, doomed to
failure almost' at the outset.
Mysterious Letters Sent Out.
As a part of thl9 general plan, mys
terious letters, purporting to be signed
by fraternal orders, have been sent to the
savings banks of the city, protesting
against any such radical procedure as the
forfeiture of the franchises. In the let
ters it is stated that any action would
be followed by financial panic The let
ter is writfen very carefully.'.as though
prompted by a genuine desire to TH-event
trouble in the financial channels of the
city. Obviously, however, the letter is a
corporation ruse, to work up sentiment
against the cancellation of the telephone
and trolley franchises.
Grafters Turn Reformers.
The "reformed" Board of Supervisors,
acting under the direction of the District
Attorney's office, gave another startling
exhibition today of a desire to be good,
when it made plans for the abolition of a
soore -of ornamental officials. James
Devoto. attorney for the Board of Pub
lic Works at a salary of $250 a month,
will be decapitated this week. Other of
ficials, who under the Ruef regime, have
done nothing but draw salaries, will be
dropped. In the course of the next few
weeks reforms will have been instituted
which will save the city $100,000 a year.
It is a most unusual condition, a Dood
ling board turned reformers. More-
. !
1
over, they are not ordinary reformers,
but intend to sweep the decks of corrup
tion with a broadside.
Grand Jury's Work Today.
When the grand jury meets tomorrow,
it will resume the hearing of the tele
phone cases and clear the way for the
trolley and gas trust bribery cases. The
law department of the United Railways
will come in for a most searching inves
tigation. In the gas cases the names of Superin
tendent Samuel Napthaly and President
William Bourne will figure. Bourne is
one of the wealthiest men in San Fran
cisco, and hts family is one of the most
prominent In the social world.
IIOW SCHMITZ AVOCLD WORK IT
Cunning Scheme to Save Bribers.
More Indictments Next Week.
SAN FRANCISCO, March 29. No meet
ing of the grand Jury being held today, a
pause was given In the bribery graft in
vestigation, so far as official action was
concerned., Tomorrow the grand Jury
expects to conclude, at least temporarily.
Its investigations Into the alleged bribery
of 18 Supervisors by the Pacific States
and Home Telephone Companies, to
which, according to the prosecution, 17
of the 38 have already confessed. The in
vestigation of this subject has resulted
in the indictment of various corporation
officials and several members of the mu
nicipal administration. It is the under
standing that no more indictments will
be returned this week.
Ruef's bankers have been directed to
appear before the body and bring their
books to show the banking of Ruef's
money. He did business with four banks
and the cashier of each of these is under
subpena to tell the grand jury how much
money Ruef put on deposit about the time
that the Los Angeles men came to this
city bearing the sack of gold. Detective
Burns and Assistant District Attorney
Heney intend to go into this phase of the
investigation thoroughly and they say
the results will be satisfactory.
On 'Monday the grand jury expects to
resume Its investigation of the alleged
bribery of Supervisors in the granting
of trolley franchises to the United Rail
roads, and the trial of Abraham Ruef
on the French restaurant extortion cases
is scheduled for resumption Tuesday.
Should Assistant District Attorney Heney
desire to go ahead with Ihe bribery in
vestigations instead of with the trial of
Ruef, the latter may be again postponed.
A sensational statement was given out
today by Special Agent William J. Burns
and other members of the prosecution,
to the effect that Mayor Schmitz is des
perately trying to force the resignation
of five of the Supervisors, so as to defeat
an alleged .intention of the board to
revoke certain of the public service fran
chises which, the prosecution alleges,
were secured by bribing the board.
The board of Supervisors is composed of
IS men. 16 of whom (as the personnel now
stands) are in the list of alleged con
fessors. One of these, Sanderson, is
absent for an indefinite time. He is
mortally ill. Two others, Tveitmoe and
O'Neill, were appointed long after the
dubious franchises were granted. This
situation 4eaves 15 Supervisors aligned, or
one more than necessary to override any
veto by the Mayor. The statement of the
prosecution is that 14 of these are pre
pared to revoke the San Francisco fran
chises alluded to and that the Mayor,
backed by the corporations which are
formally accused ef wholesale bribery,
(Concluded on Page 3.)
CONTENTS TODAY'S PAPER
The Weather.
YESTERDAY'S Maximum temperature. 34
decrees; minimum. 41.
TODAY'S Light showers; southwesterly
winds.
Oraft in San Francisco.
Bold scheme of Schmitz to save franchises
obtained by bribery. Page 1.
Spreekels guarantees cost of inquiry and
prosecuton of. guilty. Page 1.
Ruef . to He killed If rescue Is attempted.
Page 1.
Foreign.
Secret negotiations of France with Vatican
exposed. Page - 2.
Baby Prince expected in Spain very soon.
Pajye 2.
French troops welcomed by Moors at Oudja.
Page 4.
Roumanian revolt quiets down. Page 2.
National.
Estimated increase in population in six
years. Page. 4.. (
Officer in doubt who began Brownsville
shooting. Page S.
President calls election In Philippines. Pag
8.
Politics.
Chicago Republican candidate sues Hearst
for libel and proposes to put him in jail.
Page 1.
Tennessee Republican legislators propose
Roosevelt for third ' term. Page 1.
Bryan defines policy ' toward railroads. Page
3.
Domestic.
H ask in on waterways of United States. Page
1.
Lunacy commission on Thaw calls doctors
to testify and will report Monday. Pae '2.
Dfeath' list in Col ton wreck; trying to fix
blame. Page 4. i
Famine predicted if railroad men strike;
action awaits raedlatorspage 1.
Clew to lost Marvin boy. Page 3.
Southern Pacific sued for cruelty to cattle.
Page 4.
Pacific Coast.
State becomes party to Dunbar suit de
manding return of fees. Page 6.
Man kicks cougar in the dark In mistake for
a dog. Page 8.
Name of ex-Governor Steunenberg drawn
into Idaho land-fraud cases. Page 13.
Wild man is being chased by Lane County
- posse. Page 6.
Portland and Vicinity.
Councilman Masters lias removed from the
Fifth Ward, but has not resigned seat
in Council. Page 11.
Pugilistic married women appear in Police
Court. Page 12.
City campaign at St. Johns closes tonight.
Page 12- .
Federated Trades may order boycott of the
Oaks amusement resort as a strike meas
ure to aid the Carmen's Union. Page 10.
T. M. C. A- building solicitors must raise
$25,000 today or fall. Page 10.
Commercial and Marine.
Review of sugar market. Page J 7.
Active trading In stocks at New York. Page
17.
Favorable features in industrial world. Page
11.
Bad pumps and piping were responsible for
trouble to Coquille River. Page 17.
CANALS - NATION'S
CHIEF RELIANCE
Advantage in Cost Over
Railroads.
VAST TONNAGE OF WATERWAYS
Big Cities Grown Up Through
"Soo" Canal.
REVIVAL OF CANAL DIGGING
Cot of Traffic by Vessol Only One.
Third That by Rail Water Should
Carry the Heavy and Hall
the Light Goods.
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIX.
WASHINGTON, March 24. (Special
Correspondence.) Internal transportation
in the United States, like ancient Gaul,
Is divided into three parts. These are
country roads and pikes, canals and
natural waterways and railroads. To the
optimistic student of commercial prob
lems, each of these methods is of equal
Importance and should be so regarded by
a wise and benevolent government when
it chooses to. make concessions or dis
tribute favors. But to the majority of
people the dirt roads over which the
farmer must always wagon his grain or
cotton or the lumberman carry his Mffs,
are a matter of small consideration, and
the canals and rivers are of interest only
to those whose territory they cross. It is
the railroads that are looked upon as
the steel-bound dependency when goods
are to be sent or a distant place visited.
Water Traffic Still Supreme.
Yet the railroad traffic of the 21o,00
miles of operated roads In the United'
States is only twice as great per ton
mile as that of the Internal waterways,
including the great lakes. The United
States exports annually to foreign ports
21,000.000 tons of domestic merchandise of
a value approximating $1,200,000,000, yet
this tonnage is less than the amount that
goes though the Detroit River In the-
eight months that it is open .to traffic;
is hardly half as much as 'that carried
by the Hudson River: is less than that
which passes down the Mississippi Val
ley, and is only three times as great as
that of the Monongahela, which Is
classed as a "slack-water'- stream.
Henry Clay opposed the granting of
land for the opening of the Sault Sainte .
Marie Canal, because it was "beyond the
pale of civilization," yet the cities of
Duluth, Superior, Ishpeming, Marquette
and Ashland exist because it is a realHjt. -It
carried last year a total net JLpnna
of about 25,000,000 tons. About li'oW v i
sels passed through, taking eastward 20. -t
000,000 tons of wheat, 30.000,000 tons of
other grain and 500.000 tons . of merchan-
dise. Including copper and lumber. Dur
ing the eight months of the year that
It is not ice-locked the "Soo" has a traf
fic equal to three times that of the Suez
Canal, ten times that of Manchester, and
eight times that of Kiel.
. Costs One-Third Kail Haul.
It hf said that, if this system of trans
portation were, abolished, the cities it
built would Immediately die, because no
system of railways could . handle the
enormous amount of products from the
forests, mines and farms that depend
upon It. Even if the ralways had the
necessary tracks, the price would de
crease the profit and the opportunities
for growth. The cost of transportation
by canal is only one-third of that by
railway, and In open water it is even
less. Jt is figured that with' proper canal
facilities connecting the navigable in
land streams, the Nation could- save 68
per cent on the present cost of trans
portation. Think what such a saving.,
would mean to the people of this country.
When consul-General Mason Investi
gated the question of transportation in
Germany, he declared that under ideal
conditions a nation would see that its
raw materials, such as coal, ores, timber,
stone, cotton, grain and crude materials,
were carried by. waterways, as haste , was
not so necessary, while the perishables,
smaller packages and passengers should
be carried by railroad. He argued that
the one method of transportation should
supplement, not supplant, the other. The
value of a farm or mine or a forest is
based not only on what It will produce
for its owners, but also on the cost of
transporting those products, the nearness
of railroads and canals figuring largely In
the estimate. Hauling overland by teams
costs per ton for one mile 25 cents, on
railroads 7.2 cents, by canals 2.4, and
by lakes less than a mill a mile. The
Pennsylvania Railroad's charges of 17
cents per ton-mile were probably the '
highest we have ever had.
Comparative Cost of Freight.
In comparison with . this the rates by
boat are ridiculously small. A train must
be loaded rapidly and often the cars are
not full; a boat or ship is not so pushed
for time and invariably carries a full
cargo. A ship costs one-fifth as much
as a train of cars equal to its carrying
capacity, it lasts longer and its running
expenses are much less. At last ac
counts the average cost of moving freight
In the United States per ton-mile was
J.522 by railway (exclusive of the cost of
manugement. structure, etc.): by steamer
on the Great Lakes it was J.136. and on
the canals a trifle more than the last, a
difference that will be minimized when
steam motive power is used. Boats carry- ,
Ing 2700 tons go from Duluth to Buffalo
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