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24 MARINE REVIEW AND MARINE RECORD. IMPROVING THE ERIE CANAL. The farmers of New York state are riding in Pullman cars to attend meetings which are held in opposition to the enlarge- ment of the Erie canal. Who is paying the bill? The farmer is not to be blamed for riding in Pullman cars. It isn't often that he gets the chance to ride free and his native thrift would prevent him from riding when he had to pay. But who is paying the bill? Surely no merchant is putting his hand in his pocket for any such purpose. The man in the street isn't paying it. Nor is the expense incurred by whoever is contracting it for philanthropic motives or for the purpose of giving the farmer a good time. There is an ulterior motive in assembling the farmers in Pull- man cars for the purpose of denouncing the enlargement of the Erie canal. There is no doubt whatever but that the railways are footing the bills. They are the only ones who have a real inter- est in the defeat of the proposed improvement. They imagine that the improvement of the canal will hurt the railways. In point of fact it won't hurt the railways at all, but it is useless to. expect a railway man to believe that. He will go on fighting the project anyhow. Nevertheless the Review is convinced that the improvement of the canal would be a direct benefit even to the railways because it cannot see how a new and adequate ave- nue. of transportation can do anything other than benefit a whole community. The canal will only be used for the transfer of bulk articles of freight, leaving the package business entirely to the railways, while the natural growth of every industry, stimulated by. a cheap avenue of transportation, will greatly increase the business of the railway. Ata recent meeting of New York state grangers, where everything was cut and dried and where the special orators were everlastingly lambasting the Erie 'canal project, Capt: Newell Cheney of Poland Center, a venerable granger, profoundly astonished the gathering by speaking earn- estly in advocacy of the canal: .He said: ee "This canal saved the union; it carried free whites to the productive states of the west instead of slave labor up the Mis- sissippi; it developed the state of New York; it produced great cities which are the real markets for the agriculturists of Chau- tauqua. It is the duty of. the grangers to favor the adoption of any method that will result in the reduction of freight rates. The doubling of the traffic on the great lakes since 1890 shows that it is inherently cheaper to transport freight on a deepened body of water than by railroads. It is better for the grangers of , Chautauqua courity to make Buffalo a city of miliions of inhabi- tants than to aid in the growth of a metropolis hundreds of miles away. Why? Because Buffalo is only 70 miles from Chautau- qua, and hence a smaller portion of the farmers' products are absorbed in transportation charges. Comparatively speaking, the cost of this will be nominal. On an assessed valuation of $6,000,000,000 it will only cost $1.30 for interest, sinking fund and operating expenses upon every thousand dollars of assessed valuation. More and more the cities will be compelled to pay tliat tax. Just within recent months the state board has decreased Chautauqua county's equalization by $8,000,000. But even if this canal should not benefit Chautauqua di- tectly, I should still favor its enlargement as a citizen of the Empire state, and as one who participated in the war for the preservation of the union. It is the boys from the farms that conduct the great business enterprises today in the cities. Your children will in turn come to these cities in large numbers. Thus every time we aid in the development of these cities through the construction of a larger waterway, we are preparing a better field of endeavor for thé boys and girls born on the farms of the state. -. Gov. Odell of New York has come out distinctly and em- phatically in favor of the enlargement of the Erie canal and is urging the electors to vote for the measure this fall. At a recent meeting in Buffalo he said: > There are two questions of importance to be determined by the people before reaching a decision upon this state problem. 'Does there exist a necessity for the canals today? And, second- ly, will the proposed expenditure add to the burdens of taxation? That there has been a steady decline in canal traffic is beyond question, and were our people to consider alone the cheapness of food' products or the handling of freight from the west, we might well decide against the improvements. But commerce brings with it those agencies which are necessary for the em- ployment of our people. In these days when competition in' the business world is so pronounced, the cost of handling the raw material is one of the most important factors of trade. What: ever, therefore, can in any way reduce this cost will attract to our state manufacturing and commercial interests. It needs no words to demonstrate the fact that upon the correct solution of this question depends much of our future economic and manu- facturing success. "There are ports upon the lakes whose tonnage rivals that of many ports of the world. The prosperity of many manufac- turing centers depends upon the ability possessed by them to handle cheaply. the iron ore which comes from the famous mines of Minnesota. More and more the demand grows for the prod- uct of the furnace. Steel buildings have supplanted our earlier structures. Railroads need more steel and iron in the: con- struction of cars than do the navies of the world. Everywhere are indications of growing demands which will necessitate the erection of additional furnaces and rolling mills. With them 'come other factors to make use of the iron products in all 'lines of trade. If, therefore, out of this future,.New. York.can hold [Sept. 17, but her share we would be justified in providing the ways and means to meet and participate in the prosperous future. "Of course, in the treatment of this question by the state we should eliminate all consideration of a direct profit to it by reason of the operation of the canal. Ina recent trip through the west, 1 was shown a lock on the Columbia river which had cost the fed. eral government over $1,000,000 to construct. Yet the tonnage which passed through it daily was so small that it could almost be disregarded as a factor. Small as it was, however, it stood not as a menace to the railroads, but served to check excessive charges or unnecessary delay, and was thus_a direct benefit to every shipper along the banks of the river. So, too, in our state there can be no question that while water facilities cannot per- haps be expected to become a competitor of the railroads to the extent of material injury, yet improved waterways will certainly prevent the discrimination which foreign railroad corporations at present practice against the port of New York. "Tf nothing else, therefore, comes as a result of this improve- ment than this, it would be better for our people as well as for the railroads which have been incorporated under the laws of our state. This solution of the question of discrimination certainly is fairer to our own corporations, because the power of the legis- lature to regulate charges is confined alone to those to which the state has given life. Whatever, therefore, may be accomplished upon this line alone is worthy of your consideration even if no greater tonnage should result from increased facilities upon the canal itself. Both parties pledged the submission of this propo- sition to the people of the state. One proposed to pay for the same by a direct tax, while the party to which I owe my al. legiance, pledged itself to provide the necessary funds from other sources. . hs : 3 "The question which is before you for approval, or disap- proval, provides that the whole cost of the improvement shall be met in eighteen years, and that for each ten millions of cost, twelve one-thousandths of a mill annual tax shall be imposed. This would make the total tax rate for this purpose under these conditions 1.212 mills. But it is proposed to extend the time of payment to fifty years by a constitutional amendment to be sub- mitted in 1905, which if accepted, will call for an annual sinking fund of about $4,200,000. This upon a valuation of $6,000,000,000 would call for a tax rate of seven-tenths of a mill. In other words, upon each $1,000 of valuation it would amount to 70 cents annually. But even this small sum will be unnecessary if the pledge for revenues from so-called indirect sources is re- deemed by those who have made it a party promise. If, how- ever, there is a well-defined opinion that this improvement is un- necessary, even this small tax should not be levied. But before reaching a conclusion you should study well every phase of the question. The legislature and the executive have performed their part of the preliminary work and it is now for you to weigh well every aspect of the case. "Upon your decision rests the future of the canal system of this state. If this measure be disapproved it means its abandon- ment in the future--that. is, practically so, except in so far as it be of service for avery limited use between localities under very disadvantageous conditions. It is not my purpose to en- deavor to unduly influence your minds because I believe that is without my province. But in thus presenting some of the many features which are involved I trust that your attention may be directed more seriously to the consideration of this important problem. Above all, do not' permit prejudice or chicanery to bias your minds, but weigh well every phase and study well the importance of the question because on your determination may depend results which are of momentous importance to the people of our state and nation." ERIE CANAL ESTIMATES AMPLE In the current issue of the Railroad Gazette Mr. Edward P. North, an engineer of prominence, has an article in which he maintains that the enlargement of the Erie canal cannot be se- cured for $101,000,000, but that.it will cost approximately $50,- 000,000 more. -In the course of his article he says: "The history of canal construction and canal improvements justify me in the prediction that the proposed barge canal will not be completed for less than $150,000,000." In support of this assertion a comparison of the engineer's estimated costs with the actual costs in nine instances is given: Percent- age of cost over Engineer's Actual engineer's estimate. cost. estimate. Wrie canal, original;;.... 2.0%. $ 4,926,738 $ 7,143,789 45 Erie. canal: enlargement.....:;.. 23,402,863 36,495,535 56 Cayuga-Setieca canal ......-... ~ 811,188 1,306,542 61 Cova inlet ie... eat. 150,000 214,000 43 ewes Gael 0 2. tsie.). 227,000 565,437 149 Oswego enlargement .......... 1,926,336 2,925,513 52 Crooked Lake canal.i......... 119,198 333,287 180 Chenango: canal: 22. 2} elie. 1,960,450 2,782,124 42 Black River canal and imprv.... 1,068,437 3,224,779 202 $34,502,210 $54,991,006 59 The attention of Col. T. W. Symons, government engineer at present -stationed at Washington, who was a member of the New York committee.on canals, was directed to Mr. North's contention