RAILWAY V. WATER CARRIAGE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 3115, 2 July 1892, Page 2 (Supplement)

RAILWAY V. WATER CARRIAGE.

A canal scheme, having for its object the J cheaper transport of goods between Wai- i k.'ito anil Auckland, haa boon thought nut, and often discussed by our energetic townnlr.iin, Mr W. A. Graham. Msiuy havo doubtless pooh-poohed the idea ; chiefly on account of the first cost, but also in the full btilief, that in the: test of competition, the iron horse, with its promptitude and speed conld always jutrival the slower moving bargo. Lot us hear what an American authority says on the matter:—" New York may possibly, for a generation or two to come, reninin the ci-ntry nl American finance and luxury, but the great metvop ilis of the future will .assuredly b« one of tho Western cities, and in r<ll probably Chicago. Several schemes have benn projected—all, howovcr, more or less in the nature of ship railways—by which vb.irrlr of large draught cm be brought through thn comparatively shallow ways that, sopaiutti tho Rreat lakes and rivers; but there is also a simultaneous and very determined effort to furce Congross to deepen thoso ways to a point that shall practically open them to the navigation of the world. It is perfectly practical, at a relatively lnw expnnsu, to irive the lake cities, by way of the Erie Canal, a 21ft. channel all the way to the sea. Of course the railroad interests will do their best to delay the work, but as against the clearly expressed wish of the people of the West they will be absolutely powerless. It is in this direction, too, that will probably be found a solution of what is now the most threatening menace to financial confidence—the discontent of the farmers. At the best, railway service is terribly expensive. From Duluth to Buffalo, for example, Idol, on the lakes will do in the matter of transportation what it takes 2Gdol. to do on the best managed railway. On the Erie Canal, even with the present system of small barges, carriage is, on the average, 2-10ths of a cent, per ton a mile, while the average railroad rate under the most intense competition, is a little more than double. During the last ten years, between Chicago and New York, railroads and canals have a never-ceasing rivalry, and for wheat the railroad rate has sunk in that time from 42 to 14 cents, a bushel, and the water rate from 25 to ■ 4.55-100 th cents. The effect of the whaleback Bteamere, however, has not been fully felt, and we know that last season their fleet showed only an average expenditure of one-third of an ounce of coal per ton mile, as against the average steamship rate hitherto of one ounce per ton mile."