Identifier: cu31924004640995 Title: The American transportation problem; a study of American transportation conditions, with a view to ascertaining what policy Americans should adopt in order to effectively meet existing conditions and be prepared to continue to lead the nations in the march of progress and civilization Year: 1909 ( 1900s) Authors: Peyton, John Howe Subjects: Transportation Inland navigation Railroads Publisher: Louisville, Ky., Courier-Journal Job Printing Company Contributing Library: Cornell University Library Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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Text Appearing Before Image: 7 tons of freight—thisin spite of a tremendous (many-fold) increase in population andwealth throughout the territory bordering on the lakes; and in spiteof the fact that toll rates, through the canal, which were twentycents per ton in 1884, were reduced until, in 1903, all toll chargeswere abolished. Traffic on all other canals and rivers of less than 155 twenty-foot depth, in the United States has, when exposed to compe-tition with better and more modern transportation facilities, dimin-ished to insignificant proportions, or been wholly abandoned, exceptunder such conditions as are mentioned on page 155. The millions ofdollars that were expended upon them have produced only monumentsto human shortsightedness—of no more practical use than the Egyp-tian pyramids, but much more unsightly. The Hennepin Canal, seven feet deep and eighty feet wide, recentlycompleted, between Rock Island, on the Mississippi River, and Hen-nepin, on the Illinois River, seems to be a monument to something

Text Appearing After Image: HENNEPIN CANAL, OR ILLINOIS AND MISSISSIPPI CANAL.LINING AQUEDUCT NO. 8 WITH CONCRETE. The canal is SO feet wide, 7 feet d«ep, and was recently completed at acost of $7,446,746. Worthless and must be abandoned. far worse than mere shortsightedness and stupidity. In a speech madebefore the House of Representatives, on January 31, 1907, CongressmanBurton, Chairman of the Rivers and Harbors Committee (see Con-gressional Record, Volume 41, Part Three, 58th Congress, 2d session,pages 2030-2031), said of it: I remember that about sixteen years ago there was an agitationhere for the Hennepin Canal—a canal across Illinois. There was justthe same airy nonchalance and contempt for expert knowledge. Itwas stated that we ought to leave it to business men—a very vague,indefinite statement. What is a business man? There are manydifferent qualities of business men. Is he a boomer, who wantsmoney sp9nt in his locality? There was some questioning of motives 156 and abuse of whoever stood in its w

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