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streams, capable of development. "Within this territory some _ 15,000 miles of rivers have been actually navi- gated and considered worthy of improvement by congress. There are some 7,500 miles of trunk streams, like the Mississippi to St. Paul, Ohio to Pittsburg, Cumberland to Nash- ville, Tennessee to Chattanooga, the Missouri, the Arkansas, and the Red; and. some 7,500 miles of tributaries. Judging by the tributary streams which are listed in the state of Illinois, the mileage can be readily multiplied by three. "Passing eastward maritime territory, the conditions are very different. This region is sub- divided into four divisions or com- partments. To the north is New Eng- land with 66,000 square miles distinct and apart. Next is the New York Bay province of 84,090 square 'miles, embrac- ing New York, New Jersey, and Pennsyl- vania, which constitutes the natural link for transportation between the west and the north Atlantic seaboard. Through this, by way of the state of New York, must pass a great future ship canal from the Mississippi valley and the great lakes to the north At- lantic coast. "Next is the Chesapeake Bay sys- tem of some 100,000 square miles, em- bracing Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina--a distinct entity, and almost isolated in its waterway possibilities, from connection with the west. To the to the Atlantic south is the south Atlantic compart-_ ment and some 125,000 square miles, em- bracing South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, and through these a link to the seaboard will some time be opened from the Tennessee river by way of Atlanta and northern Georgia, "Through a remarkable development of bays and sounds it is possible to connect the lower reaches of the river systems and thus produce a connected development for a portion of this area, but the rivers generally soon reach a high altitude. as they ap- proach the mountains, and the Atlantic maritime territory is not susceptible of any proportional development to that of the Mississippi valley. "T wish now to call your attention to some matters in connection with railroad briefly. "In the last ten years transportation on the railroads in the United States, in ton miles, has increased about 117 per cent, or has more than doubled. The actual increase in mileage has been about 20 per cent. The density of traffic, that is the tons carried over each mile, has increased about 50 per cent and perhaps 50 per cent of the ' i transportation, yet very "TAE MarRINE. REVIEW increase is due to new mileage. The number of tons transported, however, has increased less than 50 per cent; it was June 30, 1904, about 611,000,000 tons, as against about 416,000,000 tons ten years before; that is for the total freight originating on all the railroads considered as one system. : "The rates have not changed very much in the last ten years. They have run along at about 0.78 of a cent per ton mile, considering the railroad systems as a whole. "Of the commodities carried by rail, 52 per cent is the product of mines, 40 per cent of which being coal and' the remainder ores, building materials and like products. "The effect of a waterway system will be to largely relieve the railways of those coarse freights of low value, the cost of which will be reduced to the consumer by probably one-half. This leaves to the railways the more profitable, high-class freight, and the express, mail and passenger business. If we were to devote $100,000,000 a year to the construction of a water- way system we may well believe that no injury would result to*the railway system, as the growth of commerce in recent years has been far greater than the facilities which could be pro- vided. "James J. Hill, in his speech before the Commercial Association very re- cently, took the pains to observe that the growth of traffic in this country was so enormous that it would be im- possible in the next ten years for the trunk lines going east to carry it with- out building new lines and increasing their terminal facilities' enormously; and I think we can look to a Aime when it will be impossible for the railroads, on account, of the. cost. of the increased facilities which they must provide to lower their rates. In other words, they come to a point, as in the telephone system, where the cost of doing the business increases with the number of subscribers, and I think rail- way rates, especially in the forwarding business, will ultimately reach such condition that no radical reduction can be looked for, "Tf all the railway capital were to be eliminated today, we would not be able to reduce rates below the cost of operation and maintenance, and which amounts to 66 per cent of the total receipts. If we take the cost of re- producing the railway system at one- half the present capital account, it would not be feasible to reduce the average rate by more than one-sixth. Such results are all that it is possible to effect by any legislation based on proper capitalization and ing the passengers. a reason--- 19 able return, or on public ownership. So we must regard a waterway sys- tem as an absolute need of the future, with its growth of population and densification of traffic, and the devel- opment of resources in the coarser products." ; INTERNATIONAL FERRIES. It would seem that international steam ferries are destined to play an important part in the intercourse be- tween certain nations, and that they materially tend to facilitate and in- crease the traffic. The most striking example of this respect is probably the Danish-German steam ferry connec-. tion, Gedser-Warnemunde, across the Baltic, in which four large steam ferry boats, two Danish and two German, are engaged.. The Imperial German postal department in a recent report points to the vast importance of this ferry traffic as far as the three Scandi- navian countries and Germany are con- cerned, and, indeed, the whole conti- nent. The mail carriages go now di- rect from Berlin to Copenhagen, and the officials can consequently work un- interruptedly the whole way. The sleeping cars are very well patronized, and passengers can now go to bed in | Copenhagen and awake in Berlin, and vice versa, just as is the case with ° the Hamburg - Copenhagen traffic, where the sleening cars are taken across the two belts on steam ferries, as a rule, without in the least disturb- The ferry con- nection is, however, of still greater, im- portance for the goods traffic. On one day early in December last 126,- ooo fresh fish were despatched to Ger- 'many from Norway and Sweden in through cars, via Gedser-Warnemun- de. A steam ferry connection across -- the channel would open out immense possibilities for increased traffic be- tween England and the continent. In Sweden a special committee has been appointed to investigate and report on the - proposed Swedish-German steam ferry 'connection (by way of Trelle- borg-Sossnitz, on the Island of Pugen, or Trelleborg-Barhoft, on the conti- nent, some 10 miles north of Stral- sund), and a committee has also been formed in Berlin. The expenditure will be considerable, and Germany does not seem altogether disposed to undertake the necessary disburse- ments; still the town of Stralsund is much interested in the latter route, which would necessitate the building of a railway from Barhoft to the town. This route will also be cheaper, and will probably be some 1% hours shorter.