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448 with the Choctawhatchie bay, but the report was unfavorable, owing to lack of commerce in that vicinity. Event- ually, it is expected this connection will be made. The country in that region is fast building up, and com- merce growing. It will not be long before Pensacola will have access by water to the coal and iron fields of Alabama. Barges on Black Warrior River At present, barges, each having 1,- 000 tons capacity, self-propelled, are being operated from the Black War- rior region of Alabama, down the riv- ers to Mobile bay, thence along the Mississippi sound, Lake Borgne, Lake Porgne canal, and the Mississippi riv- er to New Orleans. An immense sav- ing of freight is assured on coal and iron handled by these barges. Here we have an illustration of what the improvement in inland waterways means. The heavy, bulky freight can be transported much more cheaply by water than by rail, and the railways have no grounds of complaint by reason of the competition, because in the first place they have all they can do to handle the quick-moving freight, which is at the 'same time most remunerative. The barges men- tioned will make the trip from the mine region of northern Alabama to New Orleans in 72 hrs., and it is in- tended to build a fleet of fifteen barges for this service, expecting that coal will be moved into New Orleans at the rate of 50,000 tons a month. These barges are being built by the Alabama & New Orleans Transporta- tion €o., "which 'controls the 'Lake Borgne canal. The shipyard is lo- cated about 12 miles below New Or- leans, when the canal empties into the Mississippi. They are propelled by twin screws, driven by twin engines, and have a speed of approximately 7 miles an hour, when fully loaded. They are of steel construction and similar to those used on the canals of © "Helland, being. 240° ft long, 32° ft. wide on deck, 28 ft. at the bottom. Waste coke from the ovens of the Birmingham district is the fuel used by which gas for the engines is fur- nished by 150 H. P. producer. Only three men for each barge are required to operate them. Similar barges could be used on the inland routes anywhere, and they can be moved in 30 in. of water, and 7 ft. gives ample depth for them fully loaded. These barges have moved outside from Mo- bile around into Santa Rosa sound, and to St. Andrew's, but in such cases they have to wait for good weather, as navigation in the open gulf is more or less uncertain and risky for them. to express the main THE MARINE REVIEW It is given as a fundamental phys- ical fact that the amount of power required to move a ton on the rail- road is fifteen times as great as the amount required to move the same weight on a boat. This fact alone would account for inherent cheapness of water transportation. It is the fact that development of commerce and industry will inevitably follow im- provement of waterway, if it is given a fair chance. The illustration of the use of the waterways mentioned, in itself proves that waterways furnish the cheapest possible transportation, 'and this is the chief reason for their construction. If further illustration is needed to establish the advantages of waterway improvement, one only need look at the map and note that the greatest cities, the densest popu- lations, the most prosperous trial regions, are located on or near waterways. Railroad transportation alone, while of the greatest impor- tance, will never cause to be built any city of the size and extent possible fOr ttc 11 it had, in addition; tkans- portation by water. Factors in the Nation's Progress There are three essential elements of growth. There are three moving causes for prosperity. First; produc- tion; second, distribution; third, regu- lation. We sometimes name _ the three great supports of our institu- tions,--the three pillars of a nation's strength, as agriculture, commerce and labor. It is somewhat a question of terminology as to the words to use idea. In con- nection with waterways we deal chief- ly with distribution, which includes commerce. There are two means of distribution--(a) by land; (b) by water. We need them both. Neither is absolutely complete. by _ itself. Neither supplies all the needs of the country. In the first place, we need competition between the two. Such competition as would be wholesome, regulative, and prevent monopoly. In the next place, certain 'articles of freight, such as do not have to reach markets in a hurry, such as bulky and less remunerative freights, should be more economically transported by water. The producers, the manufac- turers, those engaged in industries and the consumers, are all entitled to have the cheapest possible transporta- tion, because the expense of trans- portation adds no little to the cost of the articles. consumed. The problem of economical distribution is not yet solved in this country. It is one of the problems that is in process of so- lution, and the sooner it' is solved, the better. Take for instance, the indus- and the like. 'December, 1913 value of farm products annually on the farms. Government reports show that last year these products were worth on the farms $9,500,000,000. It is fair to assume that one-third of them were consumed by the farmers. The. value then on the farms of the products going to market, was, in round numbers, $6,000,000,000. The Item of Distribution It is estimated that the consumers paid for these products $13,000,000,- 000; in other words, the consumers paid $7,000,000,000 more than the producers got. Of course not all this, nor perhaps a majority part of this went for transportation. In addition to that item, there was waste all along the line, and there was the cost of distribution, profits of middlemen These various elements entering into the item of distribution from the farm to the breakfast table are items which need very careful looking after. Some of them can be reduced, some of them can be elimi- nated, all of them can be made more advantageous, to the end that the producer will get more for his prod- uct, and the consumer pay less. -1 submit that sound economies and real progress call loudly for reform in these directions. It may be suggested that the canals and inland waterways may not be sufficiently useful, nor sufficiently jus- tified by available and possible com- merce, to cause us to enthuse greatly over their construction. My conten- tion is that these inland waterways will not only afford a means of trans- portation for local traffic, but when connected up, they will provide for the long haul practically from the Mexican to the Canadian borders. We need them, first, for the local service; second, they will be used to move | commodities to market which at pres- ent 'are tequited to wait: for a long while before a ship's cargo is com- pleted at some deep water port; third, the waterway would be useful in as- sembling cargoes at shipping points for large vessels. There should, of course, be a: connecting system, if possible, so that a barge might start at the Rio Grande, proceed along the gulf and then up the Atlantic coast, either into the great lakes, or further north. The barges can be operated at very little cost, only small crews being required, and moving night and day they could deliver freight about as quickly as the railway trains. Even where the inland waterways are not connected into a complete system, the various lines are valuable as afford- ing means of getting products to mar- ket, and of moving products to points