SOUTHERN branch;
UNIVERSITY OF CAL1F0RNIA»
LIBRARY.
\LOS ANGItL ES, GAM&
h
60th Congress I qtj'mat'v I JJocumext
IstSemon i fe-b.JNAlJ<. ^ No. 325
PRELIMINARY REPORT
OF THE
INLAND WATERWAYS
COMMISSION
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF
THE UNITED STATES, TRANSMITTING
A PRELIMINARY REPORT OF THE
INLAND WATERWAYS COMMISSION
32'
r- r\ r
February 26, 1908. — Read; referred to the Committee on
Commerce and ordered to be printed with illustrations
WASHINGTON -:- GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE -:- 1908
MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith a preliminary report from the Inland Water-
ways Commission, which was appointed hy me last March in response
to a widespread interest and demand from the j^eople. The basis of
tliis demand lay in the general and admitted inahility of the rail-
roads to handle promptly the traffic of the country, and especially
the crops of the previous fall.
Tliis report is well worth your attention. It is thorough, con-
servative, sane, and just. It represents the mature judgment of a
body of men exceptionally quahfied, by personal experience and
knowledge of conditions throughout the United States, to under-
stand and discuss the great problem of how best to use our water-
ways in the interest of all the people. Unusual care has been taken
to secure accuracy and balance of statement. If the report errs at
all it is by over-conservatism. It contains findings or statements of
fact, a number of specific recommendations, and an account of
inquiries still in progress, and it is based in part on statistics and
other information contained in a voluminous appendix. The sub-
ject with which it deals is of critical importance both to the present
and the future of our country.
Our river systems are better adapted to the needs of the people
than those of any other country. In extent, distribution, naviga-
bility, and ease of use, they stand first. Yet the rivers of no other
civilized country are so poorly developed, so little used, or play so
small a part in the industrial life of the nation as those of the United
States. In view of the use made of rivers elsewhere, the failure to
use our own is astonishing, and no thoughtful man can believe that
it will last. The accompanying report indicates clearly the reasons
for it and the way to end it.
The Commission finds that it was unregulated railroad competi-
tion which prevented or destroyed the development of commerce
on our inland waterways. The Mississippi, our greatest natural high-
way, is a case in point. At one time the traffic upon it was without
a rival in any country. The report shows that commerce was driven
from the ^lississippi by the railroads. While production was lim-
ited, the railways, with their convenient terminals, gave quicker and
more satisfactory service than the waterways. Later they prevented
the restoration of river trafiic by keeping down their rates along the
rivers, recouping themselves by higher charges elsewhere. They also
acquired water fronts and terminals to an extent which made water
competition im])ossible. Throughout the country the railways have
secured such control of canals ana steamboat lines that to-day inland
waterway^transportation is largely in their hands. Tliis was natu-
IV REPORT OF THE INLAND WATERWAYS COMMISSION
ral and doubtless inevitable under the circumstances, but it should
not be allowed to continue unlte^sj iiiiide'r careful Government regu-
lation. 'â– '''..'
Comparatively little inland freight is carried by boat which is
lioo carried h part of its journey by rajl also. As the report shows,
the successful development and use of our interstate waterways
will require intelligent regulation of the relations between rail and
water traffic. When this is done the railways and waterways will
assist instead of injuring each other. Both will benefit, but the chief
benefit will accrue to the people in general tlu"ough quicker and
cheaper transportation.
The report rests throughout on the fundamental conception that
every waterway should be made to serve the people as largely and
in as many difl'erent ways as possible. It is poor business to develop
a river for navigation in such a way as to prevent its use for power,
when by a little foresight it could be made to serve both purposes.
We can not afford needlessly to sacrifice power to irrigation, or irri-
gation to domestic water supply, when by taking thought we may
have all three. Every stream should be used to the utmost. No
stream can be so used unless such use is planned for in advance.
When such plans are made we shall find that, instead of interfering,
one use can often be made to assist another. Each river system,
from, its headwaters in the forest to its mouth on the coast, is a single
unit and should be treated as such. Navigation of the lower reaches
of a stream can not be fully developed without the control of floods
and low waters by storage and drainage. Navigable channels are
directly concerned with the protection of source waters and with soil
erosion, which takes the materials for bars and shoals from the
richest portions of our farms. The uses of a stream for domestic
and municipal water supply, for power, and in many cases for irriga-
tion, must also be taken into full account.
The development of our inland waterways will have results far
beyond the immediate gain to commerce. Deep channels along the
Atlantic and Gulf coasts and from the Gulf to the Great Lakes will
have high value for the national defense. The use of water power
will measurably relieve the drain upon our diminishing supplies of
coal, and transportation by water instead of rail only will tend to
conserve our iron. Forest protection, without which river improve-
ment can not be permanent, will at the same time help to postpone
the threatened timber famine, and will secure us against a total
dearth of timber by providing for the perpetuation of the remaining
woodlands. Irrigation will create the means of livelihood for millions
of people, and supplies of pure water will powerfully promote the
public health. If the policy of waterway improvement here recom-
mended is carried out, it will affect for good every citizen of the
Republic. The National Government must play the leading part in
securing the largest possible use of our waterways ; other ao;encies can
assist and should assist, but the work is essentially national in its
scope.
The various uses of waterways are now dealt with by Bureaus
scattered through four Federal Departments. At present, therefore,
it is not possible to deal with a river system as a single problem.
But the Commission here recommends a policy under which all the
commercial and industrial uses of the waterways may be developed
MESSAGE OF THE PEESIDENT V
at the same time. To that end, Congress should provide some
administrative machinery for coordinating the work of the various
Departments so far as it rehites to waterways. Otherwise there \vi\\
not only be delay, but the people as a whole will fail to get from our
streams the benefits to which they are justly entitled.
The Commission recognizes that the cost of improving our inland
waterways will be large, but far less than would be required to relieve
the congestion of traffic by railway extension. The benefits of such
improvement will be large also, and they will touch the daily life of
our people at every point, uniting the interests of all the States and
sections of our country. The cost and the benefits should be ecpiitably
distributed, by cooperation with the States and the communities,
corporations, and individuals beneficially afi"ected. I heartily concur
in the Commission's recommendation to this end. Such cooperation
should result in united effort in carrying out the great duty of improv-
ing our inland waterways. While we delay our rivers remain unused,
our traffic is periodically congested, and the material wealth and
natural resources of the country related to waterwa3^s are being
steadily absorbed by great monopolies.
Among these monopolies, as the report of the Commission points
out, there is no other which threatens, or has ever threatened, such
intolerable interference with the daily life of the people as the con-
solidation of companies controlling water power. I call your special
attention to the attempt of the power corporations, through bills
introduced at the present session, to escape from the possibility of
Government regulation in the interests of the people. These bills
are intended to enable the corporations to take possession in perpe-
tuity of national forest lands for the purj)oses of their business,
where and as they please, wholly without compensation to the pub-
lic. Yet the effect of granting such privileges, taken together with
rights already acquired under State laws, would be to give away
properties of enormous value. Through lack of foresight we have
formed the habit of granting without compensation extremely valu-
able rights amounting to monopolies on navigable streams and on
the public domain. The repurchase at great expense of water rights
thus carelessly given away without return has already begim in the
East, and before long will be necessary in the West also. No rights
involving water power should be granted to any corporations in
perpetuity, but only for a length of time sufficient to allow them
to conduct their business profitably. A reasonable charge should of
course be made for valuable rights and privileges which they obtain
from the National Government. The values for which this charo;e
is made will ultimateh', through the natural growth and orderly
development of our population and industries, -reach enormous
amounts. A fair share of the increase should be safeguarded for
the benefit of the people, from whose labor it springs. The proceeds
thus secured, after the cost of administration and improvement has
been met, should naturally be devoted to the development of our
inland waterways.
The report justly calls attention to the fact that hitherto our
national policy has been one of almost unrestricted disposition and
waste of natural resources, and emphasizes the fundamental necessity
for conserving these resources upon which our present and future
success as a nation primarily rests. Running water is a most valu-
VI REPORT OF THE INLAND WATERWAYS COMMISSION
able natural asset of the people, and there is urgent need for con-
serving it for navigation, for power, for irrigation, and for domestic
and municipal supply.
The Commission was appointed to obtain information concerning
our waterways as related to the general welfare. Much work was
done, but more remains to be done before a plan for their develop-
ment can be prepared in detail. We need additional information
on the flow of our streams, the condition of channels, the amount
and cost of water traffic, the requirements for terminals, the area in
each watershed wliich should be kept under forest, and the means
of preventing soil waste and the consequent damage to our rivers.
But it is neither necessary nor desirable to postpone the beginning
of the work until all the facts are obtained. We have suffered
heavily in the past from the lack of adequate transportation facili-
ties, and unless a beginning is made promptly we shall suffer still
more heavily in the future.
Being mthout fimds or an expert staff, the Commission has confined
itseff to principles affecting the whole problem and the entire country.
Its report is a plea, in the light of actual facts, for simplicity and
directness in dealing with the great problem of our inland waterways
in the interest of the people. It submits no specific plans or recom-
mendations concerning even the most important projects. The first
of these of course concerns the Mississippi and its tributaries, whose
commercial development will directly affect haff our people. The
Mississippi should be made a loop of the sea and work upon it should
be begun at the earliest possible moment. Only less important is the
Atlantic inner passage, parts of which are already under way. The
inner passages along the Gulf coast should be extended and con-
nected with the Atlantic waters. The need for the developing of the
Pacific coast rivers is not less pressing. Our people are united in
support of the immediate adoption of a progressive policy of inland
waterway development.
Hitherto our national policy of inland waterway development has
been largely negative. No single agency has been responsible under
the Congress for making the best use of our rivers, or for exercising
foresight in their development. In the absence of a comprehensive
plan, the only safe policy was one of repression and procrastination.
Frequent changes of plan and piecemeal execution of projects have
still further hampered improvement. A channel is no deeper than
its shallowest reach, and to improve a river short of the point of
effective navigability is a sheer waste of all it costs. In spite of lar^e
appropriations for their improvement, our rivers are less serviceable
for interstate commerce to-day than they were half a century ago
and in spite of the vast increase in our population and commerce
they are on the whole less used.
The first condition of successful development of our waterways is
a definite and progressive policy. The second is a concrete general
plan, prepared by the best experts available, covering every use to
which our streams can be put. We shall not succeed until the
responsibility for administering the policy and executing and extend-
ing the plan is definitely laid on one man or group of men who can
be held accountable. Every portion of the general plan should con-
sider and so far as practicable secure to the people the use of water
for power, irrigation, and domestic supply as well as for navigation.
MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT VII
No project should be be^un until the funds necessary to complete
it promptly are provided, and no plan once under way should be
changed except for grave reasons. Work once begun should be
prosecuted steadily and vigorously to completion. We must make
sure that projects are not undertaken except for sound business rea-
sons, and that the best modern business methods are applied in
executing them. The decision to undertake any project should rest
on actual need ascertained by investigation and judgment of experts
and on its relation to great river systems or to the general plan, and
never on mere clamor.
The improvement of our inland waterways can and should be
made to pay for itself so far as practicable from the incidental pro-
ceeds from water power and other uses. Navigation should of course
be free. But the greatest return will come from the increased com-
merce, growth, and prosperity of our people. For this we have
already waited too long. Adequate funds should be provided, by
bond issue, if necessary, and the work should be delayed no longer.
The development of our waterways and the conservation of our for-
ests are the two most pressing physical needs of the country. They
are interdependent, and they should be met vigorously, together,
and at once. The questions of organization, powers, and appropri-
ations are now before the Congress. There is urgent need for prompt
and decisive action.
Theodore Roosevelt.
The White House, February 26, 1908.
PRELIMINARY REPORT
OF THE
INLAND WATERWAYS COMMISSION
FEBRUARY 3, 1908
CONTENTS
Page
Conspectus 13
Preliminary report 15
Creation of the commission 15
Proceedings 17
Results â– 18
Findings 18
Recommendations 25
Inquiries in progress 27
Supplementary report of Commissioner General Mackenzie 30
Supplementary report of Commissioner Senator Newlands 31
Appendix 33
1. Navigable streams of the United States 35
Summary of navigable streams 35
Description of the tables.' 35
General physical characteristics of navigable streams 36
Table 1. — Rivers tributary to Atlantic Ocean 39
Table 2. — Rivers tributary to Gulf of Mexico 60
Table 3. — Mississippi River and tributaries 69
Table 4. — River flowing into Canada 86
Table 5. — Rivers tributary to Pacific Ocean 87
2. Commerce on interior rivers 94
Floating equipment 94
Types of vessels employed 94
Decline of steam- vessel tonnage 95
Table 6. — Classification by size of vessels 96
Table 7. — Documented tonnage of steam vessels 97
Operating agencies 99
Table 8. — Agencies operating on interior rivers 100
Ohio River traffic 109
Packet lines on Ohio River 109
Associations of Ohio River lines '. Ill
Bulk traffic HI
Coal Ill
Cincinnati as a distributing point 114
River sand 116
Lumber 117
Grain 117
Total traffic on the Ohio 118
Table 9.— Commerce of Ohio River in 1905 119
Distribution of traffic 124
Upper Mississippi River traffic 124
Packet lines on the upper Mississippi 125
Kansas City line 126
Traffic on the lower Mississippi 126
Packet lines on the lower Mississippi 127
Associations of Mississippi River packet lines 129
Bulk freight on the lower Mississippi 129
Grain 129
Lumber 130
Coal 131
Bulk carriers at New Orleans 132
Total fi-eight tonnage on the Mississippi 133
Historical review of decline of traffic on Mississippi River 133
Terminals and their control â– 136
\Miarfage and agency charges on the Ohio 136
Table 10.— Wharfage charges at towns on Ohio River 143
3
4 EEPORT OF THE INLAND WATERWAYS COMMISSION
Appendix — Continued Page
2. Commerce on interior rivers — Continued
Terminals and their control — Continued
Port terminals on the Mississippi 143
Terminals at St. Louis 143
Terminals at Memphis 145
Terminal facilities at New Orleans 145
The water front 146
Mechanical appliances 147.
Administration 147
Statistics of commerce on interior rivers 150
Traffic on the Ohio and Monongahela 150
Table 11. — Shipments of coal to and through Pittsburg 151
Table 12. — Movement of coal to and through Pittsburg 151
Table 13. — Movement of coal through Monongahela River 152
Table 14. — Traffic on Monongahela River 152
Table 15. — Traffic at Davis Island dam 153
Table 16.— Production of coal in AVest Virginia 153
Table 17. — Receipts and shipments of coal at Cincinnati 153
Table 18. — Commerce through Louisville and Portland Canal. 154
Traffic on the Mississippi 154
Table 19.— Tonnage received at St. Louis, 1890-1906 154
Table 20.— Tonnage shipped from St. Louis, 1890-1906 155
Table 21. — Receipts and shipments via river at St. Louis 155
Table 22. — Receipts and shipments of grain at St. Louis 156
Table 23. — Bulk grain and total grain shipped from St. Louis. . 156
Table 24. — Receipts and shipments of flour at St. Louis 157
Table 25. — Receipts of cotton via rail and river at St. Louis. . . 157
Table 26. — Receipts of lumber at St. Louis via rail and river. . 157
Table 27. — Shipments of lumber from St. Louis via rail and
river 158
Table 28. — Receipts of coal at St. Louis via Ohio River. . . 158
Table 29. — Receipts and exports of grain at New Orleans 158
Table 30. — Receipts of fiour and grain at New Orleans by rail
and river 159
Table 31. — Grain shipments from St. Louis and grain move-
ment at New Orleans 159
Traffic on various rivers and canals 160
Table 32. — Freight transported on various rivers and canals,
1902-1907 160
Navigation on the Colorado 160
Table 33.— Vessels of Colorado River 162
3. Statistics of commerce on the Great Lakes 163
Total traffic on the Great Lakes 163
Table 34. — Domestic shipments on Great Lakes, 1905-1907 163
Table 35. — Domestic receipts on Great Lakes, 1905-1907 164
Traffic through St. Marys Falls canals 164
Table 36.— Traffic through St. Marys Falls canals, 1901-1907 164
Table 37. — Comparison of domestic traffic on Great Lakes and
through St. Marys Falls canals 165
Tfe-ble 38. — Vessel movement through St. Marys Falls canals 166
Table 39.— Traffic through St. Marys Falls canals, 1881-1907 167
Table 40.— Tonnage through St. Marys Falls canals, 1881-1907 168
Table 41. — Percentage of each commodity in the traffic through St.
Marys Falls canals, 1881-1907 170
Table 42.— Traffic statistics of St. Marys Falls canals, 1888-1907 . . 171
Table 43. — Estimated value of freight through St. Marys Falls
canals, 1887-1906 171
Table 44. — Flour and wheat traffic of the St. Marys Falls canals,
1855-1907 172
Miscellaneous canal traffic 173
Traffic through Portage Lake ship canals 173
Table 45.— Traffic through the Portage Lake canals, 1902-1907 . 173
Traffic through Sturgeon Bay and Lake Michigan ship canal 173
Table 46.— Traffic through the ship canal, 1904-1907 174
Traffic through Detroit River 174
Table 47. — Domestic freight movement through Detroit River. 175
CONTENTS 5
Appendix — Continued Page
3. Statistics of commerce on the Great Lakes — Continued
Miscellaneous lake traffic 175
Table 48. — Distribution of coal traffic by lake from Buffalo,
1901-1906 175
Table 49. — Lake receipts of iron ore at Lake Erie ports, 1901-
1906... 176
4. Government aid to inland navigation 177
Grants to the States 177
Canal grants 178
Table 50. — Land grants for canals 178
State selection act 178
Table 51 .—State selections 179
Navigation grants 179
Later State grants 179
Subscriptions 180
Table 52. — Acts authorizing the Government to purchase stock
of private companies 180
Appropriations 180
Table 53. — Acts making appropriations for rivers and canals,
1802-1900 180
Table 54. — Appropriations for river and harbor improvements,
1900-1907 181
5. Government slack-water rivers 182
Table 55. — Government slack-water rivers 183
6. Canals in the United States 188
Location of canals 188
Location of Government canals 188
Lake group 188
Mississippi Valley 188
Atlantic and Gulf coast 188
Pacific coast 188
Location of State canals .- 189
New York canals 189
Ohio canals 189
Illinois canals 190
Louisiana State canal 190
Location of private canals 190
Atlantic coast system 190
Louisiana system 191
Other canals 192
Statistics of canals in operation 192
Table 56. — Government canals 193
Table 57. — State canals in operation 196
Table 58, A and B. — Private canals in operation 198
Abandoned canals 204
Table 59. — Abandoned canals in the United States 205
7. State and private canals 210
Canals in New York 210
Statistics of traffic on New York canals 220
Table 60. — Movement of articles on all New York State canals,
1837-1905 220
Table 61. — Tonnage moved on each and all canals 221
Table 62. — Percentagesof tonnage moved on New York canals. 223
Table 63.— Total tonnage movement on all New York canals,
1837-1906 224
Table 64. — Tonnage of articles coming to Hudson River from
Erie and Champlain canals, 1837-1906 225
Table 65.— Commerce arriving at and going from tidewater,
and internal movement 226
Table 66. — Total tonnage coming to Hudson River from Erie
and Champlain canals, and value, 1838-1906 226
Table 67. — Tonnage on New York Central and Erie railways
and New York canals, 1853-1906 227
Table 68.— Losses or gains in tonnage, 1854-1906 228
Table 69. — Ton-mileage on New York canals and railroads. . . 228
Table 70.— Through and way traffic 229
6 REPOKT OF THE INLAND WATERWAYS COMMISSION
Appendix — Continued Page
7. State and private canals — Continued
Canals in New York — Continued
Statistics of traffic on New York canals — Continued
Table 71.— Flour and grain received at Buffalo, by lake, 1836-
1906 230
Table 72. — Flour and grain received at Buffalo, by Lake, 1846-
1906 230
Table 73.— Grain and flour movement at Buffalo, 1861-1906. . 231
Table 74. — Freight, tolls, elevating and storage rates, 1870-
1906 232
Table 75. — Wheat and flour traffic on the Erie Canal, 1835-
1881 233
Table 76. — Total movement of flour, meal, and grain on all
New York State canals, 1861-1906 233
Table 77. — Rail and water movement of grain at New York,
1868-1898 235
Table 78. — Receipts of lumber, lath, and shingles by lake and
shipments of lumber by canal 235.
Table 79. — Average railroad and canal freight rates 236
Table 80. — Average lake and canal rates on wheat and corn
since 1890 237
Table 81. — Average rates on com from Chicago to New York,
1869-1906 237
Table 82. — Average rates on wheat from Chicago to New York,
1869-1906 239