Highways and Highway Transportation

by George R. Chatburn

The canals were unable to compete with the railroads when time became an element. Passengers would not be content to travel 36 miles per day along a tortuous canal when they could travel a much more direct route at nearly 36 miles per hour. The swifter speed of freight traffic accelerated business; the merchant’s capital could be turned over more frequently; his net profits were consequently greater. Is there any wonder, therefore, that the business of the canal continually decreased while that of the railroad as continually increased. Many canals were actually abandoned, others allowed to depreciate from want of proper maintenance, and now only occasional barges are run to transport heavy non-perishable freight such as grain, iron-ore, and coal. And of these commodities, because of better terminal facilities and the time element, the railroads soon were carrying much more than the canals.

© Underwood and Underwood

THE SAULT ST. MARIE CANAL

Ship Canals.

—Reports show the tonnage of the Erie Canal to have continually decreased from 2,031,735 tons in 1911 to 667,374 tons in 1918. The total tonnage of all the New York state canals shows a like decrease from 3,097,068 tons in 1911 to 1,159,270 tons in 1918. Notwithstanding such records there are those who firmly believe canal transportation will again take an upward trend with better terminal facilities and possibly electric propulsion. There is one class of canals that seems to have held its own, that is ship canals. The great canal and locks at Sault Ste. Marie transfer a vast lake traffic annually from one level to another between Lakes Superior and Huron. Vast quantities of iron-ore are brought in mammoth vessels by this route from docks near the Mesaba mines for the great iron mills at Gary, at Cleveland, at Pittsburgh, and other points. Similar vessels loaded with wheat, oats, and flax from the Northwest grain fields are unloaded at Buffalo for transportation to the seaboard. Agitation has been going on for some time to enlarge the Welland Canal and its locks between Lakes Erie and Ontario, thus giving seagoing vessels the opportunity of coming up by way of the St. Lawrence River and traversing the entire Great Lake system. The ambition of cities is here again manifest; Chicago would like such transportation, but it would not be beneficial to New York.

A ship canal across Cape Cod saves 70 miles and considerable time and makes the trip much less dangerous from New York to Boston. Ship canals within the islands along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts have been proposed to make safe coast commerce. There is also talk of a ship canal from Chicago to the Gulf of Mexico by way of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers; and still another from Lake Erie to Pittsburgh.

The Panama Canal.

—All present-day readers are familiar with the greatest of all ship canals, the Panama Canal, constructed by the Government at a cost of approximately $400,000,000, and open to the ships of the world. It will be remembered that a canal across the isthmus had been dreamed of practically ever since Balboa passed over and for the first time a white man saw the Pacific from the west coast of America. With the opening of the Oregon territory there was increased interest in such a canal. With the discovery of gold in California much traffic went by way of Panama being freighted across and transshipped on the other side. Soon a railroad was established for that purpose. Other crossings, too, were much in mind. In 1846 a treaty of amity and commerce was entered into with New Granada, afterwards the United States of Colombia, which gave the United States a right of way across the Isthmus by any available method. In return the United States agreed to guarantee the neutrality of the Isthmus. Great Britain had likewise long been interested in a canal scheme and courted Nicaragua. Also because of English settlements at Belize or British Honduras they claimed rights which had been confirmed by the treaty of Versailles in 1773. Another route, across the isthmus of Tehauntepec, had also assumed importance. In 1848 a company of American citizens was formed for and began at once to construct a railway across the isthmus of Panama. Another contracted with the Nicaraguan government for a canal there. A treaty was made with Nicaragua whereby a concession was granted the company for the waterway, the United States guaranteeing the neutrality of the way as had been done with New Grenada. But the British government claimed control of the eastern terminus, therefore a treaty had to be negotiated with her. As a result the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty was signed and ratified in 1850, whereby the United States and Great Britain agreed to join in promoting a canal by the Nicaraguan route promising that neither “would obtain or maintain for itself any exclusive control over the ship-canal,” nor, and here was the joker, “assume or exercise any dominion ... over any part of Central America.” Neither was to acquire nor have any rights the other did not have and they both guarantee the neutrality of the canal. This, apparently, was a violation of the Monroe Doctrine in so far as it did allow a European nation a foothold upon this continent, and it was contrary to the Washingtonian policy of avoiding “entangling alliances.” However, it was considered at the time to be a victory for American diplomacy. But Great Britain retained her hold on Belize and some islands along the coast, and finally it was made known that before the signing of the treaty Sir Henry Bulwer had left with Clayton a memorandum to the effect that British renunciation in Central America should not apply to “Belize” or any of its “dependencies.” Greytown, a British trading post, had been established as a “free” city at the eastern terminus of the Nicaraguan route through British influence and support.

In 1851 Greytown levied tribute upon the steamers of the transit company. One of these refused to pay and was fired upon by a British man-of-war, the fiction of Greytown being a “free city” apparently went glimmering. The situation was critical and for some time looked as though a war might result. Meanwhile the Accessory Transit Company continued in a state of trouble with the Greytown government. So bad was it that the United States vessel Cyane was called upon to protect the buildings of the Canal Company from destruction. Conditions remained strained, feelings ran high, until in 1854 one of the officers of a company steamer killed an individual and in a riot which followed the mob attacked the United States consul. Lieutenant Hollins, commanding officer of the Cyane, demanded reparation, and as this was not forthcoming he bombarded and destroyed the town. This accentuated the trouble between the United States and Great Britain but did not particularly enhance the building of the Nicaraguan canal.