Economical Conditions of Water Transport in Belgium.—The abolition of the taxes levied previous to 1863 has had the effect, coupled with a judicious development of the shipping facilities of the port, of placing Antwerp at the head of the maritime ports of Continental Europe, as regards both the volume of its trade and the low rate of freights that may be obtained thence for nearly all the other ports of the world.
There is no country that enjoys the advantages of such cheap railroad transportation, excepting some instances in the United States, as Belgium, and yet, as we have seen, there is no country that makes a more extensive use of its canal communications. The cost of transport on the canals from the Belgian coalfields to Paris amounted to 0·29d. in the spring, and 0·34d. in the autumn of 1883, not including interest.[84] The lowest rate of transport on English railways for the same description of traffic is ·49d. per ton per mile. The canal transport of Belgium, therefore, averaging the summer and winter rates, is ·18d., or 58 per cent. cheaper[85] than that of the London coal traffic, which is pointed to in this country as a remarkable example of economical transport, and which certain authorities declare to be carried at a loss to the companies.[86]
Extent and Income of Belgian Canals.—We have seen that the total length of the canals of Belgium is over 1634 kilometres, of which the principal were the Communal Canal from Brussels to Rufel (28 kilometres), the canal from Brussels to Charleroi (24 kilometres), the Haut-Escaut Canal (115 kilometres), the Bas Escaut Canal, from Gand to the Dutch frontier (118 kilometres), the Ghent and Ostend Canal (70 kilometres), the Ghent and Terneuzen Canal (17 kilometres), the Meuse and Escaut Canal (86½ kilometres), the Lys Canal (113 kilometres), the canalised Meuse from Givet to Liége (113½ kilometres), the Mons and Condé Canal (20 kilometres). Altogether there are forty-five canals in Belgium, which in 1886 carried 763,108,000 kilometric tons—equal to about 480 million ton miles. The total tonnage carried on the canals, as a whole, is returned at about 33½ millions, including the Meuse, and the average distance over which each ton was carried was 22·8 kilometres. The principal elements of the canal traffic are shown in the appended statement of tons carried one kilometre:—
| Kilometric Tons. | |
| Coal and coke | 167,221,000 |
| Iron, iron ore, building materials, &c. | 210,600,000 |
| Agricultural produce | 117,217,000 |
| Industrial products, &c. | 268,400,000 |
The annual income of the Belgian canals, notwithstanding that the facilities for canal navigation have been considerably extended and improved, has not increased during recent years. On the contrary, while the annual income between 1841 and 1850 was 2,885,000 francs, and from 1851 to 1860, 2,974,000 francs, the average of 1871 to 1880 had fallen to 1,676,000 francs, and in 1887 it was only 1,266,000 francs. The latter fall, however, must be due to a decrease in rates, as the amount of traffic carried between 1881 and 1886 increased from 30,562,000 tons to 33,419,000 tons. The ordinary expenses of maintaining the canals of Belgium have been reduced from 2,600,000 francs in 1881 to 2,100,000 francs in 1886. For a number of years past there has been a considerable extraordinary expenditure on the canals, the special credits for this purpose having been as much as 12½ million francs in 1883.
FOOTNOTES
CHAPTER IX
[79] The chief elements of this traffic were:—
| Tons transported one kilometre. | |
| Coal and coke | 147,402,000 |
| Other minerals and metals | 200,606,000 |
| Agricultural products, wood, &c. | 130,571,000 |
| Industrial products, and others | 247,780,000 |
[80] This was an extensive plain in the Netherlands, protected by dykes, which was formerly covered by the sea.
[81] These particulars are mainly abstracted from the Engineer, January 3rd, 1879.