Show ma making fact ag tomorrows 1 aln aa brrow f S horid Wo rid dy by daw of the RIVERS MADE IN GERMANY derlin berlin ger G e r many th the e future of germany will be maintained upon tho the water Is a sentiment m a n t expressed by the german emperor with his bis u a u a I 1 vigorous insistence and moro more than his bla usual consistency the mas masterful berf ul william had the seas and the german navy in 1 n mind m 1 n d he 11 e might however with equal or larger truth have made the statement apply to the inland waters rivers and canals of the german empire the german makes the most of everything himself included and he has not overlooked water transportation as an aid to economic progress and prosperity the present industrial greatness of oer ger many so BO phenomenally increased in a 0 generation and yet apt growing is built upon water leads in use die of waterways germany la Is not alone among european nations in development and utilization of inland waterways the manchester ship canal the deepening and widening of the channels of the clyde the mersey and the thames rivers in great britain making seaports of cities far inland the use of the canals in the netherlands find and the millions expended by tho the republic of prance france each year upon canals and rivers as public highways cheso show the high value attached in europe to an asset which through public publia and private railway greed and short sight edness has baa in tho the united states been abandoned or neglected germany bo however with characteristic painstaking ing and thrift has exploited her water vater resources to an extent unsurpassed in other european lands germany has haa employed a combination of means to establish its industrial poil position tion the application of science to industry technical trai training nini thrift centralized direction and control dut but no means has been more effective than its ita comprehensive system of cheap water transportation supple the cheap transportation of tta its railways the american visitor traveling from brussels to berlin from cologne up the kelne from the rhine to munich in any direction in short in germany cannot fall fail to be impressed by the businesslike use of the tha waterways hundreds of barges carrying thousands 0 of tons of freight I 1 aro are seen been a continual procession upon the canalized canali zed rivers and artificially constructed canals puts the rivers to work almost without a sea harbor gormany germany has bas grown to la be a great commercial nation who her ter chief factories located two or three hundred miles inward she ehe has brought thera them raw material by water lit at rated and shipped chipped the finished lial shed products made imade in gormany germany 1 4 to compete in the worlds markets successfully with the products of nations wilah original condi conditions tiona are far more favorable this has been done by putting all the german rivers to work while great britain with the oldest and at one time the best system of waterways in europe and the united states with water courses unequaled hmong among great nations have permitted these waterways to fall into disuse the young giant of northern europe has developed for actual use even her smallest streams and has haa dug canals to connect her roost most important centers centera of production hence as contributing cause at least red cedar taken from ila ozark forest in missouri shipped to employed in the manufacture of pencils lla re shipped to 0 america car can be sold in with Arne american pencils hence plit iron consumption has grown in two to decades dades in gerwazy per cent while crude a teel production Is fifty as much ns as twenty years ago hence indu 1 trial germany ahm of german professors were seen the advantages of a calap and alter alternative natIA transportation system both for actual use and for the regulation of freight rates what the professors saw they wrote in the german press As a consequence the empire has each year en barged extended and improved its natural and artificial waterways fater ways the rivers of germany mine weser elbe oder Welch sel isar main alain and others are not naturally well adapted to use for traffic of a large kind in a majority of cases their banks were soft and easily washed down by the waves from largo large boats while their beds were uneven and shallow th the a 10 german el problem with the rivers was to deepen their beds and strengthen the banks tho the cheapest transportation Is obviously by means ot of the largest ship or barge which can travet travel most rapidly size and speed were sought in the barges and a development of the river and canals that would permit economical and rapid navigation the rhine the best known river in germany at which the french it may be noted in n passing yet look with longing eyes affords an example of the changing conditions which make tor for tomorrows industrial world the ruined castles and tho the romantic scenery which have given to tho the its pro eminence among rivers have now a rival in interest in the strings of barges which the traveler sees as aa he be goes on the express steamer up or down the tha river between cologne and mayence Ma Ala yence in order to make tho the rhine thus continuously usable natural earth banks have been where necessary replaced by walls of falla masonry the channel deepened md widened wharfs built and at bingen concerning which we all learned in our schoolboy declamation days daya rocks dangerous to navigation have been blasted away inland cities reached by water what has been done tor for and with the rhino has been done tor for and with other rivers E even ven the shallowest lowest streams marq ditches have been mado made into thoroughfares next te to aerial navigation for military purposes the german fitins finds a keen interest akin to sport in the business dutill arlon of the w waterways ater ways from am N 4 X az W fa ua 4 1 pa J m a VA I 1 I 1 R clearing out a german river ste oam capital of holland the traveler wishing to go to cologna miles inland in germany may find hla his way by see ben faring steamer at strasburg miles inland where yesterday only tho the smallest water craft could be seen today may be observed boats carrying 00 to 1000 tons the channel net of the main alain up to and beyond frankfort the commercial metropolis of germany hafl ban at a cost of been deepened from two feat unusable for shipping to nine feet in order to give the industries of frankfort cheap transportation towns situated miles from a navigable stream accomplish tho the same result by digging arid and operating canals boats used inland most americans are somewhat familiar with the marvelous increase of i the german merchant ocean ships the north german lloyd with its 18 steamships on oil every sea and other merchant marine marina companies have developed at a phenomenal rate less leas conspicuous but equally great has haa be been n tho the growth of the inland merchant nt fleet of germany tho the shipping ng employed on its inland waterways ru in thirty years the to nage of tho the german inland fleet elect has nearly or quite quadrupled twenty years ago the tonnage of the inland fleet was CO 60 per cent larger than that of the ocean oan fleet now it la Is four times as largo large more afore than boats are employed today on germanys germanas Germ anys canals and rivers wita a tonnage exceeding boats large as possible germany has been quick to recognize the chat economic value of the large vessel tho the of the ocean tan have their humbler and less leas shorb but equally important coula counterparts terp a arts on the inland waterways boata ot of tons tona ar less havo have decreased decrease dl in number in the he last ten tea years while largo large boats of ox torn tons and more have increased in number ten fold tho the boat or barge la Is baerg abandoned in germany as out of date te tha a 1 larro present day boat to Is built billit of eliy larit t aval available lable capacity the I 1 he average site of tho the large boats on the tha german waterways is now from to tons on the elbe 1200 to 1500 tons tona while on the rhine are many barges of 0 2000 tons or more low freight costs the importance of this method of transportation in affording low freight rates can scarcely he be overemphasized over emphasized figures obtained from rom reports of major kurs kura a leading authority on inland navigation in germany J ellis barker a careful british student of the subject and dr nitz fritz Hart hartmann marn a distinguished journalist berlin darija correspondent of the hanover IIa CO courier Urfer are significant these show that with a well tilled filled ship on a new and perfectly equipped water course the cost of transportation of freight during a ten tea months shipping season to lo in vessels from to 1500 tons capacity one fifth to one twelfth of a cent per ton per mile but as all german waterways are arc not perfectly equipped and all boats ore are not well fitted and as the season of navigation in germany Gerni any as in the united states Is with by tee ice these figures are exceptional the actual busi business neso conditions prevailing today may be better shown by selecting representative german rivers and quoting the actual average cost of transport allowing for the fact that during a part part of the year a largo large portion of the tonnage Is partly or wholly unemployed these figures show that the actual cost 0 ox transport per ton per mile on the oder river la Is about one third of a cent on the Welch sel one halt half a cent on the tha elbe one fourth and on the rhine one sixth of a cent tho the rivers oder and Welch sel flow through agricultural regions corresponding to a degree with the country through which the missouri river and its tributaries tributa ries flow while the rhino rhine drains a country corresponding to that adjacent to the upper ohio where manufacturing to Is more largely engaged in this cheapness of transportation explains in great measure the fact that the most prosperous industrial centers of germany are situated close to the waterways of which they make extensive and increasing use the governments Govern menta view in an official publication of the german government wo we read any means whereby the distances distance s which separate the economic centers of tho the country from one abnot another her can bo be diminished must be welcomed and be considered as aa a progress tor for it increases our strength in our industrial competition with foreign countries every one who desires to send or to receive goods wishes tor for cheap freights hence the aim of transport policy should be to diminish as far as possible the economically economic all unproductive costs costa of transport F country such as germany which Is happy enough to produce on her own soil by tar far the tha larger part of tile the raw material and food which it requires I 1 occupies the most independent and the most favorable position if owing to cheap inland transportation its economic centers are placed as near as possible to one an another othor when this has been achieved germany will be abl able to dispense with many foreign products and it will occupy a position of superiority in comparison with all those states which do not possess similarly perfect means of transport many circumstances which in former times gave superiority to certain countries such as the greater skill of their workmen superior machinery cheaper wages greater natural cortil fertility of the soil all these advantages aro are gradually being levelled bevelled level led down by time and progress but what will remain la Is tho the advantage of a well planned system of transportation which makes the best possible use of of local resources and local advantages the last sentence la in italic in the german original may well be read in america in IA connection with ills bis marcks deliberate statement in discounting future events we must take note of the united states who will become in matters economic and perhaps in matters political as aa well a much greater danger than most people imagine the war of the future will be the economic war the struggle for existence on the largest scaled scale may my successor always bear this in mind and always uke take care that germany will be ba prepared when this battle has to be fought and bismarck wai waa dismissed by the present emperor not because of disagreement but because william 11 II a twentieth century frederick the great would bo be his bis own chancellor and carrying on marcks Bis policy as his own make germany foremost in all military and material things the new germany commercial the now new germany Is not a land of phem poets poeta and composers sleepy officials and dull dell peasants daydreaming sentimentalizing over music and philosophy and beer the tha new germany Is in a land of shrewd calculating hardheaded hard headed beaded matier alf tact fact business men with no sentimentality and in business circles at least no sentiment there are monumental statues of goethe and fr chiller and hegel and lJ and hasing in many german streets but the new german finds hla his shrine at the deutsche bank ills ilia treasured ved and savings in the new nen industrial age flow tb tabither ither their volume Inc increases because of a new comprehensive and efficient ays tem of cheap transportation by canal and river made in Gorm gormlet LuT copyright Cipy right ty by joseph a bollea Bow VrIes lea |